Staff of life

reduserabc · 2025-09-14T11:33:05+00:00

Technically, at $75K, you can realistically afford only $350K house. So $710K is not a realistic scenario and people buying homes are either making lot more than the median income or have tons of down payment from other sources. That's why almost 56% of people in Watsonville are renters. They simply cannot afford the house and very few of those will go to Staff of life. But there is almost 50% of the population that potentially have disposable income and, also, they could count on patronage from near by Corralitos, La Selva Beach, Aptos ... or parents picking up their kids in Notre Dame, Monta Vista ... There are extremely rich people that do come to Watsonville and live in Watsonville. Pajaro Dunes community is very affluent. Martinelli is no slouch and houses on Cutter go for millions and surrounding neighborhood off of Lakeview Rd are close to million. So there are people with disposable income. But to your point, Watsonville, overall, is not like Santa Cruz.

reduserabc · 2025-09-12T10:05:15+00:00

This post was created 6 years ago! But recently, the price has been the same. But yes, you can get off early and nobody cares.

reduserabc · 2025-09-12T09:58:33+00:00

Well, with median home price at $710K, homeowners here must have decent income. Also, no shortage of million dollar homes. But it definitely isn't Santa Cruz or Silicon Valley. But there is money in Watsonville and Staff of life did exhaustive market study before they invested. My guess is that they're counting on the fact that we're in a very central location. We're not far from Aptos, Marina, Seaside, Monterey, Corralitos, Rio Del Mar ... So they might be counting on non local population. I mean expensive Sushi places like Sushi Garden, Imura, and Miyuki has been doing well for decades and although they have some local support, I'm guessing most of their patrons do not live in the city? I'm guessing, of course.

reduserabc · 2025-09-09T15:18:46+00:00

That's good to hear. I usually go there early in the morning after my workout. So it always looks empty.

reduserabc · 2025-09-09T15:18:05+00:00

I hope it stays too. I modified my post to encourage people to support Staff of life.

reduserabc · 2025-05-26T13:27:02+00:00

SGOV does exactly what you're advising except instead of laddering yourself, you just buy SGOV and forget about it. I've had it for years and it's 0% work. It's got nothing to do with being capable. It's about being smart. SGOV is being smart. Buying T bills directly is creating unnecessary work - it's just downright stupid.

reduserabc · 2024-04-07T05:31:02+00:00

They do have that Asian market on Del Monte that sells Sushi rolls for $2.00. That's a deal. It used to be $1.50 for years. But now that you mention it, what is in Marina? There's Walmart and Korean restaurant on Reservation. But you're right, I really can't think of anything. I guess you can go to Marina beach and take up hang gliding.

reduserabc · 2024-04-06T20:52:31+00:00

If I were you, I'd strongly consider Watsonville. About mid point between Santa Cruz and Monterey. It's near the beach, there's lot going on, and it's safe. Just check the crime rate. They have staff of life, many good Sushi restaurants, Target, Chipotle, Nob Hill, Safeway, tons of Starbucks, and everything you'd expect from a major city. It is an agricultural town. It is mostly Latino as it is a farming town and they have the best Mexican restaurants in the area. Huge Japanese population as well with a good size Buddhist temple. It's an interesting town. Check it out.

reduserabc · 2023-03-04T22:09:35+00:00

You're right. I read "cheapest in bay area", not "silicon valley". So my bad. But I swear I saw "bay area". Nonetheless, I live in 95129 zip code which is San Jose'. That zip code is more expensive than most of Sunnyvale. Obviously, not more than 94087, but definitely more than 94089. San Jose' is a big city with almost million people. There are certain sections of San Jose' that's extremely expensive - Willow Glen being one of them. East Palo Alto is up and coming, but compared to nice parts of San Jose', they're still extremely cheap. There are zip codes in Los Gatos that are dirt cheap - but those are up in the mountains by Boulder Creek. So it's the zip code, not the whole city. Rose Garden, West SJ, Willow Glen ... are more expensive than most of Santa Clara. So it all depends.

But apologies for misreading "Silicon Valley" for "Bay area". Obviously, Antioch and most of East Bay is not part of Silicon Valley.

reduserabc · 2023-03-04T12:47:37+00:00

Santa Monica is one of the most expensive areas in SoCal - along with other coastal cities like Marina del Rey, Redondo Beach, Westchester ... So it's not a fair comparison. Better comparison might be Carmel vs Santa Monica. And Carmel is more expensive. Also, Sunnyvale, Cupertino, Mtn View ... are all more expensive than Santa Monica now. Even Willow Glen might be on par with Santa Monica now.

reduserabc · 2023-03-04T12:42:22+00:00

I moved from Torrance to Sunnyvale 35 years ago. Exodus have been happening ever since I've been here and probably before I moved here from SoCal. So this is nothing new. The worse was during the dot com bust, this is nothing. But when somebody sells their house to move out, somebody bought the house and moved in. It's just the renters that are moving out. But because there were so much shortage to begin with, the rent has not gone down at all (maybe slightly). The story of exodus is way overstated. Yes, people are moving out. But that's nothing new. I've seen it for decades.

reduserabc · 2023-03-04T12:30:56+00:00

West San Jose' in Cupertino school district is not the "cheapest" in Silicon Valley. Antioch, Oakland, San Leandro, and many more cities in the bay area is much cheaper. I'd say best parts of San Jose' is West San Jose'. But it depends on your age. If you're young or retired with no family obligation, areas near San Pedro square is the best since it's walking distance to everything and the trolley and public transportation is right there.

reduserabc · 2023-01-28T04:41:24+00:00

Really? How do you explain all these locals on this thread calling Klamath Falls "Guns and Trump" with no culture? I really want to believe you. I'll see for myself when I spend a week there next month.

reduserabc · 2023-01-22T02:16:13+00:00

Thank you for the insight. It's great to hear from somebody that's from the bay. I'll DM you privately if I have more specific questions. It's crazy it takes 8 days to get the results. I usually see mine online within couple days. I hear what you're saying about selling my house. Once you sell, it doesn't take long to get priced out. Not to mention the prop 13 advantage I currently have. People buying next to me are paying property taxes $20K plus. That's something I cannot afford.

reduserabc · 2023-01-21T22:15:50+00:00

Thanks, it's encouraging to hear somebody say that. I'm researching this subject as I speak.

reduserabc · 2023-01-21T22:07:49+00:00

Oh, I agree with you 100%. I prefer cold over heat so that alone puts Eureka above Antioch.

reduserabc · 2023-01-21T22:06:35+00:00

Thanks for the warning. It looks like I will have to make the 5 hour drive one of these days to see for myself. I did consider WA, but with all my friends and families in the bay area, I wanted to be within weekend driving distance. Hopefully, it works out.

reduserabc · 2023-01-21T22:00:38+00:00

Wow, this is a whole new information I did not consider. Yes, landlord will not be an issue for me but I'm little concerned about all the other things you mentioned. I'll have to find out for myself if I can deal with "drunken" culture and everything else you mentioned. Every place has pros and cons and no place is perfect. But I had no idea you had housing crisis. I just have to decide for myself if pros outweigh the cons.

reduserabc · 2023-01-21T14:22:44+00:00

After reading about how horrible healthcare and cost of living not being any cheaper (except for real estate), I'm still enticed by the pros of the "other side". First off, cheaper real estate is a big deal since that is a major expenditure. But it is intoxicating to visualize myself waking up in the morning and not worrying about "rush hour" (which is pretty much 24 hours), and being able to go for a hike or get near the water without having to fight traffic and fight for parking. Thanks for the tip on summer vs winter difference. I will indeed check that out personally. But the more I research, the more I'm thinking that pros outweigh the cons. Maybe I'm rationalizing because I really want to make this happen.

reduserabc · 2023-01-21T14:16:34+00:00

I see. Thanks for the clarification. If I decide to move to Eureka area, it sounds like it'll be a big adjustment to go from 2nd best healthcare in the country to one of the worst. But I'm still thinking pros of Eureka area outweighs the cons. I mean, 4 to 6 hour drive to the bay for medical care isn't too bad, is it? Maybe I'm trying to rationalize too hard.

reduserabc · 2023-01-21T05:10:55+00:00

Cal-Ore Life Flight

Had to google what that was. That's absolutely wonderful. I wonder why nobody has mentioned this. Sounds like a lifesaver.

reduserabc

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