Would you do this relocation? NC to CA (Los Angeles, San Diego: 2015, apartment complex)

[Finper]

What does your wife do for a living? Maybe we can advise you on her wage and job possibilities here. Ca is great to visit but living here is not for the week. I'm a native and can't wait to move away. If you do rent in FV don't rent near the river trail lots of homeless encampments there. They are all over HB too. I've lived all over OC so if you have any specific questions ask away.

[pjnugget]

Originally Posted by Finper

What does your wife do for a living? Maybe we can advise you on her wage and job possibilities here. Ca is great to visit but living here is not for the week. I'm a native and can't wait to move away. If you do rent in FV don't rent near the river trail lots of homeless encampments there. They are all over HB too. I've lived all over OC so if you have any specific questions ask away.

She is a teacher...she can go back to teaching or is also open to going back to interior design.

[russlancea]

I was going to mention the homeless problem as well. If you are able to rent in a good area with good schools, hopefully, there won't be a homeless encampment nearby.

In my area, there is a handful of homeless living behind and stealing from Rite-Aid and other retailers without any consequences. People checking for unlocked cars overnight to steal things. Break-ins--We never had these problems before in our nice little middle-class neighborhood. It's not just my area, but all across the state due to our current laws.

If you've always wanted to live here, come try it out. As you've read, many have done the same and have stayed or move out after a year.

Do you have a Plan B in case Orange County doesn't work out for you? Could you move back and buy another house in NC? Could your wife find a similar job if she left NC and returned?

I personally would not make the move to CA in your situation, but there are many here surviving on less than $100k. It's not ideal, really, but they make it work.

Come, but have Plan B ready in case all the situations you've been told about turns out to be true . Good luck.

[Danica32]

I will toss in another factor (as a side note, I am a California native and have lived in OC forever), if you are renting a townhouse, you realize you are sharing walls on both sides with others, some of whom may be students (yes, who have parents who rent 3-4 of them a townhouse) or others who don't share your schedule, might be noisy, just things like that to consider before you decide to come out and rent.

I agree with other posters, some people who have never lived in California want to live here despite the costs, traffic, crowds, taxes, as they have the vision of California gone by (not implying that this is you OP).

Also, if your wife is a SAHM, she will probably want to find some friends who are also SAHMs, given the vast diversity of Orange County for some people it's harder to "break into" those groups so hopefully she has some hobbies or something that can land her in a social situation where she can make some friends.

[russlancea]

Originally Posted by pjnugget

She is a teacher...she can go back to teaching or is also open to going back to interior design.

I have a number of friends who are public school teachers. Pay ranges from $35 to $80k, depending on when they started teaching. I heard teachers are still having trouble finding work here.

Daycare could be $1000/month when your wife goes back to work here. Afterschool programs also cost quite a bit.

Lucky for me, I work from home and have flexible hours to allow me to pick the kids up, etc. I still think you can definitely survive out here, but question is your quality of life.

Worth a try when the kids are young. If it doesn't work out, can you move back to NC or elsewhere and get a house, job, etc?

[Danica32]

If your wife decides to teach again, will she have to get a teaching credential in California or will her current creds be reciprocal?

And I have heard the same as russlancea-teaching jobs are not easy to get here. I think also the school districts prefer bilingual teachers (english/spanish).

[pjnugget]

Yes, we can go back to NC if it doesn't work out...she hasn't looked into it but she has a Masters Degree in teaching and received her degree back in the Northeast, where they had stricter restrictions to certify.

If that doesn't work out, she's ok with going back into interior design/CAD work.

[Finper]

Originally Posted by pjnugget

Yes, we can go back to NC if it doesn't work out...she hasn't looked into it but she has a Masters Degree in teaching and received her degree back in the Northeast, where they had stricter restrictions to certify.

If that doesn't work out, she's ok with going back into interior design/CAD work.

interior design might work better for her. There are a lot of affluent home owners in OC. Lots of design centers in Laguna Beach and South County too. There's even some on Euclid in FV.


I've heard it's not easy to get a job teaching in a good area like Irvine. It's easy in parts of LA but trust me she doesn't want to work there for many reasons..... She could always substitute my friend did that and got called in every day she wanted to work.

[pacific2]

Originally Posted by architect77

On the surface it looks like you're moving up...

From unpretentious, middle-class, work-in-progress NC, full of real people doing some real living....

To picture-perfect, sophisticated Orange County which is America's most polished suburban region.

It's always sunny and 70 degrees, nary a cloud in the sky, and the world's best dining, shopping & amenities are at your fingertips.

All of the streets are free of power lines and are beautifully landscaped. I remember seeing workers in cherry pickers windex-ing the traffic signal bulbs in Aliso Viejo. Can you see that occurring on the sloppy East coast dilapidated roadways?

Orange County, CA is too perfect.

Monotonous lack of seasons, traffic that makes going to the beach for the day 1-2 hours each way.

Somehow all up in the superlatives that is SoCal, you'll find yourself not enjoying as much real living as you had back in NC.

And SoCal which is a marine desert, doesn't have the tall scale of trees like NC does and it takes some getting used to.

And unlike on the East Coast where you can drive to NYC, Florida, & Washington in a few hours,

SoCal is many, many hundreds of miles from any other city.

I say go out there and experience America's most perfect, automobile-oriented region for a few years. It's a great life experience

Too funny. I sorta doubt that AV maintenance crews are still like that, but Aliso is well-maintained. We also have plenty of trees and flowers since the little trees from years ago (Aliso incorporated in 2001) have matured. AV is definitely a green city.

Still, you don't get the feeling that everything has to be perfect around here, just clean and well-maintained, and that's a good thing. If you ever encounter a maintenance problem, you just zip off an email to the city and it's taken care of right away. I know because I have done it.

Aliso is also one of the safest cities in the country; and we have good schools. What's more, we are a mini tech and biomed center with a heavy emphasis upon entrepreneurship (SoCal's most entrepreneurial city, or something like that, per MIT).

Not to forget, the budget is balanced, trees are trimmed, parks are in good shape, roads are in great, and people are friendly. So, life is good, but not "perfect."

Traffic within the city is a cinch since everyone lives within about 1.5-2 miles from Town Center, and there are no traffic jams within the city proper. Even if the OP commuted to Huntington Beach, it would not be a nightmare. The 405 can be like a parking lot, but perhaps he could time things so as not to be stuck; or, take the 73.

Actually, your commute would be shorter than mine since I work in SD County, but not every day.

OP, don't get discouraged about moving to OC. Give it a try since every region has its problems, and you can always move back to NC if things don't work out.

Oh, and you can get to the beach in about 10-15 minutes. We also have a city pool that's open every day of the year. What's more, there are plenty of recreational and sports facilities all throughout the city.

Let me know if you have any specific questions about Aliso Viejo.

[russlancea]

Originally Posted by pjnugget

Yes, we can go back to NC if it doesn't work out...she hasn't looked into it but she has a Masters Degree in teaching and received her degree back in the Northeast, where they had stricter restrictions to certify.

If that doesn't work out, she's ok with going back into interior design/CAD work.

My friend got a Master's in teaching a couple of years ago and is still making around $45k as a new F/T teacher. Not sure the opportunities for interior design or CAD work.