Is California a good place to live in anymore? (San Diego: mortgages, affordable houses)

[Mach50]

My family are White-Hispanic (English/Spanish) so my logic of not liking California schools for our daughter is different than their being "non-English" speaking people in schools here.

Honestly I think that is a cop-out for many here in California, but I yield to enter this debate once again.

From my personal experience with living in New York and the North East, kids gain a better education. Not only are test scores higher, but they are more consistent from one area to the next, and not so divided by race or class like here in California or the West Coast in general.

I also bundle academia with culture and learning resources, something I believe makes a child grow, using this as the bar, only locations from D.C. to Boston can really deliver IMO. So I should not have said 'schools' but 'overall learning experience' is lacking here in California.

[BobsGL1800]

Originally Posted by Mach50

I just did a search for jobs between San Diego and L.A. in my field, found over 1250 Computer Science and Engineering jobs all paying quite nicely.

Compliment that with nice weather, clean neighborhoods, beaches, mountains and yes you have a pretty nice place to live. It's not perfect, but it is still a great place with tons of opportunity for everyone.

We plan to stay here for 3-4 more years, sell our house and move to enroll our daughter in New York schools though, the schools out here are lacking compared to the North East, that is our only real issue with Cal.

I don't know how much better the NY school system is compared to Calif., but just watch out for the hefty increase in your real estate taxes every year in NY because whatever the school systems in NY ask for in the annual budget, they almost always get. When I lived there up until last year, many years the taxes went up 25% and more each year. Most of it due to the so called highly rated school system (Arlington Central District). For instance, if the school system puts in for 10 new school buses, even though the old ones are only a few years old, they get it approved. Out here, many of the school buses look like they are 20 years old. That's getting their moneys worth. Also in NY, I have never seen a school bus that was even half filled up. Such a waste of money in the state that started forced school busing for segregation. It all started in Yonkers, NY.
Since I have no kids in the school system, we finally had enough of the taxes and the weather, sold the house and moved out here. So far its the best thing we've done in our lives. Much less stressful than back there.

[bhcompy]

Originally Posted by Mach50

My family are White-Hispanic (English/Spanish) so my logic of not liking California schools for our daughter is different than their being "non-English" speaking people in schools here.

Honestly I think that is a cop-out for many here in California, but I yield to enter this debate once again.

From my personal experience with living in New York and the North East, kids gain a better education. Not only are test scores higher, but they are more consistent from one area to the next, and not so divided by race or class like here in California or the West Coast in general.

I also bundle academia with culture and learning resources, something I believe makes a child grow, using this as the bar, only locations from D.C. to Boston can really deliver IMO. So I should not have said 'schools' but 'overall learning experience' is lacking here in California.

those are a function of parenting. the west coast is full of cultural heritage children can use to grow, but its less often "us history" and more often native american or mexican history. that isnt a bad thing, its part of what makes the west coast what it is. ive been to many western states exploring local cultural sites(various indian reservations have cultural centers, silver and gold rush ghost towns like calico exist, san francisco has excellent cultural value, etc) and some of the most spectacular natural land features in the world(redwoods, grand canyon, rocky mountains, much of southern and mid utah, etc).

theres also things called vacations of course. i went to florida to explore the everglades and see a shuttle launch when i was a child. i went to DC and baltimore in middle school as part of a school trip. etc etc

you are placing too much burden of what parents should be doing on schools. schools teach historic and modern cultures, but they do not culture your child.

[Rocks4]

Not anymore. If you aren't rich, you're resigned to mostly a ghetto in most of California, especially in it's big cities.

[TimC2462]

Originally Posted by GameHog9

The recent gas prices and housing market crisis has affected everyone, to be sure (except, maybe, New Yorkers), but has good ol' Cali lost its splendor?

Here in Washington, I can tell you that Californians are invading the Pacific NW, because of the lowered prices of homes, and I know of many Californians that are coming up here to take a peek.

Is California still a good place to live?

Generally, yes. But it comes with a high price though.

My sister and her husband live in Dublin, about 20 minutes east of the bay area. There are decent schools in the area, good jobs, and the standard of living is pretty good too. But they are sacrificing quite a bit to maintain a living in the bay area.

As for me and the folks, we live in Bakersfield that is located in the San Joaquin Valley. Everything here is cheaper, but in comparison to Dublin the quality of life is not that great.

Tim C.

[Caliguy2007]

That isn't entirely true...Their are still nice areas in the Central Valley that is rather affordable,especially now with the housing prices coming down.

I'm not Rich and neither are my neighbors,but we don't live in a Ghetto.

Originally Posted by Rocks4

Not anymore. If you aren't rich, you're resigned to mostly a ghetto in most of California, especially in it's big cities.

[chuck22b]

Originally Posted by Caliguy2007

That isn't entirely true...Their are still nice areas in the Central Valley that is rather affordable,especially now with the housing prices coming down.

I'm not Rich and neither are my neighbors,but we don't live in a Ghetto.

Nor do we... and we live in the Inland Empire. Also affordable and decent schools and lower crime rates... depending on area.

[Steve97415]

People have been trumpeting the Paradise Lost Syndrome in California for at least 40 years. As has been said many times on many other threads here, there are many "Californias" and you can find numerous exceptions for almost any generalization with which you attempt to broad-brush the entire state.

[Caliguy2007]

Yup your right,it all depends on the location

Originally Posted by chuck22b

Nor do we... and we live in the Inland Empire. Also affordable and decent schools and lower crime rates... depending on area.

[Sassberto]

Originally Posted by Charles

Below are some candidate neighborhoods which have 1) Pretty good school scores and 2) SFR homes in the $300-$350/sqft range (and falling). These first five below I have either lived in or would consider living in (because there are jobs for me near them) a few years from now if prices get lower.


Thousand Oaks

California School Performance Maps

Huntington Beach

California School Performance Maps

Simi Valley/Moorpark

California School Performance Maps

Aliso Viejo/Mission Viejo

California School Performance Maps

Irvine

California School Performance Maps

La Crescenta

California School Performance Maps

Los Alamitos

California School Performance Maps

South Pasadena/San Marino

California School Performance Maps

The areas you mention are much wealthier and more exclusive than areas with similar schools in a place like Long Island, New Jersey, or Upstate NY which tend to have large blue-collar populations alongside the white collars. Most Long Islanders (overall a very upscale areao) would regard these areas as very upscale.