What would say the best place to live in California is, for a family? (Santa Rosa: apartment, lease)

[koryosiveness]

So i am going to give some details of my situation I am a 32 year old RN nurse and was given custody of my sisters kids (she was involved with drugs and well you know how that goes) who are 16 and 14 and both girls. My fiancée,who is a teacher, and the girls have decided it would be a good thing to moved and give the girls a fresh start.


1. my income right now is about 53,000 my fiancée's is around 46,000
2. are price range would be a maximum of 360k but if needed wed go to 400k or a little over but hopefully we wouldn't have to go that high.
3. a big city isnt something were interested in but somewhere close to a city would be wonderful.
4. i do not want a tiny town i just cant stand them! This sounds very picky but i dont want a city.
5. obviously near a hospital it can be 30 min a way if necessary
6. safe or at least a lower crime-rate, nowhere is perfectly safe but somewhere to raise teenagers

and also its not too important but to be near the beach would be lovely, we live on the CT shoreline right now and i love it. But if there arent any then well deal.

thank you so much

[majoun]

Originally Posted by koryosiveness

So i am going to give some details of my situation I am a 32 year old RN nurse and was given custody of my sisters kids (she was involved with drugs and well you know how that goes) who are 16 and 14 and both girls. My fiancée,who is a teacher, and the girls have decided it would be a good thing to moved and give the girls a fresh start.


1. my income right now is about 53,000 my fiancée's is around 46,000
2. are price range would be a maximum of 360k but if needed wed go to 400k or a little over but hopefully we wouldn't have to go that high.
3. a big city isnt something were interested in but somewhere close to a city would be wonderful.
4. i do not want a tiny town i just cant stand them! This sounds very picky but i dont want a city.
5. obviously near a hospital it can be 30 min a way if necessary
6. safe or at least a lower crime-rate, nowhere is perfectly safe but somewhere to raise teenagers

and also its not too important but to be near the beach would be lovely, we live on the CT shoreline right now and i love it. But if there arent any then well deal.

thank you so much

Sounds like Santa Cruz would be the right place for what you're looking for.

The farthest south of any place in CA that's advisable to raise kids in would probably be Monterey. If you have to be south of there - it's a matter of making the best of where you're at. Since you wanted a medium-sized/small city closer to a larger city Santa Cruz would be better than Monterey as it's closer to the Bay Area.

However, your desired price range would require living in a condo not a house, or renting an apartment, in SC (unless you were in the Beach Flats which is not recommended at all - the only part of SC I'd avoid). SFR's would be unthinkable in that price range.

Santa Rosa or Petaluma might also be good for you. You might even be able to find houses in that price range there, although on your budget you'll find much more in the condo market than the SFR market.

[MtnSurfer]

There are many possibilites for you. The only issue you will face is balancing out what would be a seemingly ideal location with your price range in CA.

My greatest piece of advice for you to consider is to lease/rent first where you decide before buying. In this current market it is too easy to buy into a place which appears good, but in the end becomes a money pit or ball and chain. This is especially true if after a couple of years you realize that particular area is not really for you. Local market knowledge is really key to buying out here. And even then it's a gamble with falling prices and foreclosues occuring.

I have lived both in the Southern and the Central part of the state along the coast. The Monterey Penninsula is our favorite location along the California coast. However both Santa Cruz and Monterey can be pricey in terms of buying a home. Why not come out, enjoy one of the nicer areas, and rent at first while the kids are in school? Then decide to buy once you are more familiar with the areas.

For SoCal I can highly recommend Torrance, CA. It's located in an area called the South Bay which has great school and is right along the coast. Torrance Memorial and Little Company of Mary are both great hospitals.

Check out the schools on this website: California School Performance Maps Click on an area to zoom in and select secondary for high schools.

Derek

[Brenda-by-the-sea]

Originally Posted by koryosiveness

1. my income right now is about 53,000 my fiancée's is around 46,000

Count your own income only. Your fiancée has a better chance of winning the Powerball Jackpot than of landing a teaching job in CA during the next decade. California is aggressively downsizing the size of its teacher workforce in response to a colossal budget crisis. Those established teachers who are being riffed will have priority status when rehiring ultimately begins.

[MtnSurfer]

Originally Posted by Brenda-by-the-sea

Count your own income only. Your fiancée has a better chance of winning the Powerball Jackpot than of landing a teaching job in CA during the next decade. California is aggressively downsizing the size of its teacher workforce in response to a colossal budget crisis. Those established teachers who are being riffed will have priority status when rehiring ultimately begins.

The good news is that nursing jobs should pay more out here. And for teaching have him consider private and subing to start.

Derek

[Brenda-by-the-sea]

Originally Posted by MtnSurfer

And for teaching have him consider private and subing to start.

Actually it's the teacher who's female in this case:

Originally Posted by koryosiveness

My fiancée,who is a teacher,

How easily we make assumptions about gender roles in occupations!

[DowntownVentura]

Originally Posted by majoun

Sounds like Santa Cruz would be the right place for what you're looking for.

The farthest south of any place in CA that's advisable to raise kids in would probably be Monterey. If you have to be south of there - it's a matter of making the best of where you're at. Since you wanted a medium-sized/small city closer to a larger city Santa Cruz would be better than Monterey as it's closer to the Bay Area.

However, your desired price range would require living in a condo not a house, or renting an apartment, in SC (unless you were in the Beach Flats which is not recommended at all - the only part of SC I'd avoid). SFR's would be unthinkable in that price range.

Santa Rosa or Petaluma might also be good for you. You might even be able to find houses in that price range there, although on your budget you'll find much more in the condo market than the SFR market.

Gee biased much?

[DowntownVentura]

Originally Posted by Brenda-by-the-sea

Actually it's the teacher who's female in this case:



How easily we make assumptions about gender roles in occupations!

If you look at the OPs profile, you can see she is must assuredly female. I think it seems more likely she made a type on 'fiancé' than accidentally listing her gender as female and using a female picture

[Brenda-by-the-sea]

Originally Posted by DowntownVentura

If you look at the OPs profile, you can see she is must assuredly female. I think it seems more likely she made a type on 'fiancé' than accidentally listing her gender as female and using a female picture

Hmmm...guess you're right about that. Seems odd, though, that one would be tuned into accent mark placement and then get the gender ending wrong. There's one other possibility...it is Connecticut, after all.

[MtnSurfer]

Originally Posted by Brenda-by-the-sea

Actually it's the teacher who's female in this case:
How easily we make assumptions about gender roles in occupations!

How easily we get sidetracked from the original question with the need to try correct someone about gender when the username could be either = a non-issue. Keep in mind some ppl like the anonymity which the internet provides. How do you know they aren't a gay couple? Aren't you making assumptions? The point is to try and help them out in their current situation, wouldn't you agree?

Derek