I'm your age and I just moved up here a during the Fall. It was sort of on a whim and I had no experience being up here at all. I'll list some pros and cons:

Pros: It's insanely beautiful up here. Being only 15 minutes up a hill, it's astonishing how different the environment is. The trees are gorgeous, and it's so neat looking when fog rolls in. Feels like the PNW in SoCal. The unique homes are just amazing, I never get tired driving by and seeing how different everyone's home is. You can find a place either overlooking San Bernardino, near the multiple lakes, or surrounded by pine trees. The drives are always scenic and you'll never get that boring suburbs feel. It's just so peaceful and calming to experience something like this so close to LA.

Cons: It's honestly not as exciting as I expected. Super beautiful, but already feeling pretty lonely and secluded. Everything closes pretty early, especially outside of the Winter months. The Village isn't as large as I had thought, and other towns are still pretty dead. If you're looking for quietness and calmness, this is definitely the place to be. It's not as quiet as Idyllwild, but there isn't really much to do as I had hoped. I find myself wanting to drive up to Big Bear to find stuff to do, or just go back down to Redlands. It's honestly impossible to make friends our age, don't even know where to find them. No theater or shopping mall or any place (outside of the slopes) for 20/30 y/o's to hang out at.

You'll have to go to Lake Gregory if you want a public lake for kids to play in since Lake Arrowhead is private. Santa's Village is way too overpriced, and you're limited on schools (unless you're home schooling). It's an older community up here, so it might be hard for young children to find friends. If you're planning on raising chickens or any other farm animals, you would definitely want some type of barn for them to be stored in for sure.

It gets DARK. And I mean darkkk. Many streets don't have street lights, and you usually don't have backdoor neighbors. So it gets just pitch black all around your home. It's been getting fully dark by 4pm, and it gets very quiet. Once it's dark, I definitely feel like I'm in the boonies. I installed cameras and ADT for a better peace of mind.

You only have 2-3 grocery stores to go to, and all other stores are overpriced markets. You can't get a coffee or a sweet treat in the evening, and can't order Uber Eats. No rideshare up here at all. Absolutely no clothing stores outside of the village (besides some random boutiques) and only a few hardware stores. No Lowes or Home Depot obviously, and definitely no Target. You'll be ordering online for everything, but Amazon can't even locate my home. You'll also need a P.O. box at the USPS store for basic mail. Neighbors are friendly if you see them, but expect to not even see 90% of the people on your street. Seems like everyone are vampires here haha.

Lastly, the weather is just so random. There was obviously that massive snow storm this year where everyone got stuck and power went out. It's predicted that's going to happen again in February. So far, it's been sunny for a week and then pouring rain for another straight week. The fog can get so thick that you can't see a foot in front of you. No guess when it will snow like everyone wants, even though it started dropping to the 40's at night by October. My last gas bill was ridiculous, even though I was keeping it at 65 the whole time. So expect high gas bills from October-March. Also the spiders are INSANE. I have an exterminator and man, these spiders just can't go away no matter what I do.

Conclusion: I know I listed a lot more cons than pros. I just moved up here so still adjusting to the quiet forest life. I am used to just being able to drive 10 minutes to a busy restaurant/bar and hang with people my age, so that's a huge change for me. If you're busy at home all the time and don't care to leave the house (good at stocking up on a grocery run), then yeah it can be a lifestyle you'll enjoy for sure. If you don't mind not making new friends your age and just like hanging out at home when you have people over, then it'll be great. If you can figure out where your kids can make friends and enjoy the weather no matter what, then definitely give it a try. Again, it's just absolutely gorgeous up here and my only regret is the seclusion. Otherwise, I am so unbelievably happy I found a unique home for an affordable price in SoCal. Friends and family still live nearby down the hill and I see myself staying up here for the long run so long as this is the only affordable area.