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I lived in Costa Mesa back in 1999 for a couple of years and my husband's job landed us in the Carolinas. It sure is beautiful where we're at, however, it's been terribly hard on us with no family around for the last 10 years.
We have a young girl who's in a great school, we have a great house... but something's missing (family).
My husband may have the opportunity to move us back to the west coast, which I've missed so much all these years, however, there is so much to think about.
I'm sure we wouldn't be able to afford a house, especially where I'd like to live (favorite places are Irvine, Mission Viejo, Rancho Santa Margarita, Foothill Ranch to name a few). I don't like Long Beach, which is probably LA county anyway, and I don't like Anaheim, Tustin, Santa Ana or Huntington Beach... but I guess I wouldn't mind Brea or Lake Forest. I liked Costa Mesa, but wonder about some areas there. (And please note that I'm not knocking the places I listed on my "do not like" list - it's just personal preference on my part).
I just want to do the right thing for our girl, so my questions are as follows:
What are some nice and relatively affordable places in Orange County (if any exist)?
What are the best elementary / middle / high schools there? (This is probably the biggest factor!)
What kind of daycare / summer camp / afterschool care is there? (That's really good, safe, etc.!) - Another MAJOR factor!
How is the job situation in OC? I have done both admin and graphics and I'd definitely need to work, too!
Any responses would be sincerely appreciated. It's scary to uproot ourselves after all this time, but at least we'd be near family again - there's just so much to consider! I'm so twisted over this - almost like "be careful what you wish for" - then again, I keep seeing those Arnold Schwarzenegger commercials "Come to Cal-ee-forn-ya - what are you waiting for?!?" and I want to cry!
NOT TO BE MEAN, BUT I DON'T WANT FEEDBACK FROM REALTORS. I REPEAT - NO REALTORS!!! (Nothing against you, so please don't take it personally. )
My husband may have the opportunity to move us back to the west coast,
I'm sure we wouldn't be able to afford a house,
What are some nice and relatively affordable places in Orange County (if any exist)?
What are the best elementary / middle / high schools there? (This is probably the biggest factor!)
What kind of daycare / summer camp / afterschool care is there? (That's really good, safe, etc.!) - Another MAJOR factor!
How is the job situation in OC? I have done both admin and graphics and I'd definitely need to work, too!
I can understand your post, growing up in CA and now living away from family. The good news is that housing prices are nowhere near as high as they were a couple years ago. The bad news is the traffic is the same and the employment situation for a lot of sectors is really bad.
The forum will need a lot more information from you.
Where is your husband's job going to be?
Are you going to work for sure (day care is a requirement)?
You are not going to buy a house? What are you going to do? (Buy something else? Rent?)
What is your budget or price range?
What do you mean by "affordable"?
Did you research schools?
Did you visit the Ca Dept of Education Website? Greatschools.net? schoolperformancemaps?
What do you mean by "best" schools?
I lived in Costa Mesa back in 1999 for a couple of years and my husband's job landed us in the Carolinas. It sure is beautiful where we're at, however, it's been terribly hard on us with no family around for the last 10 years.
We have a young girl who's in a great school, we have a great house... but something's missing (family).
My husband may have the opportunity to move us back to the west coast, which I've missed so much all these years, however, there is so much to think about.
I'm sure we wouldn't be able to afford a house, especially where I'd like to live (favorite places are Irvine, Mission Viejo, Rancho Santa Margarita, Foothill Ranch to name a few). I don't like Long Beach, which is probably LA county anyway, and I don't like Anaheim, Tustin, Santa Ana or Huntington Beach... but I guess I wouldn't mind Brea or Lake Forest. I liked Costa Mesa, but wonder about some areas there. (And please note that I'm not knocking the places I listed on my "do not like" list - it's just personal preference on my part).
I just want to do the right thing for our girl, so my questions are as follows:
What are some nice and relatively affordable places in Orange County (if any exist)?
What are the best elementary / middle / high schools there? (This is probably the biggest factor!)
What kind of daycare / summer camp / afterschool care is there? (That's really good, safe, etc.!) - Another MAJOR factor!
How is the job situation in OC? I have done both admin and graphics and I'd definitely need to work, too!
Any responses would be sincerely appreciated. It's scary to uproot ourselves after all this time, but at least we'd be near family again - there's just so much to consider! I'm so twisted over this - almost like "be careful what you wish for" - then again, I keep seeing those Arnold Schwarzenegger commercials "Come to Cal-ee-forn-ya - what are you waiting for?!?" and I want to cry!
Thanks all!
1. Please define "Affordable" Affordable in NC is a very different definition then "afforadable" in OC
2. There are many fine schools in the OC, but many of them are in higher end areas so please refer back to reply #1.
3. Again, depends on $$ ther is plenty of options, you are only limited by your budget.
4. The job situation out here is grim. Officail unemployment in over 10% and I don't see it getting better anytime soon.
If you think seing Arnold in a tourism commercil makes you want to cry, wait til you see him in action as governor - then you'll REALLY want to break down and sob.
I'm not sure how old your children are. You mentioned daycare, so I will mention that my sister-in-law and I spent over a year touring preschools in Orange County and came out with an ebook with the top 50 preschools from our perspective (two moms). You can check it out on The Mommy Tree Parenting and Preschools.
You mentioned that you wanted the best elementary etc. schools. Irvine has fantastic schools and it doesn't seem that the budget cuts are affecting them as much as some of the other areas.
We moved from oc three years ago ( we lived in foothill ranch near mission viejo) to Austin. I grew up in oc and my wife spetn 20 years thre. We are now relocating back and selling our 3500 sq ft house on the gold course to get back into the same area of south oc. She has a huge career potential there which drives part of it. Oh we have a 5 year old by the way.
Anyways, point is after alot, and I mean alot of analysis, the conclusion came to this. What premium is it worth to live where you feel your heart is. We decided for us, and where our inner peace seemed to lie, it was oc. The lifestyle, activity potential, weather, friends, etc is worth the cost of living and some of the downsides. So if it helps, it did us, we boiled it down to what made us stop and sigh and smell the roses so to speak. For us, Texas is maintaining, nice as it is in the big house and such, but just maintaining. We felt we were living when in the oc and plan to go back to that. Sometimes, square footage, more money in the bank, distance from family and friends simply isnt worth the price paid in other, more subjective, areas of your life.
precisely and the answer would be an even more difficult if that was the case. Hence the weighing of where your own circumsatnces bring you. We can still afford to get into south oc and not live in a one bedroom apt. Obviously if that was the case, we wouldnt pull the trigger due to the child issue. I will say, if we didnt have kids, we'd be back irregardless of housing environment. But, luckily we dont have to make that choice. Yes it will be a much smaller house and still a higher cost of living, so worth it for US.
As a side note, we did in fact sell three years ago at a high and I felt like noah predicting the flood back then. I was telling our real estate friends and others, hey this thing is done..look at the numbers, these housing prices are going to tumble. And everyone told me I was out of my head. Sad but true. All I heard was thats not possible because everyone wants to live in the oc. My point was thats true, but how many can afford it at those levels and hence it will have to fall. Here we are three years later, I have 300 k in equity..still.. and three friends in south oc upside down in mortagge notes, two of three about 30 days from a foreclosure. Thats not counting just about everyone else I know that "lost" the equity they had due to the run up.
Anyway, back to the original point, "home is where the heart is". Question is how much is an individual willing to pay.or sacrifice.for that.
I lived in Costa Mesa back in 1999 for a couple of years and my husband's job landed us in the Carolinas. It sure is beautiful where we're at, however, it's been terribly hard on us with no family around for the last 10 years.
We have a young girl who's in a great school, we have a great house... but something's missing (family).
My husband may have the opportunity to move us back to the west coast, which I've missed so much all these years, however, there is so much to think about.
I'm sure we wouldn't be able to afford a house, especially where I'd like to live (favorite places are Irvine, Mission Viejo, Rancho Santa Margarita, Foothill Ranch to name a few). I don't like Long Beach, which is probably LA county anyway, and I don't like Anaheim, Tustin, Santa Ana or Huntington Beach... but I guess I wouldn't mind Brea or Lake Forest. I liked Costa Mesa, but wonder about some areas there. (And please note that I'm not knocking the places I listed on my "do not like" list - it's just personal preference on my part).
I just want to do the right thing for our girl, so my questions are as follows:
What are some nice and relatively affordable places in Orange County (if any exist)?
What are the best elementary / middle / high schools there? (This is probably the biggest factor!)
What kind of daycare / summer camp / afterschool care is there? (That's really good, safe, etc.!) - Another MAJOR factor!
How is the job situation in OC? I have done both admin and graphics and I'd definitely need to work, too!
Any responses would be sincerely appreciated. It's scary to uproot ourselves after all this time, but at least we'd be near family again - there's just so much to consider! I'm so twisted over this - almost like "be careful what you wish for" - then again, I keep seeing those Arnold Schwarzenegger commercials "Come to Cal-ee-forn-ya - what are you waiting for?!?" and I want to cry!
NOT TO BE MEAN, BUT I DON'T WANT FEEDBACK FROM REALTORS. I REPEAT - NO REALTORS!!! (Nothing against you, so please don't take it personally. )
Thanks all!
Pull the trigger and move, being miserable is not fun!
Lots of ppl left Calif because of home prices. At its bottom OC will be 50% down compared to 2006 levels. Lots of ppl will return!
I can understand your post, growing up in CA and now living away from family. The good news is that housing prices are nowhere near as high as they were a couple years ago. The bad news is the traffic is the same and the employment situation for a lot of sectors is really bad.
The forum will need a lot more information from you.
Where is your husband's job going to be?
Are you going to work for sure (day care is a requirement)?
You are not going to buy a house? What are you going to do? (Buy something else? Rent?)
What is your budget or price range?
What do you mean by "affordable"?
Did you research schools?
Did you visit the Ca Dept of Education Website? Greatschools.net? schoolperformancemaps?
What do you mean by "best" schools?
Did you research traffic? Crime rates?
First of all - I REALLY appreciate the responses on here! Thanks all!
Where is your husband's job going to be? - most likely Irvine.
Are you going to work for sure (day care is a requirement)? In CALIFORNIA? Of course I'd be workin'! I work now! LOL
You are not going to buy a house? What are you going to do? (Buy something else? Rent?) I would see NO WAY of us affording a house in Cali.
What is your budget or price range? You would just laugh!
What do you mean by "affordable"? Ya know - can my family and I eat?
(Now, excuse my silliness! It's just that I know how expensive Cali is after the two year stint I did there. But I absolutely loved it!)
My biggest concern is our daughter, what would be best for her, you know? SC is HER home. Even though she was born in Cali, she was only weeks old when we moved to SC. It sure is pretty here, too - so clean, so green... and no traffic! I've seen responses on here stating to go where my heart is, but with a child involved, that's a little rough. She comes first.
Plus - we have a nice house and I love my job finally after having 5 other jobs before until I found this one (the other ones just blew!). I'd hate to move and NOT be able to find a job. Like I said, we're dual income now and I don't foresee that ever changing.)
Did you research schools? I know OC has some of the best, but I want to hear from people who actually have kids in the schools.
Did you visit the Ca Dept of Education Website? Greatschools.net? I've been on there, but not for Cali yet.
schoolperformancemaps?
What do you mean by "best" schools? High standards, no bullies, safe... etc.
Did you research traffic? Crime rates? I kNOW how traffic can be. I felt safer in Cali than any other place I've lived including where we're at right now, but that is something I'd definitely research!
Are you going to work? Of course I'd be workin'! I work now! LOL
I would see NO WAY of us affording a house in Cali.
What is your budget or price range? You would just laugh!
What do you mean by "affordable"? Ya know - can my family and I eat?
My biggest concern is our daughter, what would be best for her, you know? SC is HER home. Even though she was born in Cali, she was only weeks old when we moved to SC. It sure is pretty here, too - so clean, so green... and no traffic! I've seen responses on here stating to go where my heart is, but with a child involved, that's a little rough. She comes first.
Plus - we have a nice house and I love my job finally after having 5 other jobs before until I found this one (the other ones just blew!). I'd hate to move and NOT be able to find a job. Like I said, we're dual income now and I don't foresee that ever changing.)
All things considered it almost reads as if staying in South Carolina would be the best thing for your daughter: home, good stable job, existing good school, existing friends, family, other environmental benefits such as low traffic, pretty landscape, and lower stress.
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