I have decided to move to the west coast (san Diego Calif.) to be exact. Now I am looking to see how hard it will be to find an apartment by phone and internet from the east coast. I thought there were apartment complexes that accepted the Housing choice Voucher and I have found none. How could that be? Here in Mass almost every single place accepts the voucher. How could Calif. discriminate? I know absolutely no one there. I have to move from MASS tho, I am going nuts with the weather! And another scary thing is that everyone says I wont last long b/c it is too expensive. That crushes me.
Hi. I think if you want to move, you should and don't listen to what other people say. If you think you can do it, then that's all that matters.
I always wanted to live in California and I think you're really brave, moving to a place where you don't know anyone.
Anywayz, you have a whole year to plan everything, so by the time you move everything will be worked out.
SoCal is really expensive. Also I think that housing vouchers out here are issued on a county/city specific basis. Most likely they won't take your voucher because its from another state. As far as I know the wait for housing assistance is at least two years, but I live up in los angeles county so I don't know how long the wait in SD is right now.
Don't let me dissuade you though if you want to give it a shot. It is possible to make it in SoCal you may want to look at areas that aren't directly on the beach, those tend to be cheaper.
I found my place at www.westsiderentals.com The membership is $60, but it's a wonderful resource.
I know nothing about low income housing here, but I used low income childcare for a while.
I have seen some apsrtment complexes that accept low income, but they have very long wait lists.
I move from New york to flordia with little to no money. call the housing department they can usually send a list of apartments that take vouchers. Everyones just scared for you. Ask someone to set aside money to take a bus back if thing don't work out. You wont use it, It's just to insure everyone that you have an alternitive if shit hits the fan.
Hi...I've been thinking of moving from nyc to Florida also but all my fears are holding me back. I dream of living in a bigger place, maybe even have a yard. Living in nyc, in a closet-size apt paying $900/month is driving me nuts and I cannot stand the subway anymore...um since when do people not cover their mouths when they yawn? and what does it take to get a seat? pregnant, elderly, disabled, woman with baby....all don't seem to matter when you're riding with NYC transit.
Miguelsmommy, if you could fill me in on how you made the move from nyc to florida, anything would help, thanks!
I just left San Diego, and it's a GREAT place.
But the cost of housing really IS beyond belief. Buying a home today is out of reach for the overwhelming majority of residents, and that has definitely affected the rental market as well.
We had to spend a LOT of money to rent an apartment. And it's going up a lot each year too. We decided we needed to change locations after 2 years in one complex, but by then, we couldn't find any other apartments that compared, for the same money to stay on where we already were (they'll only increase your rent so much, year to year, but new people pay more).
We still ended up moving, but the next apartment wasn't as nice, at it cost notably more (it was still a good move because of our commutes).
It is such a great city though, espcially to raise kids, and going to school there was super easy, compared to other places I've lived. There are several good community colleges, that can help you out a lot (sometimes, there's a lot of legwork, but it's worth it), and they'll help you transfer to the good universities in the area.
There's even a lot of free or cheap entertainment, and obviously, it's hard to beat the weather.