For the guys in California?

[Bwgan]

The wife and I were chatting the other night about how life is a struggle here, and we were discussing where we could move to, very loosely.
Where in Cal would be good to have as a base for surfing and mountain biking and a couple of hours away from snow boarding in the winter?
Cheers

[jethrodog]

Santa Cruz, San Francisco, Seaside (Oregon)

[gixer]

The wife and I were chatting the other night about how life is a struggle here, and we were discussing where we could move to, very loosely.
Where in Cal would be good to have as a base for surfing and mountain biking and a couple of hours away from snow boarding in the winter?
Cheers

north wales begining to get you down too...me and wifey are thinking of australia...your right,its getting to be a struggle here..time to jump ship

[parrysurf]

Ventura CA......not that I want anyone else in the line up....but the waves are good all year....not nearly as cold as nor cal....2 hours to local snow....5 hours to mammoth mt. .... can get a 2 bedroom apt for about a 1000.00.....house about 400,000 and up.....south swell in summer,north in winter....epic offshore island surf....and there is some good companies to get some work.

I will only move if it is to a wave laden tropical paradise, that is how nice it is here. Come and enjoy. Try a trip here to see if you like it....I will lend you a board, and show you around.

[Otter]

Yup, Ventura is a really nice place to live.

It's a bit warmer in San Diego.

[Beachbumhippie]

I know loads of people who are finding it harder in the UK, seems the job market is thining out because of the large influx of foreign workers. So im told. .
As for me, i got out and never looked back, to much red tape.

[spark6]

I was born in Ventura!

But now i live in the cold, waveless, often grey east...

[Bwgan]

I don't wish to site migration as the main reason I wish to leve, as I'm only going to go and clog up another coutry, so feel rather hipocritical on that point. There are a number of reasons, can't get an app with a dr when you need one, rising crime even in sunny north wales, the inability of driving from A to B without passing a police speed trap, the weather, lack of jobs, council tax going up 4.5% to pay for more police to catch you speeding. We live in a blameless country where if you approach someone who is in the wrong you get told to F*** off.

What made us chat about it is we have a baby on the way and were discussing where to send them to school. We want the child to have an innocent childhood where they can go and play in the woods. My ife works for the NSPCC and they have stats on paedos in public places and it is disturbing how many there are!

Rant over!

[grammarnazi]

What made us chat about it is we have a baby on the way and were discussing where to send them to school. We want the child to have an innocent childhood where they can go and play in the woods.

If you're looking for an area with good public schools, keep in mind that California consistently ranks at the bottom (one survey I read had an overall ranking of 47 out of the 50 states) in national educational surveys, from everything to academic achievement/test scores, student-teacher ratio, per-pupil spending, drop-out rates, overcrowding, etc.

Of course, there are some good schools, but you have to strategically place yourself in the right neighborhood/school zone.

[Otter]

It's true. California public schools generally suck. The Governator just made it illegal to home school... Go figure. 20% of all the home schoolers in the U.S. are in California, and home schoolers generally test considerably higher than kids educated in public schools. That's what happens when you put a Labor Union in charge of education... Anyway, we also have some of the finest PRIVATE schools in the world. It's all a matter of can you afford it. La Jolla Country Day School is known world wide as a prep school of the highest stature as is University High and a couple of the Catholic Schools, which I can't remember their names. There's some really nice places to live in San Diego, but if your looking for forests and that kind of gig, don't come here. We're desert.

[pkbum]

The wife and I were chatting the other night about how life is a struggle here, and we were discussing where we could move to, very loosely.
Where in Cal would be good to have as a base for surfing and mountain biking and a couple of hours away from snow boarding in the winter?
Cheers

I say orange county is the best choice. We got the big bear which is only 3-4 hours away, and good consistent surf throughout the years. Except that it doesn't get superbig like central cal and norcal.

[greg@hoodatsurfco]

southern california for warm water and plenty of outdoor places to go.. and northern california for cold water and waayyy more out door places to go!

[Mudharp]

Orange County for sure. You've got your pick of great surf spots and 1 1/2 hrs. from mountains or desert.

[parrysurf]

^

san diego county 2.8 million people
Orange county 2.8 million people......stuck in the middle!!
Los Angeles county 9.5 million

Ventura county 750,000 people
Santa Barbra county 390,000 people.

Who has more crowds??? Who gets more surf??? Hummm.

[Mudharp]

Haha - good point... But - I lived on the central coast for awhile and surfed Jalama, etc. and never got used to the ice cream headaches! At least the water is warmer in OC.

[parrysurf]

At least the water is warmer in OC.

I think its all the pee.

I'm in ventura, and the thickest suit I own is 3/2.

[SDCali]

Anyway you look at it, in Southern Ca housing is expensive, though right now prices are dropping, (but it is harder to get a loan) there are about 4 houses in my neighborhood (North OC) up for sale...and have been up for some time, one had a sale pending sign for a while, but now it's gone (for sale again, not sold). Average rent in OC is somewhere around $1400 a month, home prices are varying right now, but I'd say in my neighborhood they are probably asking somewhere around $500,000 for around 1400 square foot home.

[Real Pol]

I don't wish to site migration as the main reason I wish to leve, as I'm only going to go and clog up another coutry, so feel rather hipocritical on that point. There are a number of reasons, can't get an app with a dr when you need one, rising crime even in sunny north wales, the inability of driving from A to B without passing a police speed trap, the weather, lack of jobs, council tax going up 4.5% to pay for more police to catch you speeding. We live in a blameless country where if you approach someone who is in the wrong you get told to F*** off.

What made us chat about it is we have a baby on the way and were discussing where to send them to school. We want the child to have an innocent childhood where they can go and play in the woods. My ife works for the NSPCC and they have stats on paedos in public places and it is disturbing how many there are!

Rant over!

Do you honestly think it's going to be so much different in the US?
Really?

You'd be swapping horizontal North Wales rain for earth quakes, that about it I'd say.

Crime, unemployment, crap schools, worrying about your kids and speed guns don't disappear once you cross the Atlantic. You need to do more home work than post on an internet site if you think they do!!

[RustyG]

La Crescenta, La Canada, Pasadena, Burbank are awesome places to live...it's a little pricey but you are 30 minutes from the beach, the mountains are in your backyard. Glendale Unified is one of the best school districts in California. Crescenta Valley High School tends to be in the top 200 public schools in the U.S. pretty regularly

[temptations_wings]

That's what happens when you put a Labor Union in charge of education...

actually, the california teachers association isnt in charge of education. the system gets screwed up by administrators at the top of the food chain. they dont care about education, they care about test results. as a result, teachers arent allowed to teach. so thats really what happens when you put idiots in charge of education.