Is Thousand Oaks a good place to live? (Los Angeles, San Francisco: real estate, rent)

[Rafter]

Thousand Oakes is a great place to live. Housing have leveled off in the past
year.As a carpenter here for the past 6 yrs, I know the area well

[MSUnurse]

Rafter - How do you like Simi Valley? I'll be moving to CA soon and am considering Simi Valley. I'm just a little concerned about the fault lines.

[fastfilm]

MSUnurse, the fault lines are a problem for everyone west of the Central Valley in California, and particularly all of Southern California. There's 2 ways to look at this: one would be to accept the risk, as one would of tornados in the plains' states and do what the locals here do, which is to say be prepared with food and water, hard-soled shoes and flashlights next to your bed. The other would be to succumb to fear of the unknown. Simi Valley, by the by is great: I wish I could afford it. Here's a government link to introduce you the geography and frequency of quakes here. It's is updated hourly!

http://quake.wr.usgs.gov/recenteqs/

I will add that I went throught the terrible 1994 earthquake, 3 miles from the epicenter, in which my neighbors were killed. What made it unusual is that it was unusual: we hadn't had a quake that big in 30 years. Usually it's the disquieting type that feels like a fleet of big rigs just rolled into your room.

[Rafter]

MSUnurse
Simi Valley is a great place to live. My wife & I w/ 2 teen boys relocated from
western PA 8 yrs ago. After getting over the initial shock ( house price, ethnic diversity, & population density) we learned to call this home. We live in one of the older neighborhhoods (1961) , but have a good sized lot. Generally all of Simi Valley is considered safe. The police have little tolerance for gangs and graffiti. We know from personal experience (boys will be boys)
In considering other places, Moorpark and Camarillo are also nice. Simi is probably the least expensive. Thousand Oaks and Newbury Park are slightly more expensive. Simi just opened an outdoor mall and a culteral arts center. Some people have said that Simi is a little boring, but we like it that way. Hope this is some help.

MSUnurse- as to your concern about earthquakes, I agree w/ fastfilm.

[bluejeans]

I'm not qualified to make any statements about TO, but it has been rated the safest city of its size in the U.S...

[Winston Smith]

Thousand Oaks is total suburbia. But if you're put off by Mexicans, southern California is not the place for you, including TO. Southern CA is the northern reaches of Latin America. Moreover, it is in many ways where America meets the rest of the world -- HALF of the population is foreign born (myself included, Europe).

That said, if you can get over yourself and give immigrants from Latin-America a chance (they come from many countries, not just Mexico), you might discover that they are warm, hard-working and family oriented. You might also discover that the "other" major European language used in Southern CA, Spanish, is a beautiful one. And, Southern CA has THE BEST Mexican food, from fancy restaurants to tiny dive joints and corner eateries -- the best!

[brian_2]

"..Southern CA has THE BEST Mexican food, from fancy restaurants to tiny dive joints and corner eateries -- the best!"

I've had lots of Mexican dishes in Texas, Arizona and California, and other areas to a much lesser degree. (Incidently, I've had excellent Mexican food in Germany, the Netherlands, and in NY). I've had tamales sold out of peoples cars, I've eaten at upscale places, I've eaten home cooked meals in the private homes of Mexican/Central Americans, I've shared meals with Mexicans coworkers in kitchens coast to coast, and I've heard debates on this subject ad naseum, and can assure you & others that the answer to, "where is the best Mexican food" is not answerable. It just depends. Do you prefer hatch, do you like Baja style, is seafood your preference, do you like Mexican fusion or homestyle? Are you ok with foods fried in lard? Do you live in a rural or urban area of the state? I will state the obvious that California is a big state and that increases the odds of finding good Mexican food if you ask around, but peoples taste vary widely - so know the person of whose opinion you trust. California urban areas are very densely populated, and this increases competition and increases ones odds of finding decent Mexican food. Anglo Julia Child liked a humble l'il place in Santa Barbara called, "La Super Rico." Go try it. You'll see fresh masa meal being worked over and put into tortilla presses. The tortillas are very fresh - to some folks the masa flavor is king, to some the chilis flavor & type is king, but to most people it is just what they like themselves. I do agree that a great many Mexican restaurants are predictably mediocre and the food is generic and below average. One final thing - you don't have to be of Mexican ancestry to cook good Mexican food.

[jaro17]

NorCalGuy,

You asked whether Thousand Oaks a good place to live; then added that you'd "like to move to a place that isn't 50% Mexican, where we can be assured that employees in the stores where we shop speaks English, and where the Mexican demonstrations are nonexistant".

My first thought was that perhaps you'd be happier in East St. Louis MO (which is also north of LA, and buying a quaint residence there won't set anyone back 500k), but I do refrain from making such a recommendation.

I think what you're after is a safe neighbourhood with low crime incidences, and on that note Thousand Oaks does very well for the area. La Canada Flintridge has slightly lower crime rates, albeit the housing values are also slightly higher than in T.O.

Everyone ought to be able to enjoy a safe environment, regardless of ethnicity.

Best of luck
jaro17

[teddybear1929]

Latin people are very hard working people, its a blessing that kis can know not only spanish, but also french, japanesse and any other language. Ia competitive world knowing more than one language can opne lots of opportunites.

Maybe the people that you find to do the laundr, babysat etc are latinamericans because most american that dont study live of welfare and dont like to get dirty with those jobs. You should be ashamed of those comments . There are good and bad mexicans also there are good and bad americans, and if you know a little about history, California used to be part of Mexico. AMericans are a mix of the people that came from England and all the immigration movements along the history. Learn more, you never know when you need of a latin or maybe at a hospital who save your life or someone you care is a hispanic.
May God open your mind and your heart.

Originally Posted by Jamileena

If you don't want to live around Mexicans, then I suggest you stay up north, oh wait...Nor Cal is full of Mexicans too. I lived in Santa Cruz an hour south of S.F. and worked mainly with people of Latin decent. Good luck finding a non-hispanic person to mow your lawn, pick your fruit and veggies, clean your house, watch your kids, wash your car, sell you gas, cook your food, etc. all for only pennies a day.

And to correct a few of the previous posters, most places in the Conejo Valley ("Conejo" is Spanish for rabbit, btw) and surrounding areas are populated with Mexicans. Pretty much, anywhere you live in So Cal has a hispanic population. Ventura is a nice beach community, but beware, the Mexican-Americans were there demonstrating near the college and the pre-schoolers learn Spanish.

Try a state far from the border of Mexico, like Hamburg, Il, population 149, its 99% white.

[newportbeachsmostwanted]

Teddybear, you have good intentions, but you fail to realize that the orig. poster is NOT a racist nor a supremacist. Rather just a normal guy wanting to live a good life. Telling him to move to Iceland is uncalled for.

Originally Posted by teddybear1929

Latin people are very hard working people, its a blessing...

..if you know a little about history, California used to be part of Mexico.
(

California used to be part of Mexico? Shocker! But, I'm confused how that makes it suddenly okay for 12 million people to ignore our culture, and form their own mini-communities in our country.