Scottsdale, AZ to the OC (Huntington Beach, Irvine: apartment complexes, condos, new home)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 1.5 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
It looks as though we will be moving from Scottsdale to Orange County. My husband will be working in Fountain Valley. I need help in finding a very family friendly neighborhood, with excellant public schools ( I have a 7th grader, 3rd grader and preschooler). We currently live in a master planned community, loaded with kids with it's own top notch elementary school. Any suggestions on areas to live w/o a hellacious commute, in the price range of 900,000-1,250,000? I appreciate all the help I can get!!
You're in luck. Fountain Valley has very good schools and plenty of houses in your range. Make sure you're in Fountain Valley School District territory. That excludes the eastern I believe northern edges. The high school for the majority of Fountain Valley is Fountain Valley High School. Again, as with the elementary schools, avoid the east and north edges which go to different schools: Los Amigos and La Quinta. Feel free to ask if you have any more questions about Fountain Valley. I've lived here all my life.
Well Orange County is full of master planned commuities so you won't be short on those. There are a lot of kids and families in certain younger communities too. The weather will be a nice change if you like more mild temperatures also. Plus, the beaches are close by from any OC city. Huntington Beach and Fountain Valley are both nice cities. Huntington Beach is a ocean fron community, while Fountain Valley is its inland neighbor. Huntington Beach is more expensive and your price range puts you at about a 2,700 square foot home. In Fountain Valley your price range puts you in the most expensive homes in the city. The homes in Fountain Valley usually are about 20 years old.
I also recommend you look into the new community of Columbus Grove in the cities of Tustin and Irvine. This community has been built on the former Tustin Military Base and it now is a brand new master planned development. Many homes already are being resold and you can get a brand new home in your range around 3,000 square feet for about 1 million. Also, you just follow Baranca Parkway northwest (changes names as it goes to Fountain Valley) and you are to Fountain Valley in about 20-25 minutes.
Those are the closest areas to Fountain Valley. Anything else and you should expect over a thirty minute commute.
Live in the attendance boundaries of the following schools for each high school. If a high school is good, you can rest assured that the elementary and middle schools that feed it are good too. If you are looking for the long run, high schools are ultimetly where certain schools start to outperfrom others. Schools are compared by their API (academic performance index on a scale of 200-1,000).
Good high schools in Huntington Beach and Fountain Valley (same school district): Edison High School, Fountain Valley High School (very good scores), Marina High School.
Not so good: Huntington Beach High and Ocean View High School.
Tustin: I would not recommend living in the Tustin portion of Columbus Grove, because Tustin High's score is not great.
Irvine: Irvine Unified is one of the most well regarded school districts in the country. Columbus Grove in Irvine attends the excellent Irvine High School.
OC is very similar to Scottsdale. I would say it's a little more wealthier, greener, and humid. I'd say that Huntington Beach or Newport Beach are the closest match for the density, shopping, and quality of life of Scottsdale. However, I think that on surface roads Scottsdales MUCH more congested and has ruder drivers.
Yorba Linda has about 65,000 people (1/3 the population of Irvine--180,800 according to the sign I saw this morning on the 241), isn't beige (like Irvine), has no tall buildings (other than savi ranch business center), lots of parks & community activities, great schools (new high school coming in Fall 2009), and PLENTY of housing in your price range, most of which are either with 2500+ (more like 3000+) square-footage living space--or with large lots (or both, if you're willing to shell out the cash)--and I don't think ANY of our new housing developments have associations or melloroos.
We still have horse trails and equestrian centers, our downtown hasn't been all amped up to bring in bar-hoppers, and nearly all our apartment complexes are 55+... great area with great people. I love it there, grew up there--I'm 25 now, and still love it. ^_^
Fountain Valley does have really great schools, although my best friends chose to go to Los Amigos instead of FVHS (b/c they lived so close to Los) and they have nothing but GREAT things to say about their alma mater. Just like the high achievers at my high school (PYLUSD - El Dorado), a lot of her honors friends went on to attend prestigious (some Ivy League, too) universities...
Check out school district websites and and city websites, and definitely visit the schools and the area to get a feel for the kind of community you want to raise your family in. I'm partial to my city, but my best friends have nothing but great things to say about Fountain Valley, too. )
OC is very similar to Scottsdale. I would say it's a little more wealthier, greener, and humid. I'd say that Huntington Beach or Newport Beach are the closest match for the density, shopping, and quality of life of Scottsdale. However, I think that on surface roads Scottsdales MUCH more congested and has ruder drivers.
We moved to Newport Beach from Scottsdale earlier this year and here's our take on it:
We never realized just how poor the quality of life in Scottsdale is until we experienced living in Newport. I mean there's just no comparison. And, by comparison, Newport is far far far more family-oriented than Scottsdale, and *FAR* more friendlier. I very strongly disagree with the assertion that Scottsdale is at all similar to OC unless you're talking about Coto or one of the other wannabe communities that is way out there in the boonies.
Going back to Arizona for business a few weeks ago, it had an ugliness to it that I never saw before. Even in the pretty parts of Scottsdale, around Gainey Ranch, it looked downright ugly and desolate compared with OC.
You can't go wrong at all moving here. PM me if you want any details since we just went through the same move. The only negative is the cost of living but if you ask me it's a far better value than Scottsdale ... you pay a fortune to live here, and actually feel like it's worth it!!
Having recently visited Scottsdale (January 2007, and shopped at the Whole Foods off Tatum) I must agree with sirwinston73. Scottsdale can now be likened to let's say, Porter Ranch in the SFV or Foothill Ranch or RSM. Yeah, you could throw Coto in that mix too. But not much.
The "old" Scottsdale is long gone: i.e. the custom ranch homes on 1 acre with the cactus/decorative rocks out front is for the most part gone. Just a few of those homes remain. I guess the rest have been bulldozed to make way for strip malls and small business centers or condos.
Needless to say, I was shocked at the change having seen the "old" Scottsdale as a young pre-teen.
Anyway, AZ just finished their record for the most days of 110 degree hotness weather.
Welcome to CA! *and please don't forget to use your turn signals here* (they generally don't in AZ)
It looks as though we will be moving from Scottsdale to Orange County. My husband will be working in Fountain Valley. I need help in finding a very family friendly neighborhood, with excellant public schools ( I have a 7th grader, 3rd grader and preschooler). We currently live in a master planned community, loaded with kids with it's own top notch elementary school. Any suggestions on areas to live w/o a hellacious commute, in the price range of 900,000-1,250,000? I appreciate all the help I can get!!
I think Fountain Valley itself meets all your criteria. So there go your hellacious commute worries!
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $53,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 1.5 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
)
Agree with sirwinston73
