Upper middle class neighbourhoods in LA/OC? (Long Beach, Irvine: real estate, apartments)
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I'm looking for a good neighbourhood to live in around LA or OC. I will be moving there with my family of 4 in the very near future. I'm looking for good schools, a diverse shopping experience, entertainment, a variety of restaurants etc... basically a good family living experience. I can work from home, so commute times are not the most important issue at this time.
I'm sure there are several. People have mentioned areas like Mission Viejo, Manhattan Beach and Palos Verdes. I think they may still be a bit expensive for me, but it's worth a look.
Since you don't have to commute, I like PV. It's very beautiful but it's far from everything. You'll have to leave the hill for fun, eating out, etc.
Mission Viejo is about as suburban as it gets. Shopping consists of malls and chains. It's also too far from the beach for my taste. It's a safe, nice, newer bedroom community though.
Manhattan Beach is a great option. You can walk to stuff which is fun. And it's pretty.
If you can't afford Manhattan Beach, a slightly cheaper beach option is Belmont Shore which is basically the same thing. When I say cheaper, I mean an older 3 bedroom house will cost $1.1M instead of $1.3M so it's still fairly high.
If you're going to live in LA/OC, might as well live by the beach. The beach towns are nice little communities.
If you can't afford the beach, then inland cities like MV or Torrance might be good options.
Much depends upon the ages of your children and what your budget is for housing. Many areas in the LA South Bay have very good elementary schools, but there can be drastic drop-off in quality by the High School level. A bit more information please.
How about La Canada. Great schools. Even the Crescenta Valley (especially Sparr Heights) has good schools and the Montrose shopping Park is great for restaurants.
I will be moving from Bellevue, WA. and we currently live in a comfortable sized home with two young children (ages 3 and 7) and we are in our mid-thirties So, elementary schools are important for us now and high schools in the not too distant future.
We are looking for a home in the price range of 750K to 850K, maybe more if things work out before then. I work in IT so I can work from home and my wife currently doesn't work, but she is a teacher.
I've done some research on schools and have heard good things about Mission Viejo, Manhattan Beach and Palos Verdes. We would like an area close to a variety of resources as we do not like to drive alot. Also, being near the water isn't the most important factor at the moment. We like good food and alternative medicine if that helps.
If you're considering Mission Viejo you might also want to post on the OC message board. If you're looking at South Coast OC you might look into Laguna Niguel and Aliso Viejo. Both are closer to the ocean and border great areas (Laguna Beach, Dana Point, and Newport). You should be able to find a house in your price range in these areas. Oh, when checking out real estate in OC keep in mind that many properties in South Coast OC have Melo-Roos tax in addition to the usual state property tax. This will push your property tax bill at 2%. As for schools, all of the schools in South OC will be fairly good and better than most you'd find in L.A. in your budget. Manhattan Beach and Palos Verdes are considerably more expensive than Mission Viejo, Aliso Viejo, or Laguna Niguel.
You'll get a lot of differing opinions, but I actually love South Coast OC. The beaches are incredible. That being said, you will definitely need a car and drive to get anywhere if you live in Mission Viejo or in OC in general. Actually, you'll pretty much need a car to get anywhere regardless of where you live in Southern California.
I can't speak for OC other than to say that you'll have a better choice of housing and schools in good locations than you would in the South Bay of LA. $850K won't get you into a home in Manhattan Beach or Palos Verdes. You might find something suitable in Rancho Palos Verdes, but be sure you're in the Palos Verdes School District. Both of the high schools were in the top 100 in the recent Newsweek ratings.
Some cities and towns in the LA area that may suit your needs and price range:
Pasadena- There are good areas and bad areas
Culver City- Same as above
Westchester- Though the schools are dicey at the HS level
El Segundo- Very small, insulated and family oriented with good schools.
Redondo Beach- North Redondo is OK. South Redondo is more expensive.
Torrance- West Torrance and South Torrance are perceived as nicer.
Long Beach- Lots of good areas and lots of bad areas.
Each of these cities/towns have median home prices in the $700K-$1M range. A tad lower if you're open to a condo. There are many other good areas around LA, but these ones come off of the tips of my fingers most readily.
OK,
I'm going to recommend the south Orange Country area. It is set in rolling hills, with lush green tress in most of the cities, has good schools pretty much all the way around, is close to the beach, and has good shopping. For a family it is a really great area with most entertainment set up for families. You won't find a lot of party type bars and clubs, but that is what younger people tend to look for.
Mission Viejo:
The largest city of the south Orange County area (below Irvine), with about 100,000 people. Mission Viejo is consistently ranked one of the safest cities in the country and the city is one of the first masterplanned communities in the country. The city is set up with older (60's) housing closest to the freeway. From there the city grew east and everything east of Marguerite is fairly new (late 70's-02). The city has a Spanish theme, with many of the housing tracts reflecting that. The city also has the lovely mission bell street lamps throughout further carrying out this theme. At the heart of the city is Lake Mission Viejo. The beautiful lake is lined with large custom homes and condominiums and swimming beaches open only to residents of Mission Viejo. This is great as it is a fairly uncrowded place since only MV residents can use it. The lake also has a marina where kayaks, pedal boats, electric part boats, and sailboats can be rented. On a really windy day, windsurfing is possible. The city has several recreation centers with swimming pools, tennis courts, and gyms also spread throughout the city and the Nadeadores Swim Team that has sent several people to the Olympics is here. The city has a proud history of Olympic tradition for a suburban city, including being home to Olympic sprinter Florence Joyner who tragically passed away, home to the long distance bicycling event of the 23rd Olympics, was the practice field city for the World Cup (hence the World Cup Sports Park in the city), hometown of female soccer super star and Olympian Julie Foudy, current home of soccer player Joy Faucet who is also an Olympian, and tons of other swimmers. Also, the city has plenty of places to shop in centers throughout the city. Pretty much a grocery is within five minutes of every house in the city, there are "organic" places like Trader Joes and Henry's Marketplace, and the upscale Bristol Farms Market. Big box stores include Target (x2), Mervyns, Best Buy (electronics), Borders Book Store, Sport Authority, Toys R Us, Stein Mart, etc... Even more places are within driving distance in neighboring cities. The city has a lot of good places to eat, mostly family friendly. Very elegant white table cloth type dining is in neighboring cities. A sample includes Tortilla Flats, Peppinos Italian, the sushi place on the lake whose name I can't remeber, PF Changs, Valentinos, Oceans 33, Cheesecake Factory, and more. The city has the Shops at Mission Viejo Mall, anchored by Nordstroms, Saks Fifth Avenue, and Macys. There is a good amount of shopping and the food court is great. The mall in enclosed (not outdoors like Irvine Spectrum), and I would call this a slightly more "serious shopper" type mall, rather than an entertainment type one like Irvine Spectrum. Most people are out to spend when they go to this mall, rather than just stroll around. Also, the Kaliedoscope Courtyards is across the street and is another sort of mini mall. It is a interesting building and hard to describe. It is sort of the "teenage" center in Mission Viejo where a lot of middle school and high school students go. It has a Edwards Movie Theater, Howies Game Shack (some game consol/ computer gaming experience type place), Nine Star Skate Shop (has an indoor skate park), and Laser Quest (laser tag). As you can see, those types of things appeal to the young more than adults.
Schools- The city is served by two school districts, Capistrano Unified and Saddleback Valley Unified. Both are good school districts though CUSD has its share of political problems. Both have award winning an excellent schools. Go to each of their websites to find the specific schools you would attend for a house. In general everything east of Marguerite is CUSD, while everything west is SVUSD. That is very general though, for example, south of Oso, everything is CUSD on either side of Marguerite. I believe the top scoring elementary school in the city is Bathgate Elementary of CUSD, where the Calafia neighborhood attends.
Parks- The city is home to numerous parks. Every home is within walking distance of a park and every development/ neighborhood has one at its heart usually. There are many world class sport facilities for youth sports such as the Youth Athletic Park, Gilleran Park, Curtis Park, Bebe Park, and World Cup Fields.
Traffic- Traffic is very bad on Crown Valley Parkway. Because of this, I would recommend not living off this street as it can take twenty minutes to go two miles on it at rush hour. The city is adding additional lanes (4 in each direction), but for now it is bad. Alicia and La Paz are fine and the lights are syncronized well during peak hours. Oso Parkway is about in the middle, but it isn't horrible and miserable like Crown Valley. Marguerite and Felipe are the main north ot south streets.
Laguna Niguel:
This is a beautiful city and is a great option in the area. The city is primarily residential and is home to 60,000 residents. The city is ocean close being a neighbor to beach front city Dana Point. As a masterplanned community, you will get the same sort of feel as Mission Viejo, just with a less prevalent Spanish flare. Laguna Niguel also has a metrolink station if that is an option for getting to work. The big box stores of the city include Costco (x2), WalMart, Sport Authority, Target, Home Depot, and Expo Design Center b Home Depot. The city has two "organic type" markets, Henrys and Gelsons. The most notable building in the city is the pyramid shaped government building called the zuggurat. The city is close to numerous regional parks including Laguna Niguel Regional Park (with a small lake), and Aliso Woods Canyon Regional Park (many walking trails). There are several beautiful and exlusive communities such as Bear Brand Ranch, Ocean Ranch, South Peak, and Monarch Point. Most homes in these excede one million though and the customs claim millions. It is very beautiful though and many homes have ocean views.
Schools- Laguna Niguel is entirely in Capistrano Unified School District. The schools are again very good and respectable. The only bad thing I guess could be the city does not have its own high school. The city splits its students to Aliso Niguel High in Aliso Viejo or Dana Hills High in Dana Point. Aliso Niguel High tests well, but most down here think the school is way to over crowded. The schools has almost 4,000 students in a building for 3,000. It has lots of traffic problems and parkign issues with so many people down in the valley the school is in.
Traffic- Laguna Niguel is a difficult city to get to. It does not border the freeway, and most the homes are over a ridge. Most people take Crown Valley Parkway, which is very busy, but not as bad as through Mission Viejo. Avery, Alicia, and La Paz lead into Laguna Niguel also.
Sample home: high price: California Real Estate | Listing Information (http://www.prudentialcal.com/Listing/ListingDetail.aspx?Search=abaf5f56-e79f-4f77-9aec-2acd84192ea6&Listing=22399948&IRPAgentID=&Image=1& First=1&Last=10&pagesize=10&SearchType=city&Listin gDistrictTypeID=&FirstLetter=&Sort=6&Cookies=&UseC olorBar=false - broken link)
I don't think you need to live way out in Rancho Santa Margarita or east of Mission Viejo. Those areas are just very far from the freeway and add to commute. many of those neighborhoods have the mello roos tax also. It isn't worth it in my opinion, though almost all the houses out there are less than 10 years old. San Juan Capistrano is a pretty horse ranch, rural type town in the midst of south Orange County. There are many huge mansions in the city and the city is 40% open space. I think the city is a little bipolar and has a very small middle class. It is sort of wierd because there are these mansions on the hills and then in the valley is a very working class primarily Hispanic population living in very old apartments. It just makes the vibe in the city odd in my opinion because there will be run down apartments adjacent to a neighborhood like "Old San Juan Estates." The schools are also not that good in the city. Its elementary schools are not that good, nor is its middle school Marco Forester. Marco is like 70% Hispanic as all the rich people in the city send there kids to the private school St. Margrets, and the city's small middle class that wants public schools is left with subpar ones. The city just got its own high school, San Juan Hills High. It only has a freshmen class, so we will have to wait and see how it does.
San Clemente is a good city to live in also. It is a distinct beach town and has great surfing and charm. The city still has that small town feel on the beach side of the freeway with funky beach cottages and local bars, but then the inland side of the freeway is very master planned and like any other city, just close driving to distance to the beach. The city is a long drive to anything though as it has limited shopping. Schools are good, though recently I was surprised to see San Clemente High School's scores slip. It still is a decent school, maybe the surfing attitude at the school makes kids lazy?
Laguna Hills is also fine. It is a small city, so it is basically a bland of Laguna Niguel and Mission Viejo. Laguna Hills High has only 1,800 students, so lots of parents that want a small school move there. It is served by SVUSD.
Wow, thanks for all your input. Especially regarding OC and I will try the OC board for some more information.
Missionhome, you make a good case for living in those mentioned neighbourhoods. I appreciate your time and energy. All of you.
I was also looking into El Segundo/Manhattan beach. They have a new shopping complex that houses several convenient amenities. I'm happy to hear that someone mentioned that area. Also, Pasadena or Cresenta Valley is an option, but it sounds a little bi-polar. Very nice and very not so nice.
Does anyone have an opinion on the family livability of Brentwood and Sherman Oaks? I've haven't spent much time in either place, my research has told me that they are different, but both could be desirable for what I'm looking for.
And yes...I'd live in a condo or townhome.
Thank you.
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