The "decent neighborhoods" are fully built out in LA. New development is an hour drive (without traffic) from the interesting parts of the city. What priced m

The "decent neighborhoods" are fully built out in LA. New development is an hour drive (without traffic) from the interesting parts of the city. What priced me out of the housing market was a) extremely high demand in the areas of the city with decent livability and decent schools and b) the willingness of people to take on extremely risky loans to buy those houses. (Since I had this silly, old-fashioned idea that I would only buy a house I could afford with 20% down and a 30-year fixed, the initial monthly payments I was looking at were nearly twice that of the people doing 90/10 option ARMs.)