Need Help on neighborhoods (San Diego, Santa Barbara: appointed, apartments, rental)

[JasonAndAmelia]

Hey, everyone. A little about myself and my family. I am going to graduate in a couple or a few years from University with a Computer Science degree specializing in Software Engineering. My wife has her degree in Elem Ed, however, she has recently found her calling and has gotten her CDA (I think) where she works with little kiddos. We also have a daughter who is 2 now, and will be either starting school or starting 1st grade when we move. We also have a dog that we love.

Well, with that being said, I was born in LA and love it out there, not to mention I do have some family out there. I am looking for some advice to find some rental information as well as what would the best beach communities be for us? Schools, we've already determined that she is probably going to go to a private school, unless the public schools in an area are just fantastic.

Any advice or info would be greatly appreciated.

[sll3454]

You certainly are planning ahead.

You'll want a neighborhood you can afford, and you'll want to be reasonably close to work so you can enjoy your family and the beach. For the first of these, live frugally and save all you can. For the second, it's way too soon to tell.

But what else do you want? Surfing? Kid-friendly beach? Fishing? Cleanest water (least-polluted water)? Tide-pools? Coastal mountains and hiking trails? Shops? Old neighborhoods? Newer neighborhoods? Bus lines? Biking?

[Charles]

Originally Posted by JasonAndAmelia

I am looking for some advice to find some rental information as well as what would the best beach communities be for us?

Almost everything depends on where you get a job, where your wife gets a job, and what you can afford. Many (if not most) beach cities have very good schools.

Most beach cities are pretty expensive and crowded too. However there are a lot of beach cities from Santa Barbara to San Diego and there are different types of cities, different prices, different demographics, and different accessibilities to jobs.

[JasonAndAmelia]

Cool. Yeah, the company I am going to be trying to get on with is in Santa Monica, so pref in that section. Of course we want a family friendly area, and a safe area. I do know that most beach communities do tend to miss out on some of the riff raff that is prevelant in other parts of LA. Yet, I'm not naive enough to think that there are no problems.

Yeah, as far as what I'm looking for is kinda like in the Chicago forum, they have an area where you can go and they have links of several apartment/rental search companies. Kind of wondering if there's something like that somewhere in the LA forum.

[Lovetheoutdoors]

Originally Posted by JasonAndAmelia

I do know that most beach communities do tend to miss out on some of the riff raff that is prevelant in other parts of LA.

What do you mean by riff-raff? Homelessness is a major problem in the beach communities. Gang members flock to the beaches on any given day, especially in the summer.

If you think the beach communities are a Shangri-La, then you're going to be disappointed.

I wish you and your family well, As far as links, lots of apartments in SM are privately owned. Check Craigslist, Recycler, apartment guide, for rent, etc,