pj
I think you should seriously re-evaluate. With all due respect to SD R, I dont think there is a more family oriented area than where you already live and I have a far better perspective to make that claim. You live in my backyard and I know exactly where you live (RP). Your neighborhood has lots of young families and will continue to pull in more as the older homeowners move away. I have two kids at ECC (API scores around 950) which is where you children would go to school. It is the an incredible school with great parent involvement. This area is full of nice/well-educated young families that you would enjoy once you meet them and get access to the deep social networks that exist around here.

The problem you face is that you are a childless couple liklely spending most of your time at work. As soon as you have kids, you will instantly meet all the other young familes in your community and those that surround it. It is all around you but you just cant see it right now.

I’d head over to ECC around 2:00 one day and check it out. You will see people your age picking up kids and many off them will have infants and/or new borns in their arms. You will see some fancy cars but mostly average vehicles. Many of the areas you mentioned are filled with folks aspiring to more than they can afford and spending every penny they have. There you can meet all your overleveraged neighbors and watch them lose their homes one at a time.

Here you will find predominantly well-educated, fiscally conservative and highly successful folks living well within their means. If you are already “on the train” here I wouldnt get off. Lay down roots and when you need it and/or can afford it you can move up to something bigger/nicer in the area.

I have been everywhere in this county and I just dont think it gets any better than this.

BTW, staying here could allow your wife to continue to work on a full or part time basis once those kids come along. That is a BIG advantage!

Better yet, head over to ECC tonite at around 6pm. The Dad’s Club is sponsoring a Character Counts speaker. There is a Sherpa from Nepal who has climbed Mt Everest multple time and holds many climbing records coming to speak to the kids and their parents. I dont know how big a crowd it will pull but it will give you a good glimpse into the facility and families that go there.