The Best Place - Camarillo, Port Hueneme, Oxnard or Ventura (horse, health care)

[Den Mathias]

Originally Posted by macsret

We, my wife and I (retirement age, are still trying to get some fairly indepth and personal opinions, sorry to harp on our questions but we really need some CD Forums style input about the following:

1. Cost of Living - A very important factor as we will be living on a fairly fixed income, about $5,000 mo take home / after taxes. Appreciate you opinions on what kind of life style we would / could have on that amount. Could we afford to rent a 3 br/2+ bath house or a condo, living on that?

2. Crime, another important issue, have read many posts on the subject but none seem to go into very much detail, hope someone will. Which city is the over all worse / best?

3. Health issues - How would you rate the hospitals in these cities and which city has the best hospital(s).

Believe me your opinions are going to be really appreciated and helpful. We are considering either moving to one of these cities or Albuquerque NM.

Thank You, and hope we aren't making a pest of ourselves.

I hate to bust your bubble but I visit Albuquerque all the time add it seems to lack quite a bit of culture. In addition, it is very dusty and dry.
There are so many nice towns in California that New Mexico seems second best. It is cheap living though!

[Charles]

Originally Posted by Charles

Using redfin, I saw 2600 sqft for $350K in Oxnard.

Originally Posted by Den Mathias

I am new here what is a redfin?

If you had popped redfin into google....

Redfin - Homes in Oxnard.

[macsret]

Originally Posted by Den Mathias

I hate to bust your bubble but I visit Albuquerque all the time add it seems to lack quite a bit of culture. In addition, it is very dusty and dry.
There are so many nice towns in California that New Mexico seems second best. It is cheap living though!

Thanks for the reply, however, you didn't come close to busting my bubble as you really didn't address any of the questions. I do believe you are right about the dust and being dry, but dry is something I want after living here in the PI, about 20 years now, and it is HUMID here. Now, when you talk about the lack of culture, I believe you probably don't enjoy the Indian/Hispanic culture... which I do. Like they say... "To each his own".

During your visits how did/do you find the cost of living and crime.... would appreciate your input on the questions I asked.

Hard to argue about CA's towns, job opportunities for my kids (pharmacists) and the weather, especially Ventura County and a few towns just north of there.

Again, thanks for the reply.

jOE
Angeles City
Philippines

[jchang1]

I'm going to need to relocate because of a job located in Port Hueneme. I need some assistance in trying to find a good area to move to. Which city is the safest and has the least likelihood of finding a run-down neighborhood? I am not familiar with the Ventura County area. I don't mind commuting a bit to get to Port Hueneme. What is most important is that I live in a good area. Can I get some opinions which city (Camarillo, Port Hueneme, Oxnard, Thousand Oaks, Ventura, etc) that would be best for me?

[Charles]

Originally Posted by jchang1

I'm going to need to relocate because of a job located in Port Hueneme. I need some assistance in trying to find a good area to move to. Which city is the safest and has the least likelihood of finding a run-down neighborhood? I am not familiar with the Ventura County area. I don't mind commuting a bit to get to Port Hueneme. What is most important is that I live in a good area. Can I get some opinions which city (Camarillo, Port Hueneme, Oxnard, Thousand Oaks, Ventura, etc) that would be best for me?

Rent or buy? Housing budget?
Married? Kids? Ages?

[jchang1]

Originally Posted by Charles

Rent or buy? Housing budget?
Married? Kids? Ages?

I'll be living by myself. Most likely going to rent an apartment for around $1,000/month.

[Charles]

If it were me, I'd look at Ventura because it is a really cool place (atmosphere and weather) and it isn't too far from Port Hueneme.

Ventura has a questionable area along the west side along Ventura Avenue. Otherwise, it might be the best place for a single person to hang out in Ventura County.
Camarillo doesn't really have any places that area really bad, but it is a little boring (lots of retired people there) and the farthest from Port Hueneme.
Oxnard has some questionable neighborhoods and some better ones. I haven't been around Oxnard in over 12 years.
I sort of forgot what the town of Port Hueneme is like, I think it's a little like Oxnard and a little like Ventura.

Do you have a chance to get out to the area first? If so, check out the places above. You will be able to tell if the neighborhood is unappealing.

Just out of curiosity and a little off topic...did you get a job there? What kind of work? Government or contractor? Are they hiring? I used to work at Point Mugu and I used to play basketball, go swimming, use the auto hobby shop, and rent boats at Port Hueneme so I'm a little curious.

[kelpforest]

It sounds like since you are looking for something in multi-family housing and you don't want a run-down neighborhood, your search can be narrowed down quite a bit. I'm not going to deliberately tell you where not to live, but give you the highest probability of finding a good spot for you to begin your search. Since you are willing to commute, I'm not going to use "walking friendly" neighborhoods as a criteria, just better kept and lower crime.

There are more choices for nice neighborhoods with a variety of locations near Port Hueneme, if you are renting a house or a duplex. Apartment complexes tend to be more cut and dry, and you could look farther out.

Since you should be using an online map or getting a map of the area eventually, I'll use street names a lot.

In Ventura, I'd look along Telephone Road from about Johnson to the 101 Freeway. You could look around the area just East of Pacific View Mall (Dean Drive, etc.) and maybe along Harbor Blvd near the 101 Freeway (known as the Pierpont area).

Camarillo is actually not that far to Port Hueneme if you take the back roads. It's a straight shot to the Pleasant Valley base entrance. Even if you commute from Thousand Oaks you would still probably use this approach once you come down the Conejo Grade (factor wear and tear on your car into Thousand Oaks locations). You don't want to drive across the Oxnard city streets during rush hour.
I don't know the current rates, but in Camarillo some apartments along Flynn Road, North of Adolfo might work. There are more apartments along Ponderosa between Las Posas and Carmen Drive. Camarillo is comparably safe, so it comes down to how run down an area looks.

If I were looking for a place in Oxnard, I'd look along the beach. Oxnard Shores, Hollywood Beach, Silver Strand (but SS in mostly houses) and maybe along Victoria Avenue between 5th Street and Channel Islands Blvd.

If you continue along Channel Islands Blvd toward the East, This is part of Port Hueneme, there are some apartments. Don't go farther East than Ventura Road though. Elsewhere in Port Hueneme you could look near the southern part of town along the beach.

I'm not familiar with Thosand Oaks other than there are some apartments just North of The Oaks Mall (along Hillcrest to about the 23 fwy) and it's going to be hit and miss along with anything in Newbury Park (Hillcrest Drive from Wendy Drive to the Lynn Road area near the mall.)

Hope this helps

[Den Mathias]

[quote=macsret;7313022]

1. Cost of Living - It is very low compared to Ca. My friend has a 5 bedroom 2.5 bath home in a suburb known as Rio Ranch. They paid $360,000 this year. It is a luxury area and there are nice homes for considerably less. Groceries are about 20% less. Gas was about $2,40/ Gal. IT is above $3 here in Ca.

2. Crime- Crime is quite a bit lower except for auto theft. I think New Mexicans have a thing for nice cars.

3. Health issues - Hospitals, according to my friend are as good as they had in San Jose. I never used the local health care so can not speak to that.

As to the culture, it is a melange of different types, so you will probably find what you like. According to City-Data the races break down like so:

• White Non-Hispanic (49.9%)
• Hispanic (39.9%)
• Other race (14.8%)
• American Indian (4.9%)
• Two or more races (4.3%)
• Black (3.1%)
• Vietnamese (0.6%)

Oh, and State and property taxes are way below the nation mean.

Hope this helps!

[macsret]

Originally Posted by Den Mathias;9416979[B

I never used the local health care so can not speak to that. [/b]

Den, thank for you reply and it was useful. You mentioned you don't used the "local health care..." Does that mean that you use the VA there in ABQ or which Health Care System do you use?

jOE