Where to move? Arizona or California? (Oxnard, Escondido: transplants, credit, theater)

[Bruce81]

Having lived in both states I would definitely pick California, especially if money or jobs is not a concern. I live inland in CA and still prefer it. More cities to visit, beaches, national parks, skiing in the morning and sunset on a SoCal beach on the same day. Where else can you do this. In AZ you can get from an oven hot city with cactuses to Flagstaff, but thats as exciting as it will get. Dont get me wrong, Phoenix is a nice city, clean and modern, but life is too short to live cheap and reward yourself to see the ocean, world class cities and perfect weather 2-3 times a year which is what would happen if you live in AZ.

[joesanchez]

This is my first post in here, and im already loving it!
I need tips for nightlife events!

[steven_h]

Originally Posted by gowestCupcake!

My husband and I are planning to move sometime in the next two years. We can't decide between AZ or CA.
We have family in both states. We own our own online business, so we don't need to worry about finding jobs and we are not concerned about cost of living.
We have two kids so we are looking for ideas of safe places with good schools and we'd like to be within about an hour of a nice university so we can hopefully persuade them into staying close to us when they go off to college.

In Arizona we like the small suburbs north of Phoenix and the Prescott area.
In California we like the cities & areas around Napa Valley, Big Sur, San Luiz Obispo and Palm Springs.

I'm looking for cute towns & cities that are well kept and take alot of pride in their appearance too.

Also, for those who have lived in both states, which is your preference and why?

Originally Posted by Hondacub85

As a native Californian, I can say hand on heart that Arizona is a much better place to live and raise a family. The desert ridge area or north Phoenix is just awesome and i highly recommend it! You get a lot more bang for your buck here!

And that will be even more true if either Prop 30 or 38 passes. Brown plans on scalping us to pay for the politicians' mismanagement of taxes, without cutting frivolous spending. EXP: We're gonna get a 110 miles of a bullet train (to nowhere) for just $68 Billion, which will blow up to $120 billion after a year, and $200B+ at completion.

California is losing its glitter fast. We are fourth-generation Californians, and northwest AZ has been looking pretty good to us for a couple of years now.

PS... if Palm Springs (Cathedral City would be the better choice) remains part of the Cali list, you might as well be in AZ. They are almost identical, except PS turns into a party town during Spring break, and the summers can be even hotter than AZ. If you must live in Cali, the southern coast from SD to Ventura would be the ticket. We also have more Universities and CCs than anywhere else in the country.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...ern_California

[SOON2BNSURPRISE]

I almost made the move to Arizona, hence the name; "Soon2bnSurprise" as in Surprise, Arizona ( A beautifull subburb in the North West section of the Phoenix Metro area.) Still we love it here in California on the coast in Oxnard. I grew up in the area and have lived 44 of my 47 years right here in the Oxnard / Port Hueneme area. Now with lower home prices and low interest rates, as of this writing anyway, I would stick with Oxnard and the California coast.

Chances are though if I had a young family and was just starting out I might choose Arizona for the price of homes. My kids are just too established here with school. I am established with work.

[steven_h]

Originally Posted by SOON2BNSURPRISE

I almost made the move to Arizona, hence the name; "Soon2bnSurprise" as in Surprise, Arizona ( A beautifull subburb in the North West section of the Phoenix Metro area.) Still we love it here in California on the coast in Oxnard. I grew up in the area and have lived 44 of my 47 years right here in the Oxnard / Port Hueneme area. Now with lower home prices and low interest rates, as of this writing anyway, I would stick with Oxnard and the California coast.

Chances are though if I had a young family and was just starting out I might choose Arizona for the price of homes. My kids are just too established here with school. I am established with work.

Port Hueneme is awesome! I used to make the trek from Redondo/Torrance to the dunes every other week. I'd never miss stopping by the old dairy to grab the best chocolate milk EVER!, before hitting the waves.

The dairy is gone, as well as my board meetings in the surf <<sigh>>

Thanks for the memories!

[Dean Trails]

Originally Posted by SOON2BNSURPRISE

I almost made the move to Arizona, hence the name; "Soon2bnSurprise" as in Surprise, Arizona ( A beautifull subburb in the North West section of the Phoenix Metro area.) Still we love it here in California on the coast in Oxnard. I grew up in the area and have lived 44 of my 47 years right here in the Oxnard / Port Hueneme area. Now with lower home prices and low interest rates, as of this writing anyway, I would stick with Oxnard and the California coast.

Chances are though if I had a young family and was just starting out I might choose Arizona for the price of homes. My kids are just too established here with school. I am established with work.

How do you like the Ventura or Camarillo? Those towns seem to have the weather, ocean and good healthcare. I too love the area around SLO but they still dont have Kaiser.

Oxnard is pretty nice as well. I must go back and visit.

[SOON2BNSURPRISE]

Originally Posted by Dean Trails

How do you like the Ventura or Camarillo? Those towns seem to have the weather, ocean and good healthcare. I too love the area around SLO but they still dont have Kaiser.

Oxnard is pretty nice as well. I must go back and visit.

I have worked in Ventura for maybe 23 years. Two of the companies that I worked for allowed me the chance to drive around the city, while I worked. I probably know more about Ventura than any city in the county. I love the city. It has a lot to offer. Ventura is one of only a few cities on the coast that has yet to take advantage of the fact that they are on the coast. It still is not a destination city like Santa Barbara, San Diego, or any number of places. The goal for the city is to transition into that type of city. To do that several things need to come together.

Lets talk about what has happened over the past 20 years in Ventura. Looking back to the early 1990's Ventura had a down town area that most people would have avoided. It just wasn't happening there. That changed as people started to realize what was down town. The area was cleaned up, a lot more upscale shops moved in, a lot of former places closed down. Down town has a night life now. Lots of cool clubs to visit and eating establishments to hit up. Its no Los Angeles and the vibe may not be happening on a Tuesday night lets say. Still for the weekends it is happening Downtown Ventura.

Once you leave downtown you enter mid town. This is the area that needs an improvement. Many of the building and business owners in mid town created the Midtown Building owners association to help change the direction for what is happening there. Community Memorial Hospital where I work is part of that group. Lets talk plans. Currently the hospital is building a replacement hospital just south of the current hospital. The new facility will be part of the current hospital campus which includes medical office buildings and a parking structure. We are a Kaiser contracted hospital, although not owned by Kaiser. The new hospital when completed will be a 7 level 325,000 square feet, 240 private patient room, structure. It will have a full basement and 6 stories.

Here is what it will look like when completed, For reference, the current hospital is behind this building, just north of it. The two buildings will be connected at the basement level.



The above artist rendering can be used for promotional purposes and no copyright issues are being violated by posting within this forum.

BECAUSE | Community Memorial Health System | A New Community Memorial Hospital

Near the building site along Main Street are many buildings that the city would like to see replaced. The plan is to remove the single story 50's era buildings and replace them with 4 to 6 story mixed use high buildings. They would have store fronts on the 1st floor, office space on the 2nd floor, and apartments and condos on the upper floors. The highest buildings would be near the hospital. As you move further away the buildings would be shorter with fewer floors. The goal is to clean up midtown and make it a pleasing place for people to visit. The new hospital is the first step in the process. We will complete the building in March of 2015.

[SOON2BNSURPRISE]

As for Camarillo, I also love that city. I spent a big part of my teens and early 20's hanging out there with friends. It is a quiet city that is ideal for families. Over the years it has also changed. For many years Camarillo had very little in the way of lets say, destination shopping. Unlike Ventura, their was no real mall in Camarillo. Lots of strip malls and old town but nothing to bring other people into the city. That changed when the Camarillo Priemium Outlet opened up. Even in a down economy that was one area that seems to continue to grow. I would say that it has some of the best shops in the area, a great theater, and so much going for it. Unlike Oxnard with its large auto mall, or even Ventura with its auto mall, Camarillo only has 2 new car dealers; BMW and MINI both at the same location. They just opened the new Mini dealership. Also on the outskirts of Camarillo, Ventura Harley Davidson is located. I like Camarillo but for differant reasons than Ventura. It is a nice safe place to live. It is further inland though and surrounded by farms.

[Think4Yourself]

If you're poor and just needed the cheapest than Arizona, if you're well enough off that you can afford to consider things like quality of life then California.

[SOON2BNSURPRISE]

Originally Posted by Think4Yourself

If you're poor and just needed the cheapest than Arizona, if you're well enough off that you can afford to consider things like quality of life then California.

I am by no means wealthy and call California home. It is a big state and many places within the state are affordable. Not everyone lives on the coast. Sure if you are going to compare Santa Barbara with Arizona then sure, maybe need a few bucks more in SB. Still Arizona has its upper priced areas as well and you will need the big bucks to live there as well. You really have to take it on a city by city comparison to see what your budget will sustain. Something to figure in is that in coastal California where temps are normally in the mild range, your electric bill will be quite low. Mine is $28 a month on average and we have no AC to pay for. Some people in Arizona pay in the hundreds for electric to stay cool. Another thing to consider is average income for each area. When we were looking to move to Surprise, AZ I was having a hard time finding jobs that paid what I was making in California. Our minumum wage is more, our average income is more, then again we pay more in taxes as well and gas is at least a $1 more per gallon where I live anyway. You just have to look at your budget and go from there.