From Seattle to Southern California?

[Mama&T]

Hello! I am not a regular poster, but often browse the boards for all your awesome information!

I have lived just north of Seattle most all of my life and might be moving to Southern California maybe somewhere outside of Torrance. I am wondering what the community is like out there, what the natural parenting community is like... I am active in my local non profit that educates about genital integrity out here, but it doesn't look like there is one out there. I am looking forward to more sunshine, but nervous about settling into a new community.

Any words of encouragement, advice, and insight will be so appreciated!!

[JudiAU]

Sorry, I don't know the South Bay at all other to say that Torrance has a large Japanese ex-pat and Japanese-American community that leads to some really excellent food. However, "South Bay" is a decent search term for these boards.

[mamaleila]

I don't live in the South Bay area anymore, but I grew up there and my family continues to live there. Recently I went back for a short period of time to see if I wanted to raise my new son there, but felt pretty isolated when it came to finding people with likeminded beliefs (attachment parenting, eco-minded, etc.) My mother, sister, and nephew currently live in Torrance and it suits them as very status-quo people who get most of their information from TV. I am not saying that this is all you will find there, as Torrance is a very big place with a pretty diverse community, but it's a suburban grid bedroom community that is centered around corporate shopping culture. 

But, yes, like JudiAU  said, lots of excellent japanese food.

If you can afford it and want to go somewhere closer, I would recommend checking out Venice. There are more public spaces to be and I generally find it more friendly towards natural mamas.

[chrysalis]

i'm considering moving to ventura county... not sure where exactly, probably closer to santa paula. how close i wonder, is torrance from there?

[mamaleila]

Torrance to Ventura is quit a trek. About 1 1/2 to 2 hours, traffic dependent. 

I like the Ventura area...

[Amoreena]

I live in the middle of Ventura County and have a dear friend in Torrance who I don't get to visit or see often enough. From where we are, it's generall about an hour and 15 minutes to Torrance. Sometimes a little less, sometimes more. Depends what time of day, and of course depends on traffic.

There are some support groups you could join in advance of your potential move to ask more specifically about areas:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SoCalAPFamilies

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SouthBayAPFamilies (keep in mind there are three "south bay" areas in California -- SF, LA, and San Diego; this group is for the South Bay of LA)

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/VenturaCountyAPMoms

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NaturalParentingLA -- you'd need to check with the moderator for this group if it's okay to join in advance of a move to learn more about the area -- I suspect it would be okay

I have found plenty of likeminded people in Ventura County, and I believe there are plenty in the South Bay, too. I've lived in VC nearly 9 years. I joined this forum and some natural-minded groups in advance of our move to California (from Montreal, Quebec), and it helped me to get started learning about the area, and to start "meeting" people. Some of the first people I met after I moved where moms from this California finding your tribe forum, then I began meeting La Leche Leaguers in my more immediate area. I have some very dear friends here. In the VCAPMoms group, there are over 300 moms. We don't all see each other regularly, but it has become a valuable support community for the natural, alternative, NFL, etc moms in the area.

Hope this helps. It's fun to expound on our area. I'd be happy to answer more questions about Ventura County specifically.

[Krystal1220]

It would be nice if I still lived there! I just moved to the SF area from Hermosa Beach. I loved it down there!

As far as AP parenting goes, I'm really not sure of any local groups to the South Bay. Amoreena posted some promising links, and I hope one works out for you! I found a lot of friendship and support through the Hermosa Beach MOMS Club, and I know that most of the communities in the South Bay have an active MOMS Club. Even if every mom isn't necessarily attachment-oriented, it's still nice to be a part of. Oh, and I know that there is a pretty active La Leche League around there as well -- I found out about it right before we moved, but I met a lot of moms who were involved.