Job in Visalia HELP!!!!!! (Fresno, Riverside: rentals, homes, school districts)

[ccoutofsc]

Hello,
My husband is considering a job in Visalia. I am from Southern Ca but we haven’t lived there since 2005. I have been looking at things and for our family it seems like Clovis has most of what I would want. We have voys who play baseball and a daughter who plays soccer and volleyball along with a daughter who dances. Schools are important since we have 1 child in each level and 2 who will begin K next year. I am wondering if it’s possible ro make rhat commute feom that area (mainly clovis unified) to Visalia or are there any other areas anyone can suggest. We will be renting first. As tou can tell we have 5 kids ages 14,13,9 and 4 yr old twins. We love sports and doing things with our kids. We currently live in Central Tx and have lived in SC and Ga. We thought this would be our last move when we came to Tx so if we so this we really need it to be as easy a transition for our kids. Please offer any help you can!!!!

[Des-Lab]

Clovis is arguably the finest city in the entire Central Valley. So it's a safe choice almost by default. You can't and won't go wrong moving there.

From Clovis to Visalia is about 45 min, give-or-take drive time.

Visalia is a bit more disparate in that it has its good parts and bad parts. Generally speaking, the southwest quadrant of the city is probably the best: south of 198, north of Caldwell, east of 99, and west of Mooney Blvd, but good parts can be found in almost all corners of the city. The parts I would avoid at all costs would be the Downtown and "Oval" areas: north of 198, west of Ben Maddox, south of Houston, and east of Demarree. Again, areas is just approximate.

Also depends on where in Visalia you plan to commute to. It's an oddly shaped city so getting from one end to the other can be quite a hassle.

What part are you looking at?

[cleosmom]

Originally Posted by Des-Lab

Clovis is arguably the finest city in the entire Central Valley. So it's a safe choice almost by default. You can't and won't go wrong moving there.

From Clovis to Visalia is about 45 min, give-or-take drive time.

Visalia is a bit more disparate in that it has its good parts and bad parts. Generally speaking, the southwest quadrant of the city is probably the best: south of 198, north of Caldwell, east of 99, and west of Mooney Blvd, but good parts can be found in almost all corners of the city. The parts I would avoid at all costs would be the Downtown and "Oval" areas: north of 198, west of Ben Maddox, south of Houston, and east of Demarree. Again, areas is just approximate.

Also depends on where in Visalia you plan to commute to. It's an oddly shaped city so getting from one end to the other can be quite a hassle.

What part are you looking at?

The OP will need to factor extra time for the Tule fog season.

[ccoutofsc]

Originally Posted by Des-Lab

Clovis is arguably the finest city in the entire Central Valley. So it's a safe choice almost by default. You can't and won't go wrong moving there.

From Clovis to Visalia is about 45 min, give-or-take drive time.

Visalia is a bit more disparate in that it has its good parts and bad parts. Generally speaking, the southwest quadrant of the city is probably the best: south of 198, north of Caldwell, east of 99, and west of Mooney Blvd, but good parts can be found in almost all corners of the city. The parts I would avoid at all costs would be the Downtown and "Oval" areas: north of 198, west of Ben Maddox, south of Houston, and east of Demarree. Again, areas is just approximate.

Also depends on where in Visalia you plan to commute to. It's an oddly shaped city so getting from one end to the other can be quite a hassle.

What part are you looking at?

The job is on Miller Park Ct. if that helps. We will be making a trip down soon. I thought Clovis was the best area just looking online. Are there any other cities that may work also? I know my husband would like to have a short commute if possible.

[ccoutofsc]

Originally Posted by cleosmom

The OP will need to factor extra time for the Tule fog season.

Is fog really that bad and if so how long? Do people carpool or have other means to commute?

[Des-Lab]

Originally Posted by cleosmom

The OP will need to factor extra time for the Tule fog season.

True. But with as little rain that's fallen in recent years, this has been less and less of a problem. The fog doesn't factor in until after we get a good, solid soaking, which is something that hasn't really happened in at least 2-3 years. The light drizzles we've been having generally haven't been enough to trigger that pea soup fog the Valley is (or once was) infamous for.


But yeah. I otherwise agree. When we do get it, it can make for a long, slow, white knuckle treacherous drive.


OP: Fog season has historically ran from about Thanksgiving to St Patricks Day, ± a couple weeks.

[Des-Lab]

Originally Posted by ccoutofsc

The job is on Miller Park Ct. if that helps. We will be making a trip down soon. I thought Clovis was the best area just looking online. Are there any other cities that may work also? I know my husband would like to have a short commute if possible.

A quick cursory map shows that's almost up by Goshen (extreme NW corner of Visalia-going to work for UPS? There's a massive facility up there). That's mostly industrial: office parks, car dealerships, etc.


The little village of Goshen is definitely not someplace I would recommend living. But the "good" part of Visalia is a fairly short drive from there-you can take Plaza, Shirk, Akers, or Demarree off 198 and anything immediately south of there as far south as Caldwell and Visalia Pkwy will most likely be a safe bet and nice area, and 20 min or less drive time. If you want to start searching, I would begin there.

[ccoutofsc]

Originally Posted by Des-Lab

A quick cursory map shows that's almost up by Goshen (extreme NW corner of Visalia-going to work for UPS? There's a massive facility up there). That's mostly industrial: office parks, car dealerships, etc.


The little village of Goshen is definitely not someplace I would recommend living. But the "good" part of Visalia is a fairly short drive from there-you can take Plaza, Shirk, Akers, or Demarree off 198 and anything immediately south of there as far south as Caldwell and Visalia Pkwy will most likely be a safe bet and nice area, and 20 min or less drive time. If you want to start searching, I would begin there.

Do you think that's to far? Looking at rentals they say from 45-50 minutes. Not UPS. I'm really unsure, from another state about the Visalia schools vs Clovis USD. Looking at the schools websites you even see a difference. Although I am the education one mostly sports, mainly baseball, is a big deal. If I will have to drive up to the Fresno/Clovis area for activities for the kids I wonder if living there will be better.

[Des-Lab]

Originally Posted by ccoutofsc

Do you think that's to far?

The definition of "too far" is very subjective and really up to you to decide. For some people, twenty minutes is "too far". Others, that threshold doesn't come until you breach the one hour mark. Also keep in mind that "distance" and "time" are rarely synonymous. In SoCal, a thirty minute drive can be just five miles. Here in the Valley, 30 minutes can cover a radius of up to 40 miles, depending on what route(s) you take.

Originally Posted by ccoutofsc

Looking at rentals they say from 45-50 minutes.

From where? Visalia is a good sized city. But it isn't THAT big. Pick any two opposing points within the city limits you can find; all can be accessed by car in 30 min or less. And in many cases, 15 min or less.

Originally Posted by ccoutofsc

the Visalia schools vs Clovis USD. Looking at the schools websites you even see a difference. Although I am the education one mostly sports, mainly baseball, is a big deal. If I will have to drive up to the Fresno/Clovis area for activities for the kids I wonder if living there will be better.

I'm not too knowledgeable on the Visalia School Districts. But what I CAN tell you is that High School sports are (for whatever reason) hugely popular in Tulare County. They get a lot of press coverage. So one can infer that most or all of the schools/districts have solid sports programs. As far as academic, again, it's probably about a wash either way. I'm not sure how many districts Visalia is broken into but just keep in mind that the trashy/underperforming schools will drag down the overall averages. So my suggestion would be to not look at the district(s) as a whole, but the individual school(s) for whatever area you choose to live in.

[ccoutofsc]

Originally Posted by Des-Lab

The definition of "too far" is very subjective and really up to you to decide. For some people, twenty minutes is "too far". Others, that threshold doesn't come until you breach the one hour mark. Also keep in mind that "distance" and "time" are rarely synonymous. In SoCal, a thirty minute drive can be just five miles. Here in the Valley, 30 minutes can cover a radius of up to 40 miles, depending on what route(s) you take.



From where? Visalia is a good sized city. But it isn't THAT big. Pick any two opposing points within the city limits you can find; all can be accessed by car in 30 min or less. And in many cases, 15 min or less.



I'm not too knowledgeable on the Visalia School Districts. But what I CAN tell you is that High School sports are (for whatever reason) hugely popular in Tulare County. They get a lot of press coverage. So one can infer that most or all of the schools/districts have solid sports programs. As far as academic, again, it's probably about a wash either way. I'm not sure how many districts Visalia is broken into but just keep in mind that the trashy/underperforming schools will drag down the overall averages. So my suggestion would be to not look at the district(s) as a whole, but the individual school(s) for whatever area you choose to live in.

The commute I was talking about was from homes in the Clovis USD. I have looked at each high schools website and couldn't find much info on sports, like I could on the Clovis schools, so thanks for that. As far as I can tell there is just one district. I guess we will have to make the trip to fully know. Right now my husband makes a 35 minute commute and when we lived in Ca before he would commute from Riverside to LA.