Need suggestions, thinking of moving to California within 1 hour of lompoc (Santa Barbara: best cities, 2011)

[typhanie78]

Hi everyone, I'm new here. Please be kind.

Okay so here's my scenario. My husband and I are thinking of moving to California in the summer of 2011. Yes, that long away and we are planning now. I'm in Nursing school he is in the Police Academy, I won't be done with school until then, so that's why we have to wait that long....

My mom lives in Lompoc. I visited her last summer and hated Lompoc (seriously thought I was going to DIE of boredom) but loved California. We live in Michigan and everything about this state sucks, weather, economy etc.

Things I'm looking for in the perfect city for us is:

1) Good school district (we have 2 elementary aged kids)
2) NOT boring (like Lompoc) not farm country (sorry, just my opinion)
3) Things to do - must have things to do close/in town such as bowling alley, movie theater, parks close by (things we can do as a family/with the kids)
4) Beach less than 10 minutes away (preferably 5)
5) Would like to RENT a house with an ocean view (we don't plan on buying a house at all - we get bored very easily of things like cars/houses haha)
6) Perfect rent (I'm sure you're laughing at me) would be $1500-$2000 a month but willing to pay more for an ocean view (also need a 3 bedroom cause of the kids)
7) Would like to be within 30 minutes of my mom (she lives in Lompoc) an hour would be do-able I suppose but I'm pretty sure she's going to watch my daughter for me while I'm at work, so the closer the better, although I might try to get her to move out of Lompoc, however she works in Buelleton so she needs to be somewhat close to there.
8) Places to eat. I edited to add this. We like to eat out, are very busy people so we need the normal "restaurants" to eat at. The chain restaurants.

I was thinking Santa Barbara cause it's so close to the beach. Was also thinking Santa Maria but now I'm hearing that it's basically a hick-town. Is that true? When I went there with my mom to that newish shopping mall area it didn't look too hickish.

Can you guys recommend any other cities close by? Like I said, I'll be an RN by the time we move there an my husband will be a cop. What do you think we could afford based on that?

Thanks for any input you can offer.

[SHNYROQ]

It's really tough to find all of that even within one hour of Lompoc. I live in Ventura, about an hour south of Lompoc, and have lived in SLO, about an hour north of Lompoc. Everything in between (and there isn't much) is pretty much like Lompoc. Santa Barbara would be ideal for the things you want, except housing - VERY expensive. Santa Maria has most of the things you're looking for, but is still kind of a "small town". An ocean view home is not possible in SM and is way over your budget in SB. You could probably find one in Ventura in the low $2k range. My friend is a cop here in Ventura and he loves it - plus they are almost always hiring, especially if your husband is already trained.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by typhanie78

Can you guys recommend any other cities close by? Like I said, I'll be an RN by the time we move there an my husband will be a cop. What do you think we could afford based on that?

Thanks for any input you can offer.

Are you both going to work?

What will be your combined income?
Take away 401(k) or equivalent (8%-15% pretax of each salary)
Take away two Roth IRAs ($10,000 after tax)/year
Take away 2 X $2000 for college expenses/year
Take away auto insurance ??? cars
Take away two life insurance policies
How much is left over for rent, living expenses, gas, food, utilities, etc.?

[typhanie78]

Originally Posted by Charles

Are you both going to work?

What will be your combined income?
Take away 401(k) or equivalent (8%-15% pretax of each salary)
Take away two Roth IRAs ($10,000 after tax)/year
Take away 2 X $2000 for college expenses/year
Take away auto insurance ??? cars
Take away two life insurance policies
How much is left over for rent, living expenses, gas, food, utilities, etc.?

Hi, thanks for your reply. Yes, we are both going to work. Like I said, I'll be an RN and he'll be a cop. I'm not sure what our combined income would be. Based on what I've heard those salary's make in California I'm assuming approx around $90,000 per year combined. Ooh that's a good question, how expensive is your auto insurance out there?

[Charles]

Originally Posted by typhanie78

Hi, thanks for your reply. Yes, we are both going to work. Like I said, I'll be an RN and he'll be a cop. I'm not sure what our combined income would be. Based on what I've heard those salary's make in California I'm assuming approx around $90,000 per year combined. Ooh that's a good question, how expensive is your auto insurance out there?

So, after you work the numbers, what do you come up with for a monthly housing allocation (for example $1500/mo, $1800?, $2200?, $2500)?

[the city]

Santa Maria and Santa Barbara are your best bets.

Santa Barbara has expensive houses, and Santa Maria doesn't. Santa Maria has an enclosed mall with Macy's, Gottschalks, Sears, and the new theater being built. It's not a hickish town, it's almost at 100,000 population and Santa Barbara is at 85,000 population and going down.

Santa Maria has lots of stuff to do, but the schools in the city aren't the best. There's more gangs in Santa Maria. Orcutt, Los Alamos, Guadalupe, and Nipomo that are cities near Santa Maria aren't the best cities either.

Santa Barbara has the same amount of smog and traffic and traffic as Santa Maria, and their downtown isn't clean. Even though Santa Barbara has 2 enclosed malls and downtown shopping, it still has a bad side. There are lots of poor ppl in downtown Santa Barbara.

[typhanie78]

Originally Posted by Charles

So, after you work the numbers, what do you come up with for a monthly housing allocation (for example $1500/mo, $1800?, $2200?, $2500)?

I stated in my original post what we would like to pay in rent.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by typhanie78

I stated in my original post what we would like to pay in rent.

Ahh, you are correct, my bad. I missed it.

[OutOfSoCal]

I spent last week in that area. I was not impressed with SB at all kind of a old dirty town. Look at Summerland, just a tad north, seems cleaner and has a small town feel w/o all the hotels/motels and old dirty places.
Ventura was nice alot of people, traffic but you have everything you want near by.
Goleta a smaller version of Ventura.
Santa Maria was also looks like a well thoughtout town that growing fast right now. HAd all the amenities but still not alot of urban sprawl.

The one place I absolutel fell in love with was Los Olivos. WOW a greta place to retire to, close to everything but seems like its the 1800s out there. rolling hiolls spotted by famrs and horse properties. But only 15 minutes to Santa Maria and maybe 20-30 to Santa Barbara still less than an hour to Mom

[the city]

I have a good idea.

If you can live in a city around Santa Barbara like Goleta, Carpinteria, Summerland, or Montecito and afford to live there then go there.

Otherwise, living in Orcutt or Los Olivos would be good. Or a really good neighborhood in Santa Maria. Since living conditions in Santa Maria area are getting better.

Santa Maria's urban sprawl hasn't occured for a while. Lots of housing growth, since in 12 years they're gonna be at 100,000 population if not more. There's a 150, 000 population within 25 miles of Santa Maria. And the only shopping center being built there right now is a small one with Lowe's by Madonna Enterprises.