Irvine, Glendora or Diamond Bar? (Los Angeles, Pasadena: real estate, 2015, HOA)

[Cam74]

We are currently looking into buying a house. My daughter feels more comfortable around asians.
We want something safe and good schools.

We fell in love with Glendora when we visited it for the first time. We love the small town feel, the "apparent" safety and the fact that it has good schools and that it is somewhat affordable. I also get the feel that we will more likely be able to purchase a house there because Glendora does not seem to attract the typical LA commuter due to the immense time spend on the freeways during rush hour.

We noticed though that more and more people are leaving Glendora and I was wondering why?

We love Irvine but it is just too expensive. We could afford probably a 2 bd condo there or something older and smaller.
We have not checked out Diamond Bar yet though it is more in our price range (no Mello Roos and lower HOA if none)

I have read in the past about gang problems in Diamond bar. Does anybody know if this is still a problem there? And what about Irvine or Glendora? SGV has been known for gang issues in the past and I wonder if Glendora is affected by it as well. I have never heard of any gang related actitivies in Irvine. I don't think that this is an issue there or am I wrong?

[Ulysses61]

There is NO question you should choose Glendora. The traffic in DB and Irvine is beyond horrific. Glendora is a beautiful town, great schools and is safe. There is no gang problem whatsoever in Glendora. However, real estate is extremely pricey. A dumpy house with 1100 sq. feet will run you 500K. However, 500K will also buy you nothing in Irvine or DB.

[genjy]

I live in Glendora.

Glendora is not an Asian town.

Now with that out of the way--Glendora has NO gang, seriously. Azusa has a bit of gang activities, but it's relatively mild for SoCal norms, and the crime doesn't seem to spill into Glendora, not even tagging.

For Glendora, you do want to buy as north as you can--at least north of the 210.

Glendora's population is holding still at around 50k because it's built-out. There are no McMansions and overnight street parking here, so each household is really limited to one small nucleus family.

Diamond Bar's 60FWY is the most congested freeway in SGV; Glendora's 210FWY is usually lighter in traffic.

There's going to be a Metro Light Rail (Gold Line) station opening at the border of Azusa and Glendora in 2015, and Glendora will probably gets its own station in 2019. The line goes to Monrovia, Acadia, Pasadena, Union Station, Little Tokyo, Downtown LA, and East LA.

Diamond Bar and Irvine will never get a light rail--at least not in our lifetime.

[Ulysses61]

If you want Asians, then you will have to move to Arcadia or Sierra Madre, and both those communities are even pricier in real estate than Glendora.

[genjy]

Sierra Madre doesn't have Asians. Sierra Madre is more like a younger and more compact version of Glendora and Claremont.

If you want Asians in the North/East SGV: Arcadia, Diamond Bar, Walnut, Rowland Heights, and maybe Hacienda Heights and maybe West Covina.

[BeauCharles]

Originally Posted by Ulysses61

If you want Asians, then you will have to move to Arcadia or Sierra Madre, and both those communities are even pricier in real estate than Glendora.

Sierra Madre Profile - Mapping L.A. - Los Angeles Times

Seems there are very few Asians there.

[bhcompy]

You might want to consider Cerritos.. Upper-middle class mostly, no gang issues, great schools(Whitney if you're a genius, Cerritos HS if you're just smart), and 62% Asian(Koreans and Filipinos probably most dominant).

Contrasting against other cities' demographics: Irvine is 39% Asian, Glendora is 8% Asian, and Diamond Bar is 53% Asian

I don't know where exactly you live, but Cerritos is very close to both Metrolink commuter rail and LA Metro light rail(blue line, to be specific) and the freeways are probably about average for commuting, unless your goal is to the take the 5 into LA, which means going through the heavily congested East LA interchange

[Ulysses61]

Wow, I am shocked Sierra Madre has so few Asians (thanks for the correction). I hike the Mt. Wilson trail every Sunday in the winter and there are nothing but Asian people on the trail (literally). I naturally assumed they all lived near the trailhead on Miramonte Ave.

[BayAreaHillbilly]

Go for Glendora. It's God's Country.

[Mr_Geek]

Originally Posted by Ulysses61

Wow, I am shocked Sierra Madre has so few Asians (thanks for the correction). I hike the Mt. Wilson trail every Sunday in the winter and there are nothing but Asian people on the trail (literally). I naturally assumed they all lived near the trailhead on Miramonte Ave.

Coming from Arcadia mostly.