Moving From England To California (Los Angeles, San Diego: homes, neighborhoods, buy)

[MrMcNamara]

Greetings From Snowy London, England!

I am an English architect, looking to move to California with my wife, and set of twins. If we sold our home in England, joined with our salary's, we could buy a home in the price range of $800,000 - $1,200,000, in America. We want to move to California, and we have family in the Los Angeles area. We have ehard that a great place to live in Thousand Oaks, and it has a great night scene, school district and economy. Just wanted to know if it is as good as it seems, or if you feel any where else seems suited for us.

So:

Family of 4
Earning roughly $200,000 PA
Need good school district
Good Night scene
Family - friendly atmosphere
Preferably near a hospital.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by MrMcNamara

Greetings From Snowy London, England!

I am an English architect, looking to move to California with my wife, and set of twins. If we sold our home in England, joined with our salary's, we could buy a home in the price range of $800,000 - $1,200,000, in America. We want to move to California, and we have family in the Los Angeles area. We have ehard that a great place to live in Thousand Oaks, and it has a great night scene, school district and economy. Just wanted to know if it is as good as it seems, or if you feel any where else seems suited for us.

So:

Family of 4
Earning roughly $200,000 PA
Need good school district
Good Night scene
Family - friendly atmosphere
Preferably near a hospital.

I am assuming you have all the legal work figured out.

Thousand Oaks is fantastic except it doesn't have a great nightlife though it does have the Civic Arts Plaza and dance places and some bars. It isn't far from the Canyon Club at Whizins Center where bands like the B-52s and classic rock bands play regularly.


Lots of hospitals
Excellent schools
Excellent weather
Safe
Very family friendly
25 scenic minutes to the beach

There are plenty of other places that you might like which are often mentioned for families with that home affordability: El Segundo, Palos Verdes, South Pasadena, Irvine, Santa Monica, La Crescenta, Mission Viejo, The South Bay (Hermosa Beach, Manhattan Beach, Redondo Beach) and many others. And these are just in the Los Angeles metro. There are places in the Bay Area, San Diego, Central Coast, etc.

[jeffredo]

Santa Monica? That would just get you the median priced home, but its a pretty nice city with a better night life than most places. Big British expat population too if that makes any difference (seem to have read they're like 10% of the population).

[pacific2]

You can also find nice homes within that price range in Aliso Viejo and Laguna Niguel.
These are near coastal cities located in South Orange County. There is no great night scene in South County, but people travel to other cities for that part of life. Both Aliso and Laguna Niguel border Laguna Beach.

A few Aliso listings:
74 SUMMERLAND Cir, Aliso Viejo, CA 92656 | MLS# S615358
22 GOLF Dr, Aliso Viejo, CA 92656 | MLS# S638359
44 ANACAPA Ln, Aliso Viejo, CA 92656 | MLS# S626877
98 ENDLESS Vis, Aliso Viejo, CA 92656 | MLS# S635823
48 OAK VIEW Dr, Aliso Viejo, CA 92656 | MLS# S619859

[SB_Buyer]

LA is a big place so plenty of places to choose from. Most Brits are in Santa Monica, but you don't get a lot for your buck there, but it has a downtown so there is nightlife. Most of LA has no downtown, at least not the kind you are used to. It's basically a massive urban sprawl, and as a European you will either love it, or hate it. Pasadena has a downtown and is friendly, and cheaper though schools are patchy as far I know. Next door in San Marino schools are said to be v good, but home prices reflect that. Laguna Beach is quite nice if you want to be on the coast, but Santa Barbara is probably the nicest for Europeans, because it's about the only place that hangs together architecturally. Small town but not parochial. It's about 2 hours from LA.

[pacific2]

Laguna Beach is great, but also very expensive. Still, there is much to do and see in LB:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4quHcjgECk

[bmw335xi]

Originally Posted by MrMcNamara

Greetings From Snowy London, England!

I am an English architect, looking to move to California with my wife, and set of twins. If we sold our home in England, joined with our salary's, we could buy a home in the price range of $800,000 - $1,200,000, in America. We want to move to California, and we have family in the Los Angeles area. We have ehard that a great place to live in Thousand Oaks, and it has a great night scene, school district and economy. Just wanted to know if it is as good as it seems, or if you feel any where else seems suited for us.

So:

Family of 4
Earning roughly $200,000 PA
Need good school district
Good Night scene
Family - friendly atmosphere
Preferably near a hospital.

I personally wouldn't want to raise kids in Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Long Beach etc unless they went to a private school. With that being said, Thousand Oaks is a very nice area (I've never lived there, but have visited numerous times). It's also one of the safest cities in California. I'd highly recommend it. Some of your other choices would be cities in Orange County such as Irvine, Laguna Beach, or Newport Beach. If you don't need to be on the edge of Los Angeles, Santa Barbara is great. It's about a 1 1/2 to 2 hour drive from Los Angeles.

[the city]

Thousand Oaks has everything you mentioned except night life. It's a suburban city with no downtown. No downtown=no night life. If you want night life in Ventura County, then you better look into Ventura. Farther south you might like Santa Clarita.

[giannahorse]

i just moved from there, and can provide some good info. i on the other hand, am moving with a 5 year old, and need to be within 30-45 minutes of london, and the office is in milton keynes.

want great parks, community, festivals, neighborhoods, and good schools

[steel7]

I have heard santa monica has a large british population so you might feel at home their + it rarely gets hot. I remember one hot late july day when it was over 100 degrees here & i drove to santa monica & it was foggy & 60 chilly degrees. Luckily i brought a hoodie with me just incase. What a big difference in temperatures.