An Introduction to Crestline, CA
Thursday, April 3, 2008 19:31Crestline was a choice born of compromise. We needed to leave Seattle for me…
not enough sunshine. And we couldn’t move to my town of choice - San Diego - with Dan wanting pine trees and mountain views. We wanted a town in the Western United States, a place with lots of sunshine, with a short winter and within a two hour drive of a major airport.
There are lots of beautiful cities out there, but unfortunately:
- Sonoma is too expensive
- Clear Lake is too remote
- Flagstaff is too cold
- Albuquerque is too hot
- Durango is too cold, too hot and too remote
We decided that little-known Crestline, in Southern California, was “just right.”
Crestline, at 5500′ elevation, has four mild seasons but a whole LOT of sunshine. I am close enough to my San Diego family to be part of holiday celebrations and the occasional weekend jaunt. Dan is close enough to Los Angeles for his family and for tons of freelance work job interviews.
We can hike on mountain trails literally from our back door, and the Sierras, Southern California and entire Southwest region is close enough to be our playground for hiking, camping, rock climbing, boating and just sitting in hot springs.
We can’t do much serious shopping, but this is actually a good thing. Crestline has all the basic amenities - a nice grocer, post office, a few bars, a library, coffee shops, decent food, ACE hardware, antique shops and even a dog bakery. For everything else, we drive down the “hill” to San Bernardino.
San Bernardino may not be my favorite town, but this is where the benefit lies: we head down, buy only the things on our shopping list, and head right back up. We don’t linger. The end result: we spend less money on stuff, and really only fill our gas tank about once a month. Go us!
We still have to explain to people where Crestline is, as no one has heard of it. We live 15 minutes from the entire southern California megalopolis and no one’s heard of this place. So we have to say, “Well, we live near Arrowhead, and Big Bear,” before people start nodding.
I don’t think this is right place for everyone - you have to get a post Office Box in Downtown Crestline because the Postal Service doesn’t deliver to houses. The entire town shuts down after a big snow and sometimes when it rains too hard. There are no sidewalks, no movie theater, no copy center. The Chamber of Commerce is housed in a shack and job opportunities are limited.
Yet the people are friendly, there are fantastic views around every corner and the stores are clean, well-stocked and surprisingly not overpriced. Lake Gregory has awesome recreation smack in the middle of town. Housing is actually affordable.
For freelancers like us, this is a pretty perfect situation.
Stumble it!
polyGeek says:
April 13th, 2008 at 12:01 pm
I couldn’t agree more. I like this place more and more every day we’re here. Perhaps that has something to do with the onset of Spring.
ryan says:
June 9th, 2008 at 2:09 am
what sort of jobs are offered in the crestline area? how are the schools and what entertainment is offered to a late 20’s, early 30’s starting family. please e-mail me flamdrags21@aol.com
admin says:
June 25th, 2008 at 2:55 pm
Hi Ryan! The statistics for Crestline for that about 50% of the residents commute down the mountain to the San Bernardino, Riverside, Redlands areas. It’s only a 15 minute drive down, on a very well-engineered road, so this isn’t a huge deal for Southern Californians. And it’s a pretty drive up and down the hill.
For people who live AND work here, the best situation is to work at home, of course.
Jobs in the mountain communities tend to lie in the service industries, along with retail opportunities and teaching jobs. There is a lot of room for growth in all these areas.
The schools are considered quite good, very safe, and have excellent sports programs. The high school in this area is right on the Rim and has an incredible view of the entire valley and even the ocean on a clear day!e middle school in Crestline is right on Lake Gregory. Seems like a fine place to grow up.
As for entertainment, you mostly make your own. There is hiking, cycling, skiing, sledding, water sports and swimming, go karts, alpine slides, water slides, and horseback riding all in our local towns. There are coffee shops, a cinema, a bowling alley, skate park, local theater groups, art classes, computer classes and a scrapbooking store/clubhouse.
For anything more cosmopolitan people just drive down the mountain to the Big Cities. We are situated near one of the largest, hippest metro areas in the country.
It’s a good compromise.
admin says:
June 25th, 2008 at 2:57 pm
Oh, there is also a wine tasting group. Yoga classes. Art fairs, live outdoor music, a karaoke bar. Much more will come to me!
Sofa Slipcover ยท says:
November 4th, 2010 at 3:43 am
kids love water slides, they go crazy about it“
Complete Kitchen %0A says:
December 3rd, 2010 at 3:46 pm
when i was a kid, i really enjoyed going up and down on water slides, it is a very enjoyable experience ,;”
bus from singapore to kl says:
January 5th, 2011 at 3:45 am
Crestline is a very nice place to visit. Thanks for sharing such a great experience with us.
Marian says:
March 4th, 2011 at 11:12 am
My daughter is planning to move there from Orlando,Fl. She does’nt like birds sounds,large hills and animals sounds. Are there many animals around?