Moving to Southern California

[emfrancine2]

Hello,
My husband, 17 yr old, 14 yr old, 5 yr old and I are looking to re-locate to Southern California with my husbands job.
We were looking at Santa Monica, Malibu, Torrance area which are pretty expensive. So I have found Irvine? As far as I can see The Orange County and Ventura County have good schools and are cheaper.
Does anyone have any advice please??
Thank you

Irvine is a bit dull, but has very good schools. It's cheaper than Malibu (!) or Santa Monica, but then anywhere is cheaper than those two. It would all depend on where your husband's job is. You may be underestimating the drive times between cities. Irvine is a good 1 1/2 hours away from Downtown LA, for example. Check out cities in the South Bay- Redondo Beach, Manhattan Beach, etc. All have good schools, but any beach cities are pricey. The cities above Pasadena are wonderful family towns with excellent schools as well--La Canada-Flintridge, Montrose, etc. Not to mention South Pasadena, beautiful and excellent schools. In Ventura County, Westlake, Parts of Thousand Oaks, Newbury Park are good. Out that way you can look at Calabasas (closer in to Downtown LA than some of these others) Oak Park and Agoura Hills. Again, where you look should be about being within commuting distance of your husband's workplace

Where is the job? That is the most important question as commuting makes a huge difference in your quality of life. Orange County is nice but a bit dull and sprawling, Irvine is very master-planned and soulless to me but it is also pleasant and has good schools. Thousand Oaks is in Ventura County and is a great place for families but the job has to be nearby for that to work. I would not go further into Ventura County. Santa Monica is so expensive that I just don't think it is worth it, Pacific Palisades is almost as expensive but seems like a great place to live with kids. Torrance and the South Bay (Manhattan, Hermosa, Redondo Beach) are great place to live too but again depends on where you have to commute to. Torrance itself is big and sprawling but is a better deal than the actual beach cities but all of those areas have good schools so are very popular with families (and having good public schools is not a given in the LA area even in high priced neighborhoods).

Thank you. My husband is actually client based so we just need to be near an airport. His office is in Palo Alto, but he will hardly need to be there. Basically we could live anywhere!
We ideally would like to be not too far from L.A as my son boxes and the clubs and opportunities there will be fantastic. The schools will need to be good and I think they will all be at different ones by the looks of it.
It would be good to be nr the beach. My husbands salary will be around $200,000 before tax including health insurance.
Is it true we will have to re-take our driving tests?

Thank you

I would rule out Ventura County if airport is an issue. 200k sadly doesn't go that far in LA area. Torrance might work, it is close to LAX and to the beach. South Redondo Beach is also nice, it is a bit more cut off from transportation (freeways) so is a little cheaper than other beach areas but there is a cute town center with shops and restaurants and it is still close to LAX for airport. Long Beach has an airport too (and also isn't too far from LAX) and I think there are some family friendly areas there with good schools but I don't know off the top of my head what they are called. There is also an airport in Orange County which opens up a lot of places but they are also all pretty pricey if you want to be closer to the beach (Huntington Beach may be the best option)

Also join the Brits in LA facebook group, they are a great resource

If boxing is a priority, South Pasadena and its environs, like La Canada, would be a good bet. Great schools, easy access to Burbank Airport (Bob Hope International), and easier commute into Los Angeles where there are a lot of club gyms--especially on the Eastside, below Pasadena.

Also don't rule out El Segundo. Cheaper than Redondo, and the other south bay cities. Nice schools, great family atmosphere, beach--immediately south of LAX. Some people don't like it because of that, but it's a very pleasant, relatively mixed income little town. Very popular with families with multiple children.

Good point about El Segundo, It really is a cute close knit little town, good schools and a cute downtown with restaurants. The airport noise is kind of in the background but the planes don't fly overhead. There is also an oil refinery (which sounds worse than it is) and they pump a lot of money into the town so there are nice facilities. And you can't beat the convenience when you need to catch a flight!

ok thank you. I think its more like 250k basic with health insurance.
I am looking at Torrance, Huntington beach and irvine. Would we be ok in these places? How does it work with the schools? Do we have to have an address before applying to a school?

Thanks

You will need an address first to register for school. At least in my experience, the schools are not typically oversubscribed so once you have an address you are able to register for your zoned school, no need to worry about catchment distances etc., as long as you live in the zone. The zones can be quite big depending how spread out the area is. I think with 250 you would be fine in all of these areas.

Which visa will he be in? That will determine whether you will be able to work it but which will affect your income greatly.

When you say “with health insurance” you need to find out what the co-pays, deductibles and MOOPs are. Whilst the company may be paying for the premiums, it’s extremely unlikely they will be paying the other costs.

Will this be a permanent move? On other words, will the company be eventually sponsoring green cards? That’s quite important otherwise your 17-year-old will age out in less than 4 years and will have to leave the country unless he has another route to a visa or adjustment by then.

250k sounds low for CA. Or anywhere in the west coast. I make $150k a year and there are just two of us. We are very comfortable but the cost of living is a lot higher here. $250k is manageable but won’t give you a lifestyle worth leaving the UK for. To uproot a whole family, sell the family home, etc it has to be worth it.

250 is low enough for a relocation to southern CA at the stage you are at.

Your 17 year old will probably enter junior year in high school. This will be entirely different to post gsce in UK. Do you intend him to apply to US colleges?

Your 14 year old will probably enter high school. So will be expected to do english, math, language, chemistry, biology, physics, history or some combination of them (english math other language non negotiable) in the next 4 years. Every grade he/she gets once they enter high school will count toward final gpa which matters for college applications.

With the older kids, I think you need to be very clear on what their schooling will be like. It will not be like the UK equivalent if you are coming from there (coming from international schools would be less problamatic)

Have you looked into schooling for your 17yr old?, that would be my immediate concern. High school in the US is very different to the UK, a certain number of credits are needed to graduate which are accumulated over at least 4 years (some kids even start taking High school level classes in Middle School).
All students are also expected to take a broad range of classes, there is no specialization as there is with A-levels.
As an example, my 17yr old took English, Calculus BC, Latin, Physics, European History and Micro / Macro Economics.
It might be worth calling local High Schools to see how they will accommodate someone transferring into the system at his age, they are obliged to take all pupils who move into the area but it doesn't hurt to help get prepared in advance!

Sorry, cross posted a lot of info with @pallisers there!

With kids I would choose Irvine or Newport Beach/Newport Coast. Both extremely safe, with fantastic schools and close to John Wayne airport.

If your husband will be traveling frequently, JW is a small airport with little traffic around. I would choose it any day over LAX. I suggest you check where he'll be traveling too most frequently and if they have direct flights.

For school ratings, check greatschools.org. You do need an address to register in a school.

Irvine is cheaper than Newport Beach (but still quite expensive). It's quite dull but close enough to the beaches depending where in Irvine you live.

Thank you everyone for all your help.
I am really thinking as my husband is not office based we could actually live anywhere in the U.S.
So today I have been looking at Florida and have narrowed it down to Tampa. There are fewer 10/10 schools, but its a lot cheaper and we can be by the beach.
Are we making the right choice??

I currently live in California (near SF) and have lived in Florida recently. I personally have a strong preference for California. We moved from the U.K. to Florida when my dad was 8 and he was basically a full year ahead. He was at a 10/10 very highly rated school in Florida. I ended up homeschooling him for half the year and then we moved to CA. He is at a 10/10 school in CA and the standards are much more in line with the U.K. He would’ve been way behind if I hadn’t homeschooled him. I don’t know how high schools are in FL, but I have spoken to other families that are military and have moved between CA and FL (we aren’t military, but there is a presence both here and there and it’s common for people to move between the two) and they’ve had they same issue with the poor quality of schools in FL.

I also just couldn’t get on with the humidity in FL and found it quite boring myself (but that depends on what you enjoy).

For your older dcs you might look into IB programs or international schools, especially if you are planning on moving back to the U.K.

For your youngest dc, school starts in the US at age 5, so they might be a bit ahead now. I found it easy enough for them to adjust at that age though.

As for Southern California, $200-250k should be enough to live somewhere decent, but it is extremely expensive in CA. Food, phones, internet, etc all cost more. Petrol is cheaper, but you’ll drive more. Just be prepared for the shock. Don’t underestimate how terrible traffic can be either. Look at drive times during commute hours, not just distances.

*When my DS was 8, not my dad

I met a lovely couple from Irvine when I was in San Diego. No comment on where to live, but I have always dreamt of being a RHOC!

Florida is very different from Southern California. It is cheaper but to me there is a reason for it! It is very hot and humid in the summer, so much so that going to the beach is intolerable. Tampa is a medium size city and does have some stuff going on but generally isn't the most exciting place to live. Schools in Florida are, in general, not the greatest but obviously there are some good ones mixed in. Florida might also be a huge culture shock coming from the UK, there are a lot of stereotypical Trump loving, gun owning type people there and not that many European transplants (at least ones with a family, there are more that are retired and spend part of the year there). CA is a lot more liberal and diverse and there are tons of British people around. I don't think I could ever live in Florida but some people love it! 250k will go further there for sure especially since you will pay less tax as FL has no state taxes.

Florida in the summer is unbearable. I like the gulf coast (where Tampa is) but having visited in June - it was like stepping into a sauna every time you go out of the house. And it is the south and conservative

Florida schools wouldn't be my first choice at all.

Why does your dh have to be resident in the US, OP? your 17 year old will find it really difficult educationally (socially I suspect he may be the cool kid with the british accent - we hope). Your 14 year old will be entering a system that is so different to the English one that it is really hard to switch back and forth. If you are not English, then that is different (I think the scottish system is much more closely aligned/formed the basis of the US system of education)

I’m so intrigued with this thread. If your DH can live anywhere, what visa are you coming in on?! Florida has a 3 hour time difference to Cali.

Yes also intrigued at what job requires you to be in the US but not in a particular time zone or state.

Where will his customers be? Florida to CA is a long and expensive flight - would his company cover that cost when he is needed in the office?

Yes also intrigued at what job requires you to be in the US but not in a particular time zone or state.
That's not unusual at all. I have many colleagues who work from home in other states, join our meetings on webex, visit clients who are all over the US, and visit the office a couple of days per month.