moving from london to california (San Diego, Oceanside: low crime, homes, middle school)

[CaRandy]

Dont live in Anahiem alot of crime we call it Anacrime

[Joe Van Fossen]

Originally Posted by sum4jr

My husband family lives in Anahiem so without being to far away yet to close we thought of Irvine. Are prices cheaper in San Diego? We are still looking and have narrowed our search down to either Poway (close to work in San Diego) and Irvine (close to the only family we have in USA)

Some other places you may want to consider: Dana Point and San Clemente. Both are pretty much at the southern tip of OC and the commute to San Diego would be less of a hassle from there. It's still close enough to Anaheim that you can visit your family within about a 40 minute drive.

[sum4jr]

Originally Posted by Joe Van Fossen

Some other places you may want to consider: Dana Point and San Clemente. Both are pretty much at the southern tip of OC and the commute to San Diego would be less of a hassle from there. It's still close enough to Anaheim that you can visit your family within about a 40 minute drive.

cheers and would look at those areas. any idea how the schools in those areas are? price wise for house rentals is it a huge difference from Irvine and would be be a lot easier and faster to find a property there? thanks again really dont have a clue, u have been of great help. on another note would you say San Diego would be better fot us to set up home especially with the kids than OC? time drawing close, am getting worried and we still have not narrowed down our search to one exact location.

[sum4jr]

Originally Posted by CaRandy

Dont live in Anahiem alot of crime we call it Anacrime

duly noted thanks alot.

[Joe Van Fossen]

Originally Posted by sum4jr

cheers and would look at those areas. any idea how the schools in those areas are? price wise for house rentals is it a huge difference from Irvine and would be be a lot easier and faster to find a property there? thanks again really dont have a clue, u have been of great help. on another note would you say San Diego would be better fot us to set up home especially with the kids than OC? time drawing close, am getting worried and we still have not narrowed down our search to one exact location.

If you're working in San Diego, I would definitely recommend living there. As others have mentioned, there are plenty of great areas to live in and around San Diego. Having, sort of, lived there myself for the better part of a year, I really enjoyed the area. Plenty of entertainment, shopping, and great dining. The close proximity to the beach was nice too.

I also understand the desire to be closer to the only family you have here in the US. Anaheim is about an hour and a half away from San Diego. It's not a bad commute and it would be easy to take a day or weekend trip to visit them from SD. Coming from a big city like London to San Diego may also be slightly less of a culture shock than moving right into the heart of suburbia (Irvine).

As far as the cities I mentioned in south county, they both have good school districts and there are rentals within about $2200/mo with 2-3 bedrooms.

[sum4jr]

Originally Posted by Joe Van Fossen

If you're working in San Diego, I would definitely recommend living there. As others have mentioned, there are plenty of great areas to live in and around San Diego. Having, sort of, lived there myself for the better part of a year, I really enjoyed the area. Plenty of entertainment, shopping, and great dining. The close proximity to the beach was nice too.

I also understand the desire to be closer to the only family you have here in the US. Anaheim is about an hour and a half away from San Diego. It's not a bad commute and it would be easy to take a day or weekend trip to visit them from SD. Coming from a big city like London to San Diego may also be slightly less of a culture shock than moving right into the heart of suburbia (Irvine).

As far as the cities I mentioned in south county, they both have good school districts and there are rentals within about $2200/mo with 2-3 bedrooms.

many many thanks. would start looking at SD in detail and keep Irvine as second resort if we dont find anything in SD. Apart from Poway which i only know because of the good school district can you recommend any other good area for school and family life? ideally we like to pay no more that $2500 pr/mth for a 3+ b/d house.

[EscapeCalifornia]

Look at this map: California School Performance Maps

The data is a few years old but things haven't changed that much. Filter your search for elementary schools only which will give you a general idea of the quality of the neighborhood.

Another reason not to drive between OC and SD all the time is the border checkpoint at Camp Pendleton (aka Checkpoint Charlie) will add significant time to your drive when its open.

[Joe Van Fossen]

Some nice areas of San Diego: Hillcrest, La Jolla, La Mesa, San Carlos, and Mission Hills. There are several more I can't think of off the top of my head... but those are good places to start.

You might also want to look into contacting a real estate agent in San Diego. Renter's/Buyer's agents fees are generally paid by the seller/lessor, so they'll do a lot of the work in finding a place and you won't have to pay them anything.

[kathygrl]

I'm with Joe as far as his suggestion regarding San Clemente or Dana Point....the only thing that really divides San Clemente in Orange County from Oceanside or Carlsbad in San Diego County is Camp Pendleton Marine Base with it's vast expanse of land......there are some very nice rentals in the Carlsbad area that would fit your $$ range, so you do have some options in deciding. Rentals show up on our MLS "hotsheet" on a daily basis....that being said, they also go quickly so you really have to move on them fairly fast.

[pacific2]

Originally Posted by Joe Van Fossen

Some other places you may want to consider: Dana Point and San Clemente. Both are pretty much at the southern tip of OC and the commute to San Diego would be less of a hassle from there. It's still close enough to Anaheim that you can visit your family within about a 40 minute drive.

It's quite a drive from San Diego to Dana Point and as Escape pointed-out, the OP would often have to go through the Border Patrol checkpoint. I go through it several times a week and it can be a pain because it slows you down. Still, even then, I'm not coming from the city of San Diego.

It simply makes no sense to live in OC while working at the San Diego Naval Base.

I would be working at the san diego naval base and my eldest son would be attending the army and navy academy in Carlsbad. However don't want to live to close nor to far away from either as have 2 younger boys (6 and 4) plus a 3mth old daughter.

I understand that all of this can be confusing since the OP is still in London, but it's time to take a deep breath and just focus on living someplace within San Diego County. Forget about Anaheim, Irvine, Dana Point and San Clemente.

The logistics don't even add up. How does one live in Irvine, drop an infant off at daycare in Irvine during the wee hours of the morning, possibly take a son to St. Catherine's in Anaheim, and still make it to work in SD???

There are posters on the San Diego Forum who know the area very well and have been offering her excellent advice. It's tough, but she just needs to act in a more organized manner and follow it:

earlyretirement
Senior Member
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If you want to be somewhere in the middle and keeping in mind good schools for your kids, I'd say around the Carmel Valley area would probably work. The schools are excellent in that neck of the woods (92130) and it seems to be close to the middle of a commute to both locations. If you have a bigger budget, I'd say you'd love Del Mar (92014).

It's a very family friendly area, you're close to the beach and clean and safe.

You could also go a bit further inland and you have the Poway Unified Schools which are also excellent. (92127 or 92129). Also, it makes a HUGE difference with sunny weather just going in a few miles. I live about 7 miles from the Coast and it's unbelievable the difference with avoiding the marine layer. Many times I leave my house where it's blue skies and not a cloud in the sky and I head over to Del Mar and it's completely cloudy with no sun at all. But of course if you're from London you may be used to that.

You can check out the zip code locations here at this link: Zip Code Finder and Boundary Map.