How does raising kids in California compare with other states? (San Diego: for sale, apartment)

[Movin-on-up2011]

We have lived in several states (military) and I don't see a huge difference here in California than the east coast or midwest. Honestly I don't think weather has anything do to with creating "video game" junkies. Kids in CA love them just as much as kids elsewhere. Child obesity seems the same to me too.

[shiphead]

Originally Posted by jaynetarzana

How does raising kids in California compare with other states? Or even Southern California versus Northern California since they might as well be two different states?

I'll bet there are enough people who have done both and can give us their opinions on the topic. What do you feel are the pros/cons?

Northern California education is fine. The distractions of 29 other kids in your class is annoying. I can honestly say I don't remember anything negative about the education I received. As far as the private industry providing to kids is horribly lacking. The entire childhood I had there, everything was city programs. I never saw language schools, science or math schools. None of it.

Oh there we go. The school I went to the language classes were horrible. No offense, but they always hired the whitest guy, not born in Europe, to teach Spanish or French.

[sjnative]

You first need to narrow ca down to what you can afford or what vicinity you can likely find work in... ca is divisible not only into norcal and socal but also eastern ca i.e. the central valley which is culturally different than the former two...but im getting ahead of myself..

even wihin a given metro area there will be a variation of how good the public schools are depending on how affluent the surrounding communiy is... palo alto's public schools are so good that n the recent past and surely n the present parents from near but outside cities would try to enroll their kids via whatever dubious means... whereas public schools in the eastern silicon valley and esp the east bay would not b desirable at all simce they're afflicted with smaller tax bases more students illegal immigrant parents who often demand bilingual ed for their anchor babies and of course gangs drug dealing violence.. all that within a rather tight geographic area...

Do you really have so much financial freedom that you can live n any community you want to... if not then youll have to narrow it down to what u can afford...

Last.. i never saw a mention of public v private.. i guess u can opt for either...

For many the choice is between living n a crappy area w crappy public schools and enrolling the kids n private school v living n an area w desirable public schools so as to enroll the kids there but not being sure if some stupid social engineering policy will bus n the gangbanger kids to ur neighborhood public school..

[jaynetarzana]

DH works in the information security field so most of the job prospects are in Silicon Valley or San Francisco. We do find jobs in the Los Angeles area. Thousand Oaks seems like a nice area for families, but the air quality is an issue. We love Marin and Lamorinda because of the great schools, but it is still too pricey with the exception of San Rafael. We need to investigate Walnut Creek further as we only passed through it when we visited the area previously. We can't get too attached to a certain place yet until we know where he will be working.

[smdensbcs]

This is just one person's experience/observations so take it for what its worth ... I was raised in "expensive" coastal CA and am now raising kids in a Rocky Mountain West state. In coastal CA, with incredibly high cost of living, only one of my extended group of friends (8-10 kids) had parents who were still married. Lots of second/third marriages. Really dysfunctional stuff. That had a big impact on us kids/teenagers and our attitudes/behaviors. Cynical, self-serving. Perhaps even more self-absorbed, hedonistic than "average" teenagers. In my "non-CA" location, nature is accessable and beautiful, the traffic is reasonable, homes in great school districts are attainable on a single professional income, and not one of our extended group of friends (8-10 couples raising children) is divorced. I and most of my parenting peers have one parent (mostly Moms, but some Dads) "at home" with the kids. In other words, our parenting experience is almost 180 degree opposite of what I experienced in "expensive" coastal CA back in the '80's where the high-cost of living and other factors seemed to break families into smithereens. Perhaps it's different now in coastal CA but, sadly, I suspect it is not, though I didn't hang around to test my little hypotheses.

In a nutshell, I think life is harder when houses are very, very, very expensive. When life is harder, I think it impact families and children on many levels, both good and bad, but mostly bad. But, as they say, to each his/her own.

[Jeffmo350z]

I grew up in L.A, then we moved to the Valley, but my time in the military exposed me to all parts of Caliornia, and we raised our oldest kids in N.Cali, around Travis AFB. in between San Fransisco and Sacramento, "If your familiar with the Vacaville/Fairfield area and even though the culture is completely different from North to South, I am glad the we are now raising our youngerst in Charlotte N. Carolina. I miss home, but would rather raise my kids in a slower more moderate environment that does not try to make kids older then they really are "If this makes sense to you?"

[BRinSM]

Originally Posted by jaynetarzana

DH works in the information security field so most of the job prospects are in Silicon Valley or San Francisco. We do find jobs in the Los Angeles area. Thousand Oaks seems like a nice area for families, but the air quality is an issue. We love Marin and Lamorinda because of the great schools, but it is still too pricey with the exception of San Rafael. We need to investigate Walnut Creek further as we only passed through it when we visited the area previously. We can't get too attached to a certain place yet until we know where he will be working.

FYI, i know a bunch of cyclists and marathoners who live in/near thousand oaks and haven't heard one complaint about air quality. even if there is a mountain in between, TO is less than 10 miles from the beach. in fact, pretty much anywhere within 15-20 miles of the coast in socal doesn't have air quality issues. it's when you get inland to places like pasadena or riverside where smog can become an issue. even then, air pollution has decreased dramatically in the last 20 years and i know very few people who complain about it these days.

[jaynetarzana]

Originally Posted by BRinSM

FYI, i know a bunch of cyclists and marathoners who live in/near thousand oaks and haven't heard one complaint about air quality. even if there is a mountain in between, TO is less than 10 miles from the beach. in fact, pretty much anywhere within 15-20 miles of the coast in socal doesn't have air quality issues. it's when you get inland to places like pasadena or riverside where smog can become an issue. even then, air pollution has decreased dramatically in the last 20 years and i know very few people who complain about it these days.

That is very nice to hear, very encouraging! Sounds like Thousand Oaks should be a consideration.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by jaynetarzana

We can't get too attached to a certain place yet until we know where he will be working.

Does he have a choice in the locations he would be working? Or, are you going to move to near wherever he gets his first offer in California?

When will you be moving?

[jaynetarzana]

Ultimately, I guess he does since we can just wait for a job in the desired location, but that could be awhile since we don't have any "ins" there and he doesn't want to take just any job. There are plenty of jobs in his field if he were willing to travel constantly, but that is not something we would consider. We are noticing that most job postings state that there is no relocation package so that would be on our shoulders.

There is a sense of urgency to get out of Chicago before winter. Hopefully we can make that happen. We would love to make a trip back to California to check out Thousand Oaks and Walnut Creek, but a trip like that would cost us around $4K and that would take away from our down payment for a house. We have to be smart about this next move. As badly as we want to get back to the warm weather and natural beauty of California, we have a family to think about so our tolerance for risk is very low at this point in the game. Moving to California was easy when we were 19 and just married. We drove out there, found jobs in restaurants and got a cheap apartment without concern for school districts etc...