French-Canadian family moving to California (San Diego, San Jose: middle-class, rental, house)

[Chagall]

We are thinking of moving (for a 2 year contract) to California with ou 5 years old son. As my husband will be working from home we are flexible with choice of cities. He will have to travel within the US very frequently though. We are hesitant about looking into San Diego, San-Francisco (area) and out of LA to rent a house. We need easy access to an airport, good family quality life, and schools where they have french programs. Any recommendations?

[bhcompy]

foreign languages usually aren't taught in elementary school, especially french, so you're going to need a private school that does french. there are a couple in the LA area, but I'm not sure what they're called. As far a city, Long Beach may be a good start. You can get good family quality life on the east side or in bixby knolls and be very close to Long Beach Airport

[coyoteskye]

Originally Posted by Chagall

We are thinking of moving (for a 2 year contract) to California with ou 5 years old son. As my husband will be working from home we are flexible with choice of cities. He will have to travel within the US very frequently though. We are hesitant about looking into San Diego, San-Francisco (area) and out of LA to rent a house. We need easy access to an airport, good family quality life, and schools where they have french programs. Any recommendations?

I'd say stick to the Bay area (San Francisco area) and avoid SoCal.
Or consider the more northern part of the central coast ... the Monterey area or even Santa Cruz county.
I don't know about schooling / french programs but others can chime in on that topic.
For more specific advice it would be helpful if you told folks what your rent budget is and what size house you need.

[Mach50]

Originally Posted by Chagall

We are thinking of moving (for a 2 year contract) to California with ou 5 years old son. As my husband will be working from home we are flexible with choice of cities. He will have to travel within the US very frequently though. We are hesitant about looking into San Diego, San-Francisco (area) and out of LA to rent a house. We need easy access to an airport, good family quality life, and schools where they have french programs. Any recommendations?

Most public immersion schools in the BayArea are Mandarin and Spanish, so for French you will most likely need a private school.

You could live in one of the very nice Peninsula family oriented cities, close to both San Francisco and San Jose airports...Oakland as a backup, and attend these schools:

Here is one in San Francisco:
Lycée Français La Pérouse, San Francisco (http://www.lelycee.org/top_pages/index.fr.php - broken link)

In Palo Alto:
International School of the Peninsula

[Chagall]

We are a middle-class family in Canadian standards. I am a school teacher and my husband makes the same as me... So would it be realistic to rent a 3 bedroom home for around 3000$/month in a nice neighbourhood?
Coyoteske, why do you recommend sticking to the SF bay area? I checked for neighbourhoods there and it is quite confusing... Looks like there are lots of cities linked together... Do you recommend living IN the city (like Sunset for instance) or in the area only? Or even suburbs?
I must say that I like outdoor sports, cultural attractions and good reataurants close by.
We are so used to having second and third language taught early on in our lives that I thought I would easily find something

[Fontucky]

HINT: Don't look for Canada here. It'll make your transition all the smoother. Consider Spanish as the third language, as it's well on its way to becoming the primary language of California.

[bhcompy]

The most common option you'll find as a second language is Spanish, and being taught early is rare. There aren't too many public schools across the state that start earlier than high school(or perhaps for a semester or two in junior high) and the ones do typically use immersion.

As far as city or suburbs it depends on what you want. In Southern California, you can rent a 3 bedroom house in Long Beach, Los Alamitos/Rossmoor, or Lakewood for 2200-3000$/mo or so. These are safe suburban areas that are close to the beach, have large regional parks(by urban standards at least), and have a good deal of interesting culture nearby(particularly Hispanic and Asian cultures). Pretty much any suburban or urban area is going to have a variety of good restaurants around, but if you're looking for specifics(like Vietnamese, BBQ, seafood, etc), you can narrow it down somewhat.

Throughout the state, the major cities spread far in each direction and the cities are all linked together. The areas of the state that are not like that are inland, generally in the desert, farmland, or mountains.

[coyoteskye]

Originally Posted by Chagall

We are a middle-class family in Canadian standards. I am a school teacher and my husband makes the same as me... So would it be realistic to rent a 3 bedroom home for around 3000$/month in a nice neighbourhood?
Coyoteske, why do you recommend sticking to the SF bay area? I checked for neighbourhoods there and it is quite confusing... Looks like there are lots of cities linked together... Do you recommend living IN the city (like Sunset for instance) or in the area only? Or even suburbs?
I must say that I like outdoor sports, cultural attractions and good reataurants close by.
We are so used to having second and third language taught early on in our lives that I thought I would easily find something

Yes, 3K will afford you a nice rental in the areas i recommended.
There is "higher" culture in San Francisco and as a Canadian, with i assume a more European sensibility, you may appreciate this "neck of the woods" more than SoCal which, as i perceive it, is manifesting some of the worst of the U.S.A. not to mention that the state of California is in rough shape at the present and the tension and negativity are exacerbated in the SoCal locals.
You have a rental budget that will allow you to have a choice of some really nice communities in these two bay areas ... From San Francisco and extending all the way down to Santa Cruz county and Monterey / Carmel / Pacific Grove areas.
I'd stay close to the coast since you can afford it.

I don't know but you may like the county of Santa Cruz. Since your husband is working from home the brutal commute over the hill to San Jose will not be a factor but, in non-rush hour traffic you can get to the airport in San Jose in less than an hour or use the smaller airport (which i love) in Monterey which is less than an hour as well.
Santa Cruz county is, for me, ideal as it has a wonderful combination of very beautiful and powerful nature ( redwoods, ocean, "mountains", lots of mountain biking, hiking, surfing, beaching, etc.) and enough urban (well, urban light) and sub-urban areas so that you can live in nature without feeling that you're isolated and "out in the boonies".
Gardening is a dream here as it's a Mediterranean climate.
Or you can live in more sub-urban areas.
There is some good dining in the area and San Francisco is less than 2 hours to the north and it's an easy drive when it's not rush hour.
Monterey and Carmel are just down the road ... about an hour when it's not rush hour so you get a hit of upper end shopping, eating, etc. there as well.
And Pebble Beach is there ... does hubby play golf?

I dont know about the schooling however in the Santa Cruz area.
I know a few towns in the county are particularly family friendly but i don't have kids so i'm not that tuned into the educational system.
Los Gatos is another community that you may like.
Los-Gatos, CA.
It's over on the other side of the hill ... on the San Jose side.
It's an expensive community, very nice ... and i imagine that there is at least one private school that would provide the french program that you require.
I also imagine (but do not know) that, because it's a very wealthy community, the public school system is good.

I like this area (Santa Cruz county) because it's close enough to S.F. but is a bit removed from the "madding crowd" ... there's a bit more room to breathe down here (and the air is clean!) while, for me, S.F. proper and the surrounding suburbs (in all directions) are just too congested and too (very) frenetic.
So we, in my opinion, have the best of both worlds here.

Santa_Cruz_County,_California

Link to map of counties in CA ... bottom of the page.
CA Counties Map

[Chagall]

Originally Posted by Mach50

Most public immersion schools in the BayArea are Mandarin and Spanish, so for French you will most likely need a private school.

You could live in one of the very nice Peninsula family oriented cities, close to both San Francisco and San Jose airports...Oakland as a backup, and attend these schools:

Here is one in San Francisco:
Lycée Français La Pérouse, San Francisco (http://www.lelycee.org/top_pages/index.fr.php - broken link)

In Palo Alto:
International School of the Peninsula

Interesting! And could you suggest one or two of those cities... I am not too familiar yet.
Thank you for the school links! Tuition fees are over the top though

[Fontucky]

Originally Posted by coyoteskye

There is "higher" culture in San Francisco and as a Canadian, with i assume a more European sensibility, you may appreciate this "neck of the woods" more than SoCal which, as i perceive it, is manifesting some of the worst of the U.S.A....

You Northerners always say the sweetest things....