The Preserve at Chino (Anaheim, San Bernardino: 2010, HOA, condo)

[jasmine22]

Hello hello.
my husband and i are looking to buy our first home within the next 6-9 months. while we currently live in ladera ranch in south orange county, we have found that we cannot get the type of home we want here without seriously exceeding the budget we have set for ourselves. we are both professionals with graduate degrees, with steady jobs in irvine. we have considered moving north and inland to chino/chino hills, but want to do as much research as possible before seriously making steps forward.

we currently live in a masterplanned community, and we love it. when we visited the preserve at chino, we felt like we were back in ladera ranch. i kind of liked the country feel...a couple corn fields and dairy farms. the landscaping was nice and the homes are BEAUTIFUL...and right in our range. we loved the ammenities, and the sense of community it offered to residents. are there any cons to this?

we liked residence 3 in shady lane. i think it is going for 418k, but this kind of home in ladera would cost us well over 1.2 million. totally unrealistic.

i grew up in san bernardino, and my hubby in moreno valley...and not to sound elitist or anythign...but we never thought we would move back to the inland empire b/c our experiences there were not too positive growing up. however, we were pleasantly surprised by the city and the development when we visited this weekend. chino is a very different community than the inland empire i knew growing up. thoughts?

we are looking to start a family and dont want to have to rely on two incomes like we would if we stayed here in orange county. hence, our reason for moving out of the oc.

with all of that said, we would like to welcome thought/opinions/perspectives on the preserve at chino...and the surrounding areas.

-how is the commute from the preserve to irvine?
-is the community safe?
-how are the schools?
-what type of recreation is offered to residents? we play coed softball now and we are very active people...so we want to make sure we can continue that lifestyle wherever we move.
-ive read some stuff about powerlines and leukemia and the preserve...and that kind of freaked me out? any one able to shed light on that issue?
-also, we currently attend saddleback church in lake forest...and love our church. it is important to us that we find a young, non denominational christian church in the area. any reccomednations?
-are the brand new schools for kids at the preserve not open yet? what is the deal with that? when are they expected to open?
- lastly, who are the big employers out that way? i might consider a company change? i do marketing...not sure where to look out there.

thanks everyone. sorry for the long post...but i need information!!!

[MaltnHopsrGood]

I actually work for the company that manages the associations for both Ladera Ranch and the Preserve. I also live at the Preserve.

I highly recommend the Preserve! It's been almost a month since I moved there and my family and I LOVE IT!

My wife and I walk our dogs every night (as do MANY other families). The entire community is so well lit at night and there is security driving around constantly. So you should feel safe there.

The commute to Irvine should be an easy one. Take the 71S, to the 91W, to the 241.

There are TONS of community events here also! I know that Ladera is the same! There are brand new baseball fields at Founders Park at the Preserve now too, so you should be able to play very easily. Also Big League Dreams is about a 10 minute drive (google it and see what it's all about, you'll be happy you did), where there are many softball leagues.

No, the brand new school is not open yet at the Preserve. The state requires there to be at least "X" amount of students before they can open it. The Preserve is still growing and hopes to have it open for enrollment next year.

This is all that I can help with. I hope this helps you out. If you have any other questions, let me know.

[chuck22b]

Originally Posted by jasmine22

we currently live in a masterplanned community, and we love it. when we visited the preserve at chino, we felt like we were back in ladera ranch. i kind of liked the country feel...a couple corn fields and dairy farms. the landscaping was nice and the homes are BEAUTIFUL...and right in our range. we loved the ammenities, and the sense of community it offered to residents. are there any cons to this?

Welcome to the board jasmine22!

Well, if you like community HOA living, then the Preserve is pretty good. I've gone to board meetings and talked to the Ops manager there and they are fairly good at maintaining the grounds, listening to comments/complaints, and keeping up the facilities. Also, they aren't super anal about everything and are reasonable to accommodate the community. So overall, I think the HOA at the Preserve is good (compared to the horror stories I hear in the RE forum about HOAs). At the end, your experience will depend on how much involved/uninvolved you are with the community. It's up to you.

we liked residence 3 in shady lane. i think it is going for 418k, but this kind of home in ladera would cost us well over 1.2 million. totally unrealistic.

You can probably get the price a bit lower than 418k. My parent's live in Shady Lane, and it's great having them close by for babysitting, and hanging out and getting a home cooked meal. They go to the Parkhouse often and enjoy the facilities. Occasionally the smell from the dairy directly North of them blows in, but in the most part it's not too bad.

i grew up in san bernardino, and my hubby in moreno valley...and not to sound elitist or anythign...but we never thought we would move back to the inland empire b/c our experiences there were not too positive growing up. however, we were pleasantly surprised by the city and the development when we visited this weekend. chino is a very different community than the inland empire i knew growing up. thoughts?

The City of Chino I think is a pretty neat place. I've talked to Councilman Duncan when they came to visit the Preserve. He's been living in Chino for 25+ years and he talked to me about how the City has changed and where he sees the City heading. He also told me that they bought a new place by the Preserve somewhere and he informed me about some local favorite restaurants and the Basque festival.

Chino pretty much is a transition of old Ag/farm town and a mix of new amenities with old family charm. The city has been aggressively trying to revamp the older parts of Chino in the north on Central street and have a program to try to eliminate "blight" from the older parts of the city. Chino and Chino Hills together make the Chino Valley a pretty nice place since they are pretty much sister cities.

we are looking to start a family and dont want to have to rely on two incomes like we would if we stayed here in orange county. hence, our reason for moving out of the oc.

That's one of the best reasons to come live out here. Living on one income will greatly improve your family's quality of life. And even if you both work, the comfort of knowing that your able to live off of one income is great.

-how is the commute from the preserve to irvine?
That will probably be the worse part of the decision. I commute to Anaheim and take the 91 expressway (none toll) and it takes about 30-45min to go to work and roughly about the same back. I'm not sure how the 241 to Irvine is like, but I'd imagine it'll take roughly 45-1hr to commute.

-is the community safe?
I'd say it's pretty safe... but of course there are incidents here and there. There was a car break in this year, and the last I heard from the chief of Police when they were here is that there are people stealing copper and other materials from the construction sites. Overall though, it's a fairly clean/safe neighborhood. As a community we're trying to start a neighborhood watch.

-how are the schools?
Well, I don't have school age children yet, but from what I hear of Buttefield Ranch and Rhodes Elementary schools they are top notch. They're both above or around 900 in API. Chino Hills HS is Ok. Hopefully when the Preserve school opens as an IB (internationally bacheloriate school) it'll be up there too.

-what type of recreation is offered to residents? we play coed softball now and we are very active people...so we want to make sure we can continue that lifestyle wherever we move.
The city has a lot of activities and lists them in the Chino Connect. The Preserve is also down the street from Prado Regional Park and there are two golf courses near by (El Prado, and Los Seranos). The Preserve has more activities, IMO, for kids (kids club, little chefs, crafts, movie matinee, etc.) than adults (wine and cheese, casino night, concerts in the park), but you can form clubs if you like. Last weekend a few residents and I went out to Founder's Park and batted and threw the ball around. We're trying to get more involved to form a community league. Like I said, it's up to your own involvement as to what goes on here. But overall, I see people riding bikes, walking, jogging, kids playing in the parks all the time. Nearby I think there is an archery/shooting range and horse back riding as well.

-ive read some stuff about powerlines and leukemia and the preserve...and that kind of freaked me out? any one able to shed light on that issue?
Not sure what the long term effects are and I haven't heard of anybody getting sick or anything from them... but from most of what I read if your 200m away from them you should be fine.

-also, we currently attend saddleback church in lake forest...and love our church. it is important to us that we find a young, non denominational christian church in the area. any reccomednations?
My Inlaws and brother in law's family goes to Calvery chapel in Chino Hills. They seem to like it.

-are the brand new schools for kids at the preserve not open yet? what is the deal with that? when are they expected to open?
Not opened yet, but the Chino Valley Unified School district has already taken control of it. I think they expect next Fall 2009/2010 school year. CVUSD FAQ on the Preserve School (broken link).

- lastly, who are the big employers out that way? i might consider a company change? i do marketing...not sure where to look out there.
Jacuzzi Corp seems to be doing well and just opened their headquarters in the new Shoppes at Chino Hills. Hanson's beverages HQ is in Corona... Medtronic also has a Regional HQ in Corona, Bestbuy has a regional something here, and there are a lot of logistics and industrial type companies in Chino and the surrounding areas (Prologisis, Energysys, Honda, Toyota, Brother, Fergusson, Active Inc, etc. etc.). I think the major employment center is in Ontario... about 10-15 minutes North of the Preserve.... or industrial in Corona... about 10-15 South of the Preserve.

The Northern Orange County Companies in Brea (Bank of America, Beckman Coulture, Avery Dennison, etc.), Fullerton (Raytheon, CSUF), Anaheim (Platinum Triangle), Orange is about 30-40 minutes away.
thanks everyone. sorry for the long post...but i need information!!!

Hope this information helps.

-chuck22b

[jasmine22]

so...everything i seem to hear about the preserve at chino is good. however, it seems like chino hills is overall a better city than chino. higher income, lower crime, etc.

what do you guys think? new home at the preserve or older home in chino hills?

[jasmine22]

i dont have much tolerance for gang/drig activity. we dont have much of a gang problem in ladera ranch. ive never seen tagging or anything here. what is your assessment of that in chino/chino hills?

[chuck22b]

Hmm... it's a tough decision.. Chino Hills is definitely nicer than Chino and more than likely would stay nicer than Chino in the future (since, it's on the "hills"). Chino though, hasn't been built out... and has a lot of "potential" in the future (both good and bad). School wise it's a moot point since they both use the same schools.

Personally I like a newer house vs. an older house since they're more tailored with more current/modern amenities and offers you at least a year of maintenance worries handled for you (to work the bugs out). Also, you have to consider the community facilities and amenities which you may or may not have in an older house/none HOA.

Overall though, I'm a value shopper, and I prefer the financial flexibility of getting a lower price place with more amenities vs. the status symbol of living in a more expensive area (Chino Hills will feel more like the OC, while the Preserve tends to be a bit more humble - at least the vibe I get). This will be personal preference.

Crime and drugs wise, I think both cities are relatively safe and clean. Chino Hills is in the process of finishing up new facilities for their Police and civic centers while the City of Chino is revamping a Home Depot for a new training/police facility. You have to be aware though that Chino has three prison facilities (Men, Women, and Youth)... but, that basically means there is a lot of law enforcement present. In fact, a lot of law enforcement from other counties and cities come out here to train and I see them patrolling all the time. So overall, I feel it's safer than if you were to live out in the middle of nowhere with less law enforcement around.

About drugs, I would suspect that there are some drug elements present in both cities... Diamond Bar West of Chino Hills had a few Pot Houses busted last year, and this year east of the Preserve in Mira Loma there were also some Pot Houses found. I'm not sure if there are more... but obviously there is a demand. At the very least, law enforcement aren't letting them go with a free pass.

Overall though, these elements are few but fairly typical of mid/upper end suburbia.... even when I lived in an expensive area (in the Palos Verdes Peninsula) in the South Bay, high schoolers were still able to get their hands on pot. There aren't any drive-bys or violence on the streets or anything like that and any graffiti (very low occurrence) is cleaned up and taken care of immediately and not tolerated. I'm not sure about gang activity, but I'd imagine gangs would be more focused in more urban areas (San Bernardino, Ontario) than the country side and would be wary of the police presence in Chino/Chino Hills.

My father in law was in law enforcement and worked at the correctional facility in Chino. If he feels that it's safe for his daughter and I to live in Chino, than I'm good with it too.

-chuck22b

[jasmine22]

my husband is in law enforcement and works a crazy schedule, often leaving me alone in the house at night. i just want to make sure i feel really really safe wherever we end up. how close are all of these prisons?

are there any housing tracks anyone would highly recommend in the chino hills area?

[chuck22b]

Originally Posted by jasmine22

my husband is in law enforcement and works a crazy schedule, often leaving me alone in the house at night. i just want to make sure i feel really really safe wherever we end up. how close are all of these prisons?

are there any housing tracks anyone would highly recommend in the chino hills area?

Hi jasmine22,
The California Institute for Men (CIM) is located at the end of Chino Hills Parkway, so it's by the border of Chino and Chino Hills area... the Youth Prison is pretty much south east of the CIM off of Euclid (or Across the street from the Chino Airport). The women's facility is between the South West Corner of the Preserve and Prado Regional Park by Chino-Corona Road. If you look at maps.google.com in Chino you should be able to better see where the facilities lie.

Butterfield Ranch area of Chino Hills is the newer area of Chino Hills and is on the south end of Chino Hills. There is a new Condo/Townhome development there off the 71 called Celemente by MBK homes? At the end of Soquel Canyon there is also a new development by Meritage that is gated... but, are substantially more expensive.

Otherwise, for older houses in Chino Hills I would look toward the West end of Grand on the hill (also very expensive)... and communities West of the Civic Center (also very expensive). North end of Chino Hills I would be more hesitant to look at since it borders Pomona.

Overall, I think the Preserve would give you the most bang for the buck comparatively. But with today's market, maybe you can get a good deal in Chino Hills as well.

Sadly though, crime can occur anywhere. A co-worker of mine and his wife lived in a nice community in Diamond Bar and went for an after dinner walk... and got mugged. I hear stores from other threads of people having their car broken in to on their driveway in a nice part of Woodland Hills. The good thing about Chino/Chino Hills like I said is the law enforcement presence. I should know... it took them less than five minutes to get to my house when I "mistakenly" triggered the silent alarm *blush*.

Your husband would probably be a great source of figuring out gang and crime stats in the area. There are at least three law enforcement officers living in my sub-community in the Preserve.

-chuck22b

[jasmine22]

you werent kidding. chino hills is ALOT more expensive. we might as well stay in orange county for those home prices. sheesh! what about the newer communities in corona? what do you think about that area?

[chuck22b]

Originally Posted by jasmine22

you werent kidding. chino hills is ALOT more expensive. we might as well stay in orange county for those home prices. sheesh! what about the newer communities in corona? what do you think about that area?

I'm not too sure about Corona, since that wasn't really in my search circle. From what I hear South Corona area is nice... and visiting there... it's really new, quiet, and dark.

There are two new shopping centers in the area one called Dos Lagos (High-end) and the Crossings at Corona which has your typical flare of chain stores.

Prices would probably be close to what the Preserve is asking for... maybe some places a little less, a little more. The parts of Corona by the 91 are more industrial, older, urban and aren't as nice but it is where a lot of companies are located at.

The schools, from what I can see are not as good as the Chino Hills/Chino schools based on the API scores... and the night life would be mainly those two shopping centers and a drive up the 15 to Ontario/Rancho Cucamonga area.

Overall I think South Corona area seems like a nice quiet area... but... I think there are probably more things to do in Chino/Chino Hills. Living in Corona you'll be close to the Metrolink Station should you want/need another way to commute to the OC. Corona to OC vs. Chino to OC... would probably save you 10 minutes.

-chuck22b