Moving to Central Coast

[greatbasinguide]

AG, is pretty moderate, not many problems there. Grover and Oceano are the areas with problems. Arroyo Grande High School had problems with gang when I went there, in the 60's. Fortunately the gang people just bother each other for the most part. The school is doing a bunch of building right now, my sophomore daughter will transfer to AGHS when our house in Truckee sells, we have no worries. A school with corrals, stalls, and a riding arena has its priorities in the right place.

The big problem with the coast is affordablility. If one is moving in and wishes to buy a house they best have a good job. One can expect to pay $3,000 and up per month for a mortgage.

Bye the Bye, I recommend Truckee for a family who wishes to live a quality lifestyle, wilderness, skiing, lakes, sailing, etc. Try this link it will give you an idea of what life in the woods is like! homesale

[CalBerkeley2002]

Originally Posted by greatbasinguide

AG, is pretty moderate, not many problems there. Grover and Oceano are the areas with problems. Arroyo Grande High School had problems with gang when I went there, in the 60's. Fortunately the gang people just bother each other for the most part. The school is doing a bunch of building right now, my sophomore daughter will transfer to AGHS when our house in Truckee sells, we have no worries. A school with corrals, stalls, and a riding arena has its priorities in the right place.

The big problem with the coast is affordablility. If one is moving in and wishes to buy a house they best have a good job. One can expect to pay $3,000 and up per month for a mortgage.

Bye the Bye, I recommend Truckee for a family who wishes to live a quality lifestyle, wilderness, skiing, lakes, sailing, etc. Try this link it will give you an idea of what life in the woods is like! homesale

It amazes me that areas along the coast have gang problems - what's to be angry about? The great weather and the nice scenery? That's the one thing I don't like about CA - kids feel the need to form gangs whether in south Fresno or Malibu. That's OK, I'm sure the gangs in AG are not as bad as other parts of the state. By the way - the kids in the gangs have parents and those parents should be making sure their kids are not roaming the streets looking for trouble....assuming the gangs are mostly teenagers?

[greatbasinguide]

Gangs are multi generational.

[AlwaysSmiling]

I just recently moved to Arroyo Grande from Whidbey Island, Washington, and I LOVE it. Love it, love it, LOVE IT!! I'm actually tan in less than a month, have been to the beach every weekend. LOVE the palm trees, but not liking the eucylptus (sp?) leaves on my driveway! In the short time I have been here I feel like a veil has been lifted....I'm back in humanity again. There are people of all colors and ages, stores of all sizes and a small town, friendly feel about the place.
I look forward to putting down roots in this glorious part of our beloved nation!!!
Now I need to find friends, a lover and a house to buy!!!

[Greenchili]

Originally Posted by CalBerkeley2002

It amazes me that areas along the coast have gang problems - what's to be angry about? The great weather and the nice scenery? That's the one thing I don't like about CA - kids feel the need to form gangs whether in south Fresno or Malibu. That's OK, I'm sure the gangs in AG are not as bad as other parts of the state. By the way - the kids in the gangs have parents and those parents should be making sure their kids are not roaming the streets looking for trouble....assuming the gangs are mostly teenagers?

Gangs in AG? Ok. And keep in mind, housing prices are dropping
and you might just be able to afford AG. It is a nice town.

[greatbasinguide]

I doubt there are gangs in the city of Arroyo Grande, the population of hispanics is very low 11% last time I checked. There are probably gangs in Grover, Oceano. For hispanic's gangs don't have the same connotation as for whites, few whites are in gangs, but gangs are part of the hispanic social fabric, it is hard for hispanic males to avoid gangs. Gang members from surrounding communities probably attend AGHS as they have done for 50 years at least. When I attended AGHS many of the gang members took metal shop so they could cast large belt buckles with which they would sometimes fight each other at lunch time, whacking each other, but, in those days, one PE teacher could walk into the middle of a fight and stop it. They are probably not so malleable these days, but, hispanic gangs as a rule do not bother people who are not gang members.

Too much is made of gangs and meth etc by fearful people. If you are reasonable intelligent about your personal security as you should be no matter where you are, you should not have problems with gangs or druggies etc.

I find it pointless to go through life worrying about what may "get you". Something eventually will, look at Steve Fossett.
Live your life well.

[Sorcerer68]

Arroyo Grande is a perfectly decent place to raise a little girl. My biggest complaint is the gloom...it's cloudy and foggy a lot. I froze in Pismo for the duration of my year lease but I like warmer weather. There's an invisible fog line between Pismo and Shell Beach. Although they are next to each other, Shell Beach is far sunnier (as is Avila and inland to SLO). If this doesn't bother you, this could be your paradise. Asthetically it's not my favorite but I like old houses and old walkable downtowns which is why I like SLO a lot more. SLO is a lovely town. IMHO the student factor is a plus, not a minus. I've lived in SLO, Pismo Beach and a couple dreadful North County towns you didn't ask about so I won't discuss. My pick of all of them is SLO. It's beautiful, has the best weather, the most to do and it's still very clean and very quiet. The sidewalks roll up very early. At night it's pretty much silence. Most of the student apartment complexes are situated around Foothill. Cambria is the boonies. It's colder up there and there isn't much to do. It's picturesque. Whatever you do, stay south of the Cuesta Grade.

[FELICITYLAZO]

WE ARE HAVING SOME HARD TIMES RIGHT NOW. MANY PLACES ARE BANK OWNED AND EMPTY FOR WAY TOO LONG UNRENTED. THERE PROPERTY MANAGEMENT COMPANIES BUT THEY USUALLY GIVE YOU A LIST FOR DRIVE BY INSPECTION. YOU MIGHT TRY CRAIGS LIST SLO. SOMETIMES THE COLLEGES HAVE SERVICES FOR STUDENTS AND ALSO THEY HAVE SUMMER RENTALS TO RETIREES WHEN THE STUDENTS GO HOME FOR THE SUMMER. WE HAVE MANY GOOD CAMP GROUNDS, HOSTELS AND HOTELS. MANY LANDLORD RENT WITH A SIGN IN THE FRONT YARD. ITS A SMALL TOWNI THINK YOU MIGHT WANT TO COME TO TOWN. WELCOME BACK TO CA. HARD TO LEAVE THE PACIFIC.[quote=CalBerkeley2002;1412715]Hi, me and my family are thinking about moving back to CA from TX - Specifically, we are looking to move to the Central Coast, probably San Luis Obispo County. Anyone know where I can find rental homes listed WITH PICTURES? Every site I go to is void of pictures and I would never rent a place or even

[jcp123]

I've been looking at Paso Robles lately. It's halfway between LA and the Bay Area and is a great place for car shows (I'm a car restoration and hot rod building nut), so it sounds pretty darn attractive for me. Plus it's a up-and-coming winegrowing region, in 20 years it may well be the next Napa.

[Charles]

If we ever decided to move back to California I think it would be to the Central Coast. I am quite sure I could get a decent job at Vandenberg AFB and I would look for a home in between there and Santa Barbara/Goleta to allow me to commute to both places if necessary. Goleta has Raytheon, Northrop Grumman, Lockheed, and General Dynamics in town. Vandenberg/Santa Maria has everything.

A place (Buelton? Solvang?) halfway in between VAFB and Santa Barbara would be one bladder distance to either.

Anyway, the price of homes on the central coast was still not much if any less expensive than SoCal.