Help pls...moving 2 S. Cali where 2 live...

[Nu_Mommy_2003]

Update: DH wants to know your take on Chino Hills? Safety? Air Quality?
Currently reducing the list to Etiwanda, and Ponoma? Curious about air quality and Airport noise?
DH is being transferred and we r moving from the Midwest to California. The job is in Ontario, Ca. We have NEVER been to S. California. We are allowed to come out to Cali next week to start looking for a place to live. We want a home and neighborhood like here and I don't see that happening there. For example, we have 4 kids with 4 bikes, 3 power wheel vehicles, and 1 four wheeler (because we live on 2 acres of land); our home is a peaceful, therapeutic 3100sq ft with tons of upgrades, pool, food garden, and land(we need space with all the kids and furniture). We have to stay there for at least 2 yrs before we can look at moving again. Therefore, we do not have to buy a home when can rent.

Problem:
-I was told by some ex-Californian that our home in CA would easily be over 2 million.
-We cannot understand how u can live in CA with everything so high
-Our home is now worth 450k
-We looked at homes in Huntington Beach, Newport Beach, Laguna beach (figure to drop pool and add the beach) No homes with 4 bedroom under 1.25million. Looked off coast Santa Ana, Laguna Hills, (not knowing the safety of areas) and still no homes with 4-5 bedrooms that was under 900k
-we just don't understand how u can afford to buy these homes and live there with a family of 6 for 110k/yr
-if we rent there is no homes for rent with the 4 bedrooms and sq. ft.

Is this to much to ask:
-I want a safe, quiet, peaceful neighborhood
-I want a min. of 4 bedrooms and min. 2000sq ft
-I want a view/smell of the beach or a pool
-I want a farmer's market nearby or a home garden
-I want to be able to afford it all

His job offers mortgage sub for two years at 3%

What is a good area? Where are moms like me (non vax, bw, cd, bf, ap, etc)? How can you live there with 110k/yr? What about Anaheim? The Communte? Best Place in Inland Empire?

[monkeybars]

The info given to you really pertains to other parts of Ca, like LA and Orange County. Your husband will be working in the Inland Empire and it is much cheaper out there - I think pretty comparable to what you have. I don't know much about those neighborhoods but it is inland, hotter in the summer, new and suburban atmosphere, and much much cheaper. I would try to look for something closer to his work or his commute will be miserable. Hopefully some IE moms will offer details

[Nu_Mommy_2003]

Thank you. I had know idea what the commute would be. Thank you for that much it is of great help

[greengirl_]

Have you considered Claremont, CA? It's super-close to Ontario and has some of the amenities you wanted. Great farmer's market, nice neighborhoods, good community of like-minded mama's, no view of the beach since it's pretty far inland.
We can't afford to live in Claremont, but I sure do wish we could! It looks like with your dh's income you should be able to find something, especially with the housing prices so low right now. Good luck!

[Bokonon]

I agree that Orange County and LA County are not going to have what you are looking for in your price range. You're not going to have a decent ocean view for under $1 million pretty much anywhere in Southern California.

Have you looked in Corona? I don't know much about it, but it's close to Ontario and pretty up-and-coming. My cousins lived there for a long time and loved it.

[sparklett]

If your DH is working in Ontario, you might want to stay in the IE to avoid the loooong, horrendous commute from Ontario to the beach areas.

Claremont is a great area! Nice, historic neighborhoods that surround several private colleges. There's a nearby chapter of the Holistic Mom's Network and a nice downtown and farmer's market.

I would also suggest Redlands. You'll be able to find a house with a pool in many of the newer Redlands communities, there's a GREAT farmer's market on Thursdays, a big organic produce co-op, a county museum, a nice little downtown area, and a crunchy community that meets monthly (google Barefoot Mama's Network). Redlands is 30 minutes from Ontario.

Loma Linda is right next to Redlands and you would probably like the newer houses there as well. Loma Linda is home to a big university and your neighbors would likely be people who teach and work and the university/hospital.

If you want to be a bit closer to DH and the beach, look around Rancho Cucamonga. It is not really all that crunchy and the beach is still a good hour away, but there are good people out that way. you'll find a very large house and probably a pool. The Victoria Gardens area has a huge mall, cultural center, and library. Not very crunchy in character, but it will suit your housing needs.

North Fontana (north of the 210 freeway) will also meet your needs for safe, spacious housing and the pool. You'd probably have to drive to find a farmer's market.

If your DH doesn't mind the commute, check out Irvine in Orange County. GREAT community about 20 min. from the beach, but with your salary you might have to compromise on space a bit. Frankly, though, the commute really is a bear and I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy.

If you want to network to see if other IE mamas might have some ideas for you, look for Attachment Parents of the IE (APIE) on yahoo groups and Cloth Diapering and Baby Wearing in the IE on Meetup.com. Barefoot Mama's is on Meetup, too.

Good luck!!

[sparklett]

And to answer your question about Anaheim, it is big, busy, expensive, and a hefty commute to Ontario. It doesn't seem that far mileage-wise, but the traffic is killer. I do like Anaheim, except I don't know how I would cope with the Disneyland traffic and the nightly noise from the DL fireworks.

As far as "the best place in the IE", I think everyone probably has their opinion about that. It's such a large, diverse area that every place has it's own advantages. I happen to like Redlands and Claremont best. Ontario, Riverside, and Chino are my least favorite.

[cocoanib]

Yes, stay in the IE! A commute to Ontario from LA county would not be a good thing.

I lived in Montclair and Claremont a few years back. My IL's live in Rancho Cucamunga. The IE is nice as a whole and I agree with bthe pp's that Claremont may have what you're looking for. It's still quite expensive though. It's going to be tougher to find a nice home and living situation like you have now down here in S. Cali. It can be done though!

At one point I lived in Pomona right on the border of Claremont. Claremont addresses literally started across the street from me. It was walking distance to the old downtown area which had wonderful farmers markets, festivals, wonderful shops/restaurants and a great yoga studio. It was much cheaper for me to live there because I wasn't technically in Claremont, but I got all the Claremont perks.
That could be an option for you. Maybe look at homes in the Pomona address, but very close to the wonderful areas of Claremont.

[Nu_Mommy_2003]

Thank you thank you thank you. I knew I could come here for help. Off at Claremont and Redlands. Thanks again

[JudiAU]

Housing is very expensive in SC and you will probably find that you are not quite as affluent feeling as you were. That is a lot of people and not a lot of income if you choose to live in an affluent part of orange county.

You need to live closer to DH's work. It is much cheaper, you'll have more land, and you'll save your DH from a terrible commute. You probably won't find that much land/space.

And please stop saying "Cali." No one says that here...

[briansmama]

Actually, my entire living family was born and raised here and I've heard plenty of people call the state "Cali." Doesn't bother me in the slightest, and I'm sure it wouldn't bother other people I know here either.

You can live here on that salary, plenty of people do, especially these days now that many employees have had hours/salaries reduced, furlough days, job loss of one spouse, etc.

How well you can live on that salary will depend on how high your mortgage will be and any other debt payments you have. If you own your cars, have no student loan/credit debt, and keep your mortgage low, you'll likely be fine.

HTH!

[sparklett]

Originally Posted by briansmama

Actually, my entire living family was born and raised here and I've heard plenty of people call the state "Cali." Doesn't bother me in the slightest, and I'm sure it wouldn't bother other people I know here either.

Yep. Or you could say it "cal-i-fo-ni-a" like Arnie.

Best of luck on your move. It'll be stressful and weird, but as someone who has lived here my entire life I can honestly say that it's a great place to live.

[cocoanib]

Originally Posted by JudiAU

Housing is very expensive in SC and you will probably find that you are not quite as affluent feeling as you were. That is a lot of people and not a lot of income if you choose to live in an affluent part of orange county.

You need to live closer to DH's work. It is much cheaper, you'll have more land, and you'll save your DH from a terrible commute. You probably won't find that much land/space.

And please stop saying "Cali." No one says that here...

Haha
I was born and raised here...left for awhile and then came back, but anyways everybody I know says "Cali"

[Nu_Mommy_2003]

Ok ladies! I saw noothing in Claremont with 4bedrooms or that DH would even consider.

Rancho Cucamonga is nearby....What's your say? Is it safe, quiet, affordable?

[sparklett]

Rancho Cucamonga: Look in the areas near Victoria Gardens and the 210 freeway. It's nice overall, somewhat affordable considering your salary. It is certainly safe in most areas, mostly upper-middle class. You'd probably looking at 2k/month for something spacious.

Are you checking craigslist/Zillow for rentals?

Does something like this work for you?
http://inlandempire.craigslist.org/apa/1901052894.html

I did this query on Craigslist and saw some good options:
http://inlandempire.craigslist.org/s...e=A&bedrooms=4

[cocoanib]

Originally Posted by Nu_Mommy_2003

Ok ladies! I saw noothing in Claremont with 4bedrooms or that DH would even consider.

Rancho Cucamonga is nearby....What's your say? Is it safe, quiet, affordable?

Did you look in the out skirts? Like Pomona and Montclair?

[EmTheWife]

I too would recommend staying in the IE, pref. no more than 10-15 miles from where your DH will work (for commute time, figure 2-3 mins to travel a mile in heavy traffic). From Orange (where I live), which is closer than Irvine, Ontario is nearly a hour drive on the weekend when there's little traffic.
I did a quick search on www.ziprealty.com (you have to subscribe, but it's free) and found a number of homes in/around Ontario in the $300-500k range, 4+beds, 2000+sq feet on a standard (6-8k sq ft) lot. They weren't all pretty, but the do exist! If you want an acre or more, you're looking at at least $1.5 mil.
My DH's uncle's family lives in Rancho Cucamonga, so we are there frequently, and it's generally a really nice area The air quality out in the IE is not the greatest, though it is improving. It's nothing like the MW

[CherryBombMama]

Originally Posted by Nu_Mommy_2003

Ok ladies! I saw noothing in Claremont with 4bedrooms or that DH would even consider.

Rancho Cucamonga is nearby....What's your say? Is it safe, quiet, affordable?

hi, just reading random threads and thought id jump in

rancho is nice, a little more pricey than ontario, the newer homes are very close together, and it tends to be the higher up north you go, the more you pay. i lived in ontario for a while, it has its poor parts (along Holt, for instance) but again, the higher North you go, the nicer it seems to get. i think ontario is more affordable.

i live in covina, which is in the middle of LA and rancho. i feel like covina is the perfect middle ground for everything, but i might be a little biased

and i have to second whoever mentioned claremont ... its beautiful there! i worked right by their "village" which is full of crunchy people, they even have a cloth diaper store! and a small vegan/health foods store. claremont is about 15 min away from rancho, and i feel like rancho is "cool crunchy" like, its the "in" thing to do, which i guess is better than nothing, but not my cup of tea. HTH

[Nu_Mommy_2003]

Thank you all for the input, as it is truly appreciated. I will be taking a trip out on Thursday for in the flesh views Is it terrible airport noise for places around Ontario? Airport noise will drive me batty?

We have summed it up to two ares but DH wanted to know what you ladies have to say about Chino Hills. He wants to add it to the list.

[samstress]

what about upland? it's just east of claremont (and west of rancho cucamonga). there are some really nice areas (and a few i'd avoid). we live in upland for well under 110k a year.

i've seen some 4-bedroom houses with at least 2000 sq ft. what is your budget?