Antihero

If you like being near the coast , eg 10 min drive you have camarillo which is near ventura . Easy access onto motorway. Depending on traffic you can be in LA in 45 min , same with malibu .
it all depends on your husband visa and package. If he is on a l1 then you can apply to work on your l2 with an aed .
The more cars you have the more the running costs will be with insurance , gas etc and that will be a big financial strain as both are not cheap and buying or leasing is not cheap either.
I wouldn't live near LA due to rental prices , traffic and you can get more for your money if you move to outside areas but will depend on the schools

emfram

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??

Nutmegger

Are you related to "Oxford UK"?

emfram

Yes- we currently live and are from oxford in the U.K.
Do you know the area?

scrubbedexpat099

You have 2 accounts?

Nutmegger

No, the similarity in the families described by each of you in your posts made me wonder!

emfram

Sorry I thought you meant do I live in Oxford!

Just spoken to my husband and he thought he was being helpful setting me up an account! So yes now I have 2!
I will stick to this and see how to close the other.

Sorry for the confusion!

sherbert

There are also multiple threads on living in Florida too and I am sure people will be along soon to let you know about that side of the country. While not as expensive as California (you pay no income tax in FL), some of the caveats still apply: you will need cars and health insurance will still require a contribution from you even when provided by the employer. Also note that you will need a large lump sum of cash for use upon arrival for things like rent (first month, last month and deposit, or a certain amount of months' rent up front because you have no credit history) and for cars and deposits for utilities (with no credit history, companies often require lump sum upfront to guarantee that you'll pay). Also research the cost of mobile phones (much, much higher than in the UK but you can get family packages that come with 4 phones and 4 lines etc), internet connections etc. Is the company providing any relocation allowance?

Bob

I can't help with specifics, but can say that the school rating sites. Take them with a huge pinch of salt. Richer areas, can afford to massage their results and exclude people to bring up their rates. Poorer areas, or smaller schools who aren't amazing but still very good might have reasons why their score is lower that has nothing to do with academic record.

Locally, the county puts all the kids who are homeless in one of the schools in town. So all those folks living in shelters etc, and because kids are moving around, they miss school, or are late due to bus issues and it is one factor that drags their score down quite a bit but isn't anything the school can control and you wouldn't have a clue just looking at the scoring websites.

Those sites are a good guide, but there is bound to be a local town FB group, mums group, etc, where you can ask about specific schools and get a better idea on things.

Jerseygirl

Do you want the OxfordUK account merging with yours or keep them as husband and wife separate accounts. We do not allow one person to have multiple accounts.

Lion in Winter

With the ages of your children, don't forget to consider university education as an additional cost for the future if they are planning to attend - either paying for it in the US, or paying international rate fees back in the UK since if your children are not "habitually resident" in the UK for three years prior to starting university you are likely to find yourself paying international fees, which are double or more.

Nutmegger

Have you folks thought about San Diego? There’s another thread extolling its virtues!

park99

Fellow ex-Oxford resident here, now in SoCal.

SoCal is lovely if you like outdoors lifestyle, but if you are used to the cultural and history feeling of Oxford, SoCal can be dull!

I would be mostly worried about the school situation. Your kid will be university age very soon and he/she probably won't qualify for the resident fees. It will be very expensive for nonresident. Plus you will have the second child going to uni in 3 years and that is another big commitment.

And what is your visa situation? 200K is a very good salary for most states in US but unfortunately California is very expensive, you will also notice the tax takes a massive cut on the pay cheque. It will be very helpful to have two incomes.

If finance is not a concern and your kids are all on board, you are happy with not able to work for a while (in the case of visa limite), then it's worth the move. Just remember the homesick can be very tough in the beginning!

snowscreamer

I live in central Florida (Orlando) and have visited Tampa as well as spent several holidays over in SoCal; we have relatives in Rancho Santa Margarita which is gorgeous. If cost wasn't an issue I would definitely prefer SoCal as it is really a cultural abyss here in Florida. However financially we are considerably better off here than either London/Home Counties or California. So much so that we plan to stay here until the end of our visa (initially thought we'd only do 1-2 years) so we can stockpile some cash for a nice home in the UK...

Also the weather is nice.

Steerpike

I would argue that there are some great inland areas; I personally LOVE Pasadena, and there are other lovely places all along the I-210 corridor (eg, La Canada). Pasadena has a fantastic restaurant and shopping district, a gorgeous backdrop of mountains, and it's where Caltech is located, and JPL (Jet Propulsion Labs) - so plenty of smart professionals there.