San Diego 91 out of 100 to raise a family

[bloom]

Originally Posted by capoeira

It would be difficult to find a place for families worse than San Francisco.

Why? You mean SF city proper, or greater SF area?

[bloom]

Originally Posted by shmoov_groovzsd

I dont have kids, but have little nephews and nieces that have visited here and love it, but they are from 4 season climates. I am not a native here and grew up in a 4 season climate and have no desire to live in it again.
I think location is nearly irrelevant if you live in a stable, nurturing environment for kids and families.
I have a good friend from the east coast that grew up in western New York State. He totally misses the woods and those types of experiences he had as a kid. So living in SD when it came time to raising a family in a rural environment similar to that was out of the question. All subjective.

I think its amazing how resilient kids are and how creative they can be in any situation. I grew up in the middle of an urban jungle (NYC) and then had to live in the Jersey burbs. I seemed to figure it out as do/did thousands of others. Depsite its look on the outside, I still grew up in a GREAT community of people that cared about each other and looked out for each other. I would think any parent would want that FIRST before caring about the beach and Legoland.
The key to me seems more about accessibility to the things that will helop a kid find his/her path.
If growing up in Des Moines means you have excellent programs that a kid would not have here in SD, the beach and Legoland are all just substitute fringe benefits of living somewhere compared to a kid that goes to the lake to fish or building a tree hut in the woods when summer rolls around. Its about the task of doing things not the prestige or how an adult views it.

The real question is, when a kid gets older, do they appreciate where they grew up or just think the whole world is like SD and then 'doesnt get it' when it comes time to fly the coop outside the bubble. That is sometimes the double edged sword for growing in a bubble that is detached. SD really is like an island

More times than not, I think its the parents that are far more interested in living in a place like SD more so than the actual kids. Kids when they are young dont care either way from what I have seen. Its when they get older and need to spread out a bit that I can see it being more of a challenge than anything else if the programs arent there.

Somehow, the rest of the country seems to send kids to Harvard or become successful in their own right obviously. I am also certain there are parents that struggle to make ends meet here regardless of all the things on the list. But these top 10 lists are amusing nonetheless

Well put - you get it.

[NYSD1995]

You either send a kid to school where 95+% pct of kids go to college or you don't. A lot of people are willing to vote with their feet and make that decision easy.

Sorry but SD is not family friendly unless you have lots of money. Family friendly to me is not about attractions and things to do but your ability to raise a family with stability and consitency, i.e. school quality, neighborhood quality, parks, safety, the guaranteed the these things are not going to disintegrate in 10 yrs. It's not just test scores but they tend to reflect the area's priorities. SD has some of the best neighborhoods in the world to raise kids but very very few, people can afford to raise families there.

[1AngryTaxPayer]

We went the route of buying the biggest dump in the best hood we could afford. 12 years later we are still working on the house but the kids are in a safe hood and in very good schools so it is possible without being very wealthy. We average 110 - 140 K a year so I consider us middle class. You just really have to work at it and watch your spending.

I grew up in the mid-west where life ceases to exist after 9pm outside because of the weather. No thanks and no way I'm doing that again.

[9162]

Originally Posted by sfosyd

So this shocked me:

http://www.parenting.com/article/201...-families-list

San Diego is number 91 out of 100 cities for raising a family according to parenting magazine. But Boston, which is certainly more expensive and seems less family friendly ranks #1.

Remember the city of Boston itself is tiny, unlike San Diego and really has poor schools except for Boston Latin. Areas like Newton, Brookline or Winchester, which have A+ schools, are not included because they are not the city of Boston.

But the city of San Diego is huge and includes areas like Scripps Ranch and Carmel Valley that have A+ districts. Are the bad schools in San Diego THAT bad that they cancel out the good areas and make the 91 place ranking?

Is the survey just completely off base? Thoughts?

Huh?? Massachusetts is number one in education as a whole. Boston is loaded with excellent schools, and has numerous things for families to do. It is also full of museums. Massachusetts has more historical locations than any other state in the country. If Boston is more expensive than San Diego, it's not by much.

[doublerock]

Originally Posted by kremit

15. San Francisco, California

You guys agree with this?

SF is a great place to raise kids if you have the money for private schools or are lucky enough to get a good placement in the SF school lottery system. The city itself and the surrounding areas offer limitless activities for kids such as GG Park and it's attractions, The Exploratorium, the beach, Discovery Center, Yerba Buena Center, Chabot Space Museum, Lawrence Hall of Science and many, many more. Neighborhoods like Noe Valley are crawling with kids and getting play dates is easy. But again, you have to get into a good school first and they don't do it by district. It's lottery based so you never know where your kid will end up unless you go private.

[Clevelandgal]

While I am only a step parent,ill weigh in. I think the 2 most important factors are decent schools, and safety when judging a place for raising children.the next is my own goof ball criteria- commute times. If mom and or dad are working long hours and have long commutes that really can impact children. I feel very sure if you polled an 8 year old whether they would rather live in SD and have mom/dad home late, or in Des Moines but home at 515... I think we know how that would go. Communities that have more balanced socio economics tend to be healthier for all kids in the community. After that I think kids don't care about weather and scenery as much as the parents. In many ways LESS to do might encourage kids to be more creative. I spent my early childhood in a rural area outside of DC and we were turned loose for hours with no TV or organized activities. I can't recall ever grousing about the weather or having nothing to do! Now fast forward quite a few years and my tune is quite a bit different.

[doublerock]

Good schools, safe neighborhoods, supportive communities, parents that get home by 5:30 PM, etc... is good to have no matter where you live. You can have that in SD or in Cold Springs, Kansas. The trick is getting into those environments and making it happen. In SD and SF, it is probably a lot more difficult achieve that.