Cerritos vs Lakewood vs Artesia (Long Beach, Downey: rentals, house, neighborhoods)

[california_sam]

Hello,

I'm looking to buy SFR and considering above mentioned areas. If you have to rate it in terms of neighborhood,safety etc. How will you rate
Cerritos, Lakewood and Artesia.(School district is same so i'm not adding that to the criteria)

Thanks
Sam.

[veg8]

Cerritos is the nicest and safest and is on a different level than Lakewood and Artesia. I'll estimate the medium home price in Cerritos is 550k, Lakewood 400K and Artesia 350K.

Not all of Lakewood is part of the ABC school district, a good portion is part Long Beach Unified. Also only the really good schools are within the city of cerritos boundaries, while ABC Unified has open enrollment policy, priority is given to those that live in the schools normal boundaries.

[Jesus X]

go with Cerritos ,I live in Long beach , Lakewood is nice too, this entire area is expensive

[bhcompy]

Lakewood has better family oriented neighborhoods and activities(Sports Illustrated #1 youth sports town), but the schools are slightly to greatly worse(such as the Paramount district area of Lakewood and east Lakewood/90715). Cerritos is the most prestigious, but also has the most draconian neighborhood measures(no overnight street parking, restrictions on what you can park in your driveway, only 1 drive-in restaurant in city limits, very few gas stations, etc). Artesia has a few nice neighborhoods and a lot of not so nice ones. IIRC, people from Artesia go to Gahr HS while Cerritos goes to Cerritos. You'd rather go to Cerritos unless you're child is brilliant and can get in to Whitney.

[ferretkona]

Originally Posted by veg8

,,,,Not all of Lakewood is part of the ABC school district, a good portion is part Long Beach Unified.,,.

Lakewood residents have tried many times to create a Lakewood school district to no avail. Bellflower School District also has their foot in Lakewood.

I grew up in Lakewood. Decades ago it was known as lily white Lakewood as there was a primary white population. There used to be a large Dutch Community in Lakewood as there was a lot of dairy farms in the area.

Cerritos has always represented to me a Stepford town. Very controlled, no auto work in your driveway. Can't wash your car change your oil, have to do all that in your garage if you need. Cerritos has always been very a Asian community.

Artesia is very Indian. You will find many businesses with their names written in Indian.

[mrsltd]

Originally Posted by california_sam

Hello,

I'm looking to buy SFR and considering above mentioned areas. If you have to rate it in terms of neighborhood,safety etc. How will you rate
Cerritos, Lakewood and Artesia.(School district is same so i'm not adding that to the criteria)

Thanks
Sam.

Can't tell you about school districts, but as far as the cities, generally:

Artesia: South of 91 freeway is better than north of it (that's most of the city, fortunately). The place has modernized a bit but the areas that are not heavy with ethnic shops seem like a throwback to another time.

Lakewood: West of 605 fwy is DEFINITELY better than east of it (again, fortunately for you, that is most of the city). That eastern edge is hard-smack against Hawaiian Gardens, a tiny city with big problems; specifically, a hostile Latino gang that was trying to drive out all the black population there, but that has been quashed of late. Anyway, there is more than enough room in the city not to have live east of 605. That part of Lakewood has its own issues as well.

Cerritos--Pretty much anywhere. The only touchy areas might be where it and Artesia AND Norwalk all come together, but it's more of a proximity issue than anything internal to such neighborhoods. Varrio Norwalk is prettly close to parts of northwest Cerritos, however. Not sure how "lethal" they are.

[bhcompy]

Originally Posted by mrsltd

Varrio Norwalk is prettly close to parts of northwest Cerritos, however. Not sure how "lethal" they are.

There have been shootings off Excelsior and Bloomfield a couple times this year, including a young boy shot on his bike. That's a block north of where Cerritos ends at Alondra. It get's close. I'd stay away of anything north of the 91 and west of Bloomfield unless I was south of 166th

[californio sur]

As others have pointed out: Cerritos, Lakewood & Artesia in that order. Cypress is nice also.

[ferretkona]

I have a house in Bellflower south of the 91, good neighborhood. Much of Bellflower can be rough. There is a nice neighborhood east of Woodruth just north of Flora Vista that has some very affluent homes on large lots. Bellflower started as a farming and dairy town and many homes were built on acre lots and larger, thru the years people built many rentals on the back halfs.

North Downey has some very nice homes.
Lakewood Country club area is nice.

[bhcompy]

That Bellflower neighborhood(where Caruthers Park resides) also has some horse properties still. I haven't been in the area in a few years, but I grew up off Flora Vista and it was very common to see people riding horses on the street(and see collections of road apples).