Moving to CA. (Sacramento, Irvine, Orange: neighborhoods, purchasing, best school)

[jessemh431]

Eh, it's okay. We get that all the time from haters. My cousin told me, my mom, my dad, my aunt, and my uncle that we live in a cesspool. (My family lives in LA, my mom moved out here and my aunt followed her. She even moved three blocks away. LOL) When people say that, I know they're probably just jealous because they come from a small town, and they think the big city life is just too overwhelming. That cousin lives in a village of 3000 people on Lake Ontario in NY.

Yep. We get lots of young couples, singles, and families looking to move to LA. They are all worried that they won't be able to make it out here. We just tell them, "Remember, you're young. If you don't take risks now, it will be much harder when you're settled in with older kids, have a full time job, and are in your fifties. Come now before you regret it. If you find you can't handle it here, just move somewhere else. You have a long time, maybe ten years, before you really need to settle down." Same goes for you. Good luck.

[missionhome]

Hi Star,
Sorry I haven't responded yet. I'm a Mission Viejo resident and are family of five has lived in this city for 13 years. It is a wonderful and beautiful city that is perfect, literally perfect for raising a family! Also, consider the new development of Ladera Ranch, next to Mission Viejo that is even more family oriented. I have two teenagers in high school now and one in junior high and the school system in Mission Viejo is very good. All three high schools in Mission Viejo are in the top 5% in the nation, so you can't go wrong no matter where you live here in MV. Plus, we have MV Lake which is absolutly stunning. I suggest you see the photos for yourself, I have added several photos in this thread starting around page 3:
http://www.city-data.com/forum/orang...ge-county.html

[TheStarLiesWest]

jesse- Thank you so much for all of your help, and I'm going to take that risk. I've avoided risks my entire life, and this is not one that I will fail on. You've made me feel so much better!@#%

missionhome - I was hoping to hear that. We love our daughter so much and just want her to be safe and grow up in a great environment, but be close enough to LA to have some fun and whatnot. Man, I'm so excited about this now. Thank you all so much!

[udaii_d]

Originally Posted by missionhome

Hi Star,
Sorry I haven't responded yet. I'm a Mission Viejo resident and are family of five has lived in this city for 13 years. It is a wonderful and beautiful city that is perfect, literally perfect for raising a family! Also, consider the new development of Ladera Ranch, next to Mission Viejo that is even more family oriented. I have two teenagers in high school now and one in junior high and the school system in Mission Viejo is very good. All three high schools in Mission Viejo are in the top 5% in the nation, so you can't go wrong no matter where you live here in MV. Plus, we have MV Lake which is absolutly stunning. I suggest you see the photos for yourself, I have added several photos in this thread starting around page 3:
http://www.city-data.com/forum/orang...ge-county.html

Hi,
[SIZE=3]I don’t know whether you have seen my post “Good place to live in CA”. I have also heard that MV is very good as you said. I have a plan to move there, but I am anxious of go back and forth between MV and Compton by car (my office is in Compton). [/SIZE]

[SIZE=3]Is traffic is very painful. I heard it’s about 45 mins drive. Please tell more on this[/SIZE]

[SIZE=3]Thanks in advance[/SIZE]

[Havnfun]

Originally Posted by missionhome

Hi Star,
Sorry I haven't responded yet. I'm a Mission Viejo resident and are family of five has lived in this city for 13 years. It is a wonderful and beautiful city that is perfect, literally perfect for raising a family! Also, consider the new development of Ladera Ranch, next to Mission Viejo that is even more family oriented. I have two teenagers in high school now and one in junior high and the school system in Mission Viejo is very good. All three high schools in Mission Viejo are in the top 5% in the nation, so you can't go wrong no matter where you live here in MV. Plus, we have MV Lake which is absolutly stunning. I suggest you see the photos for yourself, I have added several photos in this thread starting around page 3:
http://www.city-data.com/forum/orang...ge-county.html

Hello Missionhome

If you don't mind me asking which high school are your tennagers in? My husband, myself and 15 year old son will be moving to SoCal next summer. We having been looking at Mission Viejo and Rancho Santa Margarita. I really like the Pacific Hills area. The one thing that turns me off of most of RSM is Tesoro High, I have not heard great things about the kids/attitude at this school.

Thank you.

[jessemh431]

There's no question. If you can afford MV, that is probably the best place in the country for you.

[missionhome]

None of the communities in Mission Viejo attend Tesoro High in RSM. We live in north MV close to the lake and our two sons attend Capistrano Valley High at the far south end of Mission Viejo. My son has lots of friends from Pacific Hills and its a great neighborhood. If you choose Pacific Hills, you will be in a great community with lots of kids. My boys are both very satisfied with CVHS. The school's API is 795 and ranked number 536 out of the top 1,000 schools in the entire nation. Last year, we had a graduate go to Harvard, one to Brown, one to Northwestern, fifteen to UCLA, seven to UCSD, five to UCSB, two to UC Berkley, and more very good universities. One benefit about CVHS over Tesoro is that CVHS is the IB Diploma school for the north half of the school district. My son is an IB diploma canidate and he is thrilled with the honor of being one of only about 100 kids in the district ot revieve a IB Diploma at graduation. The AP programs are very well established and the teachers have been with the school for many years. Every AP teacher my sons have had has been teaching their subject for at least ten years. The school is also very down to earth and I think you will find everyone is accepting of others.
At Tesoro you have this problem of kids (mainly who live in Coto de Caza) who flash how much money their parents have by driving BMW's to school and rubbing it in the faces of kids who live in middle class areas like RSM. A girl on my daughter's soccer team left Tesoro because she lived in Las Flores and her new friends suddenly didn't like her so much when they found out she lived "outside the gates of Coto." The school is still high acheiving and well performing, but I think Tesoro saddly has kids that try to live the life of the TV shows that depict us in Orange County as rich brats. I think kids in really rich areas like Newport Beach and Laguna Beach, etc.. are even more humble than some Tesoro kids.
Enough comparing though. If you choose Pacific Hills, I think you will love Capo. Is your son interested in a certain sport team? This could change his perception of the school. For example, I would not recommend the school's football program. The coaches are just not good for football. If your son does baseball (one of the best teams in the state), cross country, track, basketball (one of the best teams in the county), soccer, lacrosse, roller hockey, etc... he will be very happy as all those sport teams are very close and have a great time together. The music program is also very good at the school. The most important thing to remember is to have your son join something in the school. This is the best way to meet people and make new friends.
Also, anywhere you live in Mission Viejo puts you in the attendance boundaries of a very good high school. Mission Viejo High and Trabuco Hills High are both excellent schools as well (they are in the Saddleback Valley Unified School District). If you have more questions and concerns, feel free to ask.

[Havnfun]

Originally Posted by missionhome

None of the communities in Mission Viejo attend Tesoro High in RSM. We live in north MV close to the lake and our two sons attend Capistrano Valley High at the far south end of Mission Viejo. My son has lots of friends from Pacific Hills and its a great neighborhood. If you choose Pacific Hills, you will be in a great community with lots of kids. My boys are both very satisfied with CVHS. The school's API is 795 and ranked number 536 out of the top 1,000 schools in the entire nation. Last year, we had a graduate go to Harvard, one to Brown, one to Northwestern, fifteen to UCLA, seven to UCSD, five to UCSB, two to UC Berkley, and more very good universities. One benefit about CVHS over Tesoro is that CVHS is the IB Diploma school for the north half of the school district. My son is an IB diploma canidate and he is thrilled with the honor of being one of only about 100 kids in the district ot revieve a IB Diploma at graduation. The AP programs are very well established and the teachers have been with the school for many years. Every AP teacher my sons have had has been teaching their subject for at least ten years. The school is also very down to earth and I think you will find everyone is accepting of others.
At Tesoro you have this problem of kids (mainly who live in Coto de Caza) who flash how much money their parents have by driving BMW's to school and rubbing it in the faces of kids who live in middle class areas like RSM. A girl on my daughter's soccer team left Tesoro because she lived in Las Flores and her new friends suddenly didn't like her so much when they found out she lived "outside the gates of Coto." The school is still high acheiving and well performing, but I think Tesoro saddly has kids that try to live the life of the TV shows that depict us in Orange County as rich brats. I think kids in really rich areas like Newport Beach and Laguna Beach, etc.. are even more humble than some Tesoro kids.
Enough comparing though. If you choose Pacific Hills, I think you will love Capo. Is your son interested in a certain sport team? This could change his perception of the school. For example, I would not recommend the school's football program. The coaches are just not good for football. If your son does baseball (one of the best teams in the state), cross country, track, basketball (one of the best teams in the county), soccer, lacrosse, roller hockey, etc... he will be very happy as all those sport teams are very close and have a great time together. The music program is also very good at the school. The most important thing to remember is to have your son join something in the school. This is the best way to meet people and make new friends.
Also, anywhere you live in Mission Viejo puts you in the attendance boundaries of a very good high school. Mission Viejo High and Trabuco Hills High are both excellent schools as well (they are in the Saddleback Valley Unified School District). If you have more questions and concerns, feel free to ask.

Thank you for all the info. You say that none of the areas in MV attend Tesoro but I was looking at a house on the MLS on La Caleta in MV and it says the high school is Tesoro?

Our son is really not a team sports guy at all. He likes to bike and ski but is really more into computers and music. He played the bass guitar in his school band for 3 years. The high school he is attending here in Calgary is an IB school, he is not in the IB program though.

There is one other area we were looking at but I don't know the name of the community. It is just north of Santa Margarita Pkwy off of Melinda Rd. The high school for this area is Trubuco Hills I believe.

Thanks for your help. I think picking the right school for my son has become my biggest concern in moving to another country!

[missionhome]

Yes, some real estate agents continue to upload very misleading information. Tesoro High School served the area right around the Lake MV for four years, I think 2001-2005. In 2006, the area was moved back to CVHS when a new high school opened in the school district. Now all of Mission Viejo (in Capistrano Unified) has been reunified at Capo Valley High. I looked at the home on La Caleta and it is in CVHS attendance boundaries. This senior class at Tesoro will be the last one that had MV kids at it. Then, the junior class has a small percent of MV kids who chose Tesoro because their older brother or sister went there during those 4 years and they wanted to continue their family tradition at that school. Often agents (lazy ones at least) won't look up a school and just listen to what the home owners say the school's are for the house. Whoever owns the house could not have kids for example and never heard their house was switched back to Capo Valley.
Here is a map of the attendance boundaries of the Capistrano Unified School District: CVHS is the light yellow zone.
http://www.capousd-services.org/maps...0708_Final.pdf

The home off of Melinda Road would go to Trabuco Hills. Only a small portion of MV goes there. Trabuco Hills students come from 40% Lake Forest, 35% Rancho Santa Margarita, and 25% Mission Viejo. It is a very good school, large (over 3,000 students), and has nice facilities. If you live here, you are in Saddleback Valley Unified and could consider transfering to Mission Viejo High in the same district, as it is a really good school.

[Havnfun]

I am glad to find out the information on that listing is incorrect and there are no areas in MV that attend Tesoro.

Mission Viejo high was my first choice of schools, I didn't realize that my son could go there if we were in the area north of Santa Margarite Pkwy. That is great to know!

Thanks.