Family moving to Riverside area - need help. (Moreno Valley, Orange: to rent, houses)

[LG123]

We will be relocating in December 2008 to the Riverside area for my husband's job at March AFB. We are now are living in Philadelphia. We need some help with finding a suitable area.

Our kids will be in 6th grade and 2nd grade. We are looking to rent not purchase. We would like a school rating of 6 or higher. My husband would like a commute no more than 30 minutes one way if possible.

We would like a community with a pool and parks. Nice neighborhood with sidewalks and safe to walk in the evening. Would like to be within 15 minutes of shopping.

Hopefully something like this exists! We don't need to have everything that we want. The schools are the most important to us.

Thanks in advance for your help!

Lori

[da jammer]

Orangecrest/Woodcrest southwest/west of MAFB could be a couple of places to look at. You may want to take a peek at Redlands too which would put you close to the edge of the 30 minute commute.

You can do a search here on City Data for in-depth info regarding these areas.

In addition be sure to do a search of this forum for existing threads about any of the cities that are mentioned/recommended.

[Cerberos]

Definitely look into Hemet and San Jacinto area - the prices are cheap AND also there's a lot of shopping center around the area (25 miles away from either Moreno Valley or Temecula)

[pronetoidiocy]

I would look at the Moreno Valley area as well if his job is at March. It is a nice area and shopping centers are not hard to find. I'm not sure about the schools there, though. Riverside is definitely a great place to live, in my opinion, and it has good education.

[Hazel Eyes]

If I was going to pick a town in that area I would look in Redlands...

[LG123]

Thanks for your insight.

We have decided to buy instead of rent. The problem we seem to be having is the most afforable houses for what we are looking for are in Moreno Valley. From what I can find on the boards the good parts of Moreno Valley are the NW and SE. Am I correct in this? I checked out the schools and they seem to be really bad (1-4 rating). We are moving from a 10 rated school.

Any advice on schools in Moreno Valley?

Can anyone help me find a good realtor? We will seriously start looking for a house in the fall. We have no time to visit the area before we move so we will rent for a few months while we find a house.

Thanks!

[Hazel Eyes]

Please think twice about buying in Moreno Valley...We almost bought there years ago when it was called Sunnymead...boy, we're glad we didn't...

[booz30]

also try murrieta,sun city,and menifee thats 15 minutes south on the 215 freeway they have some nice communtities

[uglyblackjohn]

The Orangecrest/Mission Grove/Canyon Crest area of Riverside would match what you're looking for. Try to locate near MLK High School. Redlands is also a good choice. When housing became too over-valued in South-Central L.A. a lot of those families moved to Mo-Val and brought their lifestyles with them. (so try to avoid this more affordable but more crimanaly influenced area) There are some nice areas of the city but you'd be better off elsewhere.

[jtussey]

Good luck trying to find a good school! California's schools are being cut WAY back on expenses. They are very over crowded. I wouldn't recomend moving here, but I see that it is for a job, so good luck!!