Looking to move to California paradise (Los Angeles, San Jose: for rent, home, neighborhood)

[forcestream]

We are looking to move to paradise. But our definition of paradise is pretty specific. Where should we look in California for this place?:

1. Mid to Upper middle class
2. Excellent schools
3. Near a bigger city, 30-40 minutes is ok. (theatre, arts, culture)
4. Liberal leaning
5. Awesome weather
6. Community feeling

Tall order? Maybe. But this place must exist in CA.

Thanks for your comments.

Jeff

[Charles]

Originally Posted by forcestream

We are looking to move to paradise. But our definition of paradise is pretty specific. Where should we look in California for this place?:

1. Mid to Upper middle class
2. Excellent schools
3. Near a bigger city, 30-40 minutes is ok. (theatre, arts, culture)
4. Liberal leaning
5. Awesome weather
6. Community feeling

Tall order? Maybe. But this place must exist in CA.

Thanks for your comments.

Jeff

Where are you now? (your profile isn't populated)
What line of work are you in?
What is your budget for rent or purchase?
Where are you going to work?
Are schools important too? (Do you have kids?)
If you found the "perfect place", would you still buy tomorrow if you felt there was a better than 50% chance your home would go down in value in the next two years?

[forcestream]

Good questions. We are in Chicago. So we have all of that stuff but the awesome weather. People here are very friendly.
I am an internet marketing whiz. So I can work most anywhere.
We would be looking to purchase in the range of $750k-950k.
Schools are extremely important. 4 kids
We would probably look to move within the next 2 years.
Thanks for your comments.
Jeff

[Charles]

Originally Posted by forcestream

Good questions. We are in Chicago. So we have all of that stuff but the awesome weather. People here are very friendly.
I am an internet marketing whiz. So I can work most anywhere.
We would be looking to purchase in the range of $750k-950k.
Schools are extremely important. 4 kids
We would probably look to move within the next 2 years.
Thanks for your comments.
Jeff

Here's a popular tool to help find better schools:

http://schoolperformancemaps.com/ca/...22911%2C11%2C1

I would have suggested Thousand Oaks/Westlake but not sure it is liberal leaning (not sure where that is actually) and while TO has a cultural arts center it is not within a "normal" 40 minutes drive to major cultural things in Los Angeles.

Thousand Oaks meets the remainder of your requirements.

[sbfk]

Campbell, CA
San Jose,CA(not as "tight knit" in all of the city but the place is huge so your bound to find a neighborhood you like)
Santa Clara, CA
San Mateo,CA

[RandalR]

Originally Posted by forcestream

We are looking to move to paradise. But our definition of paradise is pretty specific. Where should we look in California for this place?:

1. Mid to Upper middle class
2. Excellent schools
3. Near a bigger city, 30-40 minutes is ok. (theatre, arts, culture)
4. Liberal leaning
5. Awesome weather
6. Community feeling

Tall order? Maybe. But this place must exist in CA.

Thanks for your comments.

Jeff

You were smart enough to leave out "affordable" - housing in California communities with all of the above attributes starts at around a million dollars. Look at any upscale community like Palo Alto, Tiburon, La Jolla, or Santa Barbara. There are still genuine paradises all over the state if you can afford the price of admission.

[Kingsnkali]

You might look at Mill Valley (Marin County).

[rkb0305]

Bay Area

[A Blue Window]

Turtle Rock

[abcde]

My old neighborhood, Palos Verdes peninsula, specifically Rolling Hills.

I would move back in a heartbeat.