Private Music Teaching -- Where? (Garden Grove, Irvine: middle-class, rent, public schools)

[goldenmommy]

Howdy,

I am relocating to the LA area soon and am in the process of figuring out where I should base my private music teaching studio. Based on what I have read, heard, and my own experience, I am looking for a fairly affluent area with lots of young families and a relatively strong middle-class East Asian population. I would think having lots of good public schools in the area would be ideal. Rent is not an issue. I would like to be within an hour's driving distance from Hollywood (I could stretch to OC if I had to), but the closer the better, all other factors being equal. Any ideas? Personal experiences? Anecdotes? Cautionary tales? Any resources I might want to check out for my own research?

Thanks!

[HyperionGap]

Well based on those criteria I would look at San marino

[thelopez2]

Hamilton High is a Music Magnet, maybe you should approach the administrator there. Venice High School is at the other spectrum, but I think the area still has people that need to be served. I think there are tons of opportunities for you.

[goldenmommy]

Thanks for the suggestions. I will look into them.

[drunk on kool aid]

San Marino is a good suggestion but the San Gabriel Valley (SGV, an L.A. region to the northeast and east of Downtown L.A.) has many other cities that match your profile. Specific cities would also include Arcadia and South Pasadena.

The South Bay (southwest corner of the L.A. metro) would also be a good fit, especially Torrance and Palos Verdes ($$$). Although only 10-15 miles away, under worst case scenarios, it could be an hour drive to Hollywood.

Orange County, especially around Irvine and Costa Mesa has lots of well-educated East Asians. Westminster and Garden Grove have a huge Vietnamese-American community with many professionals and business owners. An hour commute to Hollywood is probably possible only under ideal conditions.

[goldenmommy]

Originally Posted by drunk on kool aid

San Marino is a good suggestion but the San Gabriel Valley (SGV, an L.A. region to the northeast and east of Downtown L.A.) has many other cities that match your profile. Specific cities would also include Arcadia and South Pasadena.

Arcadia has a lot of schools! There seem to be a lot of schools in some of these smaller San Gabriel Valley towns. How long of a drive is it from one end of SGV to the other? Is traffic an issue there?

Originally Posted by drunk on kool aid

The South Bay (southwest corner of the L.A. metro) would also be a good fit, especially Torrance and Palos Verdes ($$$). Although only 10-15 miles away, under worst case scenarios, it could be an hour drive to Hollywood.

I knew LA traffic was bad, but wow. Is traffic not as bad from the east or something? How does the South Bay compare to San Gabriel Valley with regards to crime? Something tells me SGV wins there. I didn't mention it in my original post, but I think safety might actually be pretty high on my priority list.

Thanks, very helpful.

[Joe Van Fossen]

You may want to also consider Walnut. It's on the east end of SGV. Without traffic, it's probably about 20-30 minutes from one end to the other. Should be within an hour's drive to Hollywood, unless there's an accident (there's also a metrolink station in Walnut that will get you to hollywood). However, any area that would be ideal for finding plenty of music students will also probably already have many music schools. I used to teach music at a local shop in the Diamond Bar/Walnut area while finishing up college. We had ample students, but the store was pretty well established.

[genjy]

Like mentioned above, affluent eastern SGV cities such as Walnut, Diamond Bar, San Marino, Arcadia, and Temple City are your best bet--maybe South Pasadena, Rowland Heights and Hacienda Heights, too.

I am not quite sure about the western SGV cities like San Gabriel, Alhambra, and Monterey Park... though. The residents there are somewhat less affluent and not as academically ambitious, IMO.