I wonder the same thing, especially since we managed to buy a house close enough to the shore for a breeze. Not too close, but while everyone complains about 100 degree temps, we've capped at 82. People are friendly, I can eat just about any type of food in the world, and the government keeps giving us tax breaks and helps with utility costs since there was a price hike this year (which supposedly the state is investigating), especially since we make below average wage. We literally paid no taxes last year!

That said, this is considered a ghetto neighborhood. Years of poor urban planning (and honestly, white flight, racist redlining, and manufacturing leaving in the 60s/70s) have made our neighborhood pretty neglected over the last half decade. And yet, our schools in the area, despite being 90% free lunch status (i.e. poverty) they are rated 8 and 9 out of 10 by most reviewers; the violent crime rate about the same as most parts of LA, and businesses are coming back--- albeit hopefully not replacing locals with gentrification. If all you see is Compton at it's worst, I understand the concerns, but they're unfounded.

I guess there's still homelessness to figure out... And I suppose property value, although again, kind of a boon for us. So yeah, tl;dr, I'm with you on this confusion!