Moving to Santa Barbara (Oxnard, Vista: rental, crime, home)

[colanne]

We are a family of three and possibly moving to the Santa Barbara area. As is plain to see, Santa Barbara is very expensive. My husband will be a professor at UCSB and as some of you may know, professors do not get paid well. We are expecting him to be offered $65,000 or thereabouts. I will work from home supplementing our income at $2,000/month. I don't think we can afford to live there. I am also concerned about the schools. My son is 4 years old and will be eligible to enter pre-k soon. The schools in the affordable neighborhoods there seem to be ranked VERY low. We would prefer to live in a neighborhood with highly educated people as we both have PhDs. Is there an affordable and safe neighborhood near UCSB where we could afford to live and have educated neighbors with a good school system? I'm fearing that the answer is "no".

[SOON2BNSURPRISE]

Many in your boat consider Ventura to the South for a place to live. Even there you will have a gross income of $89,000 between the two of you? My wife and I are in the low 100,000 range and we live in North Oxnard in a home that we bought just over 3 years ago. Prices have increased quite a bit since when we bought our home.

[nightlysparrow]

In the 2010 US Census, the percentage of persons in California over age 25 who held a Bachelor's degree or higher was 30.5%. But in Isla Vista, adjacent to UCSB, it was 50.8%, very high. It may not look like Cambridge, but there are lots of interesting high-brow discussions going on the the coffee shops there.

Have you considered home schooling, since you have a Ph.D and will be at home? That would free things up. Otherwise, SOON2B is probably correct, you're looking at Ventura or Oxnard (which are not bad at all).

[savoytruffle]

You could also consider elsewhere in the Central Coast. Lompoc is a commuter town an hour out of SB and is much cheaper than SB or Goleta. My cousin teaches at UCSB and lives in Lompoc. People talk a lot about crime there but it is really not a big deal. I will say though, at population 40,000, there's not a lot of shopping, and some people consider it small. Also I don't think the schools are too fantastic.

I think Carpinteria is supposed to be a bit cheaper than Santa Barbara too, and I think their schools are better. I'm really not sure how affordable it truly is, though.

[infocyde]

Check out areas of Goleta...lot's of UCSB professors live there, especially up in the foot hills. I think you are correct about it being expensive, but say with an income over 90K you should be able to find a smaller place to rent that is nice. Actually talking to people who work at UCSB I think would be VERY helpful and might actually lead directly to a rental opportunity. I think you want to stay out of Isla Vista if you are married and over 30 Look North and West of UCSB/Isla Vista.

As to schools, again talking to people who work at UCSB would be helpful. High school wise Dos Pueblos all the way. Jr High and elementary school is probably a toss up but I think the closer to UCSB the school is the better off you will be. The UCSB crowd doesn't allow for the local public schools to degenerate that badly as their kids go there...the official ratings might be less than how the schools actually rate factoring parent participation / pupils ready to learn watched by their academic oriented parents.

Good luck.

[the city]

Originally Posted by infocyde

Check out areas of Goleta...lot's of UCSB professors live there, especially up in the foot hills. I think you are correct about it being expensive, but say with an income over 90K you should be able to find a smaller place to rent that is nice. Actually talking to people who work at UCSB I think would be VERY helpful and might actually lead directly to a rental opportunity. I think you want to stay out of Isla Vista if you are married and over 30 Look North and West of UCSB/Isla Vista.

As to schools, again talking to people who work at UCSB would be helpful. High school wise Dos Pueblos all the way. Jr High and elementary school is probably a toss up but I think the closer to UCSB the school is the better off you will be. The UCSB crowd doesn't allow for the local public schools to degenerate that badly as their kids go there...the official ratings might be less than how the schools actually rate factoring parent participation / pupils ready to learn watched by their academic oriented parents.

Good luck.

Yeah basically you should look outside Santa Barbara and Isla Vista. Goleta, Carpinteria, and maybe Ventura.

You may even want to consider Solvang, Buellton, or Santa Ynez to the north.

[sourdough]

Commuter traffic is nuts for those living south of Santa Barbra. Look to the north.