Just received orders there and wondering about the housing there is. I saw the BAH rate is only 990. Is it better to live off base or get housing? Also, where would you suggest to go or where def not to go. 

I live in the 801 housing "off base housing" and it's alright, the only benefit of base housing out here, in my opinion, is you can run the air whenever you want since its all included in your BAH. It gets way too hot out here. One of my friends got on the "on base" housing list and they told her about a 6 month wait. The 801 off base housing, there is normally no wait list. So hope that helped :) 

I've heard that Lincoln will eventually start charging for utilities. 

I've heard that Lincoln will eventually start charging for utilities.

Yep........No more running your AC at 70 for the entire summer....You'll have a set rate, anything over that your gonna pay out your behind...just like the rest of us....LOL 

^ about time they pay out of their pockets lol 

It is still over a year out before they start charging, but they are going to start monitoring for averages.

As far as moving here and housing...
I personally would not live downtown, but then again everywhere is kind of hit or miss. You can have one street great and the next awful, so really you just need to have someone you know take a look at whatever you are interested in or wait till you get here.

I don't care for base housing, not because they are bad, but because I do not like being on top of my neighbors. 

I saw the BAH rate is only 990. Is it better to live off base or get housing? Also, where would you suggest to go or where def not to go.

That depends on how much of a house you would require. We need more details about you/your family size before that can really be answered. Do you have several vehicles? Toys? Animals? etc.

That would help to answer regarding $$$ and location. 

It is just my husband and I. He is currently an E4 but should be an E5 when we get out there. We will have only 2 cars and one 30lb dog. I was looking at Yucca Valley out in town and Joshua Heights for base housing. I made a mistake when we moved to Camp Lejeune and got stuck in a little crappy apt. I don't want to make that mistake again. Also I don't know anyone out on the west coast so I have noone to look at these houses before we get there. Also one more question, are there places that have short term leases in case we decide to go on base and have to sit on a waiting list when we get there? 

Yall would be givin a two bedroom house, which there are none in joshua heights. I personally would do on base housing here even if we would only get a two bedroom. 

He is currently an E4 but should be an E5 when we get out there.

Well if he doesn't rank up right away your BAH is 930.

It is still over a year out before they start charging, but they are going to start monitoring for averages.

My husband will be out by then :) 

If you decide live out in town, be prepared to hand over a good part of your income to Socal Edison. The house I live in has both an evap cooler and central AC. The AC unit is about 20 years old, and its not anywhere near the top of the list on energy efficiency.

When I run my evap only, my power bill hovers around $140 a month, and my cooler runs 24/7. During the hottest part of the summer, when I need to use the air conditioner, the bill can jump upwards of $300. And I only use it during the hottest part of the day, so about 5+ hours a day a few days a week.

If the house or apartment you rent has a newer AC unit, it might not hurt as much. It wasn't that many years ago that someone I knew ran their AC constantly during their first summer here. Needless to say, he and his wife had the shock of their lives when the first power bill of the season was $500. 

Coming for Jax, NC she is used to high electric bills if she ever lived off base over there. Our electric in NC would run from $170-$240, and a few times topped out at $300. With that said, coming from Camp Lejeune and beautiful houses and subdivisions, well not so much here.

Most places in 29 are nice house, then dump, then descent house, then dump. Joshua Tree has some nice areas and so does Yucca. I still cant get over all the sand, why not rock the yard? It looks so much nicer. Yucca is good cause its closer to "civilization" so to speak. But I live on base and am very content. Every once in a while we toss around the idea of moving to Yucca but we both work 3 min from home so its not practical.

Be aware of the culture shock you will have from coming from NC to here. I cried for a few days. Its very different, not bad, just different. This place grows on you, and you do get used to driving an hour to shop.

Enjoy the ride across country! I found it amazing and I loved it!! 

The ride across country killed us lol. It was fun seeing so many new places though. I live in 801 and personally enjoy it, never had any issues where I am. Being the wait list is shorter, it was more practical for us, we just didn't have the money to spend to rent a place til base housing opened up. Also just went to Palm Springs and Palm Desert for the first time, and the drive wasn't that bad at all.

I also prefer the layout in 801 to the layout for the housing my husband would rate if we lived on base. Yeah, having to drive 10-15 minutes to work on base every day sucks, but I've had worse lol.

IP, I cried for a while too. :( The desert has NOTHING on the mountains in TN, in my opinion. lol 

We do live off base now in NC and our electric is higher, but our BAH is 1110 and our rent is only 600 so we make money living out in town. I don't see that being the case out in CA so I am leaning towards base housing. However, because we live out in town, we have to drive on base and its traffic trafiic everywhere! When I get off work at 5 i don't get home til 6 and we only live 8 miles from the main gate. Main Gate traffic in Camp Lejeune is horrific, so if we eventually choose to live off base again it will be nice that we won't have to combat the crazy traffic. 

Main Gate traffic in Camp Lejeune is horrific,
I dont miss it at all!!! We lived on TT and it would take hours to get to work!! NO traffic here!!! You will LOVE that part. I also dont see how you could "make" money here b/c rent prices are on the higher side mostly. Good Luck!! 

The traffic in Jacksonville sucked 12 years ago - no way would I ever want to go back there. Too much traffic and too many people. It's a shame though. It's a pretty area albeit a bit humid for my taste.

The traffic out here is GREAT!! That and the weather - my 2 #1 reasons for living here in 29.

He is currently an E4 but should be an E5 when we get out there.

Well if he doesn't rank up right away your BAH is 930.

That was my first thought.

If you are young with no kids and just a dog - heck yeah I would go for Base. There are temporary places you can find furnished until you get on Base that are doable. 

There is a 4 bedroom 2 bath with a garage on Encelia Ave for $800. I just saw them installing new carpet today. 

We are not going to be leaving the Camp Lejeune area yntil May as of right now. Is there any place that I should absoultly not go/live? 

I would stay away from behind Santanas (ie Sunnyvale Rd) and away from around the Post Office...I personally would never suggest anyone live on base or in off base base housing here. The housing offices as anywhere in the Marine Corps are terrible with incompetent minions that work there. I make $990 for BAH; live in a nice 2 bedroom/1 bath with a large garage and fenced in yard in a nicer area of 29 (we are similar to you guys; no kids just a dog) pay $675 for rent and the highest month for our electric bill has been this month with a whopping $80 bill...we have a swamp cooler and a portable AC and it's not bad at all. The driving an hour plus anywhere you go sucks...don't let these folks fool you...after a month or two you will get over the depression and the heat and accept you are stuck here for X number of years and it should at least for me and the wife bring you closer together. 

When we pcsed we had the luxury of being able to staying at my parents while we looked at houses. We ended up in a 3 bed 2 bath newer very nice home for $950 in Yucca Valley. I love it here so far. 

The driving an hour plus anywhere you go sucks...don't let these folks fool you...after a month or two you will get over the depression and the heat and accept you are stuck here for X number of years

This is so true! When you first get here it really feels like you could never possibly be happy here, but acceptance goes a long way to finding what works for you. Now we may never leave! lol 

Haha...agreed hitgirl but we will most definitely be leaving unless I can get a job contracting and the money is right lol. 

The driving an hour plus anywhere you go sucks...don't let these folks fool you...after a month or two you will get over the depression and the heat and accept you are stuck here for X number of years

True...It took me getting a job to actually not mind it here. I still count the days until we can leave. LOL


and the wife bring you closer together.
Yes, that is true also. Our relationship has really changed being here. I think this is why this deployment is so hard. We had a lot of diff friends at the other base b/c we both lived there before we met. This time it is just us, and the kids, so we are doing WAY more as a family and a couple. Its very nice :) 

Check out: 29 Palms PCS Guide from USMC Life