Lake Arrowhead & Crestline Communities

Hello all. I am considering moving back to Lake Arrowhead. Now that I have children, I am wondering where the kids go after school? Any idea where a second grader would go? Are the bus stops usually close enough to the homes to be safe? Are there after school programs, rec centers or anything there? I also have a 3 1/2 year old which I am sure would not be walking home anytime soon, and a high schooler. But I remember the roads with really fast drivers, and now I read about the coyotes and stuff, and I am kind of worried. Currently, I stay home and my husband works. But down the road, I may decide that I need to go back to work. THX

I don't know what area you plan to move in, but my boys used to attend the Parks & Rec after school centers @ LAE & Grandview.

You can also go on the Rim School District website to look up all the bus routes.

Bus stops are at schools (sounds silly - but think high school and middle school) and along major roads at various points. It is certainly a consideration for picking a home if you want the convenience of your children walking home from the bus stop. Otherwise you will have to meet the bus and drive home. The cost of a bus pass this year was $185), however my kids received free passes due to their school attendance. You do not have to buy a year pass, you can buy single tickets or books of tickets. LAE and I believe other schools have after school care through Parks & Rec. Some schools have Boys & Girls Clubs on site.
The district website is:
http://www.rimsd.k12.ca.us/
Bus and pass info:
http://www.rimsd.k12.ca.us/buspass/buspass.htm

Just to clarify the bus stops at schools in case my previous post made no sense and this may not either. For an elementary student they might live near the high school and take the bus there and a middle school student could take the bus to an elementary school.

Hi gem4! Great! Thank you very much for that info.

Hi nanomug,

Thank you very much. That is much different than where we live now. In FL, there are bus stops all over near your house. Anything over 2 miles from the school, they walk though. But the bus stops are not dangerous because everything is flat and straight, and no bad weather. But we do have to worry about pedophiles takine our kids here, so I still walk my 7 year old to and from school. Also, there is no bus fee here. ANd we have a great rec center that is free after school, only pay $40 a month for a seperate bus company from the school. So, I am just worried because I do not want my son walking more than a block or something home, if I have to work. And I know that if I work down the hill ever, that there are weather issues in getting back in time etc. Am I just making it harder than it is? Is it possible to have 2 parents working down the hill and making it back in time to pick them up at after school care? THX

Many of our roads are not wide enough for the buses to pass safely in all weather. This year we had a lot of snow in a short period of time and there were streets that had walls of snow and were barely wide for one passenger car. It has been the trend for DTH schools to charge for busses or to eliminate them. Parks and Rec offers before and after care. From what I've heard there are many people who offer the same in their homes. Deciding where to live and what works for your family is important and best done before you move somewhere. Commuting takes a toll and up/down the hill is not for everyone. Commuting DTH costs money (so does driving up here) as we are prone to going through tires and brakes more frequently. There are many factors to consider. When we moved here both of us worked mostly at home. My work was project oriented and the time involved went up and down. I went to San Diego once a week and DH went to OC 2x week. Our scheduling was very careful not to overlap and any business trips were carefully planned. By the time DH began working in Redlands the company I worked for relocated and I was not longer working. This was shortly after the Old Fire and evacuations and I didn't want both of us to be off the mountain on a regular basis. During the last fire/evacuations it was a fluke that DH was home to evacuate with us. I am telling you this for you to think about different things that may happen (rarely) but could affect you. My kids are older and quite involved in music. If I worked off the hill every day they would easily be able to participate in their activities.

We moved up in July 07 I could only find work down the hill I have 2 kids 10 & 11 yrs. old the bus situation for us was not ideal for us their stops are along the two major hwys above the lake and the one that goes around the lake and for our kids to get to them they would've had to walk 4 block of windy roads, the streets are narrow, there is really no safe spot for the kids that walk and some people drive like bats out of hell on them then you have the weather factor if its freezing or raining or snow they have to walk thru that I spent a lot of my time giving some of the kids I saw walking in the rain and snow a ride to their stops because I just felt sorry for them having to walk thru that it sucks! I was able to drop my kids off @ school but with both of us working down the hill we were not able to pick them up so I put my kids @ the boys and girls club @ Lake Arrowhead Elementary which was nice because that is where my kids went to school and one kid liked it and the other was miserable. It cost $40.00 a month and like most places it had it good and bad qualities that's my opinion. There is a parks and recreation @ that school too but it was much more expensive for us. I couldn't find any place that tooks care of kids my age @ private homes. The drive up and down the hill was ok for the most part it did put a lot of wear and tear on my new car, there were only 7 days where the fog was really bad but you just go slower and 4 days where the snow was really bad but I stopped working @ the end of January before we had some really bad snow storms. When we had the fires/evacuation I was still home but my husband was not and when he heard about the fires he came home but was not allowed up so with the compact car I have we got a weeks worth of clothes for 4 people, the kids hamsters,picture albums and our important papers that was it and it took forever to get down. The snow storms and high winds made our electricity go out 4 times luckily it was after I stopped working. My kids had a lot of snow days and scholl days off which made me miss a lot of work and ultimately why I was let go. Ive been looking for work since then with no luck either they have jobs but they don't pay well or there are 200 people applying for that position. I know its a lot but I wish I would have had someone tell me stuff like this, even though we love it up here and we are all happy we made the move.

Wow, pixiew! Thank you so much for writing all of this. This is definately something to look at. I know that for my husband, he is an IT Manager, and has seen a lot of jobs online DTH/Riverside/Redlands. But he is willing to drive further than I am, with the kids. I would have to do customer service, or eventually HR, since I will have my BA. But for now, I do not know where I would get a job. I only have an Associate Degree now, and I have seen hardly any jobs. And I also figured that both of us working DTH would be hard if there was a fire, bad weather etc. We also have 2 dogs. WHat happens if there is a fire, and you have 3 kids and 2 dogs on the mountain? Will they let one of us up to get them? That is scary. I know the fog is horrible, and that is something that scares me worse than the snow, because we have driven up when we could not see and I was so scared. I was thinking the same thing about the kids walking home on hte narrow roads. I keep weighing it all out. People do drive crazy there. My daughter was almost hit on our last visit when she was 6, and we were right there telling her to move over. But sometimes kids do not think like they should. The job thing is scary for me. I have stayed home for the most part, since raising the kids, but at some point I will return to work. If you don't mind me asking, what type of work did you have a hard time finding? Our other thought was to maybe move to Corona or Ranco Cucamonga, after looking online, and visit the mountains. But I think that I would always feel like I want to live in Lake Arrowhead again, every time I visit. And I do not know how bad the crime is down there, and it seems that the schools in Lake Arrowhead seem better. I have read nothing about gangs etc. I went to Lake Arrowhead Elementary myself, but I was really young. Anyway, lots to think about. Thank you very much for all of your thoughts about living there. It is definately a harder life. But it is a trade off I think. I do miss the mountains, always will.

Hi Nanomug,

Thank you. I am sure getting a reality check from many of you. That is great though. I need to know how it will be, and do not want to make a mistake. If we did not have kids, I think it would be very different. But when you have kids and dogs to take care of, these things are important. My husband, he doesn't really think of all of these things, with the kids, and daycare times, school bus walks etc. So, I have to figure it all out so that we can do it. I am kind of a protective parent, always worried about the kids. We do not let our young kids play by themselves outside etc, even in FL. Even our 7 year old. There are crazies out here, not so much in their cars, but pedophiles all over FL, quite a few. So, anyway, I think of everything. So, I am glad that you are mentioning some of these things, so I can think about it all. Anyway, thank you very much. I am sure I may oist more questions as I am trying to figure it all out. THX

The fire/evacuation issue can be scary if both parents work down the hill. During the last one the fire started before 6 a.m. and evacuations were started early; we got the call around 7:30 a.m. Some people got back up before they closed up bound traffic. Had school been in session they would have bussed the kids off the mountain. Knowing what the evac plan for a day care provider is a must. About snow. This year was short and brutal. Some employers are understanding and some aren't. DH is fortunate and brings work home every night just in case during the winter. This year he had to be in the office and stayed down one week when we were having storms. He came home Friday between storms. The plows were bad this year and he had to shovel out the side street just to park. Of course the snow blower chose this week to break. The year after the Old Fire we had rain that closed roads. At one point all roads off the mountain were closed for several days. Some folks were stuck up here and some were stuck down. Things happen and we all make the choice to live here and deal or live elsewhere. Rancho Cucumonga has grown so much in the last 5-10 years. Lots of shopping and new homes. Don't know much about how the school system has kept up with the growth. Several relatives grew up there but thats been awhile. Corona is another big growth area. Both have lots of commuters. Depending on where you end up getting a job, you will have choices. If you get jobs in the Redlands area, Forest Falls is in the Redlands School District (which is good) and is a mountain community and wouldn't be a bad commute. Also you might want to consider the cost of commuting from here. Gas is in the $3.80 - $4.10 range here. It costs DH at least $150 in gas to commute to Redlands in a Civic Hybrid! That does include a few miles running errands.

Another city that has good schools, and has a little more rural setting than Redlands....is Yucaipa...it's just past Redlands on the 10 frwy. I lived there for more than 20 years, raised my 3 kids, and was a school secretary there for 20 years. In the past few years, Yucaipa has had a lot of growth. But, it is still a very nice place to raise a family.

Hi nanomug,

Thank for all of that info. I talked to my husband, and we checked out the schools in Corona and Rancho Cuc. as well. And my husband has pretty much decided that he wants a better area than those, and says Lake Arrowhead would be it. I have never heard of the area that you were talking about in Redlands. You mean to live? I looked it up and it seems nice. I figured that my husband would need to work in San Bernardino, Redlands, or Riverside to make his commute within an hour from Lake Arrowhead. Is that right? Any thoughts on the places to avoid in Lake Arrowhead? We do not want to live in a troubled area for our kids. There are a lot of kids that we do not even allow our kids to play with in FL. We are kind of picky with kids that get into trouble. But we also need a fenced in yard for our 2 dogs. In the 70's, I lived on Grass Valley Road, and it was really nice. I do not know any of the areas anymore. Again, thanks for all of your input. I also thought about Cedar Glen and Twin Peaks, but I keep reading that they are not very good to live in anymore.

Fences in the "woods" are not common. In fact the architectural committee discourages them. I see them in other areas, but do not think they are the standard for mountain communities. The "woods" is 67% second home owners and given the hilly nature of the area you are not likely to find the typical neighborhoods with kids as you would dth. The mountains have a great variety of social, ethnic and economic groups. The school district is small and your kids will have a smaller group of kids to meet and become lifelong friends with. They will become friends with a variety of kids that you may or may not like. You would have to make your determination about location based on a number of factors such as how many stairs to the front door, is the road paved and maintained (which means the county plows), the steepness of the slope, ease of commuting (not just how close to 18/330/138, but ease in winter) along with your children concerns. There is one elementary school in Crestline that isn't doing well with its standardized scores and is under academic improvement by the state and the middle school is having trouble with math scores and is under academic improvement as well. My kids have done well in school here. It has only been in the high school level that there has been limitations in class offerings and programs that are available at many high schools. I mentioned Forest Falls as a mountain option of living. Most folks can't comprehend the commute from here or how hard it is in the snow. Our new neighbors just moved after the winter because he missed too much time from work due to the weather. Only you can judge the impact of commuting will have on your family. It's very hard on DH as he likes to be involved and attend events.

Wow nanomug,

Great information! These are things that I will make sure to think about. I talked with my husband about his thoughts on missing work in the winter etc. Luckily, with his position, he can work from home at most times if there is bad weather. So we are fortunate. The question is, will there be cell phone and internet service on those days. But as far as being unable to drive, I think he will be ok in that. If at some point, I could get a position at the school, I think that that would make it easier because if they have a snow day, then I would be off with the kids. But I am sure that everyone wants a job with the school up there, for the same reason. LOL I am so used to thinking of where I live as a neighborhood because we have been right next to other homes in a row. I guess that I will have to look at it different, because it is set up differently up there. If you know anything about the differences of any crime ridden areas up there, or any problems in Cedar Glen, Lake Arrowhead etc, please let me know. Where we are, if you pick the wrong neighborhood, it could be a bad environment for your children. I see the crime rate looks fairly high in Lake Arrowhead, but I do not know why. I would have thought Lake Arrowhead would be very low. It is equal to our city in FL, not bad, but still higher than the midwest etc. I think it was a 6 out of 10 being the worst. Yet, Santa CLarita and other cities we were looking at, those areas were around a 3. So, anyway, then I thought maybe there are just some worse parts of Arrowhead or something that brings it down, or the people that come up on the weekend, or just the break ins when people do not live there full time, I am not sure. The last time I was there was 2001, and I do not remember it as being bad at all. I am just trying to sort it all out. I am pretty sure that we are going to come back. My husband is 100% sure I think. LOL About the schools, I would rather the kids have less programs offered, than to be in a school with gangs etc. Our schools are not too bad in FL with gangs yet (this year she starts high school), but they have definately not been good here. We have way more expulsions etc than you do at the RIm I noticed. I think the schools are terrible here in FL. But like, my son made so many friends in kindergarten and first grade here, and I am hoping it will be as easy for him up there to make friends. He is a good student, in gifted classes for math and reading. In our middle schools, they don't even watch the kids well, and my daughter has been subjected to other kids viewing porn on the school computers twice, the kids are rough, and the teachers are very unprofessional. I could tell numerous stories. Even the asst principal was investigating a boy touching my daughter innapropriately after she told him no repeatedly, and the asst principal asked my daughter to "show her on the asst princ breasts". She had to touch her! I think to myself, who would do that? And just last week, the high school that she is supposed to go to in August, a 15 yr old girl was raped on a school bus by an 18 year old with 2 others looking out. This was while the bus driver walked away to get other kids gathered. Things like this. And another boy brought a gun to her current school 2 weeks prior. And we do not live in a bad area at all for FL. I know that some of these things this happens everywhere to some degree, but I am pretty fed up with the schools here. That is why we are sort of thinking that trying the city in CA probably will not be the best choice. LOL The unrofessionalism in general in FL with these teachers and others, is really bad. Teachers molesting kids all the time here. I don't know where they come from here. So, I would love to move, and love the mountains sense of community as well. We were there for the Panorama fire, and I remember our fireman friend sitting on our roof watering our house down, firemen laying in the streets etc., signs made for them. These are huge memories, of how our community came together.

I am an Administrative assistant and up until the end of January I was working in Redlands, there is a lot of jobs DTM but up here since I have been out of work there's been 4 Admin Asst. positions that I have applied. Some of my neighbors say that you need to know someone up here. A co-worker lives in Rancho and its nice, new and she says the schools are really good crime there is so so, but it is not like living up here. I have family that lives in Glendora where I grew up and went to school it is a really nice neighborhood, but still when we go down there we are so happy that we moved up here. I don't know what they would do if you have dogs and kids up here at home and both parents are down the mountain my husband said there were no exceptions they were not letting anyone up for any reason and he was waiting there 3 to 4 hrs. that was something that I kept thinking about and its scary. Both my kids go to LAE and they like it a lot which makes me happy, my thoughts it is a nice school the actual school grounds & classrooms the teachers are nice somewhat young which the kids like the have a music program which is good both my kids love it, the school does a lot of programs and activities for the kids to participate with. Now the following things is my opinion from my experience the 1st change for us was that my son was coming into the 6th grade and DTM he would have been in junior high, for him it was a big deal but for me not really. I figured from everything I read that class size would be small but not really last year both my kids had 25 to 26 kids in their class and here one has 23 and one had 26 not much of difference. We are very involved in our kids homework and it seems that they stuff they were doing last year they are repeating again this year take that how you want. Last weeks my kids were disturbed because they heard that some of the teachers were being let go because of budget cuts from the state of CA one who is a very wonderful and creative person which really sucks. As for Twinpeaks and Cedar Glen now this is my opinion they are not very good areas we have heard and read a lot about more crimes happening in Twinpeaks. Cedar Glen or the most part I haven't read or heard that there is a lot of crime there but we recently looked at a house there so we were just in that area and in my opinion some of the houses are not as nice, the neighborhood by the malt shop is dumpie for my experience with the fog when I was driving up the mnt. tired from working in the dark it is scary but a lot of people go slow which is good and I would just tried to stay behind another car as much as possible because otherwise in some areas you just cant see anything.

Hi gem4,

Thank you for your response. Sorry, I think I missed your post, so took longer to reply.

Yes, I am hoping to be able to have them go to Lake Arrowhead Elementary. That is where I went as a child. I did not see the bus routes before, and will now look and see them. That is great information! I am so glad that they post that, because some schools don't. I heard about the Parks and Rec group after school. Did they like it? I heard there is that option, and then the Boys and Girls club. The most important thing to me is how they are, eventhough of course the less expensive the better. But if the cheaper one is not great, I would rather pay for care that is better.

Hi Homefree!

Thank you for your detailed response. Lots of great information. I know what you mean, about the 6th grade being in elementary. I have a soon to be 2nd grader, a 3 1/2 year old, and a 14 year old. So, luckily that won't affect them. I had the same thing happen to me when I left CA. I am actually really glad that they have this. Because in FL, the middle schools are rough. And they start at 6th grade, so the kids are subjected to things a year early here. So, I welcome it! LOL I heard of Yucaipa, but looked at the jobs, and it may be harder to find them. But I have heard a lot of people mention Redlands and Yucaipa. I would love to check out all of the areas in CA that we are thinking about. Then I think about the mountains, and wonder if I will ever be happy living so close to them, yet not IN them. LOL Lots of good memories. I love the snow, eventhough it can be a pain. And I love the pine trees, the people etc. I am hoping to work from home so that I do not have to worry about the whole fire situation. My husband says it is seldom. But I worry that even if we can get my kids off the mountain, I do not know what I would do with my 2 large dogs. They are our family too. Thank you about the info on Twin Peaks and Cedar Glen. To my recollection, in the 70's, Cedar Glen was very nice. Twin Peaks, I also did not know that there was more crime there. I am trying for Lake Arrowhead, but I need to have a fence because of my 2 dogs. So, I am not sure where to look. I can't remember either from my last visit, where the malt shop is, but I will make a mental note for when we start looking. Yes, the fog is scary to me. I am trying to also get around that one by working at home, or working on the mountain. I am not one who does great night driving. I am very cautious, but sometimes it is hard to see, so I avoid it. My husband, he doesn't mind it, so he can do it if he needs to commute! LOL I remember literally being able to see nothing the last time we were there, and he was driving, and I was so scared. I thought we were going to have a head on collision, or go off the mountain. Especially just below Rim Forest I think it was, there is this big rock and turn on the right. I don't know exactly what you call it, and maybe you think I am crazy now. But it just stands in my head as this horrible drive. LOL But you know, it is such a better life for our kids to live in I think. The beauty alone speaks for itself. I figure if it had that huge of an impact on me as a child, then my kids will probably have that as well. My mom remembers all of the snow and all that she had to go through in the 70's to live there, but I am fortunate enough to have a second person to support the family. Otherwise I think it would be very hard for me to ever go back. I am also wondering if there are many retired folks that live there? I am almost 37, and I was thinking about how we are in FL now, which is a great place to retire someday, and we are not getting any younger. Is it really hard for the elderly to live there? I am assuming that they stay in their homes a lot when it snows, until it melts or something. LOL WHat do I know? That may sound silly. But I really don't know. And I would prefer never to have to move again once I am there. LOL My husband thinks I am crazy to think of that, but I think of everything! LOL