OC to Murrieta or Temecula (Santa Ana, Anaheim: house, neighborhoods, school district)

[OC California]

My husbands job is in Ontario. Where is a good,safe clean place to live if you have kids? The air quality always looks so nasty out there. Any opinions on home prices declining further out there? How is Murrieta and Temecula? Is it worth living in Riverside County to have a house or stay in OC?

[that1guy]

Rancho Cucamonga, Chino, Chino Hills, Northern Ontario, and North Fontana are closer to you husbands work. These are all nice places. Rancho Cucamonga is a good bet. The traffic leaving Southwest Riverside County sucks...esp going northbound. North Fontana is the cheapest and is a nice area around Seirra Lakes. Plus the commute time is about 10-20 min whereas it's 40min-1hr from Temecula

[OC California]

Chino smells and is full of cow farms. Correct me if I am wrong but anytime I have been in the other cities you mentioned the air is full of pollution,white trash, and chulo's/gangs looking people...???

I have never heard of Sierra Lakes,will check it out.

[dweej]

My sister in law lives in Rancho Cucomonga and really enjoys it. As most regulars to this board will know, I'm always in support of Temecula.....not because there aren't any other good places to live, but because this is where I do live and it has been very good to our family. No smog, very safe, a fantastic city government with amazing programs throughout the year (but especially during the summer!), a great school district, and a lot of home ownership opportunities at this time. Your commute will certainly be longer so that is something you'll have to take into consideration. My husband commutes 45 miles to Poway every morning, but would rather do that than to live in any of the cities that are closer.

[that1guy]

Originally Posted by OC California

Chino smells and is full of cow farms. Correct me if I am wrong but anytime I have been in the other cities you mentioned the air is full of pollution,white trash, and chulo's/gangs looking people...???

I have never heard of Sierra Lakes,will check it out.

The whole white trash thing is a stereotype. I felt that way when my brother moved to Yorba Linda/Anaheim Hills (bikers and big trucks, but then I realized that this is a minority of people, it's a matter of perception). Chino is actually a lot more developed. Rancho Cucamonga is one of California's safest...along with Chino Hills. Plus Northern Fontana is literally bordering Rancho. Lots of foreclousures on golf course properties, in a place where the median income is around 80k or so. Northern Ontario is bordering Rancho Cucamonga as well. I work around there. No gangs wandering the streets filled with Mcmansions. I mean the bias for this region is mostly fabricated. Check out the neighborhoods.

Air pollution is bad from Yorba Linda onwards...any city relatively inland and surrounded by mountains will be affected by pollution. Every city 15 miles plus inland is affected by smog. The way the mountain system in Southern California works. Winds coming from the coast blow smog inland and that gets trapped by the mountains. The only time that this is reversed is during the Santa Ana winds. Hence why San Gabriel and inland OC also have fairly poor air quality.

[ConsideringLA]

Check out San Dimas, Glendora, La Verne, Diamond Bar, Walnut.

These would be reverse commutes to Ontario.

Of course, smog gathers around foothills, too. So that1guy is mostly right - it's generally more smoggy than OC.


You also could consider Big Bear or Lake Arrowhead if you wanted to get above the smog.

My personal advice is to think beyond this one job. We have had a lot of discussion on this board re: jobs in the IE; there is no argument that there are MORE jobs closer to the coast. Thus my original suggestions vs. stuff too far out.

Good luck.

[twinmum]

I guess it depends on where in OC you are. My aunt & uncle live in Anaheim Hills, and that would be my first choice if moving closer to Ontario (or Yorba Linda). If that is out of your price range, I would select Corona, Riverside or Temecula. I live in Temecula and husband works in Rancho Cucamonga and it takes him about 1-1.5 hrs to get to work depending on the time of day....I would not live anymore north on the 15 than Corona (personally) unless it was off the 91 (Riverside, A.H., Y.L.).

[ConsideringLA]

Let's see... Corona/Riverside/Temecula

over

San Dimas, Glendora, La Verne, Diamond Bar, Walnut?

That's not a trick question, is it?