Houses and Schools: Torrance to UCLA

[BRinSM]

woodland hills to UCLA is a tough commute as well, and WH to torrance is very FAR! unless your husband can work from home, making that drive everyday (even if you can avoid traffic) would be taxing to say the least. i strongly think you should check out the holy glen/del aire area that i mentioned in response to your original post. also, as we was previously mentioned. it probably wouldn't hurt to rent for the first year and get to know the area better. renting in culver city and getting your kids into good schools would be a good start while you work on finding a permanent home.

[JohnG72]

Originally Posted by ennekube

Thanks all for the feedback. My husband will have significantly more flexibility in his commute than I will, and may in fact only need to drive to work 2x/week (and work remotely the rest). I will have less flexibility in working at UCLA. If we expanded our budget to $750K but would strongly, strongly prefer to spend <$650K, would it be wise to expand our search to Woodland Hills area? We both love hiking, which is why all that green space near Topanga Canyon is appealing, but I don't know if it's a dumb idea if quality of schools is a concern. Previous forums seemed to suggest that Woodland Hills Elementary and El Camino weren't so bad...

Woodland Hills is fantastic and you would not need such a budget to live there.

For instance:

22665 MIRANDA St, Woodland Hills, CA 91367 | MLS# 12-629143 | Redfin

Under $600K and zoned to El Camino.

However....and this is a HUGE however.....your commute will be backbreaking IMO. The 405 through the Sepulveda Pass is the absolute worst commute in Los Angeles, and probably the entire country. You are looking at an hour each way. Right now my GPS is showing that commute as 20 miles and 43 minutes and today is a LIGHT traffic day due to so many people off around the holidays. Torrance would be another 45 minutes at least.

Again my initial suggestion from July still stands....rent in Culver City.

[ennekube]

Thanks, the advice has been very helpful. We will check out holy glen/ del aire and also rent in culver city until we get to know the area better ( and it sounds like, LA traffic!)