How do people in the Bay Area LIVE?

[Anonymous]

how is Fairfield/Suisun area NOW?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:how is Fairfield/Suisun area NOW?

More expensive than it used to be, but still one of the more affordable areas (since it is just far enough from SF to be a bear of a commute, even though it is officially in the Bay Area). Fairfield, Hercules, Martinez, and other once under-the-radar communities are definitely getting more popular--people do move up there from SF and the inner East Bay and drive to the Vallejo ferry. (Vallejo is getting more attention than it once did, too.) The biggest issue there is just how terrible traffic on I-80 has become between Fairfield and SF. It's painful almost any time of day.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:We moved here from D.C. A few years ago and hate it. The area sucks (filthy, so many homeless people, terrible public transportation), the housing is so expensive (and were also lawyers). I don't understand the mentality of spending so much to get so little. It's really left a bad taste in my mouth. i hope to move in the next year.

The past ten years it has really gone down hill in California.

I can't believe that regular job holding bill paying citizens of many parts that state haven't openly revolted yet.

We lived there twice. Once in the late 90s/2000 and later around 10-12. The difference in squalor vs cleanliness in those two time periods was significant.

Revolt? Nobody cares. Those who care leave.

+1
While I agree that SF is filthy, California is still a gorgeous and stunning place to live. I feel blessed to be here. Friendly people, sunshine, nature.
Lots of anti-California messaging is happening lately. I'm suspicious of it. After all, if people truly want to target high tax states, then why not target NJ or CT? If people want to target states with high Latino populations, then why not TX, NM or AZ? If people want to target states with poor schools, why not all the states in the south?

California is a beacon of opportunity, a wonderful place to live, and unfortunately expensive.

It's not anti-California messaging. It's a sad reality. It's not unfortunately expensive, it's completely unaffordable.

California is huge. Unfair to categorize it based solely on just the SF area.

Tell me, please, about an affordable area of California that is full of opportunities and a wonderful place to live. I will move there today.

Nice try. Like I'd tell you. I don't want all you DC nutjobs moving here.

Does not exist.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:how is Fairfield/Suisun area NOW?

They have a rising gang problem and meth problems. I would not live there if I had other choices. Housing is a lot cheaper though.

[Anonymous]

Sacramento, Livermore and Davis.

[Anonymous]

Combined income $200K, house purchased on 2011 for 900k. It’s a small fixer upper that we’ve barely fixed up because we can’t afford all that needs to be done. But we are in a great town in S. Marin for the schools and quality of life outside real estate makes it worth it. We live small within our house but large outside.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Combined income $200K, house purchased on 2011 for 900k. It’s a small fixer upper that we’ve barely fixed up because we can’t afford all that needs to be done. But we are in a great town in S. Marin for the schools and quality of life outside real estate makes it worth it. We live small within our house but large outside.

How did you save the $180k down payment on your salaries?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Combined income $200K, house purchased on 2011 for 900k. It’s a small fixer upper that we’ve barely fixed up because we can’t afford all that needs to be done. But we are in a great town in S. Marin for the schools and quality of life outside real estate makes it worth it. We live small within our house but large outside.

How did you save the $180k down payment on your salaries?

Not the PP, but Bay Area rents were nowhere near as high as they are now in 2011--it was much easier to save for a downpayment. We did it on $130K over four years or so (albeit pre-kids, which helped!) I'm not sure how families new to the Bay Area do it now if both partners don't have six-figure salaries--but I think it's also far less common for people to move here without those types of jobs, given how high the cost of living has gotten.

[Anonymous]

Only on DCUM would a $900K house be described as a "fixer-upper."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Only on DCUM would a $900K house be described as a "fixer-upper."

That's reflective of pricing in the Bay Area, not DCUM.

This is what $900k gets you in East Palo Alto. When I lived in San Francisco, this was a drug-filled, crime ridden neighborhood, where I volunteered with Habitat for Humanity to rehab homes. $900k gets you 3bd, 1ba, and a whole lot of fixing up to do.

https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/2839-Fordham-St_East-Palo-Alto_CA_94303_M25024-42786?view=qv

[Anonymous]

We’re in a small apartment. The house next door was 2 bedrooms, 1 bath. Needed a new roof and foundation. Was asking $1.2M, sold in 24 hrs all cash $1.6 million, was torn down and the replacement home sold $3.8M cash (Burlingame, CA).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sacramento, Livermore and Davis.

SHHHH!!!!

[Anonymous]

Sacramento, Livermore and Davis.


SHHHH!!!!

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Living in the Bay Area now on a $500k hhi. We don't own. We tried but it's a crazy market. Our rent is $4200 a month in a not so desirable part of the East Bay for a 3-bed. We feel stymied and can only imagine how other families making less must feel. Hopeless comes to mind. Plus, the schools really are a mess here. Even the 10/10s for whatever that's worth. And the homeless camps are a heartbreaking reality. So much poverty, filth, and crime. I've had to call 911 several times as a witness to an assault. Yes, the weather is great and the access to the outdoors is amazing but we'll probably bail this summer after 3 years of trying to make it work. Oh, and traffic sucks!

Sounds somewhat like Mumbai!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Living in the Bay Area now on a $500k hhi. We don't own. We tried but it's a crazy market. Our rent is $4200 a month in a not so desirable part of the East Bay for a 3-bed. We feel stymied and can only imagine how other families making less must feel. Hopeless comes to mind. Plus, the schools really are a mess here. Even the 10/10s for whatever that's worth. And the homeless camps are a heartbreaking reality. So much poverty, filth, and crime. I've had to call 911 several times as a witness to an assault. Yes, the weather is great and the access to the outdoors is amazing but we'll probably bail this summer after 3 years of trying to make it work. Oh, and traffic sucks!

Sounds somewhat like Mumbai!

PP above, with $500k HHI, could easily afford renting in much nicer areas for say $6-7k/ month.

Not sure why she's whinning, that's more of a DC sport than a CA one.