So Irvine is the most expensive place to live in the US?

[miri]

Hard to believe, I know it is expensive around here but did not know it was that expensive.

Well at least when I move, just about everywhere else will seem cheap.

From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irvine,_California

In 2006, the median gross rent paid for housing was $1,660 a month. This was the highest of any place in the United States of more than 100,000 people.[4] The skyrocketing high cost of housing is a major issue in Irvine and Orange County, while the city council is on a frantic pace to approve future income-subsidized housing projects to meet the demands of working-class citizens to live and work in Irvine or elsewhere in Orange County. Like much of Orange County, more resident voters are registered in the Republican Party than the Democratic Party [5].

 

[Howard]

Major issue? It'll fix itself.

 

[Ns1]

uh I've seen way higher rent than Irvine around SoCal...

Hell rent around USC/Westside is way higher than Irvine.

 

[Imported]

1600 gets you a shitty apartment at Parkwest. I hated those apartments went I went to UCI.

 

[aplefka]

No way dude. Aptos has gotta be up there. I actually thought that was like one of the top 3 most expensive places to live. And it's definitely higher than that.

While we're talking about Orange County, I just had an odd experience at Walgreens. Standing outside smoking a cigarette by my car and this guy comes up asking for a buck. Then he asks if I've got another smoke. So I give him my pack of cigs while I'm fumbling around for some quarters and then give him my lighter. He says thanks after I give him the quarters and starts to walk off. Then he asks if I've got any weed or speed.

AND he kept my lighter which I didn't realize til he was already gone. :|

 

[AccruedExpenditure]

wtf is aptos

 

[aplefka]

Originally posted by: AccruedExpenditure
wtf is aptos

Near Santa Cruz.

 

[mugs]

Yeah that's surprising. I remember reading in one of the New York papers a while back about some examples of extreme apartment prices. Something in the range of $300k + $500 monthly maintenance for a 150 sq ft co-op with a shared bathroom down the hall. Basically a college dorm room for the cost of a 3 bedroom house in the suburbs. Obviously that is an extreme, but I'm surprised that someplace in CA has higher average rent than Manhattan.

 

[The Boston Dangler]

typically, san francisco, manhattan and boston are the most expensive. no list is concrete.

 

[Pepsei]

cheap food in NYC, from the vendors.

 

[HamSupLo]

there is so much open space for development in irvine, though

 

[deejayshakur]

irvine sucks unless you love suburbia.

 

[her209]

Originally posted by: NeuroSynapsis
uh I've seen way higher rent than Irvine around SoCal...

Hell rent around USC/Westside is way higher than Irvine.

I've lived in both areas and can honestly Irvine is fucking ridiculously overpriced. The Irvine Company has a monopoly in this area (ARRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGG!!!!!).

 

[her209]

Originally posted by: HamSupLo
there is so much open space for development in irvine, though

Its probably owned by the Irvine Company.

 

[magomago]

Originally posted by: her209

Originally posted by: HamSupLo
there is so much open space for development in irvine, though

Its probably owned by the Irvine Company.

ding ding...

I live here - going to UCI...and yes its expensive. I don't plan on living here just because if you own a house here you bought it a long time ago when the prices were more reasonable, or you have so much money you feel like pissing it away.

On a side note - if you can get 6 guys or so, its cheaper just to rent a house further from campus in the mid to high 2K per month vs dealing with shitty housing like colombia, harvard, and berkely court who are now between 1.9k to 2.2k a month for their 700-800 ft^2 crap fests.

the irvine company is reallllly smart, and VERY profitable...kind of like "debeers" of the land industry in this area. There is a lot of space to build, but they hold back.

Oh - and their city planning sucks balls. Roads NOT being straight create massive headaches if you aren't intimately familiar with the area...and hitting ever red light is massively stupid. Even the urban planning grad students here think it sucks...
I have NO idea how Irvine bills itself as the "best planned community...in the WORLDD"

 

[Epic Fail]

The stat is misleading, it compares rent without taking the size of house/apartment into consideration.

 

[Passions]

It's like plesantville over there.

Everything is perfectly built. The houses look exactly the same.

Lowest crime of any city in the US.

Everything closes at 9PM. You can't eat out anywhere past 9.

Great for families, sucks for young people.

 

[PetunZ]

San Fran is twice as expensive as Irvine

 

[Ns1]

Originally posted by: Imported
1600 gets you a shitty apartment at Parkwest. I hated those apartments went I went to UCI.

parkwest is the armpit of orange county lol




but 500 got my friend a 1br in VDC which was ridiculously baller, while I paid 600 to share a room in the middle of the ghetto @USC

Originally posted by: yamadakun
The stat is misleading, it compares rent without taking the size of house/apartment into consideration.

very true

 

[Imported]

Originally posted by: NeuroSynapsis

Originally posted by: Imported
1600 gets you a shitty apartment at Parkwest. I hated those apartments went I went to UCI.

parkwest is the armpit of orange county lol




but 500 got my friend a 1br in VDC which was ridiculously baller, while I paid 600 to share a room in the middle of the ghetto @USC

VDC was a steal if you got in. I only stayed in Parkwest for a year cause of not getting into CV that year.

 

[GregGreen]

Some of you are forgetting that this is a "median" not "average" price. There are shit tons of crappy places to live in LA or NYC and the very highly priced places would have almost no effect on a median. If you live somewhere without all the crappy places, it wouldn't be hard to have a high median.

 

[foghorn67]

Originally posted by: magomago

Originally posted by: her209

Originally posted by: HamSupLo
there is so much open space for development in irvine, though

Its probably owned by the Irvine Company.

ding ding...

--edit--I hit reply before typing. argh.
There is a map of the area in most of our breakrooms. It's a satellite photo breaking up the cities and development areas. Shows John Wayne Airport to the foothills. They really do run the town. It's a good 'ol boy system refined.

 

[WildHorse]

Irvine is NOT the most expensive place to live in the US. Bad info.

Montecito, Rancho Santa Fe, Hillsborough, SFO, even Laguna Beach and Newport Beach near Irvine are all MUCH more expensive than Irvine. Plenty more places too that are more expensive, and that's just in California, not to mention Boston, NYC, etc.

Irvine's not that expensive. Some of those other locations I mentioned have higer real estate, higher gasoline, food, clothing, etc. and much higher median personal income.

I happen to live in one of those places.

You have bad info.

 

[Imported]

Originally posted by: scott
Irvine is NOT the most expensive place to live in the US. Bad info.

Montecito, Rancho Santa Fe, Hillsborough, SFO, even Laguna Beach and Newport Beach near Irvine are all MUCH more expensive than Irvine. Plenty more places too that are more expensive, and that's just in California, not to mention Boston, NYC, etc.

Irvine's not that expensive. Some of those other locations I mentioned have higer real estate, higher gasoline, food, clothing, etc. and much higher median personal income.

I happen to live in one of those places.

You have bad info.

OP states population of over 100,000. I don't think the median rent in SFO is $1600+ either.

 

[Capt Caveman]

OP's topic is misleading. Rent is not the only indicator in determining the most expensive place to live.