L.A. area knowledge requested

In My Humble Opinion
1

(Denver familiarity or computer market experience a plus)

okay, In my job search It seems I may have a job possibility in the San Bernardino area. Nothing certain, but it seems that I will be making a salary request soon, and I know knothing about southern Cali and at the moment will be talking out of my ass. So I have no idea how to estimate the salary request.
I have looked at the online cost-of-living calulators and the apartment listings, but I could really some flesh’n’blood experience advice.

Realistic ideas about salary of San Bernardino vs Denver.

Anybody happen to know what an experienced(DBA,SA, development,customer support but nothing in depth, jack of all trades computer support) tier-3 application support guy with masters gets out there?

In lieu of that, so I can get a feeling, do you know what a 700ish sq. ft. 2bd apt. goes for in the San Berardino area goes for. I’m a big single guy with no family and nothing of real value, so I’m not overly worried about ‘interesting’ neighborhoods(in fact I kind of enjoy them) but I’d like to avoid anywhere that moving in my big screen TV is going to put a “rob me now” bullseye on my house. The kind of place where a big ugly slob can walk a couple blocks home drunk for the bar and not worry too much about somebody sticking a gun in my face.(For example for the Denver area knowledgeable folks; I’m pretty comfortable anywhere here, but I’d like a notch up from the bad neighborhoods in Aurora, and certainly nothing worse, but Capital hill or better is just about my speed). So what would I be paying for that apartment. within a 20 minute commute limit; a 40 minute limit, or an hour limit.

Thanks a lot guys.

2

First things first: Do Not Live In San Bernardino!!!

I live across the valley from that dump. Give me some idea as to where you will be working and I’ll try to steer you in some decent directions. Stranger On A Train commutes into SB from Pasadena, so he can give you some ideas as well.

A quick glance at the paper shows 2-bedroom apartments in not-ghetto neighborhoods go from the $850 range up.

3

Ha! I grew up in San Bernardino and now reside in Los Angeles, and on top of that, I have tons of family in Denver. Wow I’m your dream question-answerer!

Well, I haven’t lived in SB in over 5 years now but from what few friends I have that still live out there have told me, living in SB isn’t as expensive as the rest of so Cal - probably not much more expensive than living in Denver.

There are key places in San Bernardino you should consider living in: the “Northend” which is right by Cal State San Bernardino, or by Arrowhead Country Club. I highly recommend not living anywhere else. There are no “cutsey” neighborhoods in SB and pretty much nothing will be walking distance unless you live by Cal State. The rest of San Bernardino is very comparable to Aurora. Not sure what the job market is like but you can get by pretty comfortably on 40K a year. Not sure about the rent, either - I’m guessing maybe like $800-900 for a 2 bedroom?

If you’re willing to commute, I highly recommend moving to the nearby suburb named Redlands. Very posh, sort-of has culture, has good dining for the area, etc. It’s like a 20 min commute to San Bernardino. Riverside is close and has some really nice areas too. Actually, the more I think about it, there are a lot of nice suburbs you can move to: Rancho Cucamonga, Ontario are nice too and I hear some fancy new mall just opened in Rancho Cucamonga.

Oh yeah, don’t ever say San Bernardino near L.A. You are no where near L.A. You are an hour east and you have to drive on the hellish freeway known as the 10 through miles and miles of cow farms. I am not kidding you. The smell of manure always makes me think of the commute from San Bernardino to Los Angeles.

4

Don’t call it Cali.

5

First off, I’m not sure how familiar you are with the geography (and hierarchy) of Southern California, so here’s a brief sketch.

First off, you’ll need to know that we all define each other by our area codes. It’s silly, but it’s pretty accurate in nailing down where someone lives.

If you’re looking at LA on a map, you’ll see that Los Angeles proper (323 area code) is to the west. To the south and east (along the coast) is Orange County (714 and 949). Directly to the east is Pasadena (626), then the San Gabriel valley. Pricing for housing in the San Gabriel Valley is roughly proportional to how close to Pasadena it is. That is to say that the further you are from Pasadena, the cheaper it gets. If you keep going east, but stay close to the mountains, you start to hit the Inland Empire. Most of this area is pretty good (except for Pomona). Asimovian and I live in San Dimas, which is nice because it’s pretty much equadistant from San Bernadino, Los Angeles, and Orange County.

San Bernardino is generally regarded as one of the armpits of the LA Basin (with Riverside being the other armpit). The weather is much hotter there than in Los Angeles, and it is VERY smoggy in the summer. I’m sure there are some redeeming characteristics, but I can’t think of any right now. Oh, I guess it’s close to Arrowhead and Big Bear for skiing, so there’s that. :rolleyes:

Personally, I would suggest looking in Ontario (but be VERY careful of the neighborhood because it’s a very mixed bag), or generally look for areas near the 210 freeway. Typically, the foothill communities are pretty nice. Look at Fontana (it’s gotten a lot better over the past 10 years), Rancho Cucamonga (it’s fun to say), Alta Loma, Upland, Claremont (pricy, but a cool college town). I’ve heard that Chino isn’t too bad either, but I haven’t personally lived there. I would say that you should expect to pay at least $1000 for a 2br apartment. All of these are within about 30 minutes of San Bernardino. Also, the eastbound commute is usually a TON easier than a westbound commute on this side of LA. My 12-mile commute only takes me about 15 minutes.

As for the salary, you will usually make more the closer to LA you get. However, you get to deal with more traffic in exchange.

6

Pasadena is fairly expensive. I think better deals are coming up but last year I signed a lease for a 475 sq. foot studio apartment in the crappiest neighbourhood of Pasadena north of the 210 and it costs me a 1000$ a month but at least my utilities are included and it’s completely newly renovated on the inside. Even then, it’s not that bad. I’m a very short non-threatening looking chick and I don’t feel uncomfortable about living there although I would not personally walk outside after dark (drug runs). Most of the reasonably nice 1 bedrooms in the better areas I was looking at started at (and these were tiny, like 700 sq. feet) $1100.

OTOH, I can say that paying to live in Pasadena is well worth it for me. I avoided the “West Side” which I was told had more people my age, mostly because of the commuting times. Old Town (restaurants/bar area) is pretty fun and neighbourhoods like Echo Park, Hollywood and Silverlake are not that far away. I like being able to go shopping at Whole Paycheck and Trader Yuppie and Vromans and be able to find easy parking. I don’t know how old you are (I’m 27) but there seem to be quite a few young working professionals in the area.

I can’t speak to the commuting times because I work in the other direction and am one of 5 people in the area who takes the Metro to work (j/k).

7

Listen to the sage silenus. I’m also using my psychic powers to make sure Stranger sees this thread to give you his take on the 909.

Yup. I work in the 213 and live in the 626 (although I used to live in the 323), but I’d wouldn’t want to live in the 909. Not just because my commute would be horrendous, but I don’t like the weather (too hot and smoggy). Also, from what I understand, if you’re a single guy living in San Bernadino, your social opportunities will be more limited than if you lived closer in to LA.

I can’t help you with salary, but I will say that based on what I know of Denver, cost of living is much higher out here. Good luck, and don’t move to San Bernadino! :smiley:

8

Not much more to add to what the others have said, but one comment: I don’t think you’ll be able to find a two bedroom apartment less than about 900 sqft. As for going rates, try starting with several websites that have apartment listings (do a google search). They’ll give you an idea of what to expect for prices and features.

9

The greater LA area is huge. The triangle roughly formed by San Bernadino to Ventura to San Clemente (the third side of the triangle being the Pacific Ocean) can take hours to drive across if you are going from one end to another during “rush hour”. A single accident on one freeway can cause you to have to drive for 15 minutes or more at 20 miles an hour.

San Bernardino is not the town with the most cachet in the greater LA area but if you hate driving or don’t want a long commute to work, then live close to where you work, preferably in the same city, if you plan on staying at your job for a long period of time; or think carefully how much time you are willing to waste every day to live in a nicer area - would you want to drive 30 minutes to work each way? 1 hour? I have had colleagues that drove 2 hours to work (each way) every day! And remember that the distance in miles to your office does not give you an accurate idea of the travel time. I always limit my job searches to the city I live in or one of the cities that border it. At my current job (before the company moved), the commute time would be 10-15 minutes when there was no traffic but 35-45 minutes around 18:00 (6:00 PM).

Salary ranges: I would go to a nationwide site like monster.com, check for similar jobs in the area, and make your mind up from there. Sorry, but I have no estimates to give you.

10

Doesn’t Metrolink run the other way out to San Bernadino? I take the Metro into downtown L.A. but I know people who commute from pretty far out (Rancho Cucamonga environs) to downtown with Metrolink. Then again, the train station to your job might be the biggest problem.

11

The Metrolink is fantastic (I commuted from Claremont to downtown for a while, and my husband commutes from Covina to downtown). The only problem is that the trains running opposite of the usual traffic don’t come very often. For example, you can arrive in San Bernardino at 7:45am, 10:40am, or 12:50pm. That’s it for the morning schedule. Not to mention that it can be pricey if your employer doesn’t subsidize it.

12

Easier just to find a place to live in Redlands, Loma Linda or Highland. We still need to know what wolfman means by “San Bernardino area.” That encompasses a bunch of territory.

13

Yeah, but unfortunately I don’t know what it means yet. It’s still at the point where the recruiter is afraid of clients going behind her back, directly to the company, So I don’t know the Company yet, and all I got out of her was “L.A/San Bernardino area.”

Thanks, for the help guys.

14

It’s true. I have a friend who’s a DEA agent, and when he says “The 909,” he’s referring to the place where all the meth labs are (or were, I think).

15

“L.A./San Bernardino area” probably means Rancho Cucamonga/Ontario/Claremont.

When you get more specifics, let us know. We can narrow it down quite a bit for you.

16

The 909: In a word, yech. (;

That being said, there are better and worse bits. Others have covered the topic in great detail, but let me just throw in with the camp that warns you off of San Bernardino (home of McDonalds, Gene Hackman, and the Hell’s Angel). Not only is it a shithole, but unless you’re into the gang-banger scene there just isn’t much of interest there. Ditto for Grand Terrace, Rialto, and the eastern bit of Fontana. As you move west toward Rancho and Upland things get a bit better, but also proportionally pricer. Several of my young and single coworkers live in Riverside and tolerate it well enough but it ain’t what I’d call a happening place.

DVsickgirlDV recommended Redlands. For the most part, Redlands is a pretty decent place, but it is the archtype of the term “bedroom community”; pretty much everything is shut down after 9pm. And in Loma Linda, even the gas stations are closed on Saturday. (The town was founded and largely populated by Seventh Day Adventists…but it also has the best hospital in the area.) As silunus mentioned, I do the commute from Pasadena to San Berdo, which I don’t recommend; although the traffic isn’t nearly as bad as others have alluded to, it is 50+ minutes each way, and every bit as pricey as anu-la1979 says. So for housing, Riverside, Rancho, or enjoy your quiet nights in Redlands.

As for salary comparison between San Bernardino versus Denver, I don’t know that I can really provide much. I’m vaguely familiar with costs in Denver (as it happens, I’m actually in a hotel room in South Denver as I write) and as far as San Bernardino, I have a job with a major aerospace company earning oodles more money that I was being offered in the Midwest. I’d multiply your expected salary in Denver by say 1.3, but that’s just a random stab. Everything is more expensive–gas, food, and especially housing–but don’t let that completely scare you off; you do also have the mountains, the ocean, and all the beautiful movie star people, my favorites being Val Kilmer telling a production assistant that she was a f*ing ct, and Drew Barrymore loudly gabbing her way through the entirity of the director’s cut release of Donnie Darko.

And that’s all I know for tonight. Now I’m going to go pass out.

Stranger

17

I can’t match the wealth of data already given, but I can add that a 1000 sq. ft. 2-bedroom apartment in Riverside will set you back somewhere between $900 and $1100 a month, depending on the quality of the building.

(But Stranger is right…Riverside ain’t a happening place.)

18

I went to law school in San Diego. I got my first legal job in Riverside. Comparatively, Riverside is kind of a dump.

Then, I had to go to court in San Bernardino. Let’s just say San Bernardino makes Riverside look like the Garden of Eden. DO NOT LIVE THERE. Stay away from Carousel Mall.

The smog is horrible. All of the crap from LA blows east into San Bernardino and gets stuck there because of the mountains.

The partner of the firm took me to lunch one day in San Bernardino when I first moved into the area. He looked around downtown San Bernardino from the car and said, “On the seventh day, when God rested, his asshole landed right on San Bernardino.”

[Aside: There’s also a big hill in Riverside with a big letter “C” marked on the side near I-215. I asked the partner of the firm what the “C” stood for. He said, “Morena Valley… We can’t say much for the schools around here.” (Morena Valley is a nearby city).]

19

[Aside: There’s also a big hill in Riverside with a big letter “C” marked on the side near I-215. I asked the partner of the firm what the “C” stood for. He said, “Morena Valley… We can’t say much for the schools around here.” (Morena Valley is a nearby city).]
[/QUOTE]

Actually the “C” is supposed to represent University of California, Riverside. I went there for my undergrad, and don’t ask me why it’s a C… it just is!

On a sidenote, a popular work out for many UCR students is to “hike to the C”

20

Sexist! :smiley: It’s Moreno Valley.

They were pretty much stuck with a “C” for Cal, because Redlands and Upland already claimed the other initials. I did grad work at UCR…not a bad school at all.