May 2, 2006 5:30 AM
Anyone from Atascadero, CA?
A reader writes:
I don't know if this e-mail will be "published" on the general site. I was given the Mommy Manual when I was pregnant with my fourth. I started reading it, just after I gave birth and it encouraged me greatly. I have 4, ages 6, 4, 2 and 5 months. My husband works long hours, not much flexibility at his work place. We are from South Africa and live in a place with very little support and diversity (generalizing) (the "Wild West of Wyoming"). I am also homeschooling my 6 yr old, K this year. Anyway, I found many helpful tips and ideas and assurances in your book. I am an OT, with focus on PEds/SI and I think you have a great and very needed ministry, encouraging moms and fantastically integrating your education the way that you do.
Anyway, I want to ask you for some personal advice. My husband has been approached with a job opportunity in Atascadero, CA. We are originally from suburbs of a large city in South Africa and lived in a suburb of Philadelphia, before we moved to this rural town of 8,000 in NW Wyoming. I read in your book that you moved out of CA and I almost weekly meet people who are moving here away from CA, saying things like too many people, liberal, etc. Now, I know if God wants us there He will provide and seeking his Will is a process for us right now. However, I would appreciate any ideas that you may have to offer about raising a family there, possibly homeschooling or Christian school, the general moral environment, etc. Living where we are, we are spoiled with large open spaces, living on 2 acres, go camping without making reservations, safe for kids, etc.
Thank you for encouraging us moms, you do definitely have something to say, for such a time as this.
A little background: I moved from Virginia to San Francisco in 1972 as a hippie/radical leftist who'd been involved in politics and wanted to seek the more recreational side of the counterculture. This is important to know, because strategic parts of California are filled with people who came there for the same reason I did.
But unlike most of them, I changed. Through building a business with my husband and having a family - but mostly through becoming a believer in 1987, I no longer was so in synch with my environment (by then I'd moved across the Golden Gate Bridge to Marin County). I returned to Virginia in 2002 with 22 native Californians - including my husband, 10 kids, 1 married daughter, 2 sons-in-law and 8 grandchildren (my first daughter Samantha Sunshine had been born in Washington DC and was three when her father and I moved to San Francisco).
For the last three years I lived there, I covered California politics, education, and culture for Focus on the Family, so I know more than I might have wanted to about the dark side of the state. But moving back to a more Christian community, I have a deeper appreciation for Christians in California. When you live in a place where Christianity is not cool, Christians are more likely to be real and uncompromised than when you live in a place like I do now where everyone goes to church and there is no cost for claiming to be a Christian.
Here is what I replied - and then I'm hoping some California readers will have some good things to say too:
Probably most of the people you meet who are disgruntled ex-Californians lived in the Bay Area or southern California. The county where I come from - Marin, which is north of San Francisco - could be very frustrating because only 4% of people go to church and it is very anti-American and anti- Christian.
Most of the state is not that way. For instance, when they had a proposition supporting heterosexual marriage, 72% of the voters approved it. Out of 57 counties, only 4 voted against it: San Francisco, Sonoma, Marin, and Santa Cruz.
But the state courts are notoriously liberal and always overturn the popular vote. The state infrastructure is burdened with layers of bureaucracy so it's hard to get anything done - all the tax money is wasted on people's salaries. The schools can be downright dangerous as they are fulfilling many liberal agendas - introducing homosexuality into the curriculum at an early age, also anti-Christian pro-Muslim points of view. If you use public schools, you will have to monitor your kids' classes very closely.
The homeschooling community is vibrant there - for some reason California has never regulated homeschooling and there is a strong support group - California Home Education Association.
Also, you have to remember I am one to encourage people to follow God's lead no matter what it looks like logically or how other people judge you. It sure sounds like your children are going to have a lot of varied experience - it will be interesting to see where God calls them eventually!
There are plenty of large open spaces in California and it is really beautiful. Yosemite is very crowded, but there are other state parks you will probably discover. Atascadero itself is somewhat rural. The beaches nearby are not too crowded and lovely - because the water is so cold!
I will post this in case anyone lives near there!
Godspeed on your journey, wherever it takes you!
Barbara
Comments
oh, Barbara.
A sigh of relief for me.
I seriously thought you were going to bash California and I was holding my breath because I was thinking, "I don't need to hear that right now."
You see, I live in the "liberal Northeast". (NY) and face the same kind of "problems" as one might face living in CA with the liberalism, etc among other things. Where I live we are definitely in the minority in terms of being an evangelical Christian. It is sometimes a struggle, but I am beginning to appreciate being here for the simple reason I can live out my faith, pure and simple, and be REAL.
I grew up in the South and know just what you are talking about, about living in a "culture of Christians". That can be good and bad.
Anyway. I just want to say thank you for mentioning the "good" part of living in a liberal culture, instead of the other way around. I struggle with that every day, so I need to be encouraged.
Posted by: Andrea | May 2, 2006 7:43 AM
Hi, I live in Sacramento so in regard to moving to California, I would like to suggest that you look carefully at the cost of living. California has income tax, sales tax and property tax as well as high costs for housing, etc. There are some on-line calculators that can compare salaries/cost of living in various cities.
As far as culture goes, there are people from all over the world in California and they bring with them their faith and religious practice. I don't want to disrespect what Barbara is saying, but when she says she came for the counter-culture and so did most of the people around her, keep in mind she is talking about San Francisco and Marin County not the state as a whole. Actually I meet a lot of Catholics and Latter Day Saints. Not being an evangelical Christian myself I can't say how comfortably one might fit in, but it certainly isn't unusual here (Sacramento/Central Valley) to be Christian.
Posted by: Alison | May 2, 2006 11:17 AM
Hello Andrea, fellow Northeasterner here, former southerner. I concur with your thoughts! God has His children everywhere.
Posted by: floorplan | May 2, 2006 11:32 AM
Spot on! I've lived in CA and VA, too.
Not many namby-pamby believers, here. If you're a Christian you are generally quite serious about it. And rather lonely at times!
Posted by: Monika | May 2, 2006 12:31 PM
I agree with everyone's statements about CA. I have no idea where Atascadero is, but I lived in San Jose for a couple of years. I loved it and would move back to northern CA in a heartbeat if I could live in a more rural area. I'm from the Midwest and moved back because I wanted to be near my family and wanted to get married, but was having no luck finding someone. But I was involved with a couple of great churches and dynamic ministries.
You can always find what you are looking for.
Posted by: Lucy | May 2, 2006 1:24 PM
My uncle and his wife live in Atascadero. My aunt and her husband live in Paso Robles, nearby. I grew up in Bakersfield. :-) I'm a several-generation-deep Native now living in the Midwest. :-D You're welcome to e-mail me if you like. Atascadero is a beautiful area along the coast. My biggest concern would be cost of living issues. It ain't cheap, to say the least...but neither is it the most expensive part of the state. Typically, people get job offers in CA and swoon at the amounts, then get there and find out it's not as much money as they thought it was going to be. Just food for thought there. I second the assessment on homeschooling. Liberal? Yes, but also with pockets of very conservative folks. And I believe that no matter where you are you can find a vibrant group of Christian believers to connect with.
Posted by: Bonnie | May 2, 2006 10:59 PM
I live near Atascadero and would be happy to provide any help that I can. Some people who attend my church live in Atascadero.
It's a nice growing community. There are good churches and a Christian school.
You can give her my email address.
Posted by: Robin | May 3, 2006 1:01 AM
Wow,
Where do I start? Ok, I live in California - city of Los Angeles, and man I would JUMP at the chance to take a job in Atascadero. (Or anyplace nearby). Yes, cost of living is totally a factor to take into consideration. It would most likely be double where you live now - if not more. As far as diversity goes, there would be so much more in Atascadero than Wyoming, even though Atascadero is considered "rural". (In comparison to the rest of Calif.) In fact, the whole Central Coast community - I think it's San Luis Obispo County?? - is pretty diverse, along with the fact that Cal Poly San Luis Obispo is nearby. I went to Jr. college for two years in the area (Cuesta) and LOVED it. A family member of mine has a second home in Los Osos, and we get to visit that area at least a few times a year. We are always trying to come up with ways to move up there and escape the 'rat race' of Los Angeles. I just came back from a trip there on Monday, and upon being in LA for just a few hours I was ready to cry. In fact, I think I did cry. The pace of life in LA is just so insane - so that combined with the traffic, congestion, pollution - makes me want to head to the hills of the Central Coast!!! If your into things like buying and consuming locally grown produce - the farmers' markets are abundant and have wonderful stuff. Most of it organically grown. Atascadero gets VERY hot in the summer, but you are a very short drive from the cooler climates of towns like Morro Bay, Los Osos, Avila Beach & San Luis Obispo. Can you tell this post really hit a 'nerve' for me??? Best wishes to you in your decision - feel free to email me.
Posted by: tracy | May 3, 2006 5:13 PM
Barbara---
We have friends who live in Atascadero and we so appreciate their friendship & fellowship. We have the privilege of seeing them twice a year as they travel north to a couple of annual Bible conferences that we also attend. I think I would not like to move back to California... but I might change my mind if we would live near them! ~smile~
Posted by: pamela | May 4, 2006 3:45 AM
Atascadero is semi-rural, and there are still open spaces and large plots of land available --- for a price. It does get very hot in the summer, with quite a bit of frost in the winter. Personally I prefer living closer to the coast, where the weather is milder year 'round.
Property is expensive. Atascadero is more affordable than other communities on the central coast, but still...
Lots of homeschoolers. There is a large ultra-conservative homeschooling in that area. There are Christian schools as well.
This area is vastly different than the L.A. and San Francisco areas. Much smaller-town atmosphere. Slower pace. It's a growing area, but it still retains a lot of its agricultural, small-town flavor and roots. For example, the Mid-State Fair around here is a big huge deal, the highlight of the year for a lot of people. When someone suffers a tragedy or a serious illness, it's not uncommon for people to hold community fundraisers on their behalf. Farmers' Markets are an important fixture.
One of the things we did before moving to where we are (a ways south of Atascadero) is to subscribe to the small local newspaper. The one for our area only published twice per week. It really gave us a feel for what life would be like. Now a lot of newspapers are available online, for free, so that would be something worth checking out.
Posted by: Rebecca | May 5, 2006 10:59 AM
