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SO, we have been in Southern California for a whole week now. The husband got a job in downtown Los Angeles, will be working 11-7. We are currently in corp. housing looking for where we will settle permanently. This whole week we have spent part of every day looking at different areas, houses, etc.
We have two small kids, and not a ton of money. lol We want what most everyone wants, good schools, safe area, nice neighborhood, near things, family friendly, and not a horrible commute for my husband (he is used to driving 45 mins, so 45-70 mins is fine).
With our relocation package we have someone helping us look for housing, and through that we have seen homes in: Chino Hills, Walnut, Diamond Bar, Simi Valley, and all of Santa Clarita areas (Valencia, Saugus, Canyon Country, etc.)
After looking, we had pretty much decided to focus on the Santa Clarita/Valencia area.
I have been reading the forum for awhile, and thought I woud just ask for opinions before we really focus on one area. Is there anywhere we should be looking but haven't?? I just read several posts on negatives of Santa Clarita, heat, traffic, etc.
**We will be renting for the first 3 years, $2300 or less a month.
Any advice, opinions, suggestions would be really appreciated!! TIA
Is there anywhere we should be looking but haven't??
Fullerton! Fullerton is a much better choice than Santa Clarita Valley or Valencia.
1)Closer to downtown Los Angeles
2)direct train to downtown
3)network of many alternate surface streets to drive to downtown if the freeways are hopelessly jammed.
4)cooler than Valencia in summer
5)closer to many kid friendly fun attractions like Disneyland,Knotts Berry Farm and the beaches.
i've lived in canyon country now for 18 years and ive watched it grow up, out of the rubble "jan 1995" quake i moved here in feb from back east, the schools are good, got my comp science degree from coc graduated saugus high, got married in castaic, had my first kid at henry mayo (great hospital , clean, friendly, central to the valley, did i mention friendly, and not crowded). traffic... not so much in the city, the 14 freeway moves about 55-65 at 5:00 pm and the 5 fwy is about the same, sometimes going north to bakersfield the freeway is closed, due to snow and the extreme grade of the freeway, the traffic is on the 405 the 101 the 170 the five down by burbank 20 minutes south, but compared to hollywood, santa monica, shernam oaks, van nuys, encino, our traffic isnt even on the map. the city is in the process of growth the mall just got a new wing added on, as if the other new wing we were all getting used to wasn't enough (its supposed to become a super-mall) so there streets are being widened in some areas and alterenate routes are being built. now down town la in the morning traffic about a hour drive, not so bad if you like a community were we dont have gangs, we dont have shootings, there have been 2 since i lived here, and both were from crime tourist's passing by exiting the freeway getting stupid and then getting cought or shot...the city just invested in 2 huge parks "central park" where they do some free concerts some not, and the castaic auditorium, both great places to for kids, of course there is always the lake for water activities, the ice skating rink, movies, the antigravity center for a extreme bounce house experience like no other, the sports and skate park free for everyone, where kids skate board with other kids, and our our tourist attraction, no not the william hart museum wild western history and not mentryville where oil or gold... not sure which one was first discovered in southern california, im mean the real tourist attraction, and employer to just about every kid in the area at one point in time, six flags magic mountain, west coasts premier roller coaster park. and 20 minutes down the 126 your in wine country with murder mystery train rides, and wine tasting's and another 35 minutes your at ventura harbor for fish markets, shopping, fine dining, and deep sea chartering.me personally wouldnt want to live anywhere else to impersonal, and i have a 4 year old, so im thinking safety, education, enviroment, whats best for my son, maybe westwood village but the job market isnt what it is here, we have had the valencia industrial park, full of studios and gov contractors, jobs that arent going anywhere i.e. wesco aircraft, H.R. Textron, valencia studios, and have been there since before i moved here, and the valvencia commercial center, twice the size of the industrial center, just opening up witch corp's like hitachi, remo drum heads, aquafine, Itt. anyway thats my 2 cents hope the info helps good luck. p.s. the valencia paseo's are really nice and with the property values some of those $750,000-900,000 homes are going for 325,000. but it looks like they are on there way back up, since the studios are advertising this area to the movie stars, my wife is a dental hygenist [mod cut: potential HIPAA violation]
Last edited by uptown_urbanist; 01-14-2011 at 07:49 AM..
i've lived in canyon country now for 18 years and ive watched it grow up, out of the rubble "jan 1995" quake i moved here in feb from back east, the schools are good, got my comp science degree from coc graduated saugus high, got married in castaic, had my first kid at henry mayo (great hospital , clean, friendly, central to the valley, did i mention friendly, and not crowded). traffic... not so much in the city, the 14 freeway moves about 55-65 at 5:00 pm and the 5 fwy is about the same, sometimes going north to bakersfield the freeway is closed, due to snow and the extreme grade of the freeway, the traffic is on the 405 the 101 the 170 the five down by burbank 20 minutes south, but compared to hollywood, santa monica, shernam oaks, van nuys, encino, our traffic isnt even on the map. the city is in the process of growth the mall just got a new wing added on, as if the other new wing we were all getting used to wasn't enough (its supposed to become a super-mall) so there streets are being widened in some areas and alterenate routes are being built. now down town la in the morning traffic about a hour drive, not so bad if you like a community were we dont have gangs, we dont have shootings, there have been 2 since i lived here, and both were from crime tourist's passing by exiting the freeway getting stupid and then getting cought or shot...the city just invested in 2 huge parks "central park" where they do some free concerts some not, and the castaic auditorium, both great places to for kids, of course there is always the lake for water activities, the ice skating rink, movies, the antigravity center for a extreme bounce house experience like no other, the sports and skate park free for everyone, where kids skate board with other kids, and our our tourist attraction, no not the william hart museum wild western history and not mentryville where oil or gold... not sure which one was first discovered in southern california, im mean the real tourist attraction, and employer to just about every kid in the area at one point in time, six flags magic mountain, west coasts premier roller coaster park. and 20 minutes down the 126 your in wine country with murder mystery train rides, and wine tasting's and another 35 minutes your at ventura harbor for fish markets, shopping, fine dining, and deep sea chartering.me personally wouldnt want to live anywhere else to impersonal, and i have a 4 year old, so im thinking safety, education, enviroment, whats best for my son, maybe westwood village but the job market isnt what it is here, we have had the valencia industrial park, full of studios and gov contractors, jobs that arent going anywhere i.e. wesco aircraft, H.R. Textron, valencia studios, and have been there since before i moved here, and the valvencia commercial center, twice the size of the industrial center, just opening up witch corp's like hitachi, remo drum heads, aquafine, Itt. anyway thats my 2 cents hope the info helps good luck. p.s. the valencia paseo's are really nice and with the property values some of those $750,000-900,000 homes are going for 325,000. but it looks like they are on there way back up, since the studios are advertising this area to the movie stars, my wife is a dental hygenist (mod cut),
I'm guessing you didn't do very well in English classes in school. Hint, hint: paragraphs, sentences, sentences (not "run on"), capitalization, punctuation.... I loved the terminal comma.
Banda, the key to your success is that you must find a place within a reasonable commuting distance so that your husband won't be on the road 2 hours a day every day, both ways. I think the Valencia-downtown commute could easily run 2 hours one way sometimes, maybe often. Figure it out: 2 hours driving into work, 8 hours at work, 1 hour for lunch, 2 hours driving home, 8 hours for sleep = 3 hours left to eat dinner, shower and play with the kids. Nevermind "marital bliss." Find a place to live that has a typical commute of no more than 30-40 minutes.
Last edited by uptown_urbanist; 01-14-2011 at 07:50 AM..
Reason: deleted part of quoted text
. but it looks like they are on there way back up, since the studios are advertising this area to the movie stars, my wife is a dental hygenist, and her, main client base is actors,***********
sslogic, you may want to refrain from mentioning clients that are patients of your wifes and her dentist. It violates HIPAA Privacy laws. I'll send a message to the moderator to delete the names. I'm sure it's just an oversight on your part.
I grew up in Simi Valley and while its a GREAT place for a family and has good schools, that commute (even at 11-7) is pretty brutal. I commuted to Burbank, Studio City, Hollywood and W Hollywood all from Simi with hours ranging from 9-6 and 10-7 over the years.
I know you said he'd be fine with even a 70 min commute but for the record my commute at above mentioned times to Hollywood would get up to 70-80 minutes, on bad days 90, and Hollywood is closer than downtown. Also, to add, when I would exit to get to work in Hollywood, the remainder of the route to downtown was total GRIDLOCK.
I think you should check out Fullerton for the reasons the other poster mentioned as well. Or at very least realize that commuting from Thousand Oaks, Simi and I'm assuming Santa Clarita will not be 70mins on avg but closer to 90 .
I think you should reconsider neighborhoods closer to your jobs. Downtown is a bit of a special case, since it is relatively easy to get to downtown by rail, but, typically those that move too far from their jobs and sit too long in LA traffic eventually regret their decisions.
Silver Lake and Mt Washington have some good elementary schools that are part of LA Unified, and Francisco Bravo is a good high school out there in Lincoln Park. Also, there are a handful of acceptable schools in Mid-Wilshire, like Commonwealth Ave Elemetary.
SO, we have been in Southern California for a whole week now. The husband got a job in downtown Los Angeles, will be working 11-7. We are currently in corp. housing looking for where we will settle permanently. This whole week we have spent part of every day looking at different areas, houses, etc.
We have two small kids, and not a ton of money. lol We want what most everyone wants, good schools, safe area, nice neighborhood, near things, family friendly, and not a horrible commute for my husband (he is used to driving 45 mins, so 45-70 mins is fine).
With our relocation package we have someone helping us look for housing, and through that we have seen homes in: Chino Hills, Walnut, Diamond Bar, Simi Valley, and all of Santa Clarita areas (Valencia, Saugus, Canyon Country, etc.)
After looking, we had pretty much decided to focus on the Santa Clarita/Valencia area.
I have been reading the forum for awhile, and thought I woud just ask for opinions before we really focus on one area. Is there anywhere we should be looking but haven't?? I just read several posts on negatives of Santa Clarita, heat, traffic, etc.
**We will be renting for the first 3 years, $2300 or less a month.
Any advice, opinions, suggestions would be really appreciated!! TIA
Have you considered South Pasadena? It has everything on your want list, including great schools. It's more small town feel than urban or strip mall suburbia. It's probably only 30 minutes or less to downtown on the Pasadena (110) Freeway at the hours you mention (during peak hours-forget it). Otherwise, take Huntington Dr. The Metro Gold Line has a stop in South Pasadena and goes straight to downtown so your husband could even skip driving.
Your budget should get you a small house or bungalow.
South Pasadena is hotter than the coast but cooler than most of the places you are considering.
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