Crime Reports? (Torrance, Corona, Lancaster: for sale, houses, transfer)

[Cherry Heart]

My husband and I both grew up in L.A County. I was in La Mirada, he was in Torrance. We moved to Missouri a few years ago, and have decided to go back home to Ca. My husbands parents are getting older and after a family death he wants to be closer to home and I understand and agree.

We are white, 25-30, never having children. We are looking for a nice place to live. We don't have to worry about good schools and all that, I just want to be able to walk my dogs without fear and not have to worry about drive bys, bars on the windows, that sort of thing.

We want to be within a 2 hour drive of Torrance for his parents, and I have been looking at Palmdale, Lancaster, Corona, Victorville, Sun City, Murrieta. I have seen a lot of people say they are unsafe areas but when I did a neighborhood scout online it said these areas are all fine, if not better then La Mirada (which now shows as just being "Okay" when it use to be really nice!). I am pretty confused. We plan on looking at houses in August when we go out to visit family but I am confused by the crime reports. We are transferring with our company but it is low-mid pay in Ca and so are not sure on the budget. We are thinking maybe $1,000 a mo or $200,000 for a house.

[Curmudgeon]

Originally Posted by Cherry Heart

My husband and I both grew up in L.A County. I was in La Mirada, he was in Torrance. We moved to Missouri a few years ago, and have decided to go back home to Ca. My husbands parents are getting older and after a family death he wants to be closer to home and I understand and agree.

We are white, 25-30, never having children. We are looking for a nice place to live. We don't have to worry about good schools and all that, I just want to be able to walk my dogs without fear and not have to worry about drive bys, bars on the windows, that sort of thing.

We want to be within a 2 hour drive of Torrance for his parents, and I have been looking at Palmdale, Lancaster, Corona, Victorville, Sun City, Murrieta. I have seen a lot of people say they are unsafe areas but when I did a neighborhood scout online it said these areas are all fine, if not better then La Mirada (which now shows as just being "Okay" when it use to be really nice!). I am pretty confused. We plan on looking at houses in August when we go out to visit family but I am confused by the crime reports. We are transferring with our company but it is low-mid pay in Ca and so are not sure on the budget. We are thinking maybe $1,000 a mo or $200,000 for a house.

Crime reports and statistics can be misleading. A single crime in a small area will drive the crime index much higher than that same crime would in a more heavily populated area. What I pay particular attention to is property crimes vs crimes against people.

In terms of housing, all I can suggest is to read online newspapers, Craig's List, etc. You can also go to www.realtor.com and plug in a city name or zip code, the maximumn amount you can spend, number of bedrooms, etc. and see what's available in your price range. Just be aware it doesn't list every house for sale, just many of them.

Good luck!