#003 Monterey: Living in the City of Monterey Proper with Allyson Franchi '16

Living in the City of Monterey Proper with Allyson Franchi

Host: Grant Vermeer

This episode of the USNA Property Network podcast, sponsored by the Vermeer Group, features a conversation with Allison Franschi, a Naval Academy graduate and human resources officer, about her experiences moving to and living in Monterey, California, for a master's program at the Naval Postgraduate School. Topics discussed include the local real estate market, rental experiences, the benefits of living in the Monterey area such as proximity to scenic locations, outdoor activities, and the overall lifestyle. 

Additionally, the podcast provides insights into the challenges of finding housing, the older and sometimes smaller living spaces available, and tips for military officers PCSing to Monterey. Allison also shares her favorite local spots and the importance of taking advantage of the unique living experience Monterey offers.

00:00 Introduction to the USNA Property Network Podcast

00:58 Exploring Monterey: Insights from a Naval Officer

02:20 The Academic Life in Monterey

04:34 Choosing the Right Neighborhood in Monterey

08:11 Living the Monterey Lifestyle: Pros and Cons

10:52 Adventures and Excursions Around Monterey

13:29 Monterey's Hidden Gems: Wineries, Bakeries, and Breweries

15:19 Renting in Monterey: A Personal Experience

18:59 Final Thoughts and Recommendations for PCS to Monterey

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Please reach out if you have any questions at all or I can help connect you to trusted real estate professionals nationwide. I get calls, texts and emails everyday from families just like yours, looking for help on making their move and buying/selling their home - and I absolutely love it!

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Transcript

USNA Property Network Podcast Episode with your host Grant Vermeer '17 of the Vermeer Group
Guest: Allyson Franchi '16, USN

Living in Monterey while at The Naval Postgraduate School (NPS)

Grant Vermeer: [00:00:00] Welcome to the USNA Property Network podcast powered by the Vermeer Group. The USNA Property Network podcast educates military officers on the neighborhoods surrounding the military bases in which they could PCS. Our mission is to provide genuine, authentic, informal conversation that's going to help Navy and Marine Corps officers start their research into their new home.

This podcast is made possible thanks to the sponsorship of the Vermeer Group. Vermeer Group is a residential real estate team that specializes in helping Naval Academy graduates and other select clientele move to both Monterey and San Diego, California. 

If you have any real estate questions at all, please reach out to me directly at Grant@TheVermeerGroup.com. I'd be more than happy to help. Thanks.

From Marina back down [00:01:00] into central Monterey.

This episode is all about Monterey proper.

So I'm really excited about this opportunity to talk about being in the city of Monterey. And thank you so much, Alison, for joining us in this episode. I hope you enjoy it. You're going to get a little bit of insight into choosing to rent closer to downtown and being close to everything in Cannery Row and everything of the sort.

So I hope you really enjoy it. Feel free to reach out to me. Grant at the Vermeer group. com. If you ever have any questions, otherwise enjoy. Hey, Allison, thank you so much for taking the time to come talk with everyone. Just to give a quick background for everyone listening, do you mind just giving a little bit of context about your background, your military background and how you ended up at MPS?

Allyson Franchi: So my name is Allison Franschi. I graduated from the Naval Academy in 2016 as a surface warfare officer. Last year, I put in a package to lateral transfer and was selected to transfer into the human resources community. And they gave me the opportunity to come to Monterey. To start a master's program in manpower systems analysis.

And [00:02:00] I was a little bit resistant at first because I was on the East coast and I was settled and happy, close to family to Monterey seemed like a big move, but I'm about six months into a 21 month program and I absolutely love it here. So happy to. share my experience so far with anybody who needs it.

Grant Vermeer: That's so cool. And so the program that you're in, is that very specific to HR officers or are there people from other designators or other branches as well that are in that program? 

Allyson Franchi: So it's about 50 percent HR officers for the Navy and about 50 percent manpower We're kind of a mix of Marine Corps officers that'll go into a manpower type job.

So it looks a little bit like an MBA program, but with a focus on recruiting and retention and kind of the manpower numbers. So yeah. 

Grant Vermeer: Yeah. Super interesting. And the schedule for a program like that, because we actually talked to another HR officer who's in like the OR program or the operation or [00:03:00] some kind of like data analysis program and it was a very heavy schedule.

Is your schedule like that where it's classes five days a week and you're kind of studying a ton or is it a little bit more laid back program? 

Allyson Franchi: Ours is definitely on the more laid back side. I wouldn't say it's easy. Sure. Taking stats years after graduating is not fun, but it's been, it's not too bad. So it's usually about Monday to Thursday, classes range anywhere from 8am to 3pm, but not terrible.

Grant Vermeer: No, it's awesome. 

Allyson Franchi: Some of the engineering programs seem a little bit more, uh, challenging. 

Grant Vermeer: Little bit more aggressive. Yeah, that's fair. And so you do, you do kind of have a three day weekend almost every weekend then for the majority? 

Allyson Franchi: Almost every weekend and the teachers are pretty flexible. We had a Friday lab come up and our Professor was willing to kind of work with us and move that earlier in the week.

So they definitely support 

Grant Vermeer: it. They definitely support it. So that'll be good because we'll kind of get down to maybe some [00:04:00] trips or different things that you can do on a three day weekend But kind of mentioned that your family's on the East Coast. You're from the East Coast. You wanted to be on the East Coast When you got the orders to MPS, did you know anything in the area?

And if you did or didn't kind of, how'd you start that research? Like, how'd you just figure out where you're going to live, what things you're going to do, and just anything about the area of Monterey. 

Allyson Franchi: Yeah, so I passed through Monterey once on a road trip down the Pacific Coast Highway about six years ago And we had just like stopped for lunch.

We're like, oh this place is cute and never thought that I would come back here I live here. It's wild. 

Grant Vermeer: Sure 

Allyson Franchi: the first thing I did was I pulled up a map and I called a friend and I was like explain these neighborhoods to me because There are different neighborhoods and I don't know what's what and then I just kind of started using Zillow and apartments and figuring out What different rentals looked like in which neighborhoods, try to figure out what BH would cover and like where my budget was and kind of narrowed it down to three neighborhoods just because I wanted to be centrally located and able to walk to [00:05:00] bars or restaurants.

So I narrowed it down to Pacific Grove, Cannery Row, and then downtown Monterey, Alvarado Street and just kind of kept searching every day until I found an apartment that looked like it met what I was looking for. 

Grant Vermeer: Yeah. And where'd you end up settling then out of those three options? 

Allyson Franchi: So I'm in Pacific Grove, but I'm right at the end of Cannery Row.

So it's, it's, it's not true Pacific Grove. But I'm about a block from the bike path that goes along the water. And I've got a great view of Monterey Bay. So I got, I got very lucky with my location. 

Grant Vermeer: That's so nice. And so if you were to walk to a restaurant on Canterbury row, or for example, like we'll use a big landmark, like the Monterey Plaza hotel, kind of more down into Monterey, how far of a walk or a bike ride are you from that area?

Allyson Franchi: You get to Monterey downtown Alvarado street is about a 25 to 30 minute walk. 

Grant Vermeer: Okay. 

Allyson Franchi: To get to Canterbury row is about a. Five minute walk. And then if I went the other way and I walked to downtown Pacific Grove, which has some great restaurants, [00:06:00] that's about a 10 minute walk. Okay. So perfect. 

Grant Vermeer: That's super nice.

And in kind of with that location is that you're also really close to NPS as well. Do you drive to work? Do you bike to work? Kind of what's your commute path and generally how long does it take to get to work or get to school in the morning? 

Allyson Franchi: Yeah, so it's about a seven and a half minute drive, depending on if I hit the lights right.

But seven to ten minutes to get to school driving. And I have biked it once. It was my intention to bike it more. Sure. It's a little chillier in the mornings than I was anticipating. 

Grant Vermeer: Uh, 

Allyson Franchi: but with the bike path, it's super easy. So I could probably bike there in about 18 minutes, maybe a little bit less. So super easy.

I have a couple of friends who bike there every morning. I just, I'm lazy. 

Grant Vermeer: Yeah. And as someone who drives, what's the traffic like and kind of for your program, what time are you normally coming in on the morning and, and then what's the traffic like at that time? 

Allyson Franchi: Yeah. I was arguing with a friend of mine the other day because he was complaining about the [00:07:00] traffic.

And I was like, this is like, it's like a stoplight, man. Like it's not traffic. Like this is not DC where you're like sitting on the beltway for an hour and a half. It's literally small town traffic. So at about four, it kind of gets a little bit backed up just because there are so many stoplights, but I don't think it's ever taken me more than 20 minutes to get to her from school.

There's a little bit of gate traffic just because everyone also decides to get to class 10 minutes before class starts a little bit of gate traffic, but nothing compared to San Diego or Norfolk or any of those places. 

Grant Vermeer: No, it's super convenient. It's exactly like you're saying. I've had those conversations with board.

I'd be like, Oh man. The, there's just like a lot of traffic down here. I was like, you guys know, like, what do you, like, after you're saying after having been, so I was stationed at Fort Meade for a while, did the Baltimore thing, had a bunch of friends up in DC, kind of experienced that, that DMV traffic and then, or even a base, like a big base, like Norfolk or San Diego.

Like, it's just not even comparable, right? Like you start to get the sense of like, Oh, I've been in Monterey for so long. [00:08:00] It's so nice. It's a small little base like this, this little bit of traffic is frustrating, but, but it really isn't anything compared to. Probably what a lot of people are used to in terms of their morning commute.

So you decided to live close to Cannery Row, the Pacific Grove, Cannery Row border. What are some of the best parts of living that area? You kind of mentioned that you wanted to be able to walk to restaurants and bars and stuff. Have you found that to be the case and are you taking advantage of it? And do you really like it?

Allyson Franchi: I love it. I Probably three or four times a week I'll come home from class and just go for a run on the bike path just like right along the water because it's right there and it's, I mean it's gorgeous. You're running and there's otters just like floating along in Monterey Bay and you're like, that's an otter, like that's wild.

So I think like the proximity to the bike path is awesome. And then I do, I walk, I have a grocery store that's walking distance so I'll walk to the grocery store. I've got like a handful of different coffee shops, or there's a brewery right by the wharf, by Fishman's Wharf, that's great, Dust Bowl, and so it's an easy walk [00:09:00] or an easy bike ride down there on like an afternoon and not have to worry about parking or not worry about having a couple beers and driving.

So I do, we walk a lot and then luckily it's a small enough area that all my friends, got a couple friends that are in walking distance too, so it's easy to just like pop over and hang out without having to worry about driving or parking. 

Grant Vermeer: Sure, makes total sense. And it is really nice. And on the flip side, have you experienced anything that you would consider a con or a downside of living in that area?

Or has it all been great? 

Allyson Franchi: I personally love it. I know there are people who, especially people coming from, I think, D. C. or coming from San Diego. There's not necessarily as much to do as your big cities. There's not much of a nightlife in Monterey at all, which I personally am okay with. So there's breweries, there's wineries.

So it's like a nice like Saturday afternoon and then like go home and be in bed by 8 p. m. And there are some great bars and restaurants. It's just not a young crowd. I think the average age in Monterey is [00:10:00] 55. So it's a little bit of an older crowd, a little bit of a slower small town feel. So. I think that transition can be a little bit harsh for people who are looking for that, that late night activity.

Grant Vermeer: Yeah, no, absolutely. Like you're saying it, the Monterey area, the peninsula, which we'll consider Carmel, Pacific Grove, Monterey, there are a lot of retirees and there are a lot of people who, who love golf. And so it is like you're saying, it gives that older small town type feel a lot of times, which can be fun.

But if you're looking for, like you're saying a nightlife, And depending on how much you want to commute to work, you might want to consider even looking up into Santa Cruz or into the Silicon Valley, because those are the areas that you're going to find that. But Monterey is a much slower pace of life.

And so that totally makes sense. And I'm with you. I'm an old soul. I'm like a really boring person. So that really works for me, but potentially not some others. You mentioned earlier three day weekends, the majority of your time. Have you had that ability to take any trips yet? [00:11:00] Some like different excursions or like down to Big Sur up into the Silicon Valley or upper into wine country.

Have you gotten to take advantage of that at all yet? 

Allyson Franchi: Yeah. And it's been great. I think one of the coolest parts about central California is just like how much there is to do. Right outside of it. So Big Sur is about an hour to like Big Sur proper, but like 20 minutes and you're in the Carmel Highlands and it's just kind of hills and cliffs and you get kind of that like Big Sur feel without going very far.

So a lot of hiking down there. I've been out to Yosemite a handful of times and out to the Sierras to just kind of, they're just so incredible, especially from the East coast where mountains are hills being so close to so many cool mountain ranges is neat. I've gone up to Lassen National Park, which is a tiny little national park about five hours north of here.

San Francisco's two hours, Napa's two hours, so I have a trip planned to Napa in a couple weeks. And I think I've been able to do some weekends away because between Monterey Airport, [00:12:00] which is like 10 minutes from here, and a little bit harder to fly out of just because you have to 

Grant Vermeer: get a 

Allyson Franchi: connecting flight depending on where you're going, but San Jose Airport is an hour from here, and they've got a ton of good southwest flights.

Flew down to San Diego last weekend and it cost me 70 round trip on Spirit. So just for like a quick little like down and back, like that's perfect. So I think it makes everything really accessible. 

Grant Vermeer: Oh, 100%. And for, for context, me too, my girlfriend lives in Coronado. I'm up in the Bay Area for the majority of my time in the San Jose area.

And there's literally like 14 direct flights a day between San Jose and San Diego and for like 60. Right. And so it makes it really convenient and really easy. But it is tougher, right? Because if you're living in Monterey, it will take you that hour commute to get up into San Jose. But San Jose is a major international airport.

So you really are about an hour away from a, a major airport that can get you. Anywhere that you need to go, right? Especially for like a three day weekend, you head up on, on [00:13:00] Friday morning and it works out. It definitely works 

Allyson Franchi: out. The San Francisco airport is like really only another 20 to 30 minutes past that.

So for like, for my first break. I flew to Vietnam over to Asia. And so it's like just having that like big international airport. It is a little bit more like an hour and a half, two hours to plan for to get up there. But it kind of opens up the ability to travel internationally immensely. So 

Grant Vermeer: yes, 100%. No, that's great.

I really appreciate it. And you've mentioned it's only been kind of on the shorter end so far, about six months there. But have you found any hidden gems that you've really liked or things kind of in that cannery row or onto the Pacific Grove side that may be smaller or things, but you really like and you'd recommend someone coming into the area to take a look at?

Allyson Franchi: Yeah. So big on wineries and there's a winery out, it's about 15 minutes It's in Carmel Valley called Folktale and they are, it's just a magical little spa and their wine member [00:14:00] deals are great. So all of our friends have a membership there and so every time we go I don't think we pay anything to drink there just because of all the membership deals.

Um, and it's just a great spot to spend a couple hours on an afternoon or like it's a good date night spot. I've been on a bakery crusade since I got here. The bakeries in Monterey are fantastic. So there's one in PG Pavel's Baccarat that is only open on Tuesdays and Saturdays, and you will stand in line for 30 minutes, but it's worth it.

There's one in downtown Monterey that's on Alvarado street called Ad Astra bread company, and their croissants are out of this world. And then I think the breweries are, I mean, Fieldworks is like the best spot for a Friday. When my other friends that have Friday classes get out of class, we go there. And it's just like a great, like Friday at 2 p.

m. spot to grab a beer, kind of open air. Beers are great. So yeah, I think those are my favorites. 

Grant Vermeer: I love it. I'm a big [00:15:00] fan of those. Uh, I may have, like you're talking about the, the bakery scene in the monitor, I've eaten probably more than I should at both of those locations that you mentioned, so. Super delicious.

And again, with the overall, I would say theme in this generally being about housing and whatnot. Can you talk a little bit about your experience as a renter in the area? Have you liked it? Now, looking back six months later, how has your experience been as a renter? Are you happy you rented? Cause again, again, it's a really expensive area to buy.

And so for a lot of people, renting is a really great option. So I just want to For you to be able to give your experiences a renter and talk about the things that you've really enjoyed about it or any kind of downside or whatever the case may be. 

Allyson Franchi: Yeah, I was stressed out when I was looking for a place just because there's not a ton of availability.

So once I found out I was coming, I started just kind of like watching the market and just kind of seeing what rentals were available and in what neighborhoods. And it was [00:16:00] hard to kind of look at places without being here. Uh, one of the things I noticed across the board is everything, especially in Pacific Grove is a lot older.

Grant Vermeer: So the 

Allyson Franchi: kitchens are a lot more dated than some of the places that I've rented previously. There are not a lot of places with laundry in unit, which is a big change. So my apartment has a shared laundry between six units and it's in the garage, coin operated. So that's convenient compared to some other people.

I have a lot of friends who go to laundromats or they've got hookups, but they didn't have a laundry, they didn't have a washer and dryer when they moved and they weren't going to buy one to rent for two years. So I think probably the kitchen and the laundry situation is like the biggest, um, And I think you get a lot of small places.

So Pacific Grove, when I moved here, everyone was like, beware of the Pacific Grove bedrooms. You're not going to be able to fit any furniture in there. And it is true. They're very small. So for me, it's fine because it's just me. And I was just looking [00:17:00] for a small apartment, ideally with a guest room. But a lot of the places it was like, Oh no, this is a very tiny little place.

And you are paying a decent amount of your BH. Based on the location. Um, I got really lucky with this one. It was actually rented by an NPS student and he was graduating and I was coming in. And the man who owns it was very willing to have another NPS student come in. So I actually think to anybody that I was giving recommendations to, my recommendation would to be to find somebody here and to network, to find somebody who's leaving their place.

Because. That's like the easiest way to kind of find a rental But I think the process like you just have to like as long as you're realistic going in of like it's an older area It's gonna be a little bit smaller and it's gonna cost a lot of money to rent regardless because it's central, California 

Grant Vermeer: Yeah, no, no, absolutely and I I really appreciate you gonna say that because I think those are the trade offs that people need to be Considering when it comes [00:18:00] to moving into the area, right?

and so Cause what we had, for example, we had a, an individual on earlier Dyson who purchased a home in Marina, right? And it's a newer construction. There's more space. You kind of have, have some of the updated things, but now you're 15 to 20 minutes outside. You're not really in the walking distance of the fun things of, of being in downtown Monterey, Cannery Row, Pacific Grove, right?

Like these are the trade offs, but. He does have a little bit bigger area. There's a kitchen and more space and all these different things, right? But again, it all comes down to the trade off of what you want. And so I think that's really great. And I appreciate the insight and perspective, right? Because depending on what you want and want out of the experience, kind of, dictates those things.

And at the end of the day, like you're saying it's California, it's kind of going to be expensive regardless in the Pacific Grove Monterey area. It's an old town, right? It's that old small town. And some of the buildings are older. The units are older. And, um, yeah, so I really appreciate that insight. [00:19:00] And so kind of just to, to just to wrap this up, honestly, and get there, do you have any recommendations for, or parting thoughts or anything that you feel like we haven't touched on?

In terms of advice or recommendations for anyone getting ready to, to PCS, to the Naval Postgraduate School and come out to Monterey, what thing would you tell a friend getting ready to come out here, as it relates to moving, housing, or anything to do in the area? 

Allyson Franchi: I think I'd just say to like, make sure to take advantage of like, all of the opportunities.

I think the opportunity to live somewhere, I mean, we have some awesome opportunities and awesome bases and places that we can live in the military, especially in the Navy, um, but I think this one is probably hands down one of the most gorgeous places in the country. And so with some of those trade offs of like, what do you, like the house or the yard or living in base housing or whatnot, I do think that living in If there's an opportunity to live somewhere where you've got the ability to be in the middle of all of it and close to [00:20:00] the water, with a view of the water.

I think I'm one of those people who's gone back and forth of like, oh, I should save a little bit of my B. A. H. I wake up every morning to the sound of crashing waves on Lover's Point. And like, that is something that like, I don't know that I'll ever have anywhere else in the country that I live. Um, it's just gorgeous.

So I think taking advantage of like how unique of a place this is, and it is such a short amount of time, most programs are only about two years. So kind of just enjoying it fully for the two years that. 

Grant Vermeer: 100 percent 100 percent there is a magic to being on the peninsula right and being in that Pacific Grove Monterey area.

I was talking to my friend Kevin and he was he was saying he was like, I didn't realize how special of a place I was in until I would walk out of my. Like house that I was renting in Pacific Grove and they were people painting the view of like my daily life Right, like there are people painting because it's exactly you're saying it's the sunset over by by lovers point and all these different things He was like, [00:21:00] holy smokes, right?

And it's one of the beauties and magics of choosing to live in Pacific Grove Monterey is exactly like you're saying it's gorgeous It's really nice. You're right by the water. There's so much history and just, it's just a really calm, nice lifestyle. So tough to want to miss out on that. 

Allyson Franchi: It's going to be tough to beat after this.

Grant Vermeer: No, absolutely perfect. Well, okay, we'll get this wrapped up here, but I just want to say thank you Thank you so much for taking the time just to join us and have this conversation and provide another differing perspective As it terms to comes to neighborhoods and lifestyle that you could live when you come to NPS.

So I really appreciate it Thank you. 

Allyson Franchi: Thanks for having me 

Grant Vermeer: All right. Thank you so much for tuning in on this episode about being in Monterey. I hope you were able to get a little piece of information out of it and help you in your research as it comes to living in the Monterey peninsula surrounding the Naval postgraduate school.

If you ever have any questions, feel free to reach out to me, Grant at the Vermeer group. com. Otherwise, I hope you have an amazing [00:22:00] day and thank you so much for listening.