Should I stay or should I go: Bay Area versus Long Beach, CA

Not so long ago a friend was discussing the benefits of staying in her townhouse in San Jose versus moving to Southern California.  She and her husband both have jobs that can be worked from about anywhere on the west coast, as long as there is an airport within 30 miles or so.

I love the Bay Area and all it has to offer.  There are redwoods within an hour's drive, there are wineries, universities, culture, fine dining, ambience, history, great public transportation, traffic, congestion, chilly summers, flights delayed due to low clouds, high priced real estate, just about everything you could wish for in an urban area.

This friend got married 6 years ago and moved into her husband's townhome.  They still have a room of unpacked boxes for when they move into a house.  It's safe to say they should move, but where can they stay convenient to their jobs, where can they actually afford a house and still have discretionary income for travel and events?

My answer?  Long Beach.

It became a very interesting discussion, via text, about the pros of living in this city by the sea and addressing each of her very valid concerns:

Her:  Can you get rid of a few million people?? [addressing the congestion issue]
Me: Considering there are less than half a million people in Long Beach, I can't.  Long Beach with 467,000 people is California's 7th largest city.  San Jose is the state's 3rd largest with 984,000.
Her:  Talking about LA in general and the traffic
Me: SJ Mercury article from Nov 2013: SJ ranks 5th worst in country for traffic while SF bay area is 3rd worst.  LA is 2nd - not much difference AND you can buy a 3bed/2bath home in a nice neighborhood for $600K
Her: really?
Me: Closest international airport is less than 25 miles away, about 10 miles closer than SJO to SFO, although you can take public transportation to SFO from SJ.  The Long Beach Airport is  terrific with lots of non-stop destinations and is less than 5 miles from the East side.  Orange County?  About 18 miles.
Her:  Okay, let me talk to [husband's name] and maybe you can start sending me some listings.

There are certainly many more areas to compare, but this was enough to pique her interest.  I'll be showing her some homes in May.  Stay tuned!

Any areas you would like me to compare for you?

Sunday in Long Beach

While my posts typically focus on something historical or interesting about Long Beach and the area, today I'm just going to share one of the reasons it's so great to live here.

March 16, 2014:  The temperature reached a high of 90 degrees on this winter day.  A little warm for me, but also a perfect day to head toward the water.

My husband and I had the same craving for an umbrella drink and an ocean view about mid-afternoon, so we set out for Seal Beach, one of our favorite spots.  Seems everyone else had the same idea and parking was not to be found.  Also, there are not a lot of options in Seal Beach to get a water view and a cocktail.  The Hangout was packed and River's End has just a tavern license - that won't work when you are looking for something with rum.  All the other great places on Main Street lack the view, although are excellent options when that's not the goal.

Like a V8 commercial I realized that the perfect spot was actually in Long Beach: Boathouse on the Bay.  There are several restaurants along Marina Drive that can give you gorgeous water views of Alamitos Bay and serve up fine drinks and food.  We chose Boathouse, as we hadn't been there since the change from McKenna's on the Bay to Boathouse on the Bay, AND they had a steel drum band playing!

It was a perfect setting - with the sweet notes of the pans, we sat outside on the patio watching the boats on the bay, sipping potent mai tais, talking about how very lucky we are to live in Southern California, and in Long Beach, specifically.

Last evening was also our monthly date night and we decided to continue the afternoon's theme by heading to Tantalum, another excellent restaurant on Alamitos Bay.  And another round of mai tais.  No steel drums, but a glorious sunset view from our table and postcard scenes as the sinking sun turned the palm trees, passing Duffy boats and lone sculler into silhouettes.

Florida is nice, the Caribbean entices, Hawaii calls, but right here in Long Beach we have tropical breezes, steel drum melodies, umbrella drinks and the relaxing sound of waves on the shore.

Long Beach, it will surprise you.

Long Beach Naval Station

In 1943, the US Naval Dry Docks were established on a large portion of Terminal Island, that mass of land that sits between Long Beach and San Pedro.  The name was changed to Terminal Island Dry Dock in 1945 and then to Long Beach Naval Shipyard (LBNSY) in 1948.  The LBNSY became part of the larger Naval Station, which included fuel storage, Marine barracks, a prison, a hospital, an airfield and training facilities.

At its height the Naval facility employed over 17,000 civilian employees and was a vital contributor to the Long Beach community.  Navy housing throughout the city, but especially on the west side, grew to support the thriving shipyard and related Naval installations. 

While in service the Naval Station was home to the U.S.S. Missouri and the U.S.S. New Jersey.  The conversion of the famous hospital ship "Hope" was also done here.  The base served as a receiving center at the start of World War II and a demobilization center at the end of it.  The shipyard closed in 1950, but was reactivated for the Korean conflict in 1951.  In 1974 the base was downgraded to a support facility, but upgraded again in 1979 to a Naval Station.

While open, many social activities also occurred around the base and the many Navy and Marine families stationed in the city.  My cousin's wedding reception was held at the Officers' Club on the base in 1976 and my aunt did all her shopping at the Commissary until it closed.  Sailors would flock to the Pike on their leave, with tattoo parlors and bars doing great business, thanks to the Naval Station.

A slowing economy and the downsizing of the military complex slated the Naval facilities for closure in the late 1990's and it officially closed in 1997.  The former LBNSY grounds are now part of the Port of Long Beach and little remains to remind us of the important contribution the Navy had to the city.

In Bluff Park, at the corner of Ocean Boulevard and Paloma Avenue stands a reminder:  The Lone Sailor, which was dedicated in December 2004.  The sailor, with his duffel bag, looks out to sea.  The statue honors all the men and women who served in the military and pays tribute to those who made Long Beach their home.

Long Beach Neighborhoods: La Marina Estates

In 2009 I wrote an essay about the La Marina Estates neighborhood that was featured on the "Everything Long Beach" website.  Here's an updated version of that essay.

Tucked between the CSULB campus and the flood channel, La Marina Estates is an enclave of mid-century tract bungalows fringed on the south by three blocks of large, custom homes.  When entering the neighborhood you are impressed with the pride of ownership shown in the many homes that have been renovated and those with beautiful landscaping.  What you can’t see right away, what is more a feeling you get when you enter the neighborhood, is the sense of belonging and caring in these 263 homes.

The community of La Marina Estates is filled with every generation and demographic: a few original owners, who have raised their children and grandchildren here, remain.  There is a family in their 20’s, just starting out in a rental home, owned by a neighbor down the street.  There is the retired college president who participates in one of the neighborhood book clubs, the Buddhist monk who gives Saturday morning mediation classes and the stand-up comedienne; the university art history and math professors, a famous author who has lived in the neighborhood more than 50 years, the fire fighter and the retired actress whose grandsons are famous on the Disney Channel and beyond.  A hairstylist who grew up a few blocks away on Bixby Hill works just half a mile away and another neighbor commutes on the Blue Line to downtown LA every day.  The retired school librarian gets together with the active city librarian; there is a pet therapist and a VA nurse, a former city manager, many small business owners, sales professionals, marketers, corporate managers, engineers and stay-at-home moms.

Neighbors know not only the names of the many dogs that live here, but their human companions, too.  You can hear them greet each other in the evenings, as they go for their walks.  The empty-nesters bring in the trash cans of their neighbors who are busy working full time and taxiing their children from school to soccer, tennis, theater rehearsals or water polo.  A neighbor in the hospital or a coyote sighting in the neighborhood has the keyboards of La Marina buzzing to get the word out via email or nextdoor.com to the book clubs, the Bunco group, the golf groups and the parents, organizing meal deliveries or making sure small pets are protected.  Women in the neighborhood meet monthly to play Bunco and collect an annual donation for local charities.  There’s the group of women that meet at 6:30 a.m. every morning a walk before heading off to their jobs.  Neighbors embrace the “think globally, act locally” mantra by supporting local charities like the neighborhood schools, Campfire, Cameo, Pathways to Independence, Long Beach Basket Brigade, local church missions and various cancer research organizations.

In the last year the neighborhood has pulled together to form La Marina Estates Community Action, a group that has had a Community Watch meeting, planted 125 trees along Palo Verde and sponsored a Candidate Forum for the 3rd District of the City Council, attended by all 5 candidates.  2014 activities are still in the planning stages.

La Marina Estates is a caring enclave that is as pretty inside as it is outside, another wonderful neighborhood that makes Long Beach a great place to thrive.

Houses do not come up for sale very often in the neighborhood and some of the sales are done privately, off the market.  There is almost a waiting list to get in.  I am working with buyers who want to move here by knocking on the doors of those houses that fit their wish list.  Sometimes there are not any houses for sale.  At this moment, there are two.  Few people want to leave La Marina Estates.

How may I help you get into the neighborhood of your dreams?