Big Bear, Crestiline or Running Springs (San Diego, Santa Ana: how much, home, living)

[CrestlineSteele]

Is most local employment in Big Bear Lake area?
How long to commute down the hill from Crestline or Running Springs?
Locally, is there a good grocery store? Shopping?
Are most homes on city water or well?
How congested does Big Bear Lake get from tourists?
How hot does it get in summer?
How much fire or earthquake danger?
What should I know that I don't?

If you move to Crestline, it is about 45-1hour to OC, by way of the 210 or the Fast Track on the 91. 210 is the quickest I think. Local employment is limited up on the mountain, mostly folks commute. As a title rep there are tons of title companies up and down the hill. There is a grocery store in Crestline called Goodwins, they're not bad. We do all our shopping down the hill for groceries at Winco. Most homes are on city water. We are a small village, and don't get too congested due to tourists, which is great. It got to be about 98 for a couple days this summer, but mostly we're 15-20 degrees cooler than down the hill. Fire danger all over the Inland Empire, not only on the mountain, look at Malibu right now too
We also don't get as much snow as the rest of the mountain, and if you commute down the hill, you may not need chains at all in the wintertime. My husband commutes and never had to use them this winter.
Hope this helps, and you can also go to Crestline California Homes for Sale for more community information.

[sheri257]

Originally Posted by cleanfun

But you're suddenly surrounded by these trashy little cities, like Apple Valley, Victorville, Hesperia, etc ...

Sorry to say I told you so ... but I did try to warn you guys.

With all of these fires ... those trashy little cities are looking pretty good right now, aren't they?

IMO, the fire danger up there presents a much greater risk than any high desert crime problems.

In 2003, when the fire did come through the Cajon Pass .... they were actually able to stop it at Ranchero Road ... which provides a natural barrier between the brush and the outshirts of Hesperia ....

But with the mountain communities they still have ZERO containment after several days. And, of course, there's now reports of looting going on with people being forced to evacuate.

So much for lower crime in the mountains.

[Judy P.]

I live in Escondido (San Diego County) and what we have been going through here big fires are not only in the mountains. It is a mess down here so believe me huge fires can happen anywhere. I will take my chances in Big Bear.

[Niners fan]

If you are set on mountains in So Cal consider Idyllwild. It is about 5300' in Riverside county. The fire danger is less than Big Bear, Crestline, etc. It is a nice community. Probably closer to OC than the San Bernardino mountains. It is not Colorado but is still beautiful. It has less stores and services, however, so you would feel more isolated. There are probably only 4000 or so full-time residents in the area and the closed town of any size is Hemet, about 30 minutes away.

Are you sure you want to move to CA as a title officer? The real estate market here is terrible. I have friends in the title industry who have either taken pay cuts, been laid off, or found other jobs in a different industry.

[Judy P.]

We looked at Idyllwild to but the problem that we found there is the homes were older than we wanted. We were looking for something built no later than 2000 and that was hard to find.

[sheri257]

Originally Posted by Judy P.

I live in Escondido (San Diego County) and what we have been going through here big fires are not only in the mountains. It is a mess down here so believe me huge fires can happen anywhere. I will take my chances in Big Bear.

True, fires can happen anywhere. But with all of the dead trees on the mountain, another major fire similar to 2003 was guaranteed to happen there. You're basically surrounded by matchsticks that can go up in flames at any time. The risk is much greater.

[cynwldkat]

This fire has not had any affect on Big Bear other then some smoke...and that is everywhere in CA right now. I lived in Big Bear for 18 years and my sister has lived there for 60 years. In all that time there was only one evacuation and that was a couple of years back---and yes, the problems right now have been the Bark Beetle. These last few years have been really dry (this is true for all of CA) which makes the pine trees weak to begin with and then the Bark Beetle takes over. Most people that are concerned about fires have any dead trees on their property taken down and clear their yards of brush. As for the looting--this happens in every disaster anywhere. There are always a few very sick people. At least in the smaller communities like Big Bear other local residents look out for your property. At least that has always been my experience. And after this fire there probably won't be that many Bark Beetles left anyhow!! Big Bear in not perfect but it beats the majority of other places to live!!!

[Judy P.]

Everywhere has it good points and bad points. I realize there is a real fire danger in any mountain town but you go in knowing that and you have to weigh what is important to you.
I for one don't want to live my life in fear of what could happen but try to enjoy the things that the mountains have to offer, for me it is worth the risk.
I realize that there is a real danger in fires up there but there are dangers in almost anywhere you go. I guess it just comes down to what is more important to each person. I have learned one thing and that is as long as my family can get out safely everything else can be rebuilt.

[stuff and things]

I have lived in Lake Arrowhead for 12 years and I love it. I'm actually considering moving to Colorado myself. I would consider the mountains to be divided into two main areas. The Lake Arrowhead/ Crestline/ Running Springs area, and the Big Bear area. Being from Lake Arrowhead, the only time I ever go to the Big Bear Area is to go skiing. Most of what I say here has already been said but here it is anyway. To answer your questions:

-In Lake Arrowhead, the real estate market is big, and I know a lot of people who are very successful at it, even in today's market. More commuters live in the Lake Arrowhead area, but people do commute from Big Bear as well.
-Typical commute times to "down the hill" are as follows:
Crestline- 25-30 min
Lake Arrowhead- 40-45 min
Running Springs- 30-35 min
Big Bear Lake- 60 min
-In terms of shopping, we have stater bros and goodwins which are pretty good. We also have Jensen's which is a bit expensive. There is a costco about a 45 min drive away (It's not that bad if you only go once a month).
-Virtually all the homes are on city water. Lake Arrowhead has especially clean water, just about the cleanest tap water you'll find anywhere.
-The towns get very crowded in the summer and on holiday weekends. Lake Arrowhead is significantly less crowded than Big Bear in the winter due to the lack of a ski resort.

-Mid Summer hi temps: Big Bear: ~82, Lake Arrowhead ~85
-Mid Summer low temps: Big Bear: ~48, Lake Arrowhead ~55

-Mid Winter hi temps: Big Bear: ~42, Lake Arrowhead ~ 44
-Mid Winter low temps: Big Bear: ~20, Lake Arrowhead ~ 25

-Frankly, the fire danger right now is pretty severe. We just had a big time fire about a month ago. Hopefully we'll pull out of the drought that we have been in this winter.

If you are from Colorado, I would highly recommend Running Springs. It's higher up in the mountains and gets more snow than Lake Arrowhead, and most of the residents are full-time. The lack of a lake means that it doesn't get flooded with tourists during the summer.

In terms of climate, in normal winters (which we haven't had for a while), it is not quite as cold as Denver. The snow is quite inconsistent, we may go three weeks with no snow at all and then get a 3 feet of snow in two days. On average, Running Springs gets slightly more snow than Denver. If you want to escape the cold, all you have to do is drive down to Redlands, which is routinely in the high 60s during winter or Palm Springs which is often in the 70s.

Sorry the info is a little scattered. Hope this helps.

[Judy P.]

TYVM for the info! It is all important in making up our minds exactly where to go. We really like the Big Bear and the Lake Arrowhead area too. One of the things we really would also like to know is about the squirrels and how much damage they do to a home. When we were last up in Big Bear (Sugarloaf area) they were everywhere! From what we have read they can cause major problems getting in your attic and chewing on electrical wires etc. and starting fires from that,along with a lot of general damage to a home.
We also are hoping for a single story home which really makes finding a place much harder as it seems so many places are 2 or 3 stories.
As far as commuting goes we will be retired so the commute won't be a problem. The only problem right now is selling our home in this ( we live in North San Diego County) California housing slump.