Pros and Cons of Moving to San Bernardino, CA

Welcome to Saint Bernardino California. 

I’ll be honest with you. This city doesn’t have the greatest reputation. 

Amongst locals, the city is known as California’s armpit. But is it really so bad?

To answer this question, I put on my Sherlock Holmes hat and looked for the top pros and cons you can experience if you live in the area. 

So if you want to know whether or not this city lives up to its name, let’s get started.

Con #3, Poor use of tax dollars

If you want to know who to blame for a city that’s struggling, look no further than the local government. 

Because one of the biggest complaints locals have about Saint Bernardino is how poorly the city uses its tax dollars. 

Recently taxes were raised in this city. And if you think that those 40 million extra dollars went to helpful programs that help the residents, you’d be sadly mistaken. 

Instead, most of that money went to more policing–don’t worry, you’ll learn all about why funding police in Saint Bernardino aren’t the worst idea in the world later. 

But many people critique this decision as it’s not a solution to the many problems facing the city. What problems am I referring to? Just take a look at this next con. 

Con #2, Poverty 

There isn’t an abundance of job opportunities in Saint Bernardino. 

And because of this, the poverty in the city is at 26%. Now all cities have bad areas, but the bad areas in Saint Bernardino are really bad. Like worse than the movie Morbius type bad. 

It’s not uncommon to see a fair amount of homeless people, drug use, and gang activity if you turn the wrong corner. 

And the lack of jobs has even made it so some Saint Bernardino residents have to commute to Los Angeles for work. Which is over 1 hour away. 

Obviously, there are good parts of the city. But in order to live in them, you need to have a well-paying job. 

Just keep that in mind if you’re looking to move to the area. 

Con #1, Crime rate

Listen to me very carefully–the crime rate in San Bernardino is a problem. 

At the time of this recording, the crime rate is a whopping 121% higher than the national average. Which leads me to believe San Bernardino is a favorite vacation spot for those on the FBI’s most wanted list. 

You have a 1 in 19 chance of being a victim of a crime in this city. I don’t know about you, but I don’t like those odds. 

But what makes this problem worse is just how it bleeds into all aspects of life for the residents. For example, many San Bernardino schools are located in areas that are known to be gang territories.

So if you are looking to raise a family, I’d stay far away from this city if I were you.  

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Ok, now let’s check out some pros of living in San Bernardino. 

Pro #3, Weather

San Bernardino is a pretty interesting place. 

Because I can’t think of many cities where you can get robbed at gunpoint on such a gorgeous day. 

Obviously, with this city being located in Southern California, you’re pretty much guaranteed to be spoiled by amazing weather. 

The temperature here ranges from 42 degrees in the winter all the way up to 96 degrees in the summer. So you’ll never get too hot or too cold, making the weather blissful year-round. 

I’ll be honest. This isn’t a strong enough pro to make me consider moving here. 

But maybe this next one will do the trick. 

Pro #2, Things to do

San Bernardino surprisingly has some cool activities available to residents. 

The first thing is to check out the amazing views that are pretty hard to grow tired of. The rugged mountains and palm trees can easily bring a sense of calm to a chaotic day. 

If you’re a fan of outdoor activities, you have to add the San Bernardino National Forest to your list. You can also go hiking in the mountains, and visit Silverwood Lake and Big Bear Lake for water activities. 

And if you want a break from that outdoor lifestyle, San Bernardino has some fun indoor activities as well. You can check out the San Manuel Stadium, The California Theater for Performing Arts, and the National Orange Show Event Center. 

When you compare the fun of these activities with the excitement of daily risking your life, it’s safe to say it’s impossible to be bored in San Bernardino. 

Pro #1, Cost of living

The pro that tops all the rest is San Bernardino’s cost of living. 

To be a city in California, it’s surprisingly affordable. 

The cost of living here is just 10% above the national average. And before you scoff at that, just understand that this is considered cheap in California 

Obviously, the reason why living here is so cheap is due to it not being the safest city. There’s just not much demand in San Bernardino. 

Which could work out perfectly if you want to live in a beautiful place like California without the huge price tag. 

So if you want to save money and have a good life insurance policy, I say make the move.