I just returned from a little California vacation and have been reminiscing on my younger years living in Santa Barbara and Los Angeles. We live in a tiny town on the Oregon Coast where it is very inexpensive, but also very lonely and hard hit by the bad economy. We think now and again of relocating to a place where we might find folk of our same ilk, where it's perhaps a little warmer, a little friendlier, and a little more prosperous- and yes, a lot more TIKI !
My question is this: Does anyone have any recommendations (rural to metropolitan)on where a small family might find an old fixer ranch home for cheap in a relaxed, cool community that won't take both parents and two roommates working full time to pay the rent? Or does that just not exist anymore?
cheers,
Seamus

Seamus,
I live in the Inland Empire in So Cal. Its just east of LA & Orange Counties. The communities are clean and safe and regarding pricing, its rather affordable compared to the rest of the LA/OC Metro area.

I recently sold my Condo in Chino Hills after living there for a number of years. It's a great little town that's very family & community oriented - concerts at the park every Wednesday, huge community events every July 4th, great schools, etc.

About 2 weeks ago I moved 5 miles east to Corona. A lot of families are moving out here too. A LOT! It's very competitive in pricing and even cheaper than Chino Hills but the homes are just as nice. From here, OC is only about 20 mins away, 30-40 mins to beach cities. And LA is about 45 minutes away.

Of course, all of this information may or may not be relative to what you are looking for. But I have 2 kids and am happy to raise my family out here.

Just my 2 cents. Good luck on your search.

**Poly-Pop ***

[ Edited by: PolynesianPop on 2003-08-02 15:19 ]

Oh, I'm sure you want to know what home pricing is in our area. Here in Corona, I paid around $350k for this:

http://www.roddelnewhomesales.com/newhomes/plans/griffinencore_1.html

Thanks Poly-Pop. We never really know what we're looking for. It usually ends up being on the fringe. Nice place you got there. 350K would buy two or three pretty nice homes here. And you might even get an ocean view! Maybe I should stop my California dreamin and start recruiting TCers up this way and start our own little Tiki Town !

On 2003-08-02 15:24, PolynesianPop wrote:
Oh, I'm sure you want to know what home pricing is in our area. Here in Corona, I paid around $350k for this:

http://www.roddelnewhomesales.com/newhomes/plans/griffinencore_1.html

So Pop, which one of the rooms on that floorplan is gonna be your tiki bar?

Seamus, there's plenty of fixer uppers, affordable housing where I live and in nearby communities. Good 'n Plenty.

Hmmm.... I did actually like Modesto and surroundings, and got that feeling things might be a little better there, but that heat!! Jeez man, how do you take it? Maybe we'll swing thru there during the winter months(do you have winter there?)when I can get out of the car for more than a few minutes at a time, and take a closer look.
thanks!!

Seamus, as soon as you left it got cooler, haha. Actually it's been cooling down to low 90's, tolerable. The rest of this week, same. I hear ya' on the heat, it's like walking into an oven. I just drink a helluva lotta water and wear a big hat. That's how I deal with it. The winters are cold and sometimes the sun won't shine for a couple weeks. Some people get depressed but it's all in attitude. Above the clouds the sun is shinin' bright. As for me if it rains too much I start gettin' stir crazy. I gotta get out and play in the dirt or carve. Spring and fall are temperate in the 70's generally. Mick (the other carver here) is the only tiki friend nearby. It would be cool to have you around. Come on down to da' country braddah. Growth will be phenomenal here for the next 20 years. Plenty of land left.

There are homes in the low to mid 100s here in Vegas :)
the s.f. valley still has sweet little ranch homes in the low to mid 200's

Wherever I choose to live, it has to be on the California coast.
So what the hell am I financially trying to say?
I shall retire in a Volkswagen van , down by the shore break, at the beach state park!
Note: Free cold showers!

On 2003-08-02 19:24, martiki6 wrote:

So Pop, which one of the rooms on that floorplan is gonna be your tiki bar?

I was originally going to use the loft as the tiki bar but I decided against it because I didn't want to worry about people going up and down the stairs with sticky, syrupy drinks. Instead, I'm going to wall-out the Single car garage space and make that the tiki room. It should work great for parties because its just outside the downstairs bathroom and I can use it's roll-up door as the main entrance.

We're doing the whole house Island style. Hula girl theme in my daughters room, vintage 60's surf in my son's room, Hapa Hawaiian/Tiki in the Master Bdrm as well as the rest of the house, and of course classic Don Beach/Trader Vic's style tiki bar in the garage which I'm christening "Poly Pop's Enchanted Huki-lounge."

Got lots of stuff to do first before I can get started on the fun stuff -- like unpacking!

Sorry I hijacked your thread Seamus...

**Poly-Pop ***

[ Edited by: PolynesianPop on 2003-08-03 11:19 ]

On 2003-08-02 23:31, Unga Bunga wrote:
Wherever I choose to live, it has to be on the California coast.
So what the hell am I financially trying to say?
I shall retire in a Volkswagen van , down by the shore break, at the beach state park!
Note: Free cold showers!

Unga Bunga, I feel your pain! This year Santa Cruz was voted most expensive place in the country to live. I love it too much to leave! It's going to be apartment living forever.

What about further north? Humbolt, Eureka? Granted, it's not Santa Cruz or SoCal, but there are some charming places. Does the cost of housing come down enough in any of those areas to make it worth considering?

Hey Seamus,
Sorry, I didn't mean to bring a downer to your post. When a 1-bedroom condo in Carmel can go for a million dollars, yes, we do have a problem. I went to Humboldt State and LOVED the area, but I grew up in Orange County and San Diego, and just can't live without the sun. if you can live with the rain, then you are "home free"!

Quote:Does the cost of housing come down enough in any of those areas to make it worth considering?
Yes, do it, before the next "gold rush" begins1

[ Edited by: Unga Bunga on 2003-08-04 01:36 ]

Hukilau Brown here on the board is living your dream - only it's in a very hipster mobile home! He's got a space overlooking PCH and a quick drive to downtown Santa MOnica... So there you can afford it.

Or also try Ventura - this is a great town to find more affordable homes in a nice beachside community.

Seamus,

I know this doesn't help, but I always liked to think that 'home' isn't necessarily where you live, but where you belong...

Aloha