Hello mamas, once again my hubby has a new opportunity to grow in his company and we will have to move. He was told that we can move to California, any city we would like. We have an 8 yr old and a 2 yr old. We want to be in the North area but mostly are looking for best school districts. Any recommendations?
Also moving from Indiana to California beside the housing, is the cost of living that much higher?
And, in your opinion will you prefer California or Nevada? I prefer CA but hubby thinks that we would be able to afford living more comfortable in Nevada although our most concerned is education for our kiddos.
Thanks mamas for all info you can give us! :)
Both places are awesome. I prefer southern Calf, San Diego area. It is expensive to live there, but so very worth it. They have some great schools, great FREE activities for the kids, and you can not bet the zoo or wild animal park.
I'm in the Sacramento area and it's definitely a good option. You can get a lot more home for the money than in the Bay Area. A home that's $300,000 here would go for well over a million in most decent areas of the Bay Area.
For the best schools, you'll want to look at Granite Bay. However, home prices there are a lot higher than the rest of the Sacramento area. Roseville and Rocklin both have some excellent schools and are very popular areas for families. Steer clear of Elk Grove and Natomas, which appear like good options on the surface but are known for having problems with their schools.
Be prepared for a battle getting a house, though. It's a seller's market here. Multiple offers are the norm. The house two doors down from us had 18 offers.
Cost of living is definitely higher out here. However, I think you'll find the quality of life is much better. A lot of great activities in our state. In the Sacramento area, you're only a couple hours from Lake Tahoe or the Bay Area, not to mention there are some good activities with kids around our area. Lots of parks, hiking/biking trails, etc.
Summers can be hot here (90s and 100s), but can't beat California winters. It's going to be in the 70s all week here. :)
Best of luck with your decision!
P.S. Nevada? Uh, no way would I move there. Not my cup of tea.
Don't move to Oakland or the Bay area if you want a good school district. You pretty much have to send your kids to private school and they are around 20,000.00 per kid. That's what my sister pays. The public schools are horrid according to my sister.
You can't buy a house for under 800,000.00.
Everything is more expensive including a parking ticket. We pay 20 bucks for a meter violation there it's like 40-50 bucks. Just sayin'
My mom and stepdad live in Walnut Creek and they are having to move to Florida as he was forced to retire and they cannot afford to live there anymore.
I have family in Sacramento and it may be much better up there.
Yes - cost of living really is that much higher... It's insane. About the highest income taxes in the country, bc property values are so high it makes property taxes high and most school districts aren't good. People have said no to the Bay Area and they're mostly right but of course it's jsut a beautiful area to live... So much to offer so if you do decide to live there, I would pick the east bay. Orinda has fantastic schools and it's less expensive than the "penninsula" (San Mateo, Palo Alto area). And it's closer to Lake Tahoe if you ski. Sacramento is less expensive still but maybe not as culturally interesting. It also gets very hot I believe in the summer. You could check out San Luis Obispo. I have a friend who went to college there and it's his dream to move back.
CA is super expensive. They wanted hubby to move there andi said no. Nice place to visit, but expensive!
In fact, my brother commutes to California every other week. It is cheaper for his company to let him do this than to pay him a salary that would let him live the same life style in California as he does in the chicago suburbs. My brother is a CFO, btw.
Congrats on the opportunity, just make sure they pay hubby enough to make it worth your while!
I'd move to napa or the Bay Area.
The cost of living in CA is going to be insanely higher than what you're used to. I love CA, was raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, but I'd rather not be house poor, so we live here. For what we pay here for a 3 br, 2 ba home with garage and yard, we couldn't even get a 1 bedroom apartment in the 'hood where I'm from. Gas is always higher there. Food will be more. It's good to think about these things beforehand. Traffic in the So Cal area is atrocious.
I'd probably choose Nevada, honestly. Not sure about schools, so hopefully someone else can help you out with that. Oh, a good site to research schools is - greatschools dot org - it contains parent ratings and ratings on performance, testing, etc.
I have friends in Placerville (Plass-ur-ville) CA and it's a lovely place. They moved there from Sacramento so they'd be in a smaller town and have better schools. Placerville is only about 45 minutes from Sacramento and about an hour from south Lake Tahoe.
It's in the foothills and has nice weather that is not horribly hot during summer and not below freezing very much. It has wonderful snowfall and nice warm summers where you can do outside activities without wilting. I can't say the last time they felt any tremors from earthquakes either. I think it's just an all round nice place to live.
******************************************************
Map of the area
http://www.mapquest.com/maps?city=Placerville&state=CA
City web site:
http://www.cityofplacerville.org/
This site has the statistics on climate, history, census information, etc...
California is beautiful, but it is very very expensive. Your husband has a good point regarding affordability. Your dollar will stretch much further in Nevada than in California.
We just relocated from NY to FL and I will give you a couple of examples.
Our NY salary $200,000 annually (combined)
Our FL salary $90,000 (combined)
NY Mortgage: $2700/ month FL Mortgage: $900/ month (similar size)
NY Childcare/Preschool: $2000/ month FL: $1300/ month
My point here is that we were initially concerned about the HUGE salary cut until we looked at what it cost us to live in NY. It was a fortune. In FL, we are making less money, but spending much less each month as well.
So... if his salary is going to be the same either location- go with Nevada and live a much less "strained" life. If they account for cost of living (most corporations do not), then go with whichever location you all enjoy.
Go visit both options before making a final decision. You may find that you really prefer one over the other!
Think hard before doing it. CA is expensive. The neighbors are priced by the quality of the schools. Two closeby neighborhoods can have the SAME houses in them, but each be served by a different set of schools, and the better rated schools have house prices $50,000 more than the other. That was a big shock when we looked to live there. Another big shock - we would have had to pay for our kids to ride the school bus for PUBLIC school, and the parents were asked to pay out of pocket for a teacher's aide because there were SO many kids in the classroom. I remember touring one house and looked outside of the bedroom window and saw IN the BATHROOM window of the house beside us. It looked like the houses were 3 feet apart...
Highway One is to die for, wine vineyard country is wonderful, there are terrific things about that state, but you just HAVE to make a lot of money to live there. MORE than in Indiana. We just couldn't justify the cost and didn't take the job. I have never regretted the decision we made, and I feel like we dodged a bullet by not taking that move...
Dawn
ETA: The absolute favorite part of California is Monterey - Santa Barbara...however...VERY expensive.
___________________________________
Congratulations on your husband's new opportunity!!
go to http://www.greatschools.org/ and start researching there. It allows you to define what you are looking for in a school to help you select the right neighborhood.
I would avoid Northern California like the plague. It's REALLY expensive and the beaches are not that great, the water is much colder. I lived in Fairfield and commuted to Walnut Creek - long commute and expensive.
Since I don't know what you like to do - it would be hard to tell you where to move is school districts are your only concern...
IF I had my choice between Nevada and California - I would choose Nevada. However, both have liberal democrats (Pelosi, Boxer, Feinstein) and Nevada has Reid (a liberal democrat) and Dean Heller (Republican).
California has higher taxes than Nevada as well.
http://www.bankrate.com/finance/taxes/state-taxes-califor...
http://www.bankrate.com/finance/taxes/state-taxes-nevada....
If you like to ski and outdoor sports - Lake Tahoe is the place to be.
If you like beaches, then Southern California is the place to be. Both place can be expensive.
The California school system is very heavily burdened right now.
Gas in California is over $4 a gallon right now. Not sure how much it is in Indiana...this will be a HUGE culture shock for you and your family as well.
Much to consider!! Start a list of what is important to you and what you NEED vs. what you want and start narrowing it down from there!
Good luck with the expansion!!
Good luck with the decision!
I lived in Novato, and didn't have kids, but we were planning to and the schools were strong. It was beautiful, and in a great location. :)
Sacramento is a good suggestion, the Bay area is pretty expensive. I concur that Oakland and the most nearby areas to SF (east bay like Walnut Creek, Marin county, San Mateo) are too pricey, it eases that farther out you go. I am in Sonoma county and the schools are as good as they can be under a terrible budget/economy. We lived in Chicago until 5 years ago, in a 5 bedroom house, and have yet to afford a comparable home here, which would have pretty much doubled in price ($360K to $650K). Everything feels more expensive, for sure.
We have friends in Sacramento who love it, it has some vineyards and trees, cool neighborhoods and culture. Great schools too, their kids are at a modified Waldorf public charter school. I don't know about prices up there, but it can't be as bad as the Bay!
redlands (southern ca) has some of the best schools in the state. your about an hour away from the beach, disney and the mountains. no snow and beautiful warm summers. but if your putting your children in private school then it almost doesnt matter where you live.
