Best areas through california (Los Angeles, San Jose: crime, home, transfer)

[bhw2]

I'm sure this question has been asked numerous times, but I was wondering what areas/counties or individual cities are the best to raise a family that also have good schools. My fiance, would prefer closer to the coast but we are open to cities inland as well. We are also looking for keep our home between $500-700,000. Any help would be appreciated, we are just trying to get an idea of areas with good public schools that we are able to afford. Thank you.

[Charles]

What does "best" mean?
Where is your job? (Or do you work from home in your jammies?)

School Performance Maps is a good tool to identify potentially good schools.

[bhw2]

lol sorry I wasn't very specific. We are from Michigan, we both are police officers. We are just trying to find a few areas we can focus on and then try to transfer departments. I no that we need to lock up a job before the move so we are going to start that process after we find the area that we are looking for. By best I mean safest, lowest crime, a place that if i accidently left my windows down then i wouldn't have to worry about my car or things in my car being stolen. Also, I know that CA pays police officers exceptionally well, I was wondering if anyone knew where was a safer place to patrol as well as make decent money.

[Charles]

Thousand Oaks
Simi Valley
Camarillo
Ventura County
Moorpark
Santa Clarita
Mission Viejo
Poway
Rancho Bernardo

That's probably 9 out of 300.

[bhcompy]

In that price range I would suggest Seal Beach, Rossmoor, east Long Beach, or Huntington Beach. Affordable areas near the beach with good to great schools, very family friendly, and lots of activities.

[uptown_urbanist]

You might be able to find something in South Pasadena, especially at the top level of your budget. I can't say enough good things about South Pasadena as a place to have a family. It's in the LA metro area, nestled between the city of LA and Pasadena in the San Gabriel Valley.

[MtnSurfer]

Originally Posted by bhw2

I'm sure this question has been asked numerous times, but I was wondering what areas/counties or individual cities are the best to raise a family that also have good schools. My fiance, would prefer closer to the coast but we are open to cities inland as well. We are also looking for keep our home between $500-700,000. Any help would be appreciated, we are just trying to get an idea of areas with good public schools that we are able to afford. Thank you.

Also check out Central California as well as San Jose. My neighbor is a police officer and really likes the Monterey area.
I would take a look at these areas for good jobs and schools:

San Jose and its many nicer suburban neighborhoods like Los Gatos, Saratoga, Cupertino, etc... have great schools and crime is low especially for an area with so many ppl.

Then along the coast:
Santa Cruz
Monterey
Pacific Grove
Carmel
Pismo
San Luis Obispo
Morro Bay

For SoCal:
Torrance
Hermosa Beach
Manhattan Beach
Redondo Beach
Rancho Palos Verdes
Seal Beach
Mission Viejo
Laguna Niguel
Encinitas
Del Mar
La Jolla

These are some of the nicest areas of the state along the coast. But because CA is a Huge state you literally have hundreds of options. So some of it depends on your preferences and of course where you can land positions. The southern part of the state is a bit more dry and densly populated. As you head north above LA and especially Santa Barbara it starts to get more green with more wide open spaces. But the towns I mentioned in SoCal are still nice by many ppls standards.

In some of these towns you will be hitting the ceiling of your budget. But the pay will be higher in the more affluent areas so that may compensate. Otherwise you can look at a town next door which still has good schools. Example: you get on the Manhattan Beach police force (not an easy thing BTW) and you find a home in Torrance which still has great schools and is actually more of a family oriented town.

Derek

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by bhw2

lol sorry I wasn't very specific. We are from Michigan, we both are police officers. We are just trying to find a few areas we can focus on and then try to transfer departments. I no that we need to lock up a job before the move so we are going to start that process after we find the area that we are looking for. By best I mean safest, lowest crime, a place that if i accidently left my windows down then i wouldn't have to worry about my car or things in my car being stolen. Also, I know that CA pays police officers exceptionally well, I was wondering if anyone knew where was a safer place to patrol as well as make decent money.

Safe and decent pay probably shouldn't be spoken in the same sentence. The safer, smaller areas are not going to be at the top of the pay scale in most cases. Also remember, there are a lot of police officers and wantabees in Ca right now trying to do just what you are doing. The jobs will most likely go to them first.

As for what the different cities pay, you can probably google that. Of course the safer areas are away from the cities, but, will have lower pay.

I notice the choices suggested already, I would add Glendora and other cities and towns inland from Los Angeles. No, it isn't the coast but I think some of the towns mentioned near the coast are going to be way out of your budget, places like Pismo, Manhattan Beach, La Jolla, and most of the nicer cities near the water.

Yes, So Pasadena is the cream of the crop if you can find a home in your budget, so is Arcadia which isn't on the list.

Good luck, now decide on a few places, maybe take a trip and visit, then start the process of job searching and investigating what might be out there for you.

Nita

[Chava61]

I know that Mission Viejo (not far from Irvine) has good schools and is a good place to raise a family.

[coyoteskye]

The Central coast.
Seriously.
Do you actually want to enter into the insanity of So. CA?
I'll answer that for you ... no you don't!
(and it's gonna get worse i imagine)
I would stay close to the coast and i'd explore the communities in San Luis Obispo county, Monterey county and the county of Santa Cruz.


Santa Cruz, County

Monterey County

San Luis Obispo County