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Hoping to get some advice and real world perspectives about whether this is a good idea or not. In my early 40's, wife and 2 toddlers living in san diego. We own our own business and do pretty well. Have a beautiful 2.5 acre estate with great views, infinity edge swimming pool in a high end double gated community (community is gated and we have private gate to our estate as well). Great schools.
Here's the thing... we just sold the business and can now live anywhere we want and really considering moving.
For some reason we just want to get out of San Diego. I've read about a lot of people wanting to move to the DFW area but seems as it's mostly for lower cost of living, etc... Is there any other reason to move there?
Reasons why we are starting to not like san diego. We are very conservative and there are a lot of liberals out here that are very outspoken. I don't mind different viewpoints, etc... but liberals here are very outspoken, and in my opinion rude and opinionated. I just don't want my kids to grow up being influenced in this way. Again, don't mind opposing view points but it's a little out of control in California. San diego itself is said to be a conservative area due largely to the big military population but again the liberal/democratic voices are still just very loud. We would go to play groups, etc.. and hear other families say how they don't want to influence their 1 or 2 year old to identify as a boy or girl they want to let them figure it out on their own, etc... ! Gender neutral, on and on... Don't like the legalized marijuana, hate that grocery bags are paid for now, don't like that the city voted to let the chargers leave. You get the point, seems everything that happens in this area lately we disagree with. we just don't agree or want our children to grow up being heavily influenced by things that we don't think fit our values. Want to be around more like minded people.
On the flip side of that is that aesthetically this area is absolutely gorgeous. Beaches, mountains, weather, parks, trails, etc... It's primarily the people we are having issues with. It's like a bad thing to be conservative church going people with family values... you have to keep that quiet or else be talked down on.
Overall hope i've given you a decent background on our situation and what we are looking for. Am i crazy for wanting to move out of San Diego when we 'seemingly' have it all here? How would say the Vaquero neighborhood in Westlake compare to Rancho Santa Fe or Santa Luz here in San Diego?
Open to all thoughts and comments. Thanks for reading.
Are you out of your mind?!!! If $$ is no object, you stay put in So Cal. Texas is a "poor man's California". I couldn't afford SoCal, so I returned back to Texas, my home state. I'd give A LOT if I could afford the Calif lifestyle.
Well OP you asked a question on an opinion forum so you will get my opinion. Let me preface this by saying a bunch of people here will get offended by me posting this but I simply don't care.
I, too, was in a position like yours in that I was looking to get out of CA (for different reason) but feel I can give you a much more realistic opinion because I grew up in higher end areas in CA (San Marino) and live in one of the higher end areas in Dallas therefore my expectations seem to be in line with people who share similar expectations. If not no problem you can disregard everything.
For reference I am hoping you are familiar with Southern California and know most of these cities. There are only about 9 cities in SoCal that I would even consider living in but this can give you a perspective of what we find acceptable and you can go from there. The 9 places are Montecito, San Marino (parts of Pasadena would be acceptable), Malibu, Laguna Beach, Newport Beach, Hancock Park, La Jolla, Bela Air, and Beverly Hills. Sure you could probably cherry pick a few more but you can see those are the types of places that appeal to my family. Having said that there are only 2 places in Dallas I would consider living and those are Southlake/Westlake and University Park/Highland Park. I might consider Preston Hollow but would have to do a little more research to be honest but it would probably be on my list to check out. Any place else isn't good enough. If other places are good enough for other posters here, then more power to them.
Westlake - Very nice area with a lot of gated homes. Great houses that tend to be newer. The issue I had with Westlake is the people are very very private there so you don't see a lot of kids playing outside. As far as schools Westlake Academy is excellent academically but lacks in other areas that we find important. I would have no issue with sending my kids there up until 4th grade but the lack of other things we desire just are not there after that. The other issue I had with Westlake was that if you want to grab a sandwich or grab some groceries it is a 15 minute ordeal each way. Just nothing close enough for me to pull the trigger. Many people are certainly happy there and do not care.
Southlake - Very similar to where I grew up which was San Marino. Nice, clean place to live. There is enough research on the internet for you to find out about this city and this is where we chose to buy. Have not regretted it for one second.
Highland Park, University Park - Very similar to Hancock Park. Very nice homes, that are next to less desirable areas which is one of the problems I had. I have no desire to have my $4M home next to a $200,000 apartment a few blocks away. The other issue I had was that it felt old and tired. Tends to have older money there. Certainly not an issue for many. Proximity to downtown does make it very easy to get downtown and restaurant choices blow the other 2 away because it is so close to downtown. I certainly understand why people choose to live there but it just wasn't for us.
I could move back to CA anytime I wanted and have no desire to do so. People in these areas are definitely more conservative and based on what you have posted seem very similar to your viewpoint of what other people choose to do in their lives is fine by you.
I laughed when a poster above said that people in these places are fake. Completely disagree and unlike that poster I live here and have experienced the opposite. Since most of these people actually have money what I have found is that people with money tend to care less what others think and speak more openly and truthfully since they don't care about impressing you nor do they care what you think of them because they are not trying to get anything from you. Do these people spend money and buy nice things? yep and I personally see nothing wrong with that. If someone wants a to drive a $120,000 car and can afford to do so then they should. Most posters here think they do it to try to impress someone. The reality is that some people just like nice cars.
As far as Austin goes it is a cute city but has little to no sophistication as it is mostly a college and/or government town. I travel to Austin and work there 5-10 times per year na enjoy my time there, but the lack of sophistication compared to SoCal is huge and compared to Dallas it is much less.
You will laugh at what people call traffic here in Dallas. You have seen some posters talk about bad traffic here. Pretty funny if you have lived in SoCal and have experienced the 605, the 405, and the 5. It's like comparing a pistol to a tank.
We also considered Houston but with the worst weather and worst traffic of the 3 areas in TX (Austin/SA, Dallas, and Houston) it simply never had a chance. I would choose Austin over Houston in a heartbeat and if I could not live in Dallas it would be Austin. Hope it gives you a perspective from someone who has and does live a similar lifestyle to what you currently have.
This is very helpful information, thank you! Southlake/Westlake is kind of what we have zero'd in on so far but will most definitely be looking over the entire metro area.
Seeing that your primary motivation to move here is based on the conservative moral climate, I would instead recommend Colorado Springs for this. It is a beautiful and very conservative area with very good people. The climate offers four distinct seasons and the winters are not terribly long. When I lived there I was struck by how nice the people were. It is place where they help each other just out of kindness and not expecting anything in return. It is that old fashioned goodness that I miss.
I will add that good people can be found everywhere, whether they be conservative or liberal. It just requires having an open mind to differing points of view. That is all it takes.
Seeing that your primary motivation to move here is based on the conservative moral climate, I would instead recommend Colorado Springs for this. It is a beautiful and very conservative area with very good people. The climate offers four distinct seasons and the winters are not terribly long. When I lived there I was struck by how nice the people were. It is place where they help each other just out of kindness and not expecting anything in return. It is that old fashioned goodness that I miss.
I will add that good people can be found everywhere, whether they be conservative or liberal. It just requires having an open mind to differing points of view. That is all it takes.
I agree. I think the Springs is exactly what he's looking for.
I agree. I think the Springs is exactly what he's looking for.
If he is anything like me he would be miserable in Colorado Springs. Very pretty area but does not provide the metropolitan experience people look for when looking at places like San Diego, LA, Houston, Atlanta, SF, etc. where they want a larger city. Colorado Springs is a much smaller city. Heck even OKC would be too small for me.
If he is anything like me he would be miserable in Colorado Springs. Very pretty area but does not provide the metropolitan experience people look for when looking at places like San Diego, LA, Houston, Atlanta, SF, etc. where they want a larger city. Colorado Springs is a much smaller city. Heck even OKC would be too small for me.
Conversely if he's anything like me he'll be miserable in DFW. Yeah it has all the big city amenities and a good COL, but it's extremely underwhelming in terms of natural beauty and outdoor recreation.
You might look into Colorado Springs, CO. You'd fit in well with the conservative vibe there. It's not as 'unmetropolitan' as some here seem to think it is. A lot of military retire there, bringing with them their experiences from all over. Too conservative for me, but nice people overall and I usually enjoy my visits there. You'd also have access to Denver for art, zoos, stuff like that for the kiddos.
You might look into Colorado Springs, CO. You'd fit in well with the conservative vibe there. It's not as 'unmetropolitan' as some here seem to think it is. A lot of military retire there, bringing with them their experiences from all over. Too conservative for me, but nice people overall and I usually enjoy my visits there. You'd also have access to Denver for art, zoos, stuff like that for the kiddos.
I know CS is conservative, but it also has a new age / pagan / witchcraft thing going on. Or maybe that was just the area where my family lived in Manitou Springs. It seemed like that were palm readers and crystal stores everywhere. I didn't know much about the area before I visited family and I was a bit shocked to learn of its conservative credentials after seeing what I saw there!
You might look into Colorado Springs, CO. You'd fit in well with the conservative vibe there. It's not as 'unmetropolitan' as some here seem to think it is. A lot of military retire there, bringing with them their experiences from all over. Too conservative for me, but nice people overall and I usually enjoy my visits there. You'd also have access to Denver for art, zoos, stuff like that for the kiddos.
It has 700,000 people. If you are used to living in San Diego, LA, Sf, DFW, Boston, etc. it is tiny. It does not have the same offerings as a city that has to cater to millions. That is not saying anything bad about it but calling it what it is. Colorado Springs is a very nice area but very tiny when comparing it to the areas I listed. It is exactly as unmetropolitan as I think. Unmetropolitan is not a negative word. It is about as metropolitan as a city that has 700,000 people can be, nothing more. If someone is looking for a big city then it does not fit the bill.
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