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Long Beach, CA - What can you tell me about it?
ege02
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So it turns out I may relocate to Long Beach, CA for a job after graduating from college.
I've never been down there and I don't know anyone living in the vicinity. I have cousins down in San Diego, but that's a few hours away I think.
I'm mainly interested in what life is like in Long Beach. For reference, right now I'm in Seattle, so I know weather for one would be a tremendous improvement. On the other hand, I did some research and it seems rent is really expensive, and some reviews I read say crime is pretty high in that area. They say you have to pay at least 1200-1300 a month to be able to live in a low crime neighborhood. Is that true?
Also, as far as salaries go, I don't know what I should expect. I did the majority of my job-hunting here in Washington, so the salaries I'm used to hearing are all nominal salaries, not real salaries. Is there a place where I can compare salary levels across cities and states with respect to living expenses, i.e. price levels?
tldr; I want to learn about Long Beach, CA, and I want to find out how I can compare salaries in Washington and salaries in CA.
I've never been down there and I don't know anyone living in the vicinity. I have cousins down in San Diego, but that's a few hours away I think.
I'm mainly interested in what life is like in Long Beach. For reference, right now I'm in Seattle, so I know weather for one would be a tremendous improvement. On the other hand, I did some research and it seems rent is really expensive, and some reviews I read say crime is pretty high in that area. They say you have to pay at least 1200-1300 a month to be able to live in a low crime neighborhood. Is that true?
Also, as far as salaries go, I don't know what I should expect. I did the majority of my job-hunting here in Washington, so the salaries I'm used to hearing are all nominal salaries, not real salaries. Is there a place where I can compare salary levels across cities and states with respect to living expenses, i.e. price levels?
tldr; I want to learn about Long Beach, CA, and I want to find out how I can compare salaries in Washington and salaries in CA.
ege02 on
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Long Beach has OK areas and it has ghetto areas, which is pretty much true for most of LA county. Violent crime is really not a problem in LA, unless you're involved with drugs. (I lived next to South Central for a few years.) Housing will be expensive. I don't know exact pricing for the more decent neighborhoods, but 1200 doesn't sound bad.
Check out www.westsiderentals.com if you can pay for apt lookup, otherwise, apartments.com and rent.com are ok. Also, CRAIGSLIST is probably best for lower prices. Just check the area carefully, many ghetto posts that I went through.
Crackle
Pop
Generally the further southeast you go in Long Beach, the better it gets. As others stated, the city is patchwork. IMO, anything north of 7th street is iffy, and north of Anaheim... keep looking. I lived off 2nd and Esperanza and the neighborhood was decent. Although my particular apt complex was old, it was generally quiet and for $730/mo (studio) not that bad. Expect to pay minimum $1k/mo for a 1br. Long Beach is one of the least expensive beach communities in LA.
The ultimate question... will you be using a car a lot? If so, you will want a parking space. Parking in LB is horrendous and some neighborhoods you may end up walking several blocks to find a space if you come home late at night. Ask around or scope the streets after 6pm. Expect to add $150+/mo for parking.
Long Beach has a good internal bus system (compared to other places in SoCal) so getting around locally is fairly easy. The area is slowly gentrifying, and they've put a lot of money into the downtown and marina commercial areas. There's a Rock Bottom off Pine that's my favorite. :-9