The executive summary is as follows. Santa Barbara is expensive perhaps, but the quality of life is very high. California overall is very expensive and SB rents are not worse than other parts of California on the coast. One way to get housing costs down in these areas is to do something like rent a three bedroom house and have two roommates with all the inconvenience that implies. The Housing Authority in SB is a resource to the community but demand far exceeds supply, the process is opaque, and it is not at all clear when or if housing will be provided. It is not a viable solution to anyone who is on a deadline. Finally, my research says that there is acceptable single room occupancy housing in other cities in places like Providence, RI or Pittsburgh, PA or parts of Western MA in the range of $1,500 / month or about 1/2 to 1/3 of what you have to pay in California.
The rest of this post is just details.
I was looking for a single bedroom, arguably a studio with kitchen and bath. It is completely possible for this to be a shared space where each person has their own bedroom but the kitchen and bath is shared. For me, it is better to be in a place where I can work all hours of the day and not bother other people. It is better to be in a place where I am not constantly subjected to environmental insults (smog, car fumes, etc) and where crime is under control. I hate to move, so some sort of stability is good. It does not have to be a particularly big city, but it is useful to be within mass transit distance or driving distance of a fairly big city due to the need to work with specialist doctors.
There is some belief that there are housing programs for "the poor". My experience from Santa Barbara says that theoretically such housing exists, but in practice it does not. The SB housing authority does a terrible job of presenting a rational and responsive front to people in need, but the hard facts are that there is more demand for housing than there is supply. The housing that is available is preferentially given to certain demographics that I do not qualify for, such as being a single mother or a veteran. The process is opaque. There should be zero surprise that the SB Housing Authority efforts did not work out. In fact, they would not even return my calls. It is possible that if we had filed when I first arrived in SB that there would have been a different outcome but I am not sure.
Images courtesy of Midjourney
There is a belief that SB housing is unusually expensive. My research says that this is not exactly true. SB is expensive, but so is all of coastal California. LA is very expensive and much less desirable than SB. San Luis Obispo and San Clemente and Santa Cruz are also very expensive. Santa Cruz may be more expensive than SB. There are places in CA that are less expensive than SB but they are still not cheap and of course the quality of life goes down, often dramatically.
I am surprised at how much I miss SB. I would much rather live in SB and drive to LA to make use of its cultural resources, international airport and medical facilities.
There are cities where the rent is less than half of what it is in California. So, one can probably rent a place for $1,300 to $1,500 in places like Providence, RI. Multiply that out, your recommended net salary comes to $60K/year.
So what is the conclusion? I would not expect to spend less than about $1,500 per month if you are a single person but only if you are not in California. California is roughly 2 - 3x more expensive. In SB, a small 1 bedroom starts at about $3,000 a month and goes up from there. And it is not entirely clear who they will rent to if you do not have, and prove you have, a good job and excellent credit rating. There are exceptions to this and I have benefitted from special deals more than just about anyone. But when those special deals come to an end, and they always do, then you have to pay market rates.
Thats just the way it is.
Another image from Midjourney
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