Best oceanside city to move to in California?

[Bv3]

Santa Barbara is great but very expensive. I live in Ventura about half a mile from the beach, near downtown, and it's great. There is also some really nice beachfront property in Oxnard and Port Hueneme down by the naval base all the way up Harbor Blvd to Fifth St. It's a lot more affordable than many of these other places too.

 

[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.

 

[GoingUp]

Who wants to live in Cali? Good thing I never waste my time with that state or anyone from it.....

 

[anxi80]

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.

how could you leave out linda vista?!?!? i kid, i kid. (for those non-diegans, l.v. does have a high vietnamese rate, but a good % live in poverty). yeah, mira mesa isnt a bad recommendation also. im still sticking to my carlsbad suggestion though. closer to the beach. besides, im impartial to the north county.

 

[Brutuskend]

Crescent City is nice IMO might be more than a two hour drive though.

 

[kermalou]

Originally posted by: Gobadgrs
Who wants to live in Cali? Good thing I never waste my time with that state or anyone from it.....

how open minded,,,,,,.......the KKK is treating you well isn't it

 

[boggsie]

Originally posted by: muffstah
I would say San Diego. The only thing is, your parents would be spending around 1 million or more for oceanfront property.

I have traveled to many places (not Hawaii) and San Diego is the first and only place that I came back from thinking ... yea, I could live there !

 

[bUnMaNGo]

Originally posted by: Gobadgrs
Who wants to live in Cali? Good thing I never waste my time with that state or anyone from it.....

You just wasted some of your time posting in this thread along with some of us who live here in California. Oh well.

Anyhow, to sum up this entire post, there are three general areas you can look- up near Santa Barbara/Ventura County, Los Angeles/Orange County, and San Diego. It sounds like each area has its floofy rich areas and its ghettos too.

 

[boggsie]

Originally posted by: guapo337
SAN FRICKIN DIEGO!

seriously. mission beach. ocean beach. cant think of anywhere better.

What he said ...

La Jolla, etc, etc!

 

[boggsie]

Originally posted by: igowerf
La Jolla, near San Diego.

keep the toddlers off of seal beach, they'll disturb the mothers and baby seals

 

Sorry, Dezign, I hardly know much about So. Cali. I just know that houses are so expensive at the South. I do know about the neighbour, though.

"Who wants to live in Cali? Good thing I never waste my time with that state or anyone from it....."

You don't, yet you spend your time to type this up?

Don't diss Cali. :|

 

[GoingUp]

Originally posted by: luvly
Sorry, Dezign, I hardly know much about So. Cali. I just know that houses are so expensive at the South. I do know about the neighbour, though.

"Who wants to live in Cali? Good thing I never waste my time with that state or anyone from it....."

You don't, yet you spend your time to type this up?

Don't diss Cali. :|

LOL I make a joke and everyone gets all bent out of shape. After all, my favorite ATer of all time, Reddawn is from Cali.

I dont understand how my joke makes me a member of the KKK though.......

 

"LOL I make a joke and everyone gets all bent out of shape. After all, my favorite ATer of all time, Reddawn is from Cali."

:Q Scary thought! :Q

"I dont understand how my joke makes me a member of the KKK though......."

Hallo? Mr. Sarcasm Detector, maybe your joke wasn't so obvious. Perhaps an emoticon would help next time. But if you were serious, then it wouldn't be difficult to see why someone would give such a response. Try to be target friendly to your audience when conveying jokes.

 

[bUnMaNGo]

Originally posted by: luvly
"LOL I make a joke and everyone gets all bent out of shape. After all, my favorite ATer of all time, Reddawn is from Cali."

:Q Scare thought! L:Q

"I dont understand how my joke makes me a member of the KKK though......."

Hallo? Mr. Sarcasm Detector, maybe your joke wasn't so obvious. Perhaps an emoticon would help next time. But if you were serious, then it wouldn't be difficult to see why someone would give such a response. Try to be target friendly to your audience when conveying jokes.

yea... a smiley would've helped out sorry man hehe but you never know with those narrow minded, Honda-hating postwhores here who scream out "rice!" at anything remotely dealing with import cars*

* this was just an example of the kind of people here, I know this thread has nothing to do with Hondas or Honda-haters

 

[Ultima]

Come to Canada, it's much cooler for 6 months of the year

 

[andyfasthands]

california will sink in the future. your parents shouldnt invest the bottom of ocean. its uninhabitable

 

[KevinH]

Originally posted by: kt
Exactly how close do your parents need to be to the beach? Obviously, the closer they are the higher the price will be. My boss live right next to the ocean, about 2 minutes walk to the sand. His house cost around 2.2 million. Of course, there are other places around OC like Huntington Beach that is more affordable. About 5 minutes drive to the beach, but you get a decent size house at a decent price.

I'm in HB right now. It truly depends on the area as like everyone states the closer to the ocean you are the higher the price of the house. My sister that I'm staying with had her house appraised (it's ~2900 square feet) and it's about a two miles from the beach and it got valued for 650K. Living RIGHT next to the sand...I honestly can't imagine a piece of property for less than half a million...even if it's a dump.

 

[KevinH]

Originally posted by: Michael
I lived in Hermosa Beach for 2 years and would move back there if I lived in the LA area again.

Michael

Michael - Did you buy or rent? I'm actually looking to rent in the Hermosa/Redondo-ish area.

 

[KevinH]

Originally posted by: isekii
how is Malibu?

Malibu is ridiculously expensive...although you'll probably have some stars as neighbors.

 

[imported_Mike]

1 more vote for San Diego

 

[Hamburgerpimp]

I've lived here in Encinitas, CA for 5 years now. Best place I've ever lived. Home of Tony Hawk, PLG and a few other cool cats.

No houses here for under $500K, at least not by the coast. You go inland 2 miles and you hit Rancho Sante Fe, the costliest place to live in the USA.

 

[Sid59]

how about .. Oceanside, California?

 

[rockyct]

Originally posted by: anxi80

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.

how could you leave out linda vista?!?!? i kid, i kid. (for those non-diegans, l.v. does have a high vietnamese rate, but a good % live in poverty). yeah, mira mesa isnt a bad recommendation also. im still sticking to my carlsbad suggestion though. closer to the beach. besides, im impartial to the north county.

Rancho Penasquitos is also a nice area next to Mira Mesa but it is also expensive. Oceanside is good also but keep in mind that I believe San Diego has the highest ratio of the price of an average house to the income of an average person in California.

 

[LunarRay]

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.

Cardiff is nice, Encinitas is nice, Carlsbad is nice, Del Mar is nice but $$$$, La Jolla is nice $$$$ As is Solana Beach in general.

I'd not live in any other town... not SD or Oceanside No offense to any residents there.
torrey Pines high is "the bomb" whatever that is..

Nowhere east of interstate 5 would meet the coast issue but, if you have a spare billion or so Rancho Santa Fe which is due east of Solana Beach or Fairbanks ranch would be a decent choice...

 

[The Dancing Peacock]

If you want LA area, check out Redondo Beach, Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach, parts of Torrance, referred to as the South Bay. All are going to be relatively expensive, on par with some of the san diego area prices, and you wont be more than 15 minutes from the beac in any of those places for the most part. There are also sections of San pedro which go up the south side of the Palos Verdes Peninsula. That side might be more affordable than the north side, which is Palos Verdes, Rolling Hills and Rancho Palos Verdes, all nice areas, but rather expensive now.

Just a note, the California housing market is definitely a sellers market, you're going to pay a premium just to get one, but near the beach is going to be crazy. And stay away from Oxnard.