Best affordable area to raise family Riverside? (Sacramento, San Bernardino: renting, low crime)

[skorpio1177]

My husband is currently in the Riverside Police academy. We currently live in Las Vegas and have 2 small children. (well, he lives at the academy right now). We're trying to decide what area would be best for us to live in. neither of us have lived in California before. And I will be quitting my job to relocate there. His income will be approx $50k a year. Im beginning to think this isnt even doable...

[MtnSurfer]

Well, I guess it depends on what you would hope to live in. Are you very picky about areas or can you live some where with some what higher crime than the rest of the state? Riverside, San Bernardino, Corona and the Inland Empire in general are known to have their fair share of crime. I went to College in the San Bernardino area but lived in Torrance (Looong commute). Every day I could not wait to get out of that smoggy, muggy, hot place. Some loved it. But I really don't like any of those cities and compared to much of the rest of the state it is an armpit.

I guess I might recommend looking west a bit for a little nicer area, possibly Yorba Linda or Rancho Cucamunga.

But quite honestly on $50K/yr things are goint to be very tight for a while, especially with two younger children. You will definately be renting an apt 2 maybe 3 bdrm or maybe a trailer.

This is one of the reasons my wife and I moved from CA to Colorado 2 years ago with our 3 young children. My wife wanted to be a stay at home mom and I wanted the same for her. Even on a decent single salary as a senior software engineer we were renting and things were still tight.

In CO I am actually earning more now, we own our first home and we are even able to get ahead a little.

But I must say that I do miss the coast and some of the weather related benefits that CA has to offer. CO was a good move for us in keeping with our family goals. But we have come to realize that no place is perfect. You just have a different set of pros and cons. The hard question you must ask youself and your husband is which set of pros/cons are the best fit for your young family right now? And if you move to expensive S. Cal. are you willing to live with that set of pros/cons for a 'season?' Will it help or hinder your family in the long run?

Maybe you could do it if only for say two years until your husband gets some experience. Then explore other areas with a better cost of living for younger families, less crime, pollution, traffic, etc... If California, check out Sacramento northern suburbs such as Grass Valley.

All I'm saying is that there are other options even within Cal. that are more affordable and nicer for raising young children. I don't know what the police forces are like in some of the areas. But it would be worth checking out.

[soon2relocate]

We currently live in riverside. The orangecrest area. There are a lot of police officers in our neighborhood. The area is great. Crime is low and the schools are wonderful. I can recommend a preschool. First Baptist Preschool on Allessandro BLVD. The elementary I am thrilled with is JFK. Affordable home prices, you can walk to everyting you need. 5 minutes drive from a huge mall and all those stores. We love it here. Best of luck

[CaliforniaAloha]

I agree, with the last post, Orangecrest is it. Shopping close by. Nature at Sycamore Canyon Wilderness Park, good schools, nice people.
Ignore people that lump San Bernardino with Riverside together.
Two completely different counties!
I believe that San Bernardino county is the largest county in the United States too. And yes the city of San Bernardino itself unfortunately has long had a reputation of crime, once it was the 2nd rated murder capital per population. So sad. And San Bernardino is also is right against the mountains which makes it trap the smog but so does Azusa and those areas too.
The city of Riverside can get smoggy but nothing like that. Southern areas of The City of Riverside, especially up in the south Eastern hills of the city, very little smog. Beautiful clouds and views. Low crime, good schools.
Look on zillow for 92508
I think on this City-Data site they also have many statistics by zip code.