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Hello,
My husband and I are in our mid/late 20's and we want to relocate by 2011. He has a computer security networking degree and I work as a leader in a top pulishing company. We are both currently living in Orange County, CA. We are looking for very specific things. The places we have been looking at for what we want is 1) Utah 2) Colorado 3) other areas of California. We are not certain yet on which area would best meet what lifestyle we are looking for. The plus for staying in CA is the great weather.
Im going to tell you what we are looking for and what we are looking to avoid so you can tell us what you think would be the right or wrong place for us. I apologize in advance if anyone is offened by my preferances but it would be hard for me to tell you what Im looking for without expressing them. Sorry if my preferances dont match your own.
My husband and I are looking for a safe community with friendly people and low crime rates. We are looking for an area with well behaved children and teenagers (parents who take an interest in raising their kids with manners). We are looking for an affordable place to rent/buy apartments/homes. We are looking to be around other faith-filled/religious people (we are Christian but any religion is fine). We are looking for an area with a low or decent unemployment rate. We are looking for a place in which it is affordable enough that with two working people we can afford an apartment in a nice area with decent jobs. We prefer a suburb area that is within 20 minutes driving distance of a main city.
What we are NOT looking for is a place that is strongly unreligious or pro gay marraige or pro abortion. We dont want a place with a very high unemployment rate or very high cost of living. We dont want to live in an area with high crime or drugs.
Based on what we are looking to be surrounded by and the type of people we would like to be among do you know of any areas that would be a good match for us? Thanks to everyone in advance for your honest suggestions!
Santa Clarita is a very family friendly city with a really good public school system. The only downside is that if your jobs are in LA, the commute is longer than 30 minutes. But it's a pretty safe area with lots of churches. One downside is that it's very hot in the summertime, but most homes either have pools or their HOAs have community pools and there's always the water park Hurricane Harbor at Magic Mountain.
A new job should be first, although if you are a leader at a publishing company (sales/marketing side?) you may be able to live anywhere.
As you are aware (you noted some things are less important) you will have to balance things based on your priorities.
Compared to Orange County the cost of living in most other areas will be considered affordable. Well-mannered children is subjective so you would need to measure that behavior against your own values, although I think I understand .
Roseville (eastern Sacramento suburbs) and the Clovis area (east of Fresno) come to my mind first. Some others might be around the Ventura area, parts of the Inland Empire, or near San Luis Obispo.
Those areas would be more family oriented, have more politically conservative residents, etc. I know middle-class families in both Clovis and Roseville where they could afford for one parent to not work but still live comfortably in a nice home.
Some of the parents I know in Clovis were themselves raised in south Bay Area suburbs or along the coast and they tell me the lifestyle reminds them of how they were raised as children 30 years ago.
Both Roseville and Clovis are among the safest California cities over 75,000 for per capita crime.
Unemployment among residents of both Roseville and Clovis is currently about the same as Orange County although they are in regions where it is higher.
Sounds like California is out for you. I mean, are you serious about the 'low unemployment rate' comment? 'Well behaved children?' As a parent you obviously know that's not possible. White trash parents are usually too concerned about buying cigarettes and cashing welfare checks to parent. Rich parents are usually too wrapped up in their self absorbed... ness to pay attention to their spoiled brats. You can't move to an area where kids are just good. At least, not in California.
You need to be more specific about how much you want to spend. Are good schools a priority for you? Colorado is great... but you have intense winters. Utah? Better be very comfortable with religion... to the extent that towns shut down at early hours and you may be ostracized for not being Mormon.
I'm not judging the things you seek... just suggesting you be more realistic about them and also give us more specifics. There are people here that can help you.
Thanks for the input so far. I guess I gave the impression that I had children but I do not. My husband and I will not be having children as we get enough constant noise from other people's children where we live and we are more career focused people then family focused. When I say I want to be close to a good school I mean a college, not high schools or middle schools. I dont mind living in a very family with children area if the children are behaved and respectful. I was thinking my best bet at finding that might be in UT. In my area we seem to have a parenting problem. The kids are out of control and yell and throw fits into all hours of the night. Maybe I am wrong and its not just my area but parents everywhere but gosh I hope thats not true! If I could find a conserative area with affordable rent and good jobs in CA then that is preferably since the weather is great here. But if no such place exist in CA then I am willing to leave the state. Conservative views, safety, affordability, good jobs are all very important to us. I have heard from some people that Mormons can treat you badly for not being Mormon. But the Mormons I know here in CA dont act like that at all. I would say CO is my last choice, being CA being #1 and UT being #2. Im a little afraid of counties outside Orarge County just for the safety issue. I lived in L.A. for some time and there was lots of crime and scary homeless people. I have a friend who lives in Corona who has a huge beautiful house that was affordable but it comes at a cost because right down the nice hill she lives on its pretty much very run down and seems to have high crime and crap job selection as well. We are searching for that combination of safety-good jobs-affordability and willing to go where we need to go to find it.
Thanks for the input so far. I guess I gave the impression that I had children but I do not. My husband and I will not be having children as we get enough constant noise from other people's children where we live and we are more career focused people then family focused. When I say I want to be close to a good school I mean a college, not high schools or middle schools. I dont mind living in a very family with children area if the children are behaved and respectful. I was thinking my best bet at finding that might be in UT. In my area we seem to have a parenting problem. The kids are out of control and yell and throw fits into all hours of the night. Maybe I am wrong and its not just my area but parents everywhere but gosh I hope thats not true! If I could find a conserative area with affordable rent and good jobs in CA then that is preferably since the weather is great here. But if no such place exist in CA then I am willing to leave the state. Conservative views, safety, affordability, good jobs are all very important to us. I have heard from some people that Mormons can treat you badly for not being Mormon. But the Mormons I know here in CA dont act like that at all. I would say CO is my last choice, being CA being #1 and UT being #2. Im a little afraid of counties outside Orarge County just for the safety issue. I lived in L.A. for some time and there was lots of crime and scary homeless people. I have a friend who lives in Corona who has a huge beautiful house that was affordable but it comes at a cost because right down the nice hill she lives on its pretty much very run down and seems to have high crime and crap job selection as well. We are searching for that combination of safety-good jobs-affordability and willing to go where we need to go to find it.
I think you need to look into places with good high schools for a start. You work for a publishing company yet can't spell or write in a coherent manner. It looks like you need to go back to school..and not college. I think you're just trolling...
I dont need any rude comments. Im sure that's not what this forum is for. It seems if you are on here to say rude things about other people you need more things to fill up your day in your own life. My only guess is you are jealous of my high professional status. I feel bad for you.
To all people who are here for the right reasons such as positive input and to help each other I look forward to your advice. Thanks!
I dont need any rude comments. Im sure that's not what this forum is for. It seems if you are on here to say rude things about other people you need more things to fill up your day in your own life. My only guess is you are jealous of my high professional status. I feel bad for you.
To all people who are here for the right reasons such as positive input and to help each other I look forward to your advice. Thanks!
Don't mind Cronegirl. I don't think she likes anybody.
I'm not sure you'll find what you're looking for in the west. If you're looking for well-behaved, respectful youths, your best bets are likely Utah, the midwest and some parts of the south.
As conservative Califorinia natives we moved to CO with our family and enjoyed it for a time. We moved for all the common reasons many people want to escape California - overcrouded, overpriced, too much traffic, smog, concrete, etc... And yes, youth in the general sense seem to be more well mannered at least in the northern part of Colorado Springs where we lived.
So CO met our initial wish list: decent job market, more affordable living, more wide open spaces, access to beautiful nature (the Rocky Mtns), nice clean neighborhoods, etc... And with the birth of our third child we were ready to try something new.
However after living there for a time we realized there were just too many other trade offs/sacrifices. Here is a partial listing of the cons we discovered. Keep in mind the grass is always greener when looking at other states/places from afar or possibly through rose colored glasses.
Things we disliked:
* Living a mile+ high - the sun is much more intense and unbearable at times
* Lack of moisture in the air - dry and cracking skin is very common, dry, red, irritated eyes made worse by the overly intense sun. Day after day it wears on you.
* Long snow season and cold - I don't care what ppl say it gets cold in Denver and CS. I mean really cold. And even when the sun comes out it can be way below freezing and windy! I had never experienced 5 degrees and sunny until moving there. For us this was the biggest Myth, that the weather is basically mild with some snow here and there. That BS, the weather is extreme. From killer lighting storms in the Spring and Summer to Blizzards in the Winter. And high in the Rockies where I enjoy going the most its much more severe than the mile high city.
* During the long drawn out snow season you can do very little in the mountains because of the deep, deep snow besides skiing. And even then it is very cold. And snow season can start as early as Sept and last until May. If you want to go hiking forget about it. The trails and lakes are buried. So many ppl hibernate for the extended Winter. Go to work, the store, the gym, then home. Forget going mtn, biking, jogging, hiking, outdoor swimming, etc... It too darn cold and icey. Even if Denver warms to the 50s some days the Rockies are much colder.
* Shoveling snow
* Brown, dry, barren ground for most of the year. Lack of green. Your lawn will be brown 9-10 months out of the year. Forget those roses or garden you planted.
* Land Locked - in the middle of nowhere with very limited cultural experiences such as the food. No access to large international cities.
* No access to the coast whatsoever - the killer for me. I love the sea and I felt trapped in the middle of the country by land.
* Homogeneity - no real cultural experiences like CA. If you have 1 or 2 asian, black or hispanic ppl working with you it will be the exception.
* Big box USA - very little individual creativity and much more middle Americana.
* Driving to work wearing gloves and seeing one's breath for many, many days during snow/cold season. Driving through ice, snow, hail, lighting storms. Cracked windshields extemely common. Watching cars spin out all around you on the black ice. Scraping the windshield.
* Lack of fresh produce which one takes so for granted while living in CA.
* No Trader Joes! ;P
So we decided to move back to another part of CA - the Monterey Penninsula. And the funny thing is after coming full circle we have found the best of both worlds - less crouds, traffic, smog, concrete, plenty of natural beauty and wide open spaces, many activities for our children to enjoy. San Jose and SF only a short ways away. Decent jobs for my field (IT). And the best part is we get to enjoy all these things year round with the great Ca weather along the central coast. The only real downside is the cost of housing which is about the same as it was in SoCal. All in all it is a great location for us.
All that said we do have friends and family in CO who moved form CA. They seem more ok with their decision, at least so far. So maybe CO or Utah could work for you. The key thing to realize is that no place will be perfect. And while you may get say 10 things on your current wish list there will be 10 new things which you may find you don't like (e.g. - snow, cold winters, sweltering summers, lack of cultural exeriences, superficial social politeness, endless tract homes, sometimes hard to get to know ppl below the surface, being land locked, isolation inside your nice clean, quite neighborhood, etc...).
If you can learn as much about the cons going in at least you will have a more realistic view of which set of pros/cons you are exchanging for your current set. And thats all it will be as there is no perfect shangri la out there. BTW, I have a coworker friend from Utah. He is Catholic and a very nice guy. But he said it was difficult growing up near Salt Lake. Not being Mormon definately had a stigma associated with it.
I mention these things so that hopefully you can go in more eyes wide open. But I don't mean to discourage you from moving and experiencing a different place. We in fact enjoyed our stay for the time we were there and don't regret the having the experience. We just realized it wasn't for us longer term. It was more like an extended vacation in a foreign (to us) land.
Derek
Last edited by MtnSurfer; 06-04-2010 at 06:33 PM..
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