Relocating to Azusa: Good affordable areas nearby? (Glendale, Pasadena: real estate, condo)

[petrivka]

Hello Californians,

I'm swallowing my pride and leaving my Houston, TX home for a new job in Azusa, CA. I have some money, but not California real estate level money: budget is around $500K for a 3BR/2B condo/townhouse/SFR.

Looking for a safe, family-friendly area with good schools (my wife is a teacher and my son will be starting pre-K soon).

My spidey-sense has lead me to Monrovia, Glendora, San Dimas, Claremont, and La Verne. Any gotchas with these areas? Any other places worth considering/avoiding?

Thanks in advance!

[IM90046]

Glendora, Claremont and La Verne all have excellent schools. The best I'd say are Claremont's.
Also probably the most expensive outta the three. I believe homes usually start around 500k in those cities so you might have a little trouble finding a SFH.
Claremont is lovely, kinda artsy and very educated, also lively for the east SGV. La Verne and Glendora are sleepy IMO.

[genjy]

Can't beat Glendora's combination of schools, safety, and location. Great schools, super safe and clean, and right next to Azusa.

The Glendora USD part of town is north of the 210 freeway. Shouldn't be too hard to find a small 3bed/2bath for $500k in that area.

[Joe Van Fossen]

Any of the areas you're looking into could work. If your preference is for a SFR, it'll probably be easier to find in Glendora, San Dimas or La Verne. Claremont is great for its downtown, but it's the furthest away from Azusa and available housing stock is quite limited, especially in the $500k range.

[petrivka]

Thanks for the inputs folks!

Are there any other areas west of Azusa? Monrovia looks good, but everything else seems too expensive (Arcadia, Pasadena, La Canada).

[genjy]

Not as family-friendly, IMO. Monrovia's safety and schools aren't as good as the easternly cities' mentioned.

Monrovia has an excellent downtown area, and it would put you a few miles closer to Pasadena and LA... but the desireable part of Monrovia (north of 210) can be pretty pricey.

Arcadia, South Pasadena, San Marino, La Canada... all extremely nice but very expensive. $500k likely won't fly in those cities unless you make some compromises.

Do you like trains? If you like trains and what they offer, then you need to know there's a new light rail line that will open in a few months in the areas you are looking at (Monrovia, Arcadia, Azusa/Glendora). Google "Metro Gold Line Foothill Extension" if you want to find out where the new train line goes and where the stations are located. You might want to take this into consideration when buying.

[CA4Now]

Originally Posted by petrivka

Looking for a safe, family-friendly area with good schools

Azusa USD has some very low ranking schools, although some of the elementary schools are improving.
Try: http://www.city-data.com/forum/los-a...-rosedale.html
or: http://www.city-data.com/forum/los-a...lp-us-out.html
or: http://www.city-data.com/forum/los-a...-pasadena.html

[ticking]

Originally Posted by petrivka

Thanks for the inputs folks!

Are there any other areas west of Azusa? Monrovia looks good, but everything else seems too expensive (Arcadia, Pasadena, La Canada).

Monrovia is good and I think their schools are decent, and have a healthy mix of ethnicities. With your budget Duarte is something to take a look at also. If you choose the northern part of the city you will probably be pretty happy.

[reen79]

don't move to Azusa unless you move closer to the mountains where its nicer...its not nice there....so ghetto and a lot of crime.........I live in Covina a few minutes from Azusa and even Covina is getting ghetto.......

[petrivka]

Many thanks, all! What about even further west, like Glendale or Burbank? I don't know the traffic flows well in this region--if a typical morning/evening commute from/to Glendale or Burbank to/from Azusa is >45min I'll just drop those from consideration.