Calif dreamin' or Calif nightmare?
-
8/16/2008
I'm a bay area native. Many tourists visit here every year, drawn to landmarks like the Golden Gate bridge, cable cars, The Palace of Fine Arts and more. What visitors probably don't realize is how difficult and expensive it is to reside in the bay area.
SF is one of the costliest cities in the world. Many of us reside in suburbs of SF, where homes are less expensive, schools are generally better, etc. But compared to most of the US, all of the bay area is expensive. Sticker shock is common for new arrivals.
The term suburb has been applied to cities that are, in fact, quite distant from SF or Oakland. Antioch is a good example. Traffic in/out of Antioch is horrible. We rely on cars, since Bay Area Rapid Transit (or BART, our version of a subway) does not extend to Antioch. Residents have paid taxes for BART since the 1970s.
Schools are generally low-performing when compared to nearby districts. Crime has become increasingly common, even in "good" neighborhoods. Foreclosures are rampant in the two Antioch zip codes (94509/94531). Many homes have seen a drop of 50% in value from market peak. Combined with the astronomical cost of transportation and increasing unemployment, California is not the dream it may appear to be. I love California, but I know my days here are numbered. I simply cannot survive financially.
sherry | Antioch, CA