Where I live:

Posted Wednesday, December 5, 2012, at 3:27 PM

I wanted to share with you in this blog about where I live in Southern California. Claremont is a small oasis in the eastern corner of Los Angeles County. Our little town is about 38 miles east of Los Angeles. It's about 14 square miles in size and has a population of 34,926. Claremont was founded in 1826 and the government is made up of a city manager and council. Our city is located at the basin of the St. Gabriel Mountains.

Our climate is very mild with an average temperature of 63 degrees and average rainfall of 17 inches a year. Claremont is made up of lots of parks, which in California are consider precious. We have 23 City-owned parks and sports fields with 1,788 acres of public parkland of which 1,769 acres is wilderness. Also included is Thompson Creek Trail, a linear park following a 2.8-mile paved trail. Many people use the parks and the Thompson Creek Trail! It's grand to take your dog and walk with a friend. Claremont has been a winner of National Arbor Day Association's Tree City USA award for over 20 years.

Demographics... the median age is 38 years old! Yes, David and I are just a little bit older than that!! (David more than me LOL)... Our ethnicity breaks down to something like White: 75.2%, Asian & Pacific Islander: 16.2%, African American: 5.8%, Other 2.8, Native Hawaiian: 0.2%, Hispanic or Latino (of any race: 19.8, some other race: 6.8%. And according to the census income level is $105,759 for the average household and the median is $78, 376 per household. The median house value is $476,100 and the average size household is 2.54.

Education level is high since we have several applauded colleges in town! Here is the breakdown of population of those 25 years or older: High school graduate -- 12.1%, Some college, less than 4 years -- 19.4%, Associate degree -- 6.7% Bachelor's degree -- 24.7% , Master's Degree -- 29.9%, Professional Degree -- 3.3%, Doctorate Degree -- 9.3%.

We feel our town is very safe since we have very little crime, and when something does happen, the police department sends out blanket emails and texts to all who are registered advising of the crime and where is happened and what action is recommended.

We settled here because my husband had a life long friend who lived here. He and his friend began working together in Meridian, Mississippi many years ago. Just in the last few weeks David's friend has moved back to the south.

Another reason we chose Claremont was the school system. The state testing scores were very high, majority of the students tested at proficiency level. Both our children have graduated now and the schools did prove to be exceptional.

I don't know how long we will stay in southern cal, but we continue to work and live and enjoy. Many problems are loaming with the state which will not be resolved easily or quickly. I have been able to keep my job in education which honestly has been nothing short of a miracle. It looks like with the passing of PROP 30, jobs maybe safe for the next school year. But as we know, things can always change. Especially in the state of 'fruits and nuts'......as some like to say!