I work online and I'm looking for a place in CA to raise a family (Sacramento: condos, homes)

[Discusthrowaway]

I work online for a very stable company. At the moment, my salary is in the low 60k range per year, but I expect it'll be adjusted higher as time goes by.

Because of my work, I can move to anywhere in North America, but I've decided to focus on California and the Pacific Northwest. I have a wife, and we're looking to start having kids within 2 years.

That said, where in California (or the Pacific Northwest) would you recommend I live? I have the following criteria:

MOST IMPORTANT:

1) I'm looking for homes in the 250k range, but there's some flexibility there.
2) I need a safe place to raise my future kids.
3) A good school district would be awesome, but I will consider private school or even homeschooling if it comes down to that (since both my wife and I are at home).

NOT AS IMPORTANT:

4) I prefer weather that's not too hot, but I can live with hot temperatures if I find a good, affordable place to live.
5) I'm politically liberal and would like to live in a more liberal area, but this isn't critical - I'm not politically active in any sense, so even if I did live in a more conservative area, I should be okay with that.
6) I'm Asian, and would like to have access to Asian groceries and vegetables - again, not very critical, but I know there's a lot of food I'd miss cooking for myself if I can't get access to fresh Asian veggies and the like.

Thanks!

[ferretkona]

Why not focus on a state with out state payroll deductions like Nevada?

[Steve97415]

Originally Posted by Discusthrowaway

MOST IMPORTANT:

1) I'm looking for homes in the 250k range, but there's some flexibility there.
2) I need a safe place to raise my future kids.
3) A good school district would be awesome, but I will consider private school or even homeschooling if it comes down to that (since both my wife and I are at home).

This really makes me think of Corvallis, Oregon...particularly for the combination of being safe, family-friendly and having a superior public school system. The infusion of Asian demographics there is just enough that you wouldn't feel out of place.

[Leonard64]

Originally Posted by Discusthrowaway

I work online for a very stable company. At the moment, my salary is in the low 60k range per year, but I expect it'll be adjusted higher as time goes by.

Because of my work, I can move to anywhere in North America, but I've decided to focus on California and the Pacific Northwest. I have a wife, and we're looking to start having kids within 2 years.

That said, where in California (or the Pacific Northwest) would you recommend I live? I have the following criteria:

MOST IMPORTANT:

1) I'm looking for homes in the 250k range, but there's some flexibility there.
2) I need a safe place to raise my future kids.
3) A good school district would be awesome, but I will consider private school or even homeschooling if it comes down to that (since both my wife and I are at home).

NOT AS IMPORTANT:

4) I prefer weather that's not too hot, but I can live with hot temperatures if I find a good, affordable place to live.
5) I'm politically liberal and would like to live in a more liberal area, but this isn't critical - I'm not politically active in any sense, so even if I did live in a more conservative area, I should be okay with that.
6) I'm Asian, and would like to have access to Asian groceries and vegetables - again, not very critical, but I know there's a lot of food I'd miss cooking for myself if I can't get access to fresh Asian veggies and the like.

Thanks!

Oregon

[MtnSurfer]

For California in that price range with your criteria Temecula is a great deal, one of the bargains for the state for young families looking for good school districts. Another place to look is near San Luis Obispo. Though SLO itself is pricey there are surrounding towns which are more affordable such as Los Asos, Arroyo Grande, Orcutt, etc... Also check out the Sacramento suburbs such as Roseville.

Having a mobile career allows you work places most people couldn't like the SLO area. Since there aren't many jobs there prices tend to lower than nearer economic hubs such as LA, SJ, SF, etc...

Oregon is also a very nice option as well as Southern WA such as Vancouver. Its both greener and much more wet and cloudy there. If you'll ok with that it can be a really place to live.

[oldtrader]

If you want to know the quality of any schools, use the ratings that the professionals use to evaluate any area of the country right down to the neighborhood schools in those areas of the country.

GreatSchools - Public and Private School Ratings, Reviews and Parent Community

Someone recommended Roseville. Their school ratings are at

GreatSchools.org Search: roseville

Note some of their schools rate very high, and some of the others rate quite low. Use this to pick the neighborhood for schools you would want your children to attend.

[.highnlite]

School ratings are generally based on the results of multiple choice tests, which measure only the most basic forms of knowledge. If you are the sort of person who would pick your heart surgeon based on how they did on a multiple choice test, then by all means, follow OT's advice.

If you are a city/indoors person then, any coastal city from Santa Barbara north will do you. If you are an outdoors person, a skier for instance, Truckee. Truckee is full of folks just like you, they make their living at home, generally in the tech industry

-3 along the Yellowstone River today. Today, I will either take the horse out, or go for a moto ride in the California sunshine, whacha doing up along the Yellowstone there OT?

Why not focus on a state with out state payroll deductions like Nevada?

Tax freedom day in Nevada is April 18, tax freedom day in California is April 22. We can come up with a neat fraction. Nevada Taxes are 1/182.5 different than CA, scarcely worth basing a serious decision upon.

[EclecticEars]

Most of Oregon along or west of I-5, as well as Vancouver, WA as previously mentioned, seem to be good options, even though I've not been to those places. Same applies to Washington state, even though the immediate Seattle area is very expensive.

In California, most coastal areas will not be cheap. Sorry. Once you get north of Santa Rosa along US 101, you'll find relatively cheap for California...and most everything else you listed for your criteria. Honestly, places like Lodi, Fairfield/Vacaville, Sacramento, Chico, Visalia, Temecula/Murietta/Wildomar, and Redlands are great choices, but they are inland which means very hot summers.

You might be surprised at some of the deals you could find in (a) the San Gabriel Valley near L.A., (b) some tiny slightly inland towns in coastal counties like Santa Barbara or S.L.O., or (c) the far outer East Bay (i.e.: Concord, Benecia, new condos in Livermore) in the Bay Area.

[Discusthrowaway]

Thanks for the feedback, folks!

[oldtrader]

.highnlite--- -3 along the Yellowstone River today.

Higher than that in our area of the river.

There is a lot more to base living in a state, or owning a business in a state than Taxes. Here is a great chart from CNBC that compares states. It gives a true picture of why people and companies are leaving California.

Top States 2012: Overall Ranking

Note that California is not #1 for quality of life like several of you keep harping on, but down to #20. Even places like Montana are rated better for quality of life, and have a far better economy, have better infrastructure, etc.

California rates higher than Montana for a workforce. Reason, we don't have enough people needing a job for a company who wants to hire 300 or so people can find workers. Last year the newspapers showed that 3 different companies that size wanted to move to the state with well paid jobs. Before they decided the location out of 3 choices (our larger cities), they advertised for help wanted. In one location they found they could only get 75 applications, and only about 25 would have qualified for a job, with even less at the other two locations. They did not put in the facilities in Montana as not enough available workers. Two of those were from California by the way according to the newspapers.