Need Information about Azusa (El Monte, Glendora: city hall, condos, crime)

[squall2002]

Hi,

I am trying to purchase a Town House in Azusa, does the area near the Azusa Green Country Club (Golf court) between Serra Madre Ave and San Gabriel Ave a safe area to live?

Has anybody have experience live in that area would appericate your advice.

[genjy]

The northern area of Azusa along Sierra Madre Ave is very safe.

[munchitup]

It has everything from A to Z in the USA!

[JerZ]

Originally Posted by munchitup

It has everything from A to Z in the USA!

Ha ha, that was cute!

I live just a few towns over from Azusa and I would consider that area safe, sure. One thing I do notice, haven't really looked into it but a heads-up if you have kids: I notice we get a lot of Azusa families applying to have their children transfered into our school district (Glendora USD). I don't know whether this means anything negative about Azusa schools but I'd check it out. If you don't have kids and don't plan on any, I guess that wouldn't be a factor.

But I wouldn't be worried walking around that area at all, if that's what you're asking.

[genjy]

Originally Posted by JerZ

Ha ha, that was cute!

I live just a few towns over from Azusa and I would consider that area safe, sure. One thing I do notice, haven't really looked into it but a heads-up if you have kids: I notice we get a lot of Azusa families applying to have their children transfered into our school district (Glendora USD). I don't know whether this means anything negative about Azusa schools but I'd check it out. If you don't have kids and don't plan on any, I guess that wouldn't be a factor.

But I wouldn't be worried walking around that area at all, if that's what you're asking.

Azusa has bad schools with low test scores--plain and simple. It could because of the administration, student culture, family culture, teachers, lack of resources, etc.

You can have something like Stanton Elementary (Glendora) having an API of 886 and just literally a few blocks west with Powell Elementary (Azusa) having an API of 788. That difference of 100 points is huge.

Families who transfer their kids out of Azusa USD (or any bad district) actually care enough about their children's education to take the initiative and effort to fill out the necessary paperwork.

[JerZ]

Originally Posted by genjy

Families who transfer their kids out of Azusa USD (or any bad district) actually care enough about their children's education to take the initiative and effort to fill out the necessary paperwork.

Well, frankly, the reason I didn't check into Azusa USD was because I already knew they were going to Glendora USD (we live in Glendora). And yes, we did know about *those* school rankings, they were a huge drawing point for us, actually. And pretty much the reason we plan to stay here at least until the kids are out of school.

But as I said, I don't even know whether the OP has children. It was just something that stood out for me.

But I'm not sure it's entirely fair to accuse Azusa parents of being lazy, there may be dozens of families or more applying for the transfer every year for all I or you know; however, obviously, acceptance is limited, or we'd have classrooms of 50 kids. It's a mad dash every year to be the first to apply, as I understand it, I was even told when I was transfering my younger son to my older son's school (my older son is in his elementary school for the autism program, however both schools are in Glendora USD) to mark my calendar and literally submit two days before the opening date so my letter would be there the day enrollment opened.

[Mobius69]

I have lived across from those townhomes for 8+ yrs.

1. Is it safe? Generally yes.

I know of at least 3 officers that live there with their families.

However, a couple of yrs ago one of the officers came home in the middle of the night (after a late shift) to find a man breaking into a car next to his parking space (there are some covered parking stalls for the owners). He identified himself, but the perp supposedly went for his own waistband, so the cop shot him dead. The perp's gf (who was a lookout) hopped a fence into the cop's tiny backyard-lucky she didn't get shot too. Both were ex-cons...meth heads from what the neighbors and the news said. The dead bf and his gf were from El Monte and were also suspected of breaking into numerous cars prior to the shooting. The gf was arrested. Since that event, things have been quiet. You can always call APD and inquire about crime stats. The postman said that a lot of people are getting their parcels stolen after delivery, so be warned. We have never had any problems, but crime can strike anyone, anywhere, anytime.

2. GUSD used to have open enrollment, but not sure if it is now closed. GUSD has excellent schools with incredible parent (and grandparent) involvement. Azusa schools are improving, but have state scores much lower than GUSD. When you look at the student stats, many (most?) Azusa students speak English as a second language, while most in GUSD speak English as a first language. That might account for much of the test score differences.

3. The townhomes are relatively near the entrance to the San Gabriel Canyon. Endless hiking, biking, etc. The East Fork even has gold. There was a gold rush shanty-town up there in the late 1850s-1860s. Hydraulic mining occurred up there too, mostly in the 1860s-1870s. Tons of old adits, tailings, ruins. Detect your heart out...

I see coyotes at least weekly on Ranch Rd, ditto for raccoons. Tons of bats at night above the river, ducks, deer, etc. The San Gabriel River bike path is very nice. Check out the Old San Gabriel Canyon Road near the old El Encanto. The path goes past the old Hoag Ranch, and is in the old photos from the early days.

Hope that this helps a bit. Azusa is a great place to live, and is growing like crazy. Two light rail stops are under construction, one will be near city hall, and the second a bit further east near Citrus College. The Rosedale Housing development is supposed to bring a total of 1200 homes (I estimate 5000 people), and they are building like crazy. Sierra Madre had a lot more traffic than it did a few years ago. So goes progress...

If you have any more questions, I am happy to help.

[Mr_Geek]

There's some nice condos in that area and some that I wouldn't want to live in. I have lived right in the area for the 5 years now. Which condos exactly are you talking about?

[squall2002]

Originally Posted by Mobius69

I have lived across from those townhomes for 8+ yrs.

1. Is it safe? Generally yes.

I know of at least 3 officers that live there with their families.

However, a couple of yrs ago one of the officers came home in the middle of the night (after a late shift) to find a man breaking into a car next to his parking space (there are some covered parking stalls for the owners). He identified himself, but the perp supposedly went for his own waistband, so the cop shot him dead. The perp's gf (who was a lookout) hopped a fence into the cop's tiny backyard-lucky she didn't get shot too. Both were ex-cons...meth heads from what the neighbors and the news said. The dead bf and his gf were from El Monte and were also suspected of breaking into numerous cars prior to the shooting. The gf was arrested. Since that event, things have been quiet. You can always call APD and inquire about crime stats. The postman said that a lot of people are getting their parcels stolen after delivery, so be warned. We have never had any problems, but crime can strike anyone, anywhere, anytime.

2. GUSD used to have open enrollment, but not sure if it is now closed. GUSD has excellent schools with incredible parent (and grandparent) involvement. Azusa schools are improving, but have state scores much lower than GUSD. When you look at the student stats, many (most?) Azusa students speak English as a second language, while most in GUSD speak English as a first language. That might account for much of the test score differences.

3. The townhomes are relatively near the entrance to the San Gabriel Canyon. Endless hiking, biking, etc. The East Fork even has gold. There was a gold rush shanty-town up there in the late 1850s-1860s. Hydraulic mining occurred up there too, mostly in the 1860s-1870s. Tons of old adits, tailings, ruins. Detect your heart out...

I see coyotes at least weekly on Ranch Rd, ditto for raccoons. Tons of bats at night above the river, ducks, deer, etc. The San Gabriel River bike path is very nice. Check out the Old San Gabriel Canyon Road near the old El Encanto. The path goes past the old Hoag Ranch, and is in the old photos from the early days.

Hope that this helps a bit. Azusa is a great place to live, and is growing like crazy. Two light rail stops are under construction, one will be near city hall, and the second a bit further east near Citrus College. The Rosedale Housing development is supposed to bring a total of 1200 homes (I estimate 5000 people), and they are building like crazy. Sierra Madre had a lot more traffic than it did a few years ago. So goes progress...

If you have any more questions, I am happy to help.

Thank you so much, your reponse has been very helpful!! Me and my wife currently have no child, so school rate is not a concern in short term, I am generally more concern about the overall safety in the area and how does the community feels there. I've been driven around that area while looking for house, it feels like a pretty quiet neighborhood to me.

[JerZ]

Originally Posted by squall2002

Thank you so much, your reponse has been very helpful!! Me and my wife currently have no child, so school rate is not a concern in short term, I am generally more concern about the overall safety in the area and how does the community feels there. I've been driven around that area while looking for house, it feels like a pretty quiet neighborhood to me.

I think you will be quite happy there.