Advice on family friendly neighbourhoods (San Diego, Poway: real estate, transporting, rental)

[Mimi1981]

My husband and I are currently living in Melbourne Australia and it looks like he is about to be offered a job in San Diego. I am originally from Ohio and we are wanting to move back to the US and this looks like the best option for us at the moment. We have two children, ages 2 and 4, and I am a stay at home mom. Just a few things I would like some advice on, especially as we will not be able to make a trip over before we move.

1. Good areas to live with young children. We are looking for somewhere clean, safe, with plenty of parks and activities to keep the kids entertained. Budget is of course an issue, salary will be about 90,000. We will be looking to rent short-term and buy once we have established a good credit record. My husband would be working in the northern part of the city.

2. Are there many stay at home parents around? I have a lovely group of friends here whom I am going to miss! I would love to find some good playgroups etc...

3. What are the pre-schools like? From everything that I have read it is more like childcare than what we have here. My son currently goes two days a week for a total of six hours, which I love.

I know I have a lot more to consider, but these are the things dwelling on my mind at the moment as I prepare to move my two kids across the ocean! Thanks for any advice.

[docmcstuffin]

First is, where will your husband work?

[ShelbyGirl1]

San Diego is large and spread out. Knowing where your husband's potential job is will help forum members guide you. And a spending budget as well. Read through past posts, as there is a wealth of information to be had.

[docmcstuffin]

Originally Posted by ShelbyGirl1

San Diego is large and spread out. Knowing where your husband's potential job is will help forum members guide you. And a spending budget as well. Read through past posts, as there is a wealth of information to be had.

I think rather than getting into a rat hole of debating about her household budget, we should ask her, what's her housing budget and help her find any area that fit her housing budget. She doesn't need to justify her life style to us or why she's moving to SD. After all, this is a City-Data forum and not a personal finance forum.

[ShelbyGirl1]

Originally Posted by docmcstuffin

I think rather than getting into a rat hole of debating about her household budget, we should ask her, what's her housing budget and help her find any area that fit her housing budget. She doesn't need to justify her life style to us or why she's moving to SD. After all, this is a City-Data forum and not a personal finance forum.

Excuse me? I think you mis-interpreted my post. I don''t see where I asked her WHY she is making a move...but where her husband's job will be. And I asked her for her spending budget as far as real estate.
Get out on the wrong side of bed this morning?

[docmcstuffin]

Originally Posted by ShelbyGirl1

Excuse me? I think you mis-interpreted my post. I don''t see where I asked her WHY she is making a move...but where her husband's job will be. And I asked her for her spending budget as far as real estate.
Get out on the wrong side of bed this morning?

Sorry, I thought when you said spending budget, you mean her daily expense. If you mean her budget for housing, then you and I are on the same page. I agree with out about where her husband work makes a big difference.

[earlyretirement]

Originally Posted by docmcstuffin

Sorry, I thought when you said spending budget, you mean her daily expense. If you mean her budget for housing, then you and I are on the same page. I agree with out about where her husband work makes a big difference.

That's better. Poor Shelby. I was going to say...."who peed in your Cheerios doc". LOL.

[earlyretirement]

Hey Mimi,

You will LOVE San Diego. It's a great city. Where is your husband going to work? You mentioned "northern part of the city" but where exactly is it? What part of town?

1. What is your rental budget and how many bedrooms are you looking for? You mention you will rent short-term. Do you mean a furnished rental? Be careful if so as these tend to be more expensive as San Diego is a hot vacation destination. But they are out there. We rented a townhome in Carmel Valley that was fully furnished back in 2011 and we paid $2,700 a month. That area is GREAT if you have kids but pricey relatively speaking. Also, be aware if you are trying to rent and buy in the same area, etc. So be aware of realistic purchasing budgets.

2. Yep, there are enough stay in home parents or especially people that own their own businesses or work from home. They have more flexibility than many others. I've noticed that there is a larger group of people that can work from home here vs. other cities I've lived where it's not as common.

You can easily meet other parents and playgroups, etc. There are many posts on this subject so do a search.

3. It depends what kind of preschool you send them to. The preschools in Poway Unified tend to be VERY good. I've been totally impressed by them. They have half day options for $600 a month and full day for $900 a month. Check out PUSD Preschool Program

The full day options typically have formal classes from 9 AM to 12 PM and they are VERY good. I've been totally impressed sending my kids there. Other places like Kindercare (Child Day Care Centers - Early Education, Pre School, Kindergarten, School Age Learning Programs | KinderCare ) have some type of curriculum as well. It's not just "day care". There are various options here.

If you can answer some of these questions we can provide more advice. Good luck.

[docmcstuffin]

Originally Posted by earlyretirement

Hey Mimi,

You will LOVE San Diego. It's a great city. Where is your husband going to work? You mentioned "northern part of the city" but where exactly is it? What part of town?

1. What is your rental budget and how many bedrooms are you looking for? You mention you will rent short-term. Do you mean a furnished rental? Be careful if so as these tend to be more expensive as San Diego is a hot vacation destination. But they are out there. We rented a townhome in Carmel Valley that was fully furnished back in 2011 and we paid $2,700 a month. That area is GREAT if you have kids but pricey relatively speaking. Also, be aware if you are trying to rent and buy in the same area, etc. So be aware of realistic purchasing budgets.

2. Yep, there are enough stay in home parents or especially people that own their own businesses or work from home. They have more flexibility than many others. I've noticed that there is a larger group of people that can work from home here vs. other cities I've lived where it's not as common.

You can easily meet other parents and playgroups, etc. There are many posts on this subject so do a search.

3. It depends what kind of preschool you send them to. The preschools in Poway Unified tend to be VERY good. I've been totally impressed by them. They have half day options for $600 a month and full day for $900 a month. Check out PUSD Preschool Program

The full day options typically have formal classes from 9 AM to 12 PM and they are VERY good. I've been totally impressed sending my kids there. Other places like Kindercare (Child Day Care Centers - Early Education, Pre School, Kindergarten, School Age Learning Programs | KinderCare ) have some type of curriculum as well. It's not just "day care". There are various options here.

If you can answer some of these questions we can provide more advice. Good luck.

That's much better ER. Especially when her husband will be making $90k.

There are a lot of good pre-school throughout the county. ~$900/month is about the going rate for most of them for full day. There are a few religious ones that are cheaper, ~$700/month for full time.

[Mimi1981]

Thanks everyone.

My husband will be working around Mira Mesa. I have read a lot of great things about Poway and it is great to hear that being backed up.

Good to know there are preschool options available. Cost is a bit of a shock as over here a term (10 weeks) is just over 300 dollars, even for 4yo which is three days a week! Oh well, not too bad. The Poway preschool does look great.

We really want to buy, so would prefer to rent somewhere a bit cheaper and put the extra money towards buying a house. We are not selling our home over here in case we return to Melbourne, otherwise it wouldn't be a problem. I am thinking maybe 2000 for rent if we can find something in a nice area. We don't need anything fancy or too big. The kids can share a bedroom for awhile, so would even be happy with a two bedroom place. We are bringing our dogs (very small and inactive) so it would have to be pet friendly.

Thanks again! My head is swimming at the thought of transporting the family across the Pacific, but it is very exciting too.