Thread: Bay Area housing

Where in the Bay Area do LE types afford to live?

I heard that Novato, Concord and Pittsburg have some housing. How can a family man with two kids survive in the high rent state of Cali?

MOst of the Officers I work with live in the North Bay (Santa Rosa, etc) or the East Bay (Concord, Martinez, etc). With a one person, LE income, it's almost impossible to raise a family, here, and still own a house, send the kids to school, etc. Though the market is softening, somewhat, it's still the most expensive place to live, especially in San Fran, or the Penninsula.

--dan

Dan,

Thanks!

I'm trying to convince my wife to move to SF so I can take a federal LE position.

But it's an entry level job and the income be a little more than half of what I'm making in Tennessee.

The case isn't looking too strong for the move.

Try looking in Vacaville, Fairfield, Suisun, Vallejo. It's cheaper than Martinez, Concord area. From what I've read in the papers, a lot of the new houses going up around here were because of the SF comuters branching out this way.

I would have to say that the Bay area is not the place to be if you want to have a great domestic situation and or raise a family. I worked in the Oakland area for about the last 5 years. All while living in the sacramento area, some 100+ miles away. This drive was easily two+ hours and more depending on weather/road conditions, accidents, bridge and tunnel conditions and the day of the week. It is near impossible to maintain a very comfortable living in the area due to median house prices of over one half million in some areas. It is extremely common to find officers, firefighters and other public safety living in areas that are 50-150 miles away. I knew a guy who lived near tahoe and drove to Oakland for work. The upside to this is that housing is more affordable the further you get, and builds equity at a very rapid pace. The downside is that you will be on the road for at least 1-3 hours just to get to work (if conditions are favorable,and they never are) and the same once your shift is over. Also dont count on the equity continuing to build, prices are so high right now that there will come a point where there is only one way they can go, that being down. I looked into getting closer to work,particullarly when I started the Oakland PD academy. My wife and I found an apartment we liked in Alameda it was on the beach facing the city,great view. The manager liked the idea of having a cop(future cop) in the complex, and was going to offer us a killer deal on the place. She offered us $600 off the monthly rent. So we were only going to be paying a mere $2000.00 per month for a 23 year old 2 bd 1 ba apartment. Much different from the 3bd 2ba 3 car garage 1/3 acre lot house we lived in in Sacramento, and paid $900 a month for. Anyways long story made as short as I can make it, California prices very very bad, Arizona prices very very good. Thats why we live here now. Plus you can avoid the Earthquakes ( keep an eye on the Hayward fault in the next dozen or so years), the massive fires, and the other 15 or so million people that live in the bay area. Just my thoughts, tried it, hated it but thats just me , you may love it.
Good Luck, Mike

Mike,

The whole thing sounds depressing. Thanks for the straight talk, though.

I guess I'll try to get a different duty location, but I might be moving from the frying pan into the fire and be stuck on the Tex-Mex or Arizona-Mexico border.

Maybe I'll just stay where I am and regret for the next 20 years not taking the plunge.

Appreciate your long-short story.

apollo

Originally posted by apollo
Mike,

The whole thing sounds depressing. Thanks for the straight talk, though.

Don't be too depressed, there are some other options that I haven't seen mentioned on here yet. I hear a lot about areas in the North bay, but don't count out the Central Valley of CA. The Altamont Pass is the mountain range that seps. the (East) Bay from the valley.

Many public safety people live in Tracy, Manteca, Ripon, Escalon, Modesto, Stockton, etc, etc. Pull up a map on mapquest or something and take a look at some of those cities. Housing is still more than TN I'm sure, but far less than the bay area. You can make it to Dublin/Pleasanton from Tracy in about 30mins. If you work SF, you can get onto BART at Dublin/Pleasanton BART station and be to SF in about 45mins to 60mins. Still an hour and a half or so on slow days, but over half that is on a train.

If you get a take home car you can drive from SF to Tracy in about 1hr 30mins on most days. Traffic is bad though to be prepared!

Kahuna

I agree that a better bet is looking in tracy and the valley Lots more open land. I drove that route when I went to the bay area. There is a plan in effect to expand the I205 to at least 4 lanes in each direction. But in the mean time it is only two lanes and when construction does start it takes years to complete and will in itself really slow things down. Last projections I saw were that there were an estimated 10 million more people expected to be in California by the year 2010. They have to somewhere so I would anticipate that the undeveloped land bettween the valley and the bay area through the Altamont wont stay undeveloped. The drive through Livermore/Pleasanton is no picnic either, I have had trips where I didnt break 10 miles per hour on the interstate for over 50 miles. BART is reasonable, again assuming that conditions are favorable. I have been in a few earth shakers and they do shut BART down till the tracks are checked, not the fastest process. The thing I would advise you to do is look at your and your families own long term goals and needs. If they would be better served by being in the bay area and you can make the sacrifices then do it. Life is too short to not be happy and love what you do. As a side note I love Arizona/Texas/Mexico border area. Great climate, culture, natural beauty, and especially cost of living. Dont completely count the possibility out. Check it out. Easy Ocean access, great wildlife and nature areas, four wheelin, shooting (Ben Avery shooting center in the Phoenix area is the largest state run public shooting area in the nation $4.00/day for unlimited range access), Snow,desert, canyons, mountains, not too bad. Didnt mean to discourage you.
Mike

Kahuna,

The car-train combo sounds reasonable.

I appreciate learning about more other options.

I have to make a really case to convince the old lady to give up the Smoky Mountains, the outlet malls, and no state income tax.

apollo

I live in the Bay area (San Rafael) and am currently going through the app process for a local LE position.

Don't let your fears of the unknown discourage you from following your dreams. You CAN make it on a LE salary here.

Affordable housing in the Bay Area is slim...but it's out there. It might not be what you are used to, and definately not what you could get somewhere else...but (and not to sound like an elitist snob) it's the Bay Area! It's absolutely gorgeous out here, and you can be gazing at the ocean within minutes or skiing (or snowboarding/mtn biking, hiking) in Tahoe within a few hours! Pick your poison! There is definately NOT a shortage of entertainment either. This is a GREAT place for people who like to be outdoors. I don't have kids (or plan to), but the school system is awesome, it's SAFE in our communities, there are plenty of activites for kids (skate parks, batting cages, putting ranges, etc..)

As the saying goes, you get what you pay for...and we pay ALOT to live in the Bay area..but there aren't many other places like it either.

If you are willing to give up a larger home with a big yard for a smaller place or willing to drive a bit and get a home further North...it can be done! Affordable options like a townhouse or condo are one alterntive, and if you have the time (and patience), a fixer upper, or even building your own place on a plot of land is always an option too.

My husband and I purchased a condo and LOVE it. We don't have the stress of keeping up with a yard, or maintenence, and don't have to worry about our place being safe if we go away on vacation, etc. Plus, we were able to stay in the county and don't have to deal with a commute as much (some days are better than others, of course!)
If you need any suggestion or tips on the housing situation, please feel free to ask! I would highly recommend my realtor as well! Just let me know!

Take care and good luck.

I live in Los Gatos (right next door to San Jose).. I have a 2 bedroom, 2 bath, 1 car garage duplex, just shy of 1000 square feet. I pay $1300 a month in rent. Granted I have lived at this location for 4 years and the owner promised to never raise rent. Identical units on the street rent for $1500 which is still VERY reasonable for Los Gatos. There IS affordable housing in Northern California! You HAVE to look, and know WHERE to look (rental services that charge for property listings ARE worth it 100%!!).

Working in the Bay Area and living in say Modesto or something is ridiculous... you are saving money, but you have a 4 hour round trip commute???!!! and the good part of that is?????? What's your sanity and time worth? That is just ridiculous, in my opinion.

Yes homes here are very expensive and so are rents... BUT the STARTING salary of most CADET cop jobs here is $50k+ so it is all relative. I think most of the people that are freaking out over the housing are not taking into account the higher salaries. So do some research and you might be suprprised. Try:

www.rentalguide.com
www.bayrentals.com

etc...

Just trying to breathe some good new into this vibe

A lot of people over look coastal town south of SF. I just moved from Pacifica where I payed 1500.00 a month for a 1bd. But that was at the time when rents were the highest and it was a good deal. I heard from an old neighbor that the rents in the area were considerably less and were going even lower. If you want to avoid traffic I suggest dont try to cross the bay for work (Ie living in the east bay) working in SF and the Penninsula. Also cities like Half Moon Bay are only a 45-60 minute drive to SF and its a MUCH prettier/casual drive than the East Bay commute... Good luck!

-r.

Ditto on what relative said. No offense to anyone on the list from the East Bay of course.