Great place if you can afford it.
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1/20/2008
Santa Monica is notable for its virtual absence of weather - it never gets especially cold or hot - outdoor activities are possible and pleasant year round.
Whether it's the beach or the symphony, virtually any activity is within striking distance. We are peasants; we live and work in Santa Monica. That makes the traffic here more livable. Rush hour on the local roads and freeways hasn't reached 24/7 status yet but it gets closer every year. Commutes are measured in time not distance - even short trips on the wrong stretch of freeway can take forever.
Don't let the population figure fool you. Santa Monica melds seemlessly into Los Angeles and therefore has some of both the problems and the benefits that you would associate with a much larger city.
Much of the "affordable" housing stock here dates originally to the early part of the 20th century. We've owned two houses that were both built in 1938.
Although many of these homes have seen updates since then, some are perilously close to original condition. Our first house, purchased around 1999, was still powered by a 30 Amp fuse box. For the non-electrical among you that means don't try to run the toaster and the hair dryer at the same time.
Many of the houses are small by modern standards - 2000 square feet is a pretty big house by Santa Monica standards - not surprising. A two bedroom, 1 bath in 1000 sq. ft. in the Sunset Park district could set you back a million dollars. North of Montana avenue, where I grew up, I doubt that a million dollars would buy you a bare dirt lot.
In a perfect world, I'd never leave. But given that the world isn't perfect we are seriously talking about moving. We love this city and have deep roots here. But we hope to retire someday on a diet of something more upscale then pet food.
Our current property tax bill alone is over $8000.00 a year. A caution - that figure is based on what we paid for a very "affordable" house five years ago. The bill would be much higher if you purchased the house today. The money that we should be putting in our 401k for retirement goes to pay mortgage, insurance and property taxes.
Santa Monica is a wonderful place to live in so many ways except for the cost. Coming from most zip codes in the U.S, you'll need to sharply lower your expectations regarding housing when moving here. Even then you'll be paying dearly for those lowered expectations.
In return, however, you'll be getting about the most pleasant climate available in the U.S. and access to more recreation and cultural opportunities then you can ever hope to take advantage of.
Richard | Santa Monica, CA