African American Family Moving to California.. Where? (Long Beach, Ontario: crime rates, homes)

[Frenchy5483]

My husband and I (38, 35 respectively) have decided to relocate to the West Coast. Life is short and we crave continuous pleasant weather (Please God). We have a daughter in college (go UCONN) and an 8 year old daughter. We are from CT and are no strangers to ridiculous costs of living. We hear that Cali is on another level, however. I've heard good things from black people we know who've lived in Cali that you must be careful where you move, not all places are friendly to blacks. We've heard good things about Rancho Cucamonga, Temecula, Long Beach, Baldwin Hills, etc. These places are wildly scattered throughout Southern Cali and create more confusion for me in my research. We want 3-4 bedrooms ($600k-$700k), a good school system for our daughter and a town with at least 5% African Americans. We are both self-employed and do not need to be in any particular place for work but we want to be close to cool events, art, shops and basically a hip and conscious upscale community. We don't need to be near a beach as long as we can drive to one we're cool. I am aware I may be asking for a lot here. Any thoughts on where a family as described above may enjoy and thrive in So Cal? Thanks!

[MuscleCar]

Baldwin Hills

[CALGUY]

CEASE WITH THE "CALI" CRAP.
You want advice from people who are long term residences of this area, best to not use that phrase.
We do not like it, and you had better learn that right from the start.


Santa Clarita is perhaps a place you may want to consider, but as always, one needs to consider where they will be working, when it comes to picking out a place to live.
Commutes are very bad in Southern California, no mater where you choose to live.




Bob.

[kttam186290]

Please quit calling it "Cali" .It's CALIFORNIA!

You would love Moreno Valley.

[BGS91762]

Rancho Cucamonga and Eastvale both have large middle and upper class populations. Some people call Rancho Cucamonga the “black” Irvine.

[RationalExpectations]

One thing to consider: send your daughter to private school (I don't think you mentioned her age/grade level).

By virtue of the schools to which we parents send our kids, we determine the universe from which our children will select their friends and peers, and you may discover private school gives you a better universe. There are some excellent private schools. This also gives you a bit more freedom on where you live.

I suggest you also consider a college town - for example, Claremont is near Ranch Cucamonga, according to Zillow seems to have some homes in your price range, is home to the Claremont Colleges (Pomona, Claremont McKenna, Harvey Mudd, Scripps, Pitzer) and seems to have close to 5% African American (according to Wikipedia, with data from 2010 census), and according to City-Data (//www.city-data.com/city/Claremont-California.html) has closer to 4% -- but I suspect they are both pulling from the same data source.

College towns may give you more of the vibe you're looking for.

[MuscleCar]

Originally Posted by BGS91762

Rancho Cucamonga and Eastvale both have large middle and upper class populations. Some people call Rancho Cucamonga the “black” Irvine.

Rancho is only 9% black, and is the 13th richest city in California. How is that a "black Irvine"? Baldwin Hills is unarguably the black Beverly Hills.

[Leona Valley]

Don't mind if you call it Cali or Commiefornia or Mexifornia. Reseach crime rates and demographics and visit.

[rjm1cc]

Look up the US census reports for any area you are considering and this will help you determine the black population and more info.

Voter roles for the town may also give you the % of blacks etc.

I assume you have done a budget and can afford the taxes etc.

[Joe Van Fossen]

Originally Posted by Frenchy5483

My husband and I (38, 35 respectively) have decided to relocate to the West Coast. Life is short and we crave continuous pleasant weather (Please God). We have a daughter in college (go UCONN) and an 8 year old daughter. We are from CT and are no strangers to ridiculous costs of living. We hear that Cali is on another level, however. I've heard good things from black people we know who've lived in Cali that you must be careful where you move, not all places are friendly to blacks. We've heard good things about Rancho Cucamonga, Temecula, Long Beach, Baldwin Hills, etc. These places are wildly scattered throughout Southern Cali and create more confusion for me in my research. We want 3-4 bedrooms ($600k-$700k), a good school system for our daughter and a town with at least 5% African Americans. We are both self-employed and do not need to be in any particular place for work but we want to be close to cool events, art, shops and basically a hip and conscious upscale community. We don't need to be near a beach as long as we can drive to one we're cool. I am aware I may be asking for a lot here. Any thoughts on where a family as described above may enjoy and thrive in So Cal? Thanks!

Long Beach and Baldwin Hills probably have more of what you're looking for culturally (close to cool events, museums, trendy, etc), but for what you're looking for Baldwin Hills is out of the price range. In the nicer areas of Long Beach you'll be able to get a smaller single family home in your budget. You would definitely get more for your money in Rancho and it has a lot of what you're looking for -- especially shopping (Victoria Gardens, Ontario Mills, etc), but not just limited to that.

You'll get the most bang for your buck in Temecula, but it is pretty remote compared to Rancho. It's also mostly known for wineries and they have events like the Temecula Valley International Film Festival. There's plenty of shopping options around too, but I don't know that I'd call it a hip town (no offense to Temeculans).