Single Mother Wanting To Move To California (Los Angeles, San Francisco: low income, apartment)

[family_first]

I recently visited San Francisco California and I absolutely loved it. It reminded me of home NYC in some ways. I am a single mother of three. My daughter will be attending college in CA and 2016-2017 will be my oldest sons last year in HS then off to college he goes. So by August 2017 it will be me and my baby boy currently 7 1/2 months old. I really am considering moving to CA and have been doing my research on different areas. I have my BA in Child Developmet and currently working on my Masters in Education plus my teaching certification. I am currently a preschool teacher but would like to work with older children. I plan to find a job in my field in or outside the classroom working with children before I move any where. I guess I am looking for some feedback as to what parts of CA is more affordable than others, what parts is best recommended to raise my son, what parts is best for a single mother who would be living off of a teacher's salary? I know CA is very expensive place to live but like everywhere some cities are more costly than others. Thanks in advance to everyone's feedback.

[observer53]

You've mistakenly posted this in the Phoenix, AZ forum. I've asked the moderators to move it to the CA forum.

[family_first]

Thank you

[2sleepy]

Originally Posted by family_first

I recently visited San Francisco California and I absolutely loved it. It reminded me of home NYC in some ways. I am a single mother of three. My daughter will be attending college in CA and 2016-2017 will be my oldest sons last year in HS then off to college he goes. So by August 2017 it will be me and my baby boy currently 7 1/2 months old. I really am considering moving to CA and have been doing my research on different areas. I have my BA in Child Developmet and currently working on my Masters in Education plus my teaching certification. I am currently a preschool teacher but would like to work with older children. I plan to find a job in my field in or outside the classroom working with children before I move any where. I guess I am looking for some feedback as to what parts of CA is more affordable than others, what parts is best recommended to raise my son, what parts is best for a single mother who would be living off of a teacher's salary? I know CA is very expensive place to live but like everywhere some cities are more costly than others. Thanks in advance to everyone's feedback.

definitely not San Franciso or any of the SF Bay Area. Starting teachers in San Francisco make about 50-54k a year
With three kids you will probably need a 3 bdrm apartment. The cheapest 3 bdrm apartment that I see in San Francisco is $3400 a month

Sacramento might work, or parts of Solano County like Vacaville or Dixon. In Vacaville annual salary for a 1st year teacher is around 45k But you can get a 3 bedroom income limited apartment for $1047 a month (it's not low income housing & I don't have the schedule but with three kids @ 45k a year you would likely qualify)

There are too many school districts in Sacramento for me to look up all the salaries but it might be worth checking in to.

[family_first]

Thank you for your feedback it was very helpful; I definitely will look into it.

[blueskywalker]

What can you afford re; housing?
That's the key question.
And i have to say, Sacramento is certainly not a city that i would recommend to anyone unless he/she has a specific reason (school, work, relationship, etc.) for being there. Sacramento is in the central valley. It's a long drive to the ocean. It's basically in the middle of nowhere. It's terribly hot in the summer and the air quality is horrible!
Same with Vacaville, etc.. It's like why bother to move to CA if you're going to end up there. No offense intended to those who live in and love those areas but i don't think anyone with a California dream is imagining those places.
You visited San Francisco and experienced a most beautiful city in a beautiful part of California. But California is a big and diverse both culturally and geographically environmentally.
If you're serious about moving to California then i suggest you do some traveling and see what the state is about. Get a real sense of things. See and feel it.
And provide more information about what you can afford re; housing, what kind of cultural "scene" is important to you, and what kind of natural environment you want (if that's important).
You might find that the California you want to live in is not at all affordable. Or you may find that there are many other places west of the rockies (i'm not sure where you are living now) that are far better places to live than California. Or you may find a place in California that you really like and that you can also afford.
So again, do some traveling if you are able to.

[2sleepy]

Originally Posted by blueskywalker

What can you afford re; housing?
That's the key question.
And i have to say, Sacramento is certainly not a city that i would recommend to anyone unless he/she has a specific reason (school, work, relationship, etc.) for being there. Sacramento is in the central valley. It's a long drive to the ocean. It's basically in the middle of nowhere. It's terribly hot in the summer and the air quality is horrible!
Same with Vacaville, etc.. It's like why bother to move to CA if you're going to end up there. No offense intended to those who live in and love those areas but i don't think anyone with a California dream is imagining those places.
You visited San Francisco and experienced a most beautiful city in a beautiful part of California. But California is a big and diverse both culturally and geographically environmentally.
If you're serious about moving to California then i suggest you do some traveling and see what the state is about. Get a real sense of things. See and feel it.
And provide more information about what you can afford re; housing, what kind of cultural "scene" is important to you, and what kind of natural environment you want (if that's important).
You might find that the California you want to live in is not at all affordable. Or you may find that there are many other places west of the rockies (i'm not sure where you are living now) that are far better places to live than California. Or you may find a place in California that you really like and that you can also afford.
So again, do some traveling if you are able to.

I live in Sacramento and love it. I lived in San Francisco and several other bay area cities and prefer Sacramento. I lived in Vacaville for over a decade and wouldn't want to move back, it's hotter than Sacramento and stays hot all night, but it's a decent relatively safe place to live and you aren't that far from San Francisco.

[Perma Bear]

Originally Posted by 2sleepy

I live in Sacramento and love it. I lived in San Francisco and several other bay area cities and prefer Sacramento. I lived in Vacaville for over a decade and wouldn't want to move back, it's hotter than Sacramento and stays hot all night, but it's a decent relatively safe place to live and you aren't that far from San Francisco.

What's hotter than Sac? Hell?

[JohnS_15]

Yeah I wouldn't recommend San Francisco for you as a single mother on a teacher's salary. It would be hard going. I can tell you right now that the California you want to live in just isn't affordable. But you may be able to get within a couple hours of San Francisco as a school teacher and be okay just depends what you are willing to compromise on.

The previous poster didn't paint a nice picture of Sacramento - and they are right in some regards. It isn't coastal California. It does get hot in the summer (where in America doesn't get hot in the summer?). The air quality is worse than the coastal areas and the SF Bay Area. Although it's far better than many other areas of the Central Valley and Los Angeles area. It's definitely not San Francisco but it is a nice place. It's close to the foothills and mountains of the Sierra Nevada. Has rivers running through and is striking distance to San Francisco, wine country, and lots of what Northern California has to offer. So it still might be worth checking out.

You could also look north of San Francisco at areas of Sonoma county. It's more affordable up there and you'd still be reasonably close to SF and closer to the coast with very pretty surroundings. The nice thing about being a teacher is that you are not tied to a ultra-competitive extremely expensive metropolitan area like SF and it's surrounding.

Good luck.

[scootad]

Sacramento is a great place to live. Within striking distance of the SF Bay Area, wine country, Lake Tahoe, affordable, pleasant weather year round. The summer is hotter than coastal CA but far more comfortable than 95% of the rest of the country's summer weather as it cools down at night and tons of trees with shade in the city. Good restaurants, nice midtown, decent arts scene with museums, excellent produce.