Northridge, Valencia or Westlake Village? (Thousand Oaks, Simi Valley: best cities, to rent, townhome)

[soultravelerfan]

Hello all, I am currently entertaining a job offer in Northridge, and am looking for a suitable place to live for me and my family. My wife and I have a 2 and 12 year old, so we're looking for the place that best suits a family lifestyle. We've done some homework and have narrowed it down to Northridge, Valencia or Westlake Village. Would the commutes from the other two to Northridge be too much? What's the cost of living like? We'd be looking to rent a 3br apt, townhome or house. Which neighborhood is safest?

[atina33]

Westlake & Valencia are both very safe communities. Northridge has some very nice pockets and some not-so-nice but overall it's quite good.

A commute from Westlake would be rough but I only know the 101 route from there to Northridge. There's another way but I'm not familiar with its traffic volume. Same story with Valencia-Northridge commute as I have never done that trip in the a.m.

Westlake is the most expensive of those 3 areas.

Good luck!

[jessemh431]

the commute from westlake village would be pretty rough, but it's the best locations of three, and the most expensive. i would suggest calabasas or woodland hills since they are both very safe, but they are closer to northridge. with children, don't live in northridge as it can be iffy in some area. almost all of woodland hills is good for children. calabasas and westlake village are the best cities in the area, but WV may be too far to commute every day.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by soultravelerfan

Hello all, I am currently entertaining a job offer in Northridge, and am looking for a suitable place to live for me and my family. My wife and I have a 2 and 12 year old, so we're looking for the place that best suits a family lifestyle. We've done some homework and have narrowed it down to Northridge, Valencia or Westlake Village. Would the commutes from the other two to Northridge be too much? What's the cost of living like? We'd be looking to rent a 3br apt, townhome or house. Which neighborhood is safest?

You eliminated Moorpark and Simi Valley? Thousand Oaks? Your drive would be the 23 to the 118 (which wouldn't be great unless you could flex your hours.)
Northridge is LAUSD, however the community schools in Northridge are probably much better than average LAUSD. Westlake Village is LA County (unless you are looking into the Ventura County side of the lake which isn't Westlake Village but rather Thousand Oaks.) Thousand Oaks is Conejo Valley Schools which are amongst the best in California.

If it were me, I'd live in Thousand Oaks, Westlake Village, Calabasas, Agoura Hills, Moorpark, and Simi Valley in that order. I'd be willing to suck up a worse drive to allow my kids to attend the better schools. Besides you are renting; it's not for ever. And if you could go in early like 7AM-330 traffic wouldn't be a problem.

Specific to your safety question, Safest: Westlake Village, Valencia, Northridge