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Old 02-06-2008, 09:20 AM
 
15 posts, read 82,934 times
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I had initially been planning on moving to Northern California but I'm open to anywhere around the state. Still looking for suggestions-Again I'm a 26 year old single female and am looking for an artsy, liberal town that has a large population of people my age. I can afford a studio apartment for about $800.00 a month but can't go any higher than that. I would prefer to live in an area that is in commutable distance from a major city in order to open up more options job-wise (around no more than a 1 hour commute). I would greatly appreciate any recommendations. Thank you so much!
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Old 02-06-2008, 10:03 AM
 
Location: Vancouver, WA
8,217 posts, read 16,710,456 times
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I think you have described much the S. Cal. beach communities which is where I grew up - Hermosa & Manhattan Beach. They are for the most part fun, with 'a lot' of young people, artsy, etc... This could also apply to many of the OC & SD beach communities as well.

Most 20 something singles are building there careers and living on shoestring budgets in these *pricey* areas. How do they do it? Well, with the cost of housing/rents *roommates* are very popular.

Finding a studio at/near the beach is a bigger challenge. You will have to go a little bit further inland, but not too far (hopefully), to do that. Although the CA real estate market has softened over the past couple of years I don't think rents were ever reduced. So in my area, the South Bay, I lived in Torrance with my wife and three children. It was only about 10 minutes to the Beach. But there was no way we were going to rent/buy a place 'at' the beach. The median home price was ~ 1.1 million dollars.

I recommend looking for work in San Diego, OC or LA somewhere not too far from the beach. Then check out craigslist and the local papers online for rents. Just make sure and ask about areas before moving to them. For example in LA County you have some of the best (Rancho Palos Verdes) and worst (South Central LA) areas in the nation. You just have to avoid the bad areas.

For N. Cal. I highly recommend Santa Cruz. There are a lot of younger people there. And it is closer to the most beautiful parts of Calif. (eg - Big Sur, Carmel, Yosemite, Tahoe, etc...). Again not cheap, but if you are creative and patient you can find a place.

Just don't discount the roommate option initially. Then as you grow in your career and earn a bit more you can pick and choose more.
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