Possible move to SoCal

[Pinarello Rider]

So me and the family are considering a move to SoCal. Curious about life out there. Company is HQ in Colton/Riverside. We have a couple of school aged kids so schools are priority over lot size and squarefootage. We have been told to look in the Claremont, Upland, and Rancho Cucomonga areas. Good schools, fair home prices, and not a bad commute to Riverside/Colton.

My question is about outdoor activities. How easy/difficult is it for us to pack the kids in the car loaded with camping gear and enjoy the outdoors. Are the San Bernadino mountains good for camping/hiking?

How about cycling? I understand the inherant dangers, but is it feasible to log 50 miles on the road or should I change to mountain biking?

I know traffic is terrible. Outdoor living can make that less painful - low humidity, cooking outdoors a lot, no bugs. That's what I've heard anyways.

What are your thoughts for those that live there?

 

[latony007]

so cal resident

I can tell you a lot about so cal. Not about the particular areas your looking to get a house because as with most places nice can go to bad in a few blocks and vice-versa. I can tell you about the outdoors in California. It says your in Chesterfield, that's sounds like PA or VA to me. In which case I say hurry up and get out here! lol. Southern Cal is about the 2nd best place to live in the states behind Hawaii. It is the only place I am aware of that you can go from the snow to the beach in the same day and enjoy both. Those san Bernardino mountains are the best. Up there you have endless hiking and biking if your into that, Lakes arrowhead and big bear lake are great for fishing etc. There is also a lot of good motorcycle riding if that's what you meant. we have no humidity and none of the massive bug issues you have there and in the south. Im not saying there are no insects but its pretty rare for them to be an issue, I love beach camping and never have problems. From Riverside your about an hour or hour and a half to San Diego and all their beaches, Huntington beach, Malibu, L.A. Proper about 30 minutes from Disney, knotst, soak city and the angels etc.

Here is the bad. Too many people, too much traffic, although to be honest I have seen worse in other cities. At least we have about 100 freeways to choose from. We do have winter, I don't like it but we do where it gets blistering cold, down to around 50 sometimes!

also lots of great places to ride but everything requires a 30-40 minute ride to get to the riding areas if you know what I mean. sorry rambling, good luck with your decision. Check out Angeles Crest Highway and Mullhulland drive. You can also check out the rock-store.com

 

[JT]

I can tell you a lot about so cal. Not about the particular areas your looking to get a house because as with most places nice can go to bad in a few blocks and vice-versa. I can tell you about the outdoors in California. It says your in Chesterfield, that's sounds like PA or VA to me. In which case I say hurry up and get out here! lol. Southern Cal is about the 2nd best place to live in the states behind Hawaii. It is the only place I am aware of that you can go from the snow to the beach in the same day and enjoy both. Those san Bernardino mountains are the best. Up there you have endless hiking and biking if your into that, Lakes arrowhead and big bear lake are great for fishing etc. There is also a lot of good motorcycle riding if that's what you meant. we have no humidity and none of the massive bug issues you have there and in the south. Im not saying there are no insects but its pretty rare for them to be an issue, I love beach camping and never have problems. From Riverside your about an hour or hour and a half to San Diego and all their beaches, Huntington beach, Malibu, L.A. Proper about 30 minutes from Disney, knotst, soak city and the angels etc.

Here is the bad. Too many people, too much traffic, although to be honest I have seen worse in other cities. At least we have about 100 freeways to choose from. We do have winter, I don't like it but we do where it gets blistering cold, down to around 50 sometimes!

also lots of great places to ride but everything requires a 30-40 minute ride to get to the riding areas if you know what I mean. sorry rambling, good luck with your decision. Check out Angeles Crest Highway and Mullhulland drive. You can also check out the rock-store.com

agreed! not much to add other than I have fam in riverside and the area seams amazing (he is right by the big mall) https://maps.google.com/maps?ie=UTF-8&q=riverside+mall&fb=1&gl=us&hq=mall&hnear=0x80dca6df7ff47dbb:0xf7a1d705135e0ae8,Riverside,+CA&cid=0,0,4832250641579473866&ei=QOH_UaKBHsqTiAKq04CoCQ&ved=0CDYQrwswAA

 

[BradSPE]

Just be ready to get your tax on. Cali loves to take your money. That being said, having spent time in San Diego the weather is great, everyone is active, and a lot of things to do. Great place to golf if you enjoy that.

 

[Marthy]

Lovely area. I lived in Rialto for few months back in 02... Rialto/Fontana area itself is a $hit hole but up to Rancho Cucomonga this is nice. Couple hours from Vegas, LA, Santa Monica Beach, 1 1/2 from San Diego.

Even back then traffic on I-10 was a b%$#!!!! Just can't imagine today. But I won't mind moving back there.

One more thing... learn Spanish. LOL Can't get around without it.

 

[MNGreg]

We do have winter, I don't like it but we do where it gets blistering cold, down to around 50 sometimes!

LOL!!!! That is like the start of shorts and T-Shirt weather here! Heck, after winter here, start to even see shorts and tshirts around 30+ here..

 

[Pinarello Rider]

Just be ready to get your tax on. Cali loves to take your money. That being said, having spent time in San Diego the weather is great, everyone is active, and a lot of things to do. Great place to golf if you enjoy that.

Like golf, hate taxes, but I pay 'em and generally don't complain too much.

Lovely area. I lived in Rialto for few months back in 02... Rialto/Fontana area itself is a $hit hole but up to Rancho Cucomonga this is nice. Couple hours from Vegas, LA, Santa Monica Beach, 1 1/2 from San Diego.

Even back then traffic on I-10 was a b%$#!!!! Just can't imagine today. But I won't mind moving back there.

One more thing... learn Spanish. LOL Can't get around without it.

Learned some OJT Spanish at the last job. I know when I'm being sworn at in English, Russian, Old Man (they are just louder), and several different dialects of Spanish.

LOL!!!! That is like the start of shorts and T-Shirt weather here! Heck, after winter here, start to even see shorts and tshirts around 30+ here..

I could handle 50 being cold. Seriously, I really could. We threw a shot off the kids bow this weekend, and both like snow still. I give 'em another 20 years of shoveling that crap and they'll be singing a different tune.

We are very outdoorsy people. Hiking, camping, fishing, riding, beaching. We like the outdoors. One of the reasons we like Virginia so much is because it is so friendly for outdoorsy stuff, even if the weather makes it uncomfortable at times.

 

[latony007]

outdoors

You could live in the enchanted forest but if its snowing half the year and sweltering hot and humid the other half does it really matter? In So cal we don't have "closed for the winter" Someone else mentioned hours from vegas which is cool, although if your over 30 I recommend Laughlin instead. less people and its right on the Colorado river. Check out big bear, ca its my favorite outdoors type area in the summer. In the winter its our so cal skiing area and im not a big fan of that cold white stuff, I forget what they call it

 

[urbanduckman]

Great weather here in SD. You get your occasional Wild fires and Earthquakes. Lots of great areas to see, hike, fish, etc. I've been here too long though and over it. I was also raised in TX and the culture here can really blow your mind.

 

[Pinarello Rider]

You could live in the enchanted forest but if its snowing half the year and sweltering hot and humid the other half does it really matter? In So cal we don't have "closed for the winter" Someone else mentioned hours from vegas which is cool, although if your over 30 I recommend Laughlin instead. less people and its right on the Colorado river. Check out big bear, ca its my favorite outdoors type area in the summer. In the winter its our so cal skiing area and im not a big fan of that cold white stuff, I forget what they call it

Quit holding us in suspense on the "enchanted forest".

 

[Billsbet0]

Close to me

I live pretty close to the area your company is HQ'd in. I'm close to where the 60 and 15 freeways meet in a newly developed area called Eastvale.

You'd be less than an hour drive up to the ski areas in the mountains but your living on the edge of the desert so be aware your looking at lots of 110 degree (or more) days during the summer. I hope your outdoor adventures include spending time in the desert because there is a whole lot of it around us. Lots of fun in the desert, don't get me wrong but until you get up in the mountains or to the beach it's all pretty much desert.

Traffic blows, taxes blow, and yeah, it's a drive to get anywhere. Take a look at Zillow: Real Estate, Apartments, Mortgage & Home Values in the US for house prices in the area and be sitting down for the sticker shock - when you move to SoCal you pretty much agree to be house poor. I have been to Colton once and I recall it was pretty much full of warehouses. Can't really say what the housing is like in that area so you might need to factor in the commute to work.

If you were talking about bicycling your moving to the right area. I can ride my bike to the beach from my house in about 3 hours. Most of the ride is on a paved trail so you don't have to worry about a car running you down. I've ridden lots of century rides from Irvine to San Diego, Camarillo to Santa Barbara and through Death Valley. One of my buddies is from North CA and he says the riding is better up there. Definatly more scenic. but the cycling community is really active.

Check our Glendale Mountain Road. Good for both motorcycles and road bikes. One of the Pro bike races went up it a couple years ago. 4,000 feet elevation gain in about 15 very twisty miles. There is a 40 mile loop lots of people ride, very scenic, great views and never a dull ride.

If you were talking about motorcycling your still moving to the right area. You can ride year round. I commute to work about 45 miles each way.

I can probably answer any questions about the area you may have, let me know what and I'll find an answer.

Bill

 

[latony007]

echo

I have to echo some of bills comments, first I find that people coming from the east coast think everything is far. I guess because if you were to drive for three hours over there you would pass through 3 states. Here you wouldn't even get out of CA. Driving is kind of part of who we are. To leave riverside and drive north you would have to drive about 11 hours or more to leave CA. East towards vegas or phoenix it takes about 4 hours. There is a lot of desert here, but if you look on the map its like the original superman movie. Anything west of the line is the richest best area in the world, anything east of that line is miles and miles of worthless desert.

 

[Pinarello Rider]

Thanks Bill and Tony - that is great information. My wife is from the Midwest so an 8 hour drive for a weekend visit is nothing to her. Being from Boston myself, I have been convinced that an hour and a half is no longer a long drive. lol.

We have been scoping out the homes in the Rancho Cucamonga area - seems like a reasonable 30 minute commute to Colton, and we're watching the morning/evening traffic patterns on the internets (Google Maps overlay has been very accurate for us the last few months). It seems that fairly nice homes in the 1800 to 2000 sq ft range are in the 400k range. Definitely A LOT more than here, but the pay is also better in SoCal compared to here. our house is 2500' now, and the wife and I regularly comment on there being 2 too many rooms in the house. A two car garage is a must, but disappointed at the lack of basements. Outdoor living is attactive though. 90 and humid is a whole heck of a lot worse than 100 and dry.

 

[latony007]

good luck

Good luck, let us know if you make the move. 2 car garage should be easy, everyone here has multiple cars. You can forget about basements they don't exist here. Im not sure why, I assume because we don't have big winter storms and don't have to huddle in them for safety
either that or they are too afraid the house will come down on you in an earthquake lol. my family is from Providence, my dad was sent out to San Diego for a few weeks in the service and that was it for him. He said im never going back and shoveling snow again. I have been back several times and your are right, 100 here is way better than 90 there.

 

[linkgt]

Seems a lot of people are moving to CA these days.

 

[JT]

Seems a lot of people are moving to CA these days.

maybe you should too we would like to have you.

 

[Detrich]

Riverside canyons are on fire right now, literally... lol. Don't mean to scare you. You'll be fine if u live in the city.

SoCali... What can I say. Great weather, awesome mountains roads, plus all the beaches. High taxes and cost of living though.

If Texas had our mountains and weather we'd all ditch and move there. Seriously. lol. We are getting taxes to death here.

 

[Pinarello Rider]

Sounds like there's a love/hate relationship with the area. You get smaller properties for bigger money, it takes a while to get anywhere, but once you are where you need to be, beit cycling, motorcycling, hiking, camping, driving, swimming, skiing, etc it's all good.

 

[JT]

Sounds like there's a love/hate relationship with the area. You get smaller properties for bigger money, it takes a while to get anywhere, but once you are where you need to be, beit cycling, motorcycling, hiking, camping, driving, swimming, skiing, etc it's all good.

yup that about sums It up

 

[Detrich]

Yep. The girls here are a breed of their own too tho. They're all normal until they move to CA. lol...