Best oceanside city to move to in California?

[imported_Tomato]

Originally posted by: huey1124
i live in San Diego, and i've lived here for quite some time now. there are some bad advices here, and i wanted to give you some suggestions from a San Diegan.

if your parents are going to retire, tell them to stay away from Mission Beach, Ocean Beach, and Pacific Beach. these places attract tourists in general, and there are quite a few homeless people around. these areas also have some of the highest crime rates, and they get mentioned in local news all the time. i have several friends and co-workers who live in these areas, and their cars and houses get broken into from time to time. good areas for surfers, but not for retirees. (i also lived in Pacific Beach/Mission Beach area, and there are late night parties 7 days a week)

stay away from La Jolla, Solana Beach, and Del Mar, as your parents won't be able to afford them. i've seen beat-up 2 bedroom houses go for over 1 mil, since it's the land that costs much more than the building themselves. in Del Mar/Solana Beach areas, your parents could find a place that is EAST of I-5 in that price range. my friend just bought a place in Carmel Valley, which is part of Del Mar, and it was $685,000 for a 3 bedroom, 2 bath house. about 10-15 minute drive to the beach.

like some people suggested, i would try Encinitas, Carlsbad, Dana Point, or San Clemente (or areas in between, except for Oceanside). i'm not sure how expensive Dana Point and San Clemente are, but Carlsbad is within the price range. stay away from Oceanside, because it has relatively high crime rate and the city is right next to the nuclear power plant and the bombing range. military people from nearby Camp Pendleton usually live in Oceanside.

lastly, your parents might want to look into Mira Mesa. it's part of San Diego, directly east of La Jolla on the other side of the I-5 freeway. it's about 15 minute drive from some of the best beaches. and from what i remember, your family is Vietnamese, and there is a large Vietnamese community living in Mira Mesa. houses start at $300,000, and just about every other business is run by Vietnamese people. if your parents are Vietnamese and about to retire, i think they might like that fact.

I live in Solana Beach. The condos on the cliff range from about $500000 - $1000000 the houses... bring a bank. BTW there is no life east of 101.

Fantastic advice from all, a million thanks... I've cut and pasted many of the replies in this thread to my father, who was actually leaning towards Oxnard because of the prices, but has leaned away from it thanks to those who are more familiar with the area. I think they'd prefer a more family-oriented, not-so-touristy, mostly warm and sandy place. From the sound of it, being RIGHT ON THE BEACH may not be an option given their budget, but being kinda close to it may be. Right now my dad is a little discouraged because of California (high sales/income/etc. taxes) v. Florida (no income/low sales/etc. taxes), but I'm trying to pursuade him to come to Cali instead of FL.

 

[anxi80]

tell your dad to come to cali and hate gray davis with a good percentage of us.

 

[DanTMWTMP]

if you have the $$$..... la jolla


i live in la jolla apt...next to campus...it's a really nice city...but very expensive....heheh damn...

 

[macwinlin]

Yeah, housing in most places here in California is getting much more expensive. I thought about getting a job somewhere else since overall costs are much lower.

Unless your sisters will be attending private school, I guess your parents will have to look at areas with good schools. I heard Torrance may be a good area since I have a cousin who lives there with his young family and will be looking at schools soon. I don't know about other areas however.

 

[LordUnum]

Originally posted by: AJC
Yeah, housing in most places here in California is getting much more expensive. I thought about getting a job somewhere else since overall costs are much lower.

Unless your sisters will be attending private school, I guess your parents will have to look at areas with good schools. I heard Torrance may be a good area since I have a cousin who lives there with his young family and will be looking at schools soon. I don't know about other areas however.

Another vote for Torrance. Had a good friend who lived just off of Torrance Blvd. and Henrietta, maybe 1 mile and a half from the beach. Great, quiet area. Everybody seems to take good care of their homes and minds their own biz. There's tons of shopping to be done at nearby malls. There are always play and other cultural events held at the Torrance Civic Center. They definitely have good schools, too.

PLUS, according to this list, Torrance is pretty affordable (relatively)! Redondo's probably skewed a bit to the less-expensive side of things by the somewhat less desirable and mega-compacted slightly inland areas where condos-/apartments- and homes-are-crammed-on-tiny-lots galore (a la areas just south of Artesia Blvd.). These neighborhoods still are only 1 or 2 miles or so from the beach. Manhattan and Hermosa Beaches though... big bucks indeed! :Q

Florida?! So flat, so humid... and tell them being near the beach here, the one thing that can really be held as a negative here aside from earthquakes--SMOG--is virtually nil. So let's see, we have clear, clean & crisp air year-round? <check> A short walk to the beach revealing Palos Verdes Peninsula to the south and the towering Santa Monica's to the north extending endlessly to the west in all their glory? <check> Tame winters and warm summers moderated by the marine layer (morning through noon cloud layer), providing for enjoyable out-and-about weather year-round? <check> A short freeway trip away from anywhere within the BIG city? <check> Then there's The Strand, the piers, all the volleyball and other action to be had on the sand, the surfing and boogie-boarding in the warm summer waters, the sunsets(!), weekend/monthly trips to fun times in Santa Barbara or San Diego/Tijuana...

Aside from the tax issues, how can Florida compete with this?

 

[conjur]

Originally posted by: dolph
how about oceanside?

I know someone that retired to there from Chicago. He keeps sending me sunset shots.

The bastage!

 

[Michael]

KenH - I rented. I lived on Rhodes, one block east of PC HWY. I had the bottom floor of a house with a nice garden and patio and good views of the ocean (couldn't see the actual beach). About a 10 minute walk to Pier and the beach. My 1st daughter was born in Torrance. I lived there 6 years ago, so I'm not current with the rental market. great place for younger people, lots of action and the schools are pretty decent too.

I go back to HB about once a year. I may be there with the family the first weekend in June - HB Volleyball competition.

Michael

 

[styelers]

Mira Mesa is nice, Redondo Beach, Huntington Beach, Newport Beach, Long Beach.