U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > California > Ventura County
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 12-08-2009, 09:13 AM
 
12 posts, read 34,669 times
Reputation: 11

Advertisements

I am thinking of working for a company in Thousand Oaks, CA and I am wondering if its the right place for me and my family. We have 3 kids under 5 and currently live in the suburbs North of NYC and honestly we are kind of tired of the suburban thing.

We would love to live in a community that is relatively close to where I work, no more than 30 minutes. We would like to live somewhere that is close (walk or short drive) to coffee shops, bookstores, and other hang outs. It would be nice to have a university near by if we wanted to take classes. A park nearby would be nice for the kids. Is there anywhere around the T.O. area that has some of these features or is it mostly just rich suburbia? Also is it possible to get into a 3 bedroom for under $2000/mo? I would be open to being closer to LA or further out into Ventura. It doesn't have to be super nice just super convenient.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 12-08-2009, 09:35 AM
 
Location: Las Flores, Orange County, CA
26,342 posts, read 92,400,477 times
Reputation: 17818
How do you have time for this


Quote:
Originally Posted by xrc800 View Post
coffee shops, bookstores, and other hang outs.
with this?

Quote:
Originally Posted by xrc800 View Post
We have 3 kids under 5
Regardless, TO has all that plus it is a great place to raise kids. Ventura is also neat in a different way with some places having a beachy lifestyle and others having a suburban lifestyle. Ventura is an extra 30 minute schlep to TO though too, and you'd be with traffic (the bad way) heading east, into the sun, slowing you down up the Conejo Grade.

Schools in TO are superb - about as good as it gets in Southern California. You have three kids. I would think that would outweigh living within walking distance to a Starbucks or B&N. Everyone drives everywhere anyway, virtually all the time and besides, living within walking distance of retail also means living within walking distance of parking lots, people waiting for buses, busy streets, and 5AM delivery trucks.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-08-2009, 02:39 PM
 
12 posts, read 34,669 times
Reputation: 11
just looking a bit at surrounding areas like oxnard, camarillo, moorpark, and simi. Could you rank these for me in terms of:

commute to TO
cost of living
quality of life (culture, schools, stuff to do)

it looked like oxnard had some pretty affordable units in that new development but I am concerned about the commute time. simi and moorpark look pretty convenient but ive been reading that it can be very hot.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-08-2009, 02:47 PM
 
Location: Las Flores, Orange County, CA
26,342 posts, read 92,400,477 times
Reputation: 17818
Quote:
Originally Posted by xrc800 View Post
just looking a bit at surrounding areas like oxnard, camarillo, moorpark, and simi. Could you rank these for me in terms of:

commute to TO
cost of living
quality of life (culture, schools, stuff to do)

it looked like oxnard had some pretty affordable units in that new development but I am concerned about the commute time. simi and moorpark look pretty convenient but ive been reading that it can be very hot.
Moorpark and Camarillo are about the same distance from TO. Both the 23 southbound and the 101 east bound in the morning can get heavy but the 23 is three lanes in both directions now, so it may be better than when I left in 2006.
Simi can be OK if you are in the far west end. Oxnard will probably be the farthest drive. Oxnard will be the least expensive followed by Simi and tie Moorpark Camarillo. These are all guesses without looking at actual rent and sales data.

Quality of life Moorpark, Simi and Camarillo are all pretty boring in the same way TO would be boring. No benefit to move there in that sense. You can get something near the beach or harbor in Oxnard/Ventura, but again, it's a drive.

Calabasas is really nice and close to Warner Center and Woodland Hills where there are lots of amenities and things to do, shops, etc.

Still, if I were you (and I am, actually), I would strongly consider Thousand Oaks, Oak Park, Agoura Hills. One step farther is Calabasas, Moorpark, and Dos Vientos in the Newbury Park neighborhood of Thousand Oaks.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-09-2009, 12:46 PM
 
12,823 posts, read 23,894,438 times
Reputation: 11030
Quote:
Originally Posted by Charles View Post
(and I am, actually)
Giving up on Alabama?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-09-2009, 02:42 PM
 
687 posts, read 1,085,379 times
Reputation: 222
Quote:
Originally Posted by BayAreaHillbilly View Post
Giving up on Alabama?
ya, that comment didn't make sense to me either?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-09-2009, 07:13 PM
 
Location: South Bay
7,225 posts, read 21,807,268 times
Reputation: 3606
your budget is going to severly limit you. you won't be able to find a 3br house for $2,000 that isn't too far from TO and is anywhere near an interesting neighborhood, let alone one that that is nice and will have good schools for the kiddies.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-09-2009, 08:10 PM
 
Location: Las Flores, Orange County, CA
26,342 posts, read 92,400,477 times
Reputation: 17818
Quote:
Originally Posted by BayAreaHillbilly View Post
Giving up on Alabama?
I meant, as a parent of small kids. I have four small kids.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-10-2009, 01:53 PM
 
12,823 posts, read 23,894,438 times
Reputation: 11030
Quote:
Originally Posted by Charles View Post
I meant, as a parent of small kids. I have four small kids.
Got it. You'd mentioned having to leave family behind here in CA, that's why I was wondering.

BTW - looks like Huntsville is now on several "up and coming" lists ... watch out for the stampede!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-10-2009, 05:45 PM
 
Location: Las Flores, Orange County, CA
26,342 posts, read 92,400,477 times
Reputation: 17818
Quote:
Originally Posted by BayAreaHillbilly View Post
Got it. You'd mentioned having to leave family behind here in CA, that's why I was wondering.

BTW - looks like Huntsville is now on several "up and coming" lists ... watch out for the stampede!
My 88 and 86 year old parents (I'm an only child) are in Calabasas and my wife's parents are in Agoura Hills.

It's virtually impossible to be an unemployed engineer in Huntsville.

MDA moving jobs to Huntsville

Huntsville is in all these

10 Best Places for Tech Jobs - US News and World Report

Relocate-America'sâ„¢ 2009 Top 100 Places to Live (http://top100.relocate-america.com/ - broken link)

The Best And Worst Cities For Recession Recovery - Forbes.com

Best Cities: It's All About Jobs - Kiplinger.com

Milken Institute Publications - Research Reports - Best-Performing Cities 2009:<br> Where America's Jobs Are Created and Sustained

No. 1: Huntsville, Alabama - Kiplinger.com

Forbes Article Lists Huntsville As One of The World's Smartest Cities - WHNT (http://www.whnt.com/news/whnt-forbes-huntsville-smart-city-120409,0,7843879.story - broken link)
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram

Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > California > Ventura County
Similar Threads

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2023, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top