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Northern California (north of San Francisco)--Tell me more.


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If you live (have lived) in No. Cal., can you please tell us more about it? My husband's family lives in So. Cal., but we're not looking to move there. He grew up in San Jose and has always hoped to get back to CA. We met on eHarmony, and he moved here to marry me. :001_wub:

 

What can you tell me about No. Cal.? Redding? Mendocino? Anywhere else?

 

We like hiking. We love the ocean. We enjoy open spaces and beautiful, green views. :D We like being able to be outdoors (more than is usually possible in New Jersey). We seem to be gearing up in many ways... perhaps for a big change? Anyway, :bigear:. Thanks.

 

Oh, and we homeschool. :001_smile: What is that like in California?

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Okay...here it goes:

 

Mendocino: Very beautiful, "crunchy", may be hard to find a job depending on what you do, (fairly) small community, very health/environmentally conscious crowd with a great natural food store :D, beautiful view of the Pacific. Long ways from a hospital or college/university, nearest place could be Santa Rosa. On Hwy 1, this would take about 2+ hours. If you are trying to avoid Hwy 1, you have to climb over the mountains first - there are roads of course but very curvy and it also takes a while to arrive...Housing would likely be astronomical because of the proximity to the ocean.

 

Redding (Central Valley): Very hot. Reaches F 100+ regularly during the months of May/June until September (cooling down a bit to low nineties, maybe by September :001_smile:). Very kid friendly town, somewhat still old-fashioned values. Has a hospital. Nearest college is a private one. I believe there is a community college in Redding. "Lemon Pie" can help out with this - I think. Is (fairly) close to the Oregon border - about 2 hours. Economy is so-so but again depending on what you do. Housing is likely in the $150,000 - $350,000 for the average home.

 

Chico (Central Valley): Also hot but not as hot as Redding. Has first rate hospital and Chico State University as well as a community college nearby. Has beautiful and rather large Bidwell Park which offers endless hiking / biking trails.

Economy also so-so...see above. Housing may be a tad higher than Redding.

 

Santa Rosa (Coastal Area but not right at the ocean). Economy better than in central valley by and large. Offers first rate community college. Nearest university is just south of Santa Rosa. STEM majors are not their strength but they are more known for their Liberal Arts majors.

Housing is higher than in the central valley. Median prices start at $350,000 and go up, up.

 

I am familiar with all the above places, have not lived in Mendocino but visit frequently, am familiar with Chico, Santa Rosa and Redding.

 

Central Coast is another animal - this would be south of San Jose and your dh may know more about this than I do.

 

PM me with any questions.

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Redding (Central Valley): Very hot. Reaches F 100+ regularly during the months of May/June until September (cooling down a bit to low nineties, maybe by September :001_smile:). Very kid friendly town, somewhat still old-fashioned values. Has a hospital. Nearest college is a private one. I believe there is a community college in Redding. "Lemon Pie" can help out with this - I think. Is (fairly) close to the Oregon border - about 2 hours. Economy is so-so but again depending on what you do. Housing is likely in the $150,000 - $350,000 for the average home.

There's Shasta College. It's really a nice little community college, imo, and they even have dorms. Quite unusual for a CC.

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Redding (Central Valley): Very hot. Reaches F 100+ regularly during the months of May/June until September (cooling down a bit to low nineties, maybe by September :001_smile:). Very kid friendly town, somewhat still old-fashioned values. Has a hospital. Nearest college is a private one. I believe there is a community college in Redding. "Lemon Pie" can help out with this - I think. Is (fairly) close to the Oregon border - about 2 hours. Economy is so-so but again depending on what you do. Housing is likely in the $150,000 - $350,000 for the average home.

 

Yep, I'm in the greater Redding area. Definitely gets hot here, but it's a dry heat so I don't find it too bad, though it's definitely not green here in the summer :D. Winters are mild. There are actually two hospitals. There is Simpson University, which is a private religious college, Shasta College which is a CC and there are some Chico State outreach programs up this way. Also a handful of technical colleges and . . . I don't know what you call them, but places like National University that offer mainly advanced degrees (I think?). Somewhat crunchy, but still pretty traditional. Lots of hiking/lakes/outdoorsy stuff if you're into that. Close to skiing in the winter, 4 hours from the ocean and 2 hrs from the OR border. Shopping situation is less than stellar, IMO, but not too bad. We have a lot of the major stuff--Costco, Target, and the like. One of the things I really like about the area is that you can find places to live that feel pretty 'rural' but you're within reasonable driving distance of the main town.

 

Mendocino county is pretty isolated (and it's the pot capital of the world), but it is beautiful. If you want coastal, I personally would look farther north at the Eureka/Arcata/Fortuna/McKinleyville area. Still isolated a bit, but nothing like Mendocino is and with a lot more local options. The weather is much milder over there, especially the summers, and you still have almost all the outdoorsy options, with possibly the exception of easy ski access.

 

Homeschooling in CA is super easy. If you prefer to go the charter school route, there are several charters that offer homeschool options in the area. APL and New Day (which sounds religious but isn't) are two that I hear a lot about. Or you can go the private route and file an annual affidavit basically declaring yourself a private school and be completely on your own. No hoops to jump through whatsoever.

 

HTH

Edited by LemonPie
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You mentioned San Jose so let me tell you about the East Bay. NOT what he remembers most likely. If he wants to "go home again", fuggetaboutit. Sorry to burst his bubble if that's what he's longing for. I grew up in the East Bay and since the internet boom, the place has become severely overcrowded and has ballooned in housing prices. Word has it, a three bedroom townhome, above nominally trendy stores in Dublin (not much to talk about) is going for over $400k.

 

If you like that kinda thing, you'd enjoy the fact that the smaller towns like Livermore, Dublin, and Pleasanton have revitalized their dead-end looks. Things like a community opera house and vineyards popping up everywhere are things to enjoy.

 

I just can't get over all the people everywhere all.the.time. Freeways are packed at 9pm. I sound old and I'm only 34 yo but I just can't hack it for more than a few days anymore. :tongue_smilie:

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It's beautiful. Amazingly so.

Rocky beaches, fog, windswept trees and the smell of eucalyptus.

Temperature usually hovers near 72 degrees all year long. It can actually be colder there in the summer becuase the fog gets heavy. I remember a July day there - it was over 100 in the valley and the foothills, but as soon as you crossed over the coastal range, the temp plumeted to 52, foggy, and windy! :)

After you get north of about Pismo Beach, the more rocky the beaches, so you have to leave your expectations of those Southern CA beaches behind :)

San Luis Obispo is gorgeous and south of San Fran, google Montana De Oro :)

Also google pictures of "California's Lost Coast".

Inland - I grew up in Auburn, in the "Gold Country".... it is beautiful there as well. Placerville, Grass Valley, Nevada City- all in the hills/mountains and great.

I avoid the valley - it's hot. Very hot. And flat. All agriculture, and little of the beauty CA is so known for.

North of the Sacramento valley, though, even inland gets pretty :)

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Well, do you want to live along the coast, or in the Central Valley? Big difference!

 

I prefer coastal. Even Sacramento is too Central Valley for me. :-/

 

Homeschooling in California:

 

Here's the long story:

 

Children in California must be enrolled in a private school or a public school, or tutored full-time by a credentialed teacher.

 

Private schools are not regulated by the state, other than having to file an annual affidavit (Private School Affidavit--PSA, formerly known as an R-4, because that was the form number. :001_smile: Now you can file it on-line.) There is no testing, minimum # of school days, minimum number of students, requirements for teachers (other than being "persons capable of teaching"), graduation, nada. The affidavit asks for number of students in each grade, name of school, whether it's all-girl, all-boy or co-ed, day school or boarding school...stuff like that. Filing the affidavit is not permission, recognition, authorization, or anything. The private school is just notifying the state that a private school exists and what kind of private school it is.

 

Because the private school law is so vague, especially regarding the number of children enrolled, most homeschoolers over the years have filed their own affidavits (I filed mine for the first time in 1982).

 

In the early 80s, a number of people decided it was scarey to file an affidavit with just two or three students; three or four counties were actively hostile towards homeschoolers (although no one ever actually went to court), so they figured out that one person could file the affidavit and others could "enroll" their dc, making all of them anonymous. Thus was born what they called Independent Study Programs (ISPs); later Family Protection Ministries encourage them to say "private school" instead, since ISP specifically referred to programs established by public schools, and conversations with Official Authority Types could be confusing. Some people caught on to that, some didn't, BTW.

 

In 2008, there was a court case regarding a homeschooled child who was enrolled in a home-based private school. The short story is that the court decided that yes, it was legal for people to homeschool by filing their own affidavits or by enrolling in a private school, which it called Private School Satellite Program (PSP). This puts California right up there with easy states like Illinois and Texas, both of which are private school states because of court decisions.

 

Now the short story:

 

File an affidavit annually between October 1 and 15. Congratulations! You're a private school! :D

 

Short addendum: Join HSLDA. :001_smile:

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We live in San Francisco and just love Northern CA. When we moved to SF, we had looked at a number of cities and chose SF over many other major cities because it is so close to natural areas. I can be out of the city (really out of the city) and at the beach or on a hike in 20 minutes. It is gorgeous here along the coast, Yosemite is a few hours west, big redwoods just north....I could go on and on.

 

As stated, homeschooling is easy, home prices are more than much of the rest of the country (at least in the Bay Area), and it is a tremendous melting pot of cultures and ideas. You should come for a visit and head north and see what you think!

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I grew up in the Monterey Bay area. I have no idea what homeschooling is like there, but it's an absolutely gorgeous area. Big Sur, the mountains, Point Lobos. We spent lots of time on the beach. It really is beautiful. The weather is not like southern Cal, though. Cool year-round. I think I owned only one pair of shorts through high school.

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My cousin and his wife just moved from Penn. to Eureka this past week. She is from Northern California. She said that it averages around 65-75 all year round, not a lot of jobs, and its very beautiful!

 

Have to chime in again only to agree. Eureka and Arcata are coastal towns, very foggy but if you like that kind of weather, they are cute little towns and it never gets anywhere near hot. Economy is rather specific but if you are a self employed it may work.

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I don't have much to add, but I live in Chico! It's a great town. It does get hot here, but not as hot as the rest of the Central Valley, and we have a creek to play in and lots of good outdoorsy stuff to do. If you like parks, try ours.

 

The economy is not so great, but that's true in all of Northern CA...and the rest of the state.

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Ukiah (in Mendocino County) is one of the bigger towns in the county. It is about 45 mins north of Santa Rosa on 101. It is a nice area with a basic community college Mendocino Community College, and they do dual enrollement (or did 10 years ago). It is more townish and just a short way away is country life. It is very very very wine country. Its about 1 hour from Fort Bragg which is right on the coast and about 2 hours from Humbolt. Also has Lake Mendocino and about 45 mins from Clear Lake.

That said I DO NOT recommed anywhere in Lake County (where Clear Lake is) because while beautiful there is nothing for teen to do and basically it was drinking and all that goes along with that in high school.

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I was born and raised in NorCal, about 2 hrs east of SF. It it such a great place to homeschool. We file an affidavit every year and go about our school year with no worries. There is so much to do...many field trips to take - most all within a day's time. We can't afford to live near the coast, nor is it conducive to dh's livestock business, but I love that we are only 2 hrs away from the ocean, and 1 hr from a ski resort. If I could live near the coast, I would choose something near the Monterey Peninsula.

Edited by cowgirl
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Yep, I'm in the greater Redding area. Definitely gets hot here, but it's a dry heat so I don't find it too bad, though it's definitely not green here in the summer :D. Winters are mild. There are actually two hospitals. There is Simpson University, which is a private religious college, Shasta College which is a CC and there are some Chico State outreach programs up this way. Also a handful of technical colleges and . . . I don't know what you call them, but places like National University that offer mainly advanced degrees (I think?). Somewhat crunchy, but still pretty traditional. Lots of hiking/lakes/outdoorsy stuff if you're into that. Close to skiing in the winter, 4 hours from the ocean and 2 hrs from the OR border. Shopping situation is less than stellar, IMO, but not too bad. We have a lot of the major stuff--Costco, Target, and the like. One of the things I really like about the area is that you can find places to live that feel pretty 'rural' but you're within reasonable driving distance of the main town.

 

Mendocino county is pretty isolated (and it's the pot capital of the world), but it is beautiful. If you want coastal, I personally would look farther north at the Eureka/Arcata/Fortuna/McKinleyville area. Still isolated a bit, but nothing like Mendocino is and with a lot more local options. The weather is much milder over there, especially the summers, and you still have almost all the outdoorsy options, with possibly the exception of easy ski access.

 

Homeschooling in CA is super easy. If you prefer to go the charter school route, there are several charters that offer homeschool options in the area. APL and New Day (which sounds religious but isn't) are two that I hear a lot about. Or you can go the private route and file an annual affidavit basically declaring yourself a private school and be completely on your own. No hoops to jump through whatsoever.

 

HTH

 

Thank you, Lemon Pie, this is great information to know. :thumbup1: I wish I could rep you. :D

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Okay...here it goes:

 

Mendocino: Very beautiful, "crunchy", may be hard to find a job depending on what you do, (fairly) small community, very health/environmentally conscious crowd with a great natural food store :D, beautiful view of the Pacific. Long ways from a hospital or college/university, nearest place could be Santa Rosa. On Hwy 1, this would take about 2+ hours. If you are trying to avoid Hwy 1, you have to climb over the mountains first - there are roads of course but very curvy and it also takes a while to arrive...Housing would likely be astronomical because of the proximity to the ocean.

 

Redding (Central Valley): Very hot. Reaches F 100+ regularly during the months of May/June until September (cooling down a bit to low nineties, maybe by September :001_smile:). Very kid friendly town, somewhat still old-fashioned values. Has a hospital. Nearest college is a private one. I believe there is a community college in Redding. "Lemon Pie" can help out with this - I think. Is (fairly) close to the Oregon border - about 2 hours. Economy is so-so but again depending on what you do. Housing is likely in the $150,000 - $350,000 for the average home.

 

Chico (Central Valley): Also hot but not as hot as Redding. Has first rate hospital and Chico State University as well as a community college nearby. Has beautiful and rather large Bidwell Park which offers endless hiking / biking trails.

Economy also so-so...see above. Housing may be a tad higher than Redding.

 

Santa Rosa (Coastal Area but not right at the ocean). Economy better than in central valley by and large. Offers first rate community college. Nearest university is just south of Santa Rosa. STEM majors are not their strength but they are more known for their Liberal Arts majors.

Housing is higher than in the central valley. Median prices start at $350,000 and go up, up.

 

I am familiar with all the above places, have not lived in Mendocino but visit frequently, am familiar with Chico, Santa Rosa and Redding.

 

Central Coast is another animal - this would be south of San Jose and your dh may know more about this than I do.

 

PM me with any questions.

 

Liz, this is great information for us to know as we filter through our options. Thanks! Here's some rep, LOL. :thumbup1:

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  • 6 months later...

Did you move here yet? If not, and you're still considering it, I can tell you about Marin County (what the other end of the Golden Gate Bridge connects to) - I'm the coordinator for the Christian homeschool group here :) Sonoma County (Santa Rosa et al) is just north of us.

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