Might have to leave California, help me figure out where to go (San Francisco: sales, violent crime)

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by AKgirlinCA

Oh sorry I was confused, that was for the OP. You're right...DFW is a great fit for us but might not be for the OP.

If you can stay home with your kids, more power to you. I am not suggesting working moms are not good moms, my own daughter worked from the day her girls were tiny babies, but I just think staying at home is a blessing to moms and kids...more for moms believe it or not..

thank being said, DFW does have a lot to offer, have you decided on any particularly area...?? Flower Mound, Lewisville and Highland Shores are all great areas..there are lots of other good areas as well, depending on where the job will be..

As for Trader Joes, Flower Mound has a market, similar, it is called Sprouts and there may be more than one in the area. It isn't Traders Joes, but close..

Nita

ps guess we are kinda off the subject, sorry about that..

[SOON2BNSURPRISE]

Originally Posted by califlo

-Weather: preferably no snow (or very minimal snow, < 5 in. a year), a moderate level of humidity with some noticeable rainfall (we are not interested in desert weather, but don’t really want to go back to Florida humidity either!), and we both love warm & sunny weather so we do not think we would do well in a city that is more often cloudy than sunny (like Seattle)

Ventura County has excelent weather. Oxnard and Ventura are in a moderate climate.

-Good air quality due to our health considerations

Fairly good air quality in the Oxnard Ventura area.

-Excellent hospitals/medical facilities nearby

We have 8 area hospitals. CMH where I work is consistantly rated as a top hospital in the state.

-Affordable housing – pretty much anything less expensive than the Bay Area

Homes are selling for a lot less in the Oxnard Ventura area than the bay area. You can find homes built in the late 1970's selling in the mid $200,000 range. At Oxnards Riverpark development you can buy a new town home with prices in the High $200,000 range.
-Low crime rate

Oxnard is now rated lower than Santa Barbara area for crime.

-Near 4yr college/university, possibly 2 yr college might work (my husband works in higher education admin)

Oxnard, Ventura, and Moorpark have Junior colleges. In Camarillo we have the California State University Channel Islands.

-Fairly diverse population and good acceptance of interracial couples (I spent a chunk of my childhood in Alabama, and my experience there as a multiracial person was horrible. I am not interested in moving to a place with a lot of racial issues)

Many interatial couples. I am a white guy married to a Mexican woman. It wouldn't make people blink one way or the other here in this area.

-Moderate to liberal people and political environment(we are pretty liberal and agnostic, and hope to find a place where there might be other people somewhat like us)

Ventura County is either baby blue or pink in its voting record. we sit in the middle most of the time. I find it refreshing as I can have an educated conversation with others that may or may not hold my view and at the end of the day we are all still friends. I may be a conservative Republican but many of my freinds are liberal minded.

Ideally, our new home would offer access to these things too but we would be willing to travel a little for them if necessary:
-a variety/quantity of ethnic restaurants (we like Indian, Thai, Vietnamese, Ethiopian, etc.) and cultural events/festivals

You will love the atmosphere here in the area, although many places close early for some. LA though is only an hour away.

-reasonable access to outdoorsy stuff (hiking, parks)

Plenty to do with lots of outdoor activities. five beaches, not too, far from the Santa Monica Mountains, Not too far from the Ojai Mountains.

-an assortment of stores for shopping like Borders, Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, Target, department stores

Name a store and we have it near by.

-less than 1- 1.5 hours from an airport

Oxnard has a regional airport with commuter service to LAX. Also LAX is about an hour away on a good day.

I know there is a lot listed here and we may not find a place that has all of this. Thank you for reading this and for any help you can give!!

Visit the area and try us out.

[marianne1952]

Denver CO

[califlo]

Thank you all for all of your responses! Sorry that it has been so long since I got back on this forum. For the near future, we are planning to stick around the South Bay area and rent a condo. Thanks Soon2bnsurprise for the detailed info on the Oxnard/Ventura area. It looks like there are no job openings currently at CSU Channel Islands that fit with my husband's work experience/interest areas. I think we will check out that area when we are ready to potentially buy a home.

I think Albuquerque and Denver are a little too cold for us. We have friends in Asheville but I think the climate is not what we are looking for. Most of our friends and family are in Florida, and we miss them, but we have spent enough time there and are looking for a different atmosphere. For us, the most important factors are climate, diverse population and acceptance of people like me, low crime rate, good air quality due to our health issues, and the presence of at least one 4 yr university/college for my husband. The other things I listed are just preferences - I know utopia doesn't exist

[jp03]

Originally Posted by AKgirlinCA

Dallas, Texas. Sunny. Affordable. Fairly low humidity. Abundant job market. Jobs pay what CA jobs do or more and COL is nearly half. Convenient location to other areas in the country for traveling. All the stores/shops/restaurants you could want or need. Nice people. Tons of schools. No smog. Plenty of sports teams for recreation. North Dallas and Collin County are very safe. Excellent hospitals. Need I say more? Also, if you like a little bit of "weather" you get the occasional thunderstorm which is fun. The tornado stuff is a bit overhyped.

Hotter than hell in summer...

[mysticaltyger]

Originally Posted by bhcompy

in CA you're going to have a hard time finding what you want

you may want to try stockton though.. foreclosure capital of norcal and still in the bay area i guess. otherwise id say in the inland empire, but that is very arid

Last time I checked Stockton was part of the San Joaquin Valley.

[mysticaltyger]

Originally Posted by califlo

I am fairly new to the city-data forum, and I am looking for help in finding a place to relocate. I moved here to San Jose, CA from Tampa last year for my husband’s job. So far, we have enjoyed living here but we have had the good fortune to have paid very little for rent as it is mostly been subsidized by his employer. While we would definitely not mind staying out here awhile longer, our goal is to eventually buy a house and paying Bay Area rent is not going to really allow us to save what we need to do that, and it would not leave much money for us to budget for travel, fun, etc. We know buying here is out of the question for us - too $$. Therefore, we need a new home! We are both in our early 30s and we have no kids. We would like to stay in California if possible. If we leave, where should we go? Where have you all considered moving to? Here are some characteristics that we want our new city to have:

-Weather: preferably no snow (or very minimal snow, < 5 in. a year), a moderate level of humidity with some noticeable rainfall (we are not interested in desert weather, but don’t really want to go back to Florida humidity either!), and we both love warm & sunny weather so we do not think we would do well in a city that is more often cloudy than sunny (like Seattle)

-Good air quality due to our health considerations

-Excellent hospitals/medical facilities nearby

-Affordable housing – pretty much anything less expensive than the Bay Area

-Low crime rate

-Near 4yr college/university, possibly 2 yr college might work (my husband works in higher education admin)

-Fairly diverse population and good acceptance of interracial couples (I spent a chunk of my childhood in Alabama, and my experience there as a multiracial person was horrible. I am not interested in moving to a place with a lot of racial issues)

-Moderate to liberal people and political environment(we are pretty liberal and agnostic, and hope to find a place where there might be other people somewhat like us)

Ideally, our new home would offer access to these things too but we would be willing to travel a little for them if necessary:
-a variety/quantity of ethnic restaurants (we like Indian, Thai, Vietnamese, Ethiopian, etc.) and cultural events/festivals

-reasonable access to outdoorsy stuff (hiking, parks)

-an assortment of stores for shopping like Borders, Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, Target, department stores

-less than 1- 1.5 hours from an airport

I know there is a lot listed here and we may not find a place that has all of this. Thank you for reading this and for any help you can give!!

You want too much. You're going to have to prioritize. What are you willing to give up? ('Cause you're not going to be able to get everything on your list).

The only place that might work is Sacramento, although they do have air quality issues up there. The trend in air quality for Sac. & California as a whole are toward steady improvement, but the improvement might not come fast enough for you.

[califlo]

mysticaltiger -
I have thought about Sacramento, but the air quality is really not so good. Like I stated earlier, I realize that I have to prioritize -
{For us, the most important factors are climate, diverse population and acceptance of people like me, low crime rate, good air quality due to our health issues, and the presence of at least one 4 yr university/college for my husband. The other things I listed are just preferences - I know utopia doesn't exist }

So, I know I won't be able to get some of the items on my initial want list. For example, we are enjoying where we live now so we are going to hold off on finding an area where we could actually buy a home for awhile.

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by califlo

mysticaltiger -
I have thought about Sacramento, but the air quality is really not so good. Like I stated earlier, I realize that I have to prioritize -
{For us, the most important factors are climate, diverse population and acceptance of people like me, low crime rate, good air quality due to our health issues, and the presence of at least one 4 yr university/college for my husband. The other things I listed are just preferences - I know utopia doesn't exist }

So, I know I won't be able to get some of the items on my initial want list. For example, we are enjoying where we live now so we are going to hold off on finding an area where we could actually buy a home for awhile.

of course you do realize the longer you wait to buy a home, the more it might cost you. (depending on what happens with the economy) as for being accepted I think you will find this will not be a huge problem. Even here in NWA we are seeing more mixed relationships and fewer raised eyebrows.

Nita

[justducky2]

Sacramento has all of your requirements...