Finding our place in CA (Los Angeles, San Diego: house, to buy, school districts)

[twinmoms]

Hello,
We are currently living in Los Angeles and looking to relocate soon. We are a mid-30s lesbian couple with infant twin boys and two small dogs. We are both special education teachers but not currently under contract so we can move soon. Living in Los Angeles is not ideal for us any longer as we want to find an area where we can eventually afford to buy a house and live in an area where it is liberal, green (lots of trees/parks), where we can find jobs, is safe for our children to go outside to play with other kids, and has good schools... Are we asking too much? I am from Los Angeles and my family lives here and in San Diego. My wife's family is in the Boston area. The areas we are strongly considering include San Diego (although housing is expensive and the schools are not great) and Sonoma County- especially the Russian River Valley.

Since we have babies, finding jobs is absolutely essential and we would not move without securing at least one job... Any teachers out there who have job searched from So Cal to Northern CA please help.

[LoriBee62]

Russian River is nice and most definitely liberal minded. It's a little off the beaten path, and you need to be careful where you live there because getting stranded in your home when the roads flood happens. Guerneville and Monte Rio is more susceptible to getting flooded in (usually homes are fine, you just can't get out). Forestville is better as it's not right on the river.

Unless you score a job in one of the small school districts in the Russian River area, you're most likely going to have to make the drive into Santa Rosa or Windsor for work. Sebastopol might be another option. It's a slightly larger town, and the school district there is one of the best in Sonoma County. but it's still got the Russian River vibe, if that's what you're looking for.