English couple with kids moving from Chicago to LA - neighborhood shortlist? (Glendale: low income, section 8)

[pheier22]

I have been doing a little research on this forum and there is such a wealth of helpful information here!

My husband is considering a job in downtown LA and we have a middle school aged son and a daughter who will be an incoming freshman. We have been living in the suburbs of Chicago for the past 10 years and initially hail from England.

My question is, what area would you recommend based on the following criteria:

1) easy commute to downtown LA
2) excellent high school(public but could consider private)
3) nice family friendly community vibe with a good walk score

We will most likely be renting with a very generous rental allowance. Some areas that came up on this forum is La Canada and southern Pasadena? Pros and cons of these places and any other recommendations?

Thank you so much for your help and time.

[vincent from norcal]

Be aware that South Pasadena is a separate city from Pasadena. The Southeastern neighborhoods of the city of Pasadena are very nice and have lots of old money but you have to use private schools, PUSD sucks. La Cañada is nice, becoming a Chinese area if you're into that. Also check out La Crescenta, it's in Glendale schools but it's unincorporated LA and absolutely beautiful. Glendale is nice in parts but there is sketchy complexes with section 8 scattered about. People here will likely recommend Burbank but honestly 40% of Burbank is icky these days not like it used to be.

Frankly even the best districts in California suck compared to the rest of the country, even renowned school districts like Irvine in OC have nothing on schools like New Trier in Chicago.

There are some districts better than others but if you really value education then use private schools. California only beats Mississippi for public education for a reason.

What's your budget? If high enough live in Pasadena or the nice parts of the city of LA like Los Feliz and use private schools, Pasadena has some of the top private schools in the country.

[IM90046]

Originally Posted by vincent from norcal

Be aware that South Pasadena is a separate city from Pasadena. The Southeastern neighborhoods of the city of Pasadena are very nice and have lots of old money but you have to use private schools, PUSD sucks. La Cañada is nice, becoming a Chinese area if you're into that. Also check out La Crescenta, it's in Glendale schools but it's unincorporated LA and absolutely beautiful. Glendale is nice in parts but there is sketchy complexes with section 8 scattered about. People here will likely recommend Burbank but honestly 40% of Burbank is icky these days not like it used to be.

Frankly even the best districts in California suck compared to the rest of the country, even renowned school districts like Irvine in OC have nothing on schools like New Trier in Chicago.

There are some districts better than others but if you really value education then use private schools. California only beats Mississippi for public education for a reason.

What's your budget? If high enough live in Pasadena or the nice parts of the city of LA like Los Feliz and use private schools, Pasadena has some of the top private schools in the country.

I have to disagree with this poster. IMO California's good school districts are some of the best public schools in the nation. As a whole California schools suck, but that's because low income neighborhood schools are polar opposite to the few nice neighborhoods. La Canada has very well performing schools as well as San Marino and South Pasadena. South Pasadena is the closest to Downtown, out of the three. It has a small sleepy town vibe and is humble unlike many other wealthy areas.

[vincent from norcal]

I wouldn't recommend living in San Marino if you're not Chinese to be honest, it is safe and beautiful but it's a suburban Chinatown, most folks wouldn't be comfortable if they couldn't speak or understand Chinese. Also SGV schools are pressure cookers.

South Pasadena is sleepy and has a Mayberry feel, I agree it's a lovely place. La Crescenta has prettier natural surroundings though.

[jessemh431]

If you want the true suburban life, Pasadena, South Pasadena, and La Canada/Flintridge will you give that. But I would suggest Pasadena and South Pasadena over La Canada because the Gold Line goes through there. Your husband can take that to work in DTLA. South Pasadena has the better schools for sure. Pasadena is the more urban/walkable one.

If you want just a family friendly place that's also walkable, you can consider parts of the San Fernando Valley, but the schools aren't as good. Places like Toluca Lake, Studio City, and Sherman Oaks in the San Fernando Valley have some nice urban parts. Your husband can easily take the Red Line subway to his job in Downtown LA. There are some amazing private schools in that area though.

Culver City isn't the best public school system, but it's still one of the better ones in Southern California. Downtown Culver City has plenty of restaurants and bars to walk to, and you'll have easier access to the beach from there. The Expo Line goes from downtown Culver City to downtown LA. I take it every day for work. The Expo Line is currently being extended to Santa Monica and should be completed in Spring 2016 I believe. So in Culver City you'll have easy access to both the beach and downtown LA on public transit. Santa Monica schools are better, but it's much more expensive to live there and traffic is horrible.

[genjy]

Originally Posted by IM90046

South Pasadena is... humble unlike many other wealthy areas.

You mean humble like fighting the 710 freeway for decades so areas like El Sereno, Alhambra, San Gabriel, and San Marino can care of all the traffic instead?

[munchitup]

Originally Posted by vincent from norcal

I wouldn't recommend living in San Marino if you're not Chinese to be honest, it is safe and beautiful but it's a suburban Chinatown, most folks wouldn't be comfortable if they couldn't speak or understand Chinese. Also SGV schools are pressure cookers.

South Pasadena is sleepy and has a Mayberry feel, I agree it's a lovely place. La Crescenta has prettier natural surroundings though.

I don't think that is true, you are going to be doing most of your shopping and socializing outside of San Marino, considering there is almost nothing but residential in the town. You would mostly be heading to Alhambra or Pasadena (more like Pas / South Pas as it's nicer). And at this point I'm pretty sure it's still 1/2 white 1/2 Asian.

[vincent from norcal]

San Marino High is 60% Asian 28% White.

[majoun]

Originally Posted by vincent from norcal

Be aware that South Pasadena is a separate city from Pasadena. The Southeastern neighborhoods of the city of Pasadena are very nice and have lots of old money but you have to use private schools, PUSD sucks. La Cañada is nice, becoming a Chinese area if you're into that. Also check out La Crescenta, it's in Glendale schools but it's unincorporated LA and absolutely beautiful. Glendale is nice in parts but there is sketchy complexes with section 8 scattered about. People here will likely recommend Burbank but honestly 40% of Burbank is icky these days not like it used to be.

Frankly even the best districts in California suck compared to the rest of the country, even renowned school districts like Irvine in OC have nothing on schools like New Trier in Chicago.

There are some districts better than others but if you really value education then use private schools. California only beats Mississippi for public education for a reason.

What's your budget? If high enough live in Pasadena or the nice parts of the city of LA like Los Feliz and use private schools, Pasadena has some of the top private schools in the country.

Burbank's probably the best place for a family. There's definitely an advantage to NOT living in the city of L.A, which is a dysfunctional mess beyond the school issue - even its "nice" sections have the same dysfunctional public services and all that goes with that. By "icky" do you mean older? Because Burbank has no bad neighborhoods. There is one section that is ugly, noisy due to the airport being nearby, and in close proximity to some bad neighborhoods in North Hollywood and Sun Valley, but that area's not dangerous.

There's a reason why Burbank's so popular on C-D.

[vincent from norcal]

The area that feeds into Burbank High is fine, the area feeding into Burroughs HS is/is becoming Barrio-esque