Pleasanton, Pasadena or Irvine-OC (San Jose, Long Beach: cul-de-sac, to rent, how much)

[ashguy77]

Folks, I finally joined a large company in California. My 3 offices will be Pleasanton, Pasadena and Downey (north of Irvine OC). My three living choices probably would be Pleasanton, Pasadena or Irvine. Now, the difficult part is to choose from these three.

We are moving from Dallas Texas and are used to Suburban life with weekends spent in more "happening" spots. Since nature will be the new attraction to us moving Texans, I would like to think that we'll spend lot of time on Beaches/Mountains/Drives to attractions etc. Yet I want to keep the commute short and be near the work (30 minutes max commute)

We have no kids right now, yet want to locate to a safe place which is good for kids later.

Can you tell me which of these 3 places would you choose if you were 32-30 years old couple, no kids, 200K combined income, want safe and nice neighbourhood, proximity to natural attractions, be able to drive to bars/restaurants within 30 minute drives etc.? We don't care about the political views (we can handle Texas or Seattle).

Thank you for your help!

[bhcompy]

Irvine to Downey is quite a drive(more than 30, think 60min). Why don't you choose a closer city, like Cerritos, which has similar demographics and same/better schools? Cerritos would give you great access to coastal Long Beach for bars/restaurants and you'll be 20min from Seal Beach and less than 2 hours from Big Bear and the desert.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by ashguy77

We have no kids right now, yet want to locate to a safe place which is good for kids later.

200K combined income

Are you expecting kids in the next three years?
Will you continue to have two incomes then?

Which location (Pasadena or Irvine) would more likely provide for you a "Plan B" job path should you lose this job?

Where would spouse be working?

Renting or buying? What is your housing budget?

If buying, what type of home would you be purchasing?

[uptown_urbanist]

Personally, I'd choose Pasadena (or Pasadena area), but then again, I'm biased. It's great for 30-something couples, though, with or without kids, and is located near lots of great natural attractions. It's not suburban living, though, at least not in the modern American version of cul-de-sacs and Ruby Tuesday's. It is in the sense that you could live in a nice single family home within walking or short driving distance to lots of "happening" spots as well as nature. My views of Downey may be skewed by the fact that my Downey connections are all much older or are younger and moved to Pasadena, but my impression is that Pasadena has more of what you're looking for than Downey. I'm a little confused about the Irvine/Downey thing, though; do you mean your office is in Downey but you would choose to live in Irvine? If so, why Irvine? Your reasons for being drawn to Irvine might help people give you more targeted suggestions or insights.

[ashguy77]

More info:
We want to start family in a year or two!
Currently wife can work from home, she is a recruiter and will look for local jobs once we move
Am looking to rent for few months and then buy, open to single family or Townhouse with a small backyard

So far this week I've been to Downey/Pasadena and Pleasanton offices. Here are my views.

Downey - Don't like the immediate area near office. Will have to move into an area that is not too far to drive from. Was considering Irvine because my friends live there and is generally considered very safe. Would love to explore other areas like SealBeach etc. If we want to start family soon, will Irvine not be the best from a schools perspective?

Pasadena - Like the area, problem is I won't have to be in this office too much. Probably will be driving to Downey from here too quite a bit.

Pleasanton - Beautiful but very suburban quiet. For entertainment we would have to go to SF City or San Jose areas.

So basically it is choosing between an area from where to drive to Downey or area near Pleasanton.

Looking forward to more pointers.

[BRinSM]

downey and pasadena really aren't that close to eachother, especially during normal commuting hours. how often will you have to be in pasadena? that will probably the deciding factor on where you should live as pasadena is a very difficult place to commute to. if you will be spending the vast majority of your work time in downey, i would look at places like cerritos or la mirada, which are family oriented suburbs but nearby more hip areas like long beach (as previously mentioned) and downtown fullerton respectively.

[sav858]

Even though I like the Bay Area more so overall than the LA/OC area, I would rather live in Pasadena than Pleasanton or OC. The mountains are literally right behind you and it has a very nice, upscale, and vibrant downtown. I'd imagine it would have the most cultural and entertainment options out of both of them too.

Downtown LA is a relatively short train ride on Gold Line for more cultural attractions and you can connect to the Red Line subway if you want to go to Hollywood.

[timelesschild]

I agree with BRinSM.

[ashguy77]

Problem is I cant answer the "How much will I work out of Pasadena". I think in Socal I'll be in Downey far more. So, I think I'll start looking in Cerritos, La Mirada etc. How is Fullerton as a place to live?

I do like Pasadena so I'll definitely confirm my work there before looking elsewhere. Thanks!

[BRinSM]

I think Fullerton is a great city and even has some top notch schools, the only problem is that you're really pushing your 30 minute from Fullerton. It can certainly be done with limited traffic, but as you probably know, traffic here gets really bad. I certainly wouldn't count on a commute from Fullerton to Downey every being under 30 minutes.