Chico v Monterey v Santa Clarita/ LA

[caligirlz]

Originally Posted by sacite

Oh, you are right! Doesn't it border on Valencia, and is near a lake?

Magic Mountain is what I always think of.

[AndrewCS]

Originally Posted by amywonderful

Hi folks

I have followed this forum for a while and found the info really helpful. I hope you can help me out with this Q.

I am single parent with two kids about to go to high school. I have been offered jobs in all three locations. All jobs are well paying so money is not the part of the decision factor here.

I need a safe place with great public or private schools options so kids about to go into High school are content. My kids do well in schools that are not afraid to challenge academically bright kids (both are in gifted programs in current schools) and that have lots of AP options etc and they do best in caring and friendly environments.

So far, I have lived in large metropolitan areas such as the Bay area and Chicago and like to have an international airport close by to visit family overseas. I also like more of a liberal feel where minorities don't feel isolated.

I would love to hear more about what you think. I especially am keen to know what Chico schools are truly like. Would they be rigorous enough and have a solid academic culture to allow the kids the opportunities to excel and get into better colleges/ universities.

Thanks once again,
Amy.

The schools in Chico are varied. I don't have much knowledge of the public elementary schools, but I know the public middle and high schools are quite good. Chico Senior High has been recognized at state and national levels for their academics and offer a number of smaller learning communities for students to enroll in. My sister took a number of AP courses her senior year of high school and did very well in them, she just graduated with dual degrees in English and Psychology from CSU Chico.

The private schools are generally small so it's hard to gauge their academic rigor. I attended Chico Christian School from pre-school on up through sixth grade (which at the time was the highest it went). Being a smaller, religious school I think they tend to be a bit more lenient on their qualification standards for faculty. That being said, my sister and I both did very well and were challenged academically. Once I got into the public school arena I realized how many ways my friends and I were ahead of our public school peers. Notre Dame is the private Catholic K-8 school, I'm not entirely sure about their academic standards but I think for how small it is they do pretty well.

There are also a couple of charter schools that have good reputations, such as Inspire and Chico Country Day School. Inspire is especially interesting because of it's intensive, yet dynamic structure. I have a friend who tutors there a few days a week and what he's told me about it seems very impressive.

Like others have touched on, Chico doesn't have an international airport. Even the commuter airport is on the verge of shutting down (if it hasn't already). It previously had a couple flights per day to and from SFO but budget cuts seem to be eliminating that. So the nearest option is Sacramento International (SMF) about 90 minutes south of Chico. It's fairly accessible though, I've driven down there several times either for myself or to pick up/drop off someone and it's an easy commute in my opinion.

Also like others have mentioned, the weather is going to be dramatically different between Monterey and Chico. By virtue of being a coastal town, Monterey is cool year-round with abundant fog. Chico's climate is more dramatic, although not incredibly so. Chico can see 2-3 weeks of triple-digit heat in the late summer (100°-110° is not uncommon in August) but for the most part it's not so bad. The average summer high is more like 90°-95°, what makes a big difference is whether or not the evenings cool down enough. There have been summer nights when the temperature didn't dip below 80° and that was brutal. Winter's tend to be relatively mild, lows don't often go below 30° although they can. Historically the average rainfall is around 23 inches, but we've been well short of that annually for a few years now.

Chico's a pretty great town, it's larger than Monterey but less connected. There are a number of smaller towns in the surrounding area but they don't blend together like other urban areas of California.

[amywonderful]

Thanks for the great input...I have an update. It is a toss up between Monterey and Santa Clarita. I think Chico is too far from a major airport for me to consider now and the really hot weather and I have more friends in LA and the Bay Area.

The jobs are somewhat different.
In Monterey they have the challenging job, slightly lower pay and real estate is crazy. If I wanted to go there, I would want to put the kids in a really nice private school and so would likely have to end up renting and not being able to save much and being more busy with having to work occasional weekends etc.

In Santa Clarita, the job is not so challenging, better work-life balance, similar pay, probably will be able to buy house there and afford private schools - unless I decide to live in La Canada Flintridge where I would use public school but have to rent.

One of my kids has asthma, so I wanted to know what the air is like santa clarita etc c/w monterey.
I have no savings, deposit yet or college funds as I have been in school for sometime. I am on single income. The proposed pay is around >$250K so where do you think would work for me??

I am so grateful for all the input - I have to make a decision in the next few days!

[tstieber]

Monterey will definitely have the cleanest air of the bunch, being at the coast and benefiting from relatively small population and fresh breezes. Santa Clarita will have the worst, as the smog from LA does blow north into the stagnant, hotter valleys like that. Chico, I have no idea -- never been there.

These are three very interesting choices. Scenery wise, Monterey is hands down the winner. Climate wise, I would choose Santa Clarita (warmer in winter than Chico, and not as hot in summer -- although if you lived just a little inland in Monterey County (like Carmel Valley), you'd have a great climate). Housing wise, you'll have the best bang for the buck in Chico, but you'll have more housing stock in Santa Clarita. Monterey would be relatively more expensive. Culturally, Monterey is a bit isolated, but you could enjoy the Bay Area's attractions for daytrips, and Carmel is a great place with local arts. Santa Clarita is a flat out suburb, but you're close to Pasadena and LA, which offers limitless options.

Basically, I am saying I would have just as hard a time as you deciding!! :-)

[MtnSurfer]

Santa Clarita is just far enough outside LA and the San Fernando Valley to get a 'bit' better air quality. Though they are still in the Santa Clarita 'Valley' which can collect pollutants with no where to go. I would say this is second choice for air quality. See this article describing it: http://www.signalscv.com/archives/67541/

Chico would have the worst air quality of the three. It can never escape it's geographic location which lends itself to smog collection. The entire Central Valley suffers from air problems to one degree or another which is known to exacerbate asthma. Please be careful before moving an asthmatic child into the CV. I've known quite a few people who have moved from there to escape lung problems. They are much happier, in terms of their health, along the coast. Sorry, CV folks, I am really not trying to bash the CV, just concerned for her son's condition. See this article describing the situation in part at least: Butte County Receives an F in Air Quality | ouRXperience

Monterey will have the best air quality due to the predominant onshore airflow which sends all pollutants inland toward the valleys. Most of the pollutants from the SF Bay area also flow freely into these valley regions.

With regards to schools if you move to the Monterey area and find a home in Pacific Grove, Carmel, Carmel Valley or Pebble Beach you will have good public schools. Check out this website and zoom into the areas in question: California School Performance Maps

If you are going private anyway then that opens up some nice options. There are some beautfiul homes off of Hwy 68 in places like Corral de Tierra. I've known families to rent in Carmel and move into a smaller place just to be in their school district. Our next door neighbors in fact did that and seem happy with their decision. So it really depends if you want private or public. The privates (York, Stevenson, Santa Catalina) are both really nice and really pricey.

Monterey and Santa Clarita would also feel more connected to larger cities such as the Bay Area or LA. Most of the time when we head into San Jose its just a little over an hour. Of course we purposely don't go at the peak of rush hour ether. That same principle applies to any big city or metro region including LA. There are folks who vanpool into Monterey from San Jose daily at my work, for example. It is actually very convenient for catching international flights and other things.

I'm not sure if you care at all about the coast or natural beauty. But if so the Monterey region is one of the most scenic coastal regions in the state with Big Sur in our backyard. It's just plain fun for kids if you like nature.

Sacrameto folks, please don't shoot the messenger. I just happened to see Monterey in the title and I also grew in LA. So I know both regions very well. But by all means feel free to post charts, etc... about how the air quality is improving in the CV. I know there has been some progress made. Still, it is a valid concern for her and something she consider when weighing everything out.

Derek

[sacite]

Originally Posted by caligirlz

Magic Mountain is what I always think of.

Ya now I remember. I found myself strangely intrigued by that city and always wanted to come back. Part of it was the beautiful mountains. The other part was it was so "Socal", with these huge, high end shopping stores. It kinda felt like the beginning of where the media trends start and are absorbed into the local culture just prior to hitting LA. For whatever reason that made me want to explore the area a bit more. Maybe it was just because it felt way different than most places I'd visit.