Considering Lake Arrowhead area? (Santa Ana, Riverside: rent, home, buying)

[Comicbookmommy]

Hello!

My family and I currently live in Portland, Maine and LOVE it here, but are considering moving to So. Cal for work reasons and to be closer to family (who all live in California).

I do not like living in a big city, but I like being near big city shopping and restaurants. I also love the wilderness, mountains, rivers, seasons, and snow. So Lake Arrowhead seems a great place to pick up and try out for a place to live as it's remote, but not so remote that a little driving would take me to a more populated area. My husband and I both work at home so there's no commuting needs.

Some questions!

1. How good is internet there? High speed is pretty necessary for our work.

2. How does mail work there? Such as deliveries from online shopping?

3. How are the grocery stores in the area?

4. How likely is a "White Christmas"? I've read snow is hit or miss, and I know I can't expect the amount of snow we see here in Portland, but it'd be nice to think it's a possibility.

5. I am a bit different than most, in that I LOVE dreary days (overcast, foggy, rainy) but I read somewhere that Lake Arrowhead is mostly sunny all year long. Is this true?

I'm sure I'll have more questions! Thanks in advance for your time in reading my post!

[Comicbookmommy]

OH! And is there a nice Christmas Tree farm to visit somewhat nearby?

I grew up in the Pacific Northeast, and as much as I love the East Coast, I miss my Noble Fir Christmas Trees!

[nightlysparrow]

Lake Arrowhead sounds like it would be like a standard mountain forest (like I presume there are in Maine), but it's not. The drought has made it very dry, and the wildfire risk is high:

Drought Calls for Serious Measures - Mountain News : Editorials

And other drawbacks:

Another Evacuation In Lake Arrowhead

[Fontucky]

The pine bark beetle infestation hasn't helped either.

OP, also keep in mind that Southern California rivers aren't like rivers in the wetter parts of the country. Many of the major rivers are seasonal, or parts of them are. Some flow underground unless it's raining, while others trickle all year. Parts of the upper Santa Ana River flow most of the year, but it's an anemic flow compared to certain other parts of the country.

[Comicbookmommy]

Thanks you guys!! I appreciate the cons of living in a place like that. When I lived in North Cal./Oregon we had the "Biscuit Fire" (I think that's what it was called, it was way back in 2002) and it was nuts. So I recognize that is a possibility.

That is good to know about the rivers as well, as I have never been to this area.

Keep all the info coming and thanks!

[arleigh]

I think you'd like Big Bear Lake better than Arrow head.
I suggest you rent for a while first and discover what Arrow head is really like.

[Gandalara]

There's a Stater Bros (grocery store) in both Arrowhead and Big Bear. A major chain in SoCal. Smaller store named Goodwin's is in Crestline. Smaller store named Jensen's is in Blue Jay.

UPS, FedEx, etc etc all deliver, like in any other town.

Snow is a hit or miss. I remember one April, I took 2 exchange students up to the cabin in Cedar Pines Park (west of Lake Gregory). We woke up Easter AM and it was snowing, which was exciting to the students - they had never seen snow except on TV, LOL.

[Comicbookmommy]

Ah, good to know about UPS! I had read about the USPS and how everyone must have a PO Box in Lake Arrowhead, but wasn't sure about everything else. Thank you!

That is so awesome your exchange students got to see snow on Easter! That must have been a wonderful memory for them.

I would definitely rent first before buying. And I'm impressed that you seem to get slightly more for your money In Lake Arrowhead than where I currently live, and most have the cathedral ceilings that I love.

I looked at Big Bear too, which looks wonderful as well, but it's just sliiiiightly over my comfort zone in terms of driving distance from LA area shopping/store etc.

I've never heard of Stater Bros.! Is it a pretty nice sized grocery store?

Thank you again for all your wonderful comments and information. It's incredibly helpful.

[Gandalara]

Stater Bros has been around in SoCal for over 75 years. About 170 nice, clean, and big stores.

Don't just concentrate on Lake Arrowhead - there's smaller communities all around.

As for distance ... Lake Arrowhead to San Bernardino is about 25 miles. Big Bear to Redlands is about 35. So you're only talking 10 miles to get down the hill..

For major "LA-type" shopping - Forget LA!! Go to the outlet malls ( Desert Hills Premium Outlets or Cabazon Outlets ) to the east on Hwy 10, right before you get to Palm Springs.

[C2ShiningC]

When you live in the Lake Arrowhead/Crestline/Big Bear area, you will have to realize every time you want to go to those malls or restaurants, you will always have to make the drive up and down what the locals call "the hill." "The hill" is an elevation gain/loss of about 4,000 feet. I thought you might like to see some videos to show you what that entails.

The first video is part of the route you would most likely take to/from Lake Arrowhead, Highway 18. This video starts in San Bernardino and ends at the junction of 138 which leads into Crestline over the "Crestline Bridge" - Lake Arrowhead Village is another 8.5 miles past the bridge:


CA 18 North, Rim of the World Highway (CORRECTED version) - YouTube

Continuing on from that junction, Highway 18 (called the Rim of the World Highway) becomes a two-lane road. This video is the reverse of the one above, going down the mountain instead of up, starting at Lake Gregory Drive/State Route 189 and ending at the "Crestline Bridge." I'm including this just so you can see the view going down "the hill."


Rim of the World Hwy in the Snow - 4 Jan 2011 - YouTube

This is the alternate route to Lake Arrowhead, Highway 330 - the video goes from Highland to Running Springs. Lake Arrowhead Village is another 9 miles beyond Running Springs along Highway 18/Rim of the World Highway. Skip to the four minute mark of the video - the first four minutes are freeway leading to 330:


Driving into the mountains - San Bernardino to Running Springs - Highway 330 - YouTube

Using Lake Arrowhead Village as a starting point, the nearest malls (that you would want to actually go to) are Victoria Gardens in Rancho Cucamonga (36 miles, 48 minutes), Ontario Mills in Ontario (38 miles, 50 minutes), or the Galleria at Tyler in Riverside (41 miles, 55 minutes). Time-wise, that's the equivalent of you driving to Portsmouth, NH to shop/dine, but without descending/ascending 4,000 feet each time.

I'm just including this info so you know how living up the hill would impact your life. I have done the Highway 18 drive too many times to count, and to me personally it would get old if I had to do it a lot. I have friends that lived in Crestline for ten years and finally moved back down the hill because they were tired of making the drive.

As Fontucky said, the forests in Southern California are very dry. There is no understory like forests up north and in the northeast, and there is very little water - the Santa Ana River is really just a small creek. Lack of understory makes for a more open feel, though, and there are many different types of conifer that you won't see back east, and they are very, very tall. It is different, but still very beautiful.

Originally Posted by Comicbookmommy

OH! And is there a nice Christmas Tree farm to visit somewhat nearby?

I grew up in the Pacific Northeast, and as much as I love the East Coast, I miss my Noble Fir Christmas Trees!

I've never seen Noble Firs in Christmas tree farms where you cut your own, but you can always find them in Christmas tree lots - I always got Noble Firs for Christmas.

Good luck whatever you decide.