Best area in Southern California to raise a family? preferably by the beach (San Diego: best town, short sale)

[Korin]

so my family has been discussing making a move from CT to California. At first we were thinking of moving to Beaumont in the Riverside County but not after we got some bad reviews.

i have a 14 and 16 year old and obviously were going to want something thats kid friendly and family friendly. we were looking into a more beach area, not exactly on the beach because its veryyyyy pricey but near enough.

1)as low crime as you can get
2)good schools
3) nice community etc
4)family/kid friendly


also i have been hearing suburbs in San Diego are nice and affordable is that true?

pros and cons would be nice thanks


oh also i am an RN and my husband transportation

are budget is 350000 tops but we would like to keep it as low as possible thanks

[Fontucky]

Your 14 year old beat you to it. http://www.city-data.com/forum/calif...fornia-ct.html

[Korin]

really? wow i didnt even know she was into looking it up. I assumed she was just upset about moving

[Lovehound]

If I were you I'd strongly consider SD too. My cousin lives there, my grandparents lived there, I spent a good chunk of my youth there (visiting for many weeks at a time). I love the place better than LA and I'd move there too if I could afford it (I'm retired, can't afford it, moving out of state).

Look for a place within reasonable distance from the beach but outside the high priced next to the beach areas.

[Korin]

thanks im looking on Realtor and i found a beautiful and affordable home in the suburbs. Its very close to the ocean as well

[Charles]

Originally Posted by Korin

really? wow i didnt even know she was into looking it up. I assumed she was just upset about moving

You should check out the other stuff she's been looking at on the internet. Holy smokes.

[CarawayDJ]

San Diego is a great city. However, I cannot fathom a good family area close to the water that is remotely within your price range. If there were, I would not have moved away from there. I was renting a home in the Sunset Cliffs/Point Loma area. I could walk down the hill to the ocean. The schools were great. My neighbors were great. And I could have purchased a nice and tiny little old home for about 800K. And therein was my problem. So off to Temecula we went...

I'm a 45 minute drive from the ocean right now, but I have to say that Temecula is an amazing family town. You can get a real nice home in your price range. Temecula probably has one of the best school systems in the state for its price range. In other words, there are better school districts, but not in areas where you can buy homes for less than 300K. They have a ton of activities for kids. But seriously, my wife and I have been very surprised at how good a community Temecula is. FYI, I'm culturally conservative, politically moderate, and really appreciate a good ole fashioned traditional family neighborhood.

Pros:

1. Good school system, especially in this price range.
2. Tons of community activities for the kids.
3. Practically no crime. The worst area of Temecula is still a nice area.
4. Pretty hard to not meet friends here. My wife seems to gain a new friend taking my son to the parks every week.
5. 1 hour to San Diego. 1 hour to LA. 45 minutes to ocean.
6. Neat little wine country town. There are about 43 wineries in the town.
7. Neat little old town.
8. All the typical shopping/restaurants.
9. Just a tad cooler than the other Inland Empire Towns.

Cons:

1. Pretty darned hot in the summer. You'll get several heat waves where temps are around 105. It is a dry heat though. I'd take 105 in Temecula over 90 in CT for instance.
2. If you need to work in SD or LA, the traffic is bad. That said, there are enough medical facilities for you to likely find a job locally. I don't think location will be an issue for your husband.

Anyway, my 2 cents. Temecula is not the best town in SoCal, but you'd be hard pressed to find a better family town in your price range. And that's the key; in your price range. If you said you had 600K+ for a home, your options would be much different. I'm not easily pleased and I've been really impressed with the family qualities of Temecula.

One final note: There is a difference between Temecula and some of its neighbors. You can drive 5 miles from here and find homes much cheaper...but for various reasons from higher temps to worse schools.

[bhcompy]

You can find housing in areas like Western Corona that fit what you need and put you close to a job center. That will put you close as you can to the beach with Inland Empire prices(sort of).

As mentioned by CarawayDJ, Temecula is great, but it is isolated. If you can manage to swing a job there, it will be the best place for you.

You may also want to check up in Ventura county and maybe in the Santa Clarita area

[MtnSurfer]

Low prices and good neighborhoods near the beach can be a challenge to find in SoCal, especially if you want to be close to jobs/economic centers. In you case a good High School is also essential. I agree about looking in San Diego County inland a bit. After the RE crash you may get lucky finding a foreclosure or short sale.

Use this school map as a guide for neighborhoods with better schools. Zoom in and Select Secondary Schools - California School Performance Maps.

I'd look in places like Rancho Bernardo, Scripps Ranch, possibly Poway, etc... Be prepared to consider fixer uppers and smaller places.

Temecula was mentioned. We have friends who moved out that way. The main problem is horrible traffic and limited access in and out to major job centers. But it is worth a look if you can work out a job situation closer by. Do a search here and you will see much written on the subject. In short some hate it while others love it. It will depend largely on your families preferences.

I'd rather find a smaller, older place in a nicer area than a newer, larger one further removed from the things which are important to our family. But everyone has their own preferences.

Derek

[Charles]

Originally Posted by MtnSurfer

I'd look in places like Rancho Bernardo, Scripps Ranch, possibly Poway, etc... Be prepared to consider fixer uppers and smaller places.

We checked these places out when I was interviewing in Rancho Bernardo. They are not cheap at all. Great schools, nice place to live but expensive.