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Old 01-09-2018, 12:15 PM
 
Location: Norway
80 posts, read 83,237 times
Reputation: 73

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Quote:
Originally Posted by Cloudwalker View Post
There are strange, fingerlike borders around the Marina Del Rey area. Some of the streets along Washington Blvd are actually in Culver City, which would mean eligibility for Culver City High School. Also, I hear excellent things from a range of sources about the Global Languages and STEM magnets within Venice High School (but steer clear of the regular school).

Re 20-30 minutes from Santa Monica to the Valley? I've done that from SM to Sherman Oaks (obviously not at peak times) - but yes, it's definitely longer that that to get to Porter Ranch.

Public schools will not let you enrol until you have established actual residence (have to produce lease and utility bill at enrollment). If you are resident in the school's zone, they must accept you unless they are already at full enrollment.
And if they're already at full enrollment...? (f.x. say I move to Manhattan Beach, Mira Costa is full despite me having residence in the school district. There are no other schools there. What happens?)
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Old 01-09-2018, 12:18 PM
 
Location: Norway
80 posts, read 83,237 times
Reputation: 73
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cloudwalker View Post
There are strange, fingerlike borders around the Marina Del Rey area. Some of the streets along Washington Blvd are actually in Culver City, which would mean eligibility for Culver City High School. Also, I hear excellent things from a range of sources about the Global Languages and STEM magnets within Venice High School (but steer clear of the regular school).

Re 20-30 minutes from Santa Monica to the Valley? I've done that from SM to Sherman Oaks (obviously not at peak times) - but yes, it's definitely longer that that to get to Porter Ranch.

Public schools will not let you enrol until you have established actual residence (have to produce lease and utility bill at enrollment). If you are resident in the school's zone, they must accept you unless they are already at full enrollment.

I've been considering El Segundo, Marina del Rey, etc, but am a bit concerned at noise and air pollution by being so close to LAX. Which is why SM and the South Bay both seem still reasonably close to what's going on, while being a bit further away from the main sources of pollution in the area.

At this point I've recognized that I'm not going to find a place that has everything I want. I'm going to need a car, f.x. But decent schools and some evening activities/scene (i.e. not suburbia) are still at the top of my list.
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Old 01-09-2018, 12:48 PM
 
Location: Los Angeles
1,440 posts, read 1,227,259 times
Reputation: 1237
Any reason no one mentioned Culver City? It's its own school district, and close to the beach. Great community, too.
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Old 01-09-2018, 03:07 PM
 
Location: NY/LA
4,644 posts, read 4,502,330 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Surf_Norway View Post
And if they're already at full enrollment...? (f.x. say I move to Manhattan Beach, Mira Costa is full despite me having residence in the school district. There are no other schools there. What happens?)
Mira Costa allows some students from Hermosa to attend. If you're in Manhattan Beach, I would imagine you're going to get priority over non-MB students in the unlikely event that the school is "full".
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Old 01-09-2018, 05:54 PM
 
Location: Santa Monica, CA
1,626 posts, read 3,993,563 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Surf_Norway View Post
That's my point. Google's traffic analysis shows that South Bay to SM is almost as long time-wise as SM to the Valley, and the difference in time to the valley from SM vs South Bay is on the order of 10-15 min.
I work from home in SM so I’m not the best person to ask about LA traffic. I do know that the 405 south starts to back up around 2-2:30pm during the week. Not sure what it’s like going north in the morning. You can exit the 405 at Sunset or Wilshire if you’re going to Santa Monica. You’d be stuck on the 405 for another ~5-7 miles if you were commuting to the South Bay. That’s why I’m a little skeptical that commute would only be 10 minutes longer. Maybe if traffic was always light during your commuting times that would be the case.

My neighbor used to commute SM to Woodland Hills and I think it took her ~45 minutes (and she worked 10-6/7). Something tells me South Bay to Woodland Hills would be at least 20 minutes longer.
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Old 02-08-2018, 09:53 PM
 
Location: Norway
80 posts, read 83,237 times
Reputation: 73
I tried it out to see. Lived in Hermosa Beach for 2 weeks. It's a bear getting up to Hollywood, the Hills, DTLA, not to mention the valley. Everything stops well before LAX and doesn't let up until after the 10, and if you continue over the hill you have the whole 101/405 interchange craziness.

That said, there is little traffic headed north in the morning on the 405 from after the 10, until you get to the 101. Pretty much zips along, and going south in the evening is usually the same, as the main flow of cars is north.

I ended up getting a place on the border of West LA and Santa Monica. 10 minutes to the beach, 15 minutes to LAX or east towards Fairfax on a good day, but not much longer in traffic. Easy access to the 405, 10 and PCH. It makes getting around much easier (although getting out of the West Side is still a problem, it doen't feel nearly as "remote" as the South Bay did, where everything was an hour or more away).

Hope this helps, and thanks for all the helpful comments and suggestions!
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Old 02-08-2018, 10:02 PM
 
823 posts, read 1,046,671 times
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Thanks for reporting back, OP, always good to hear what people end up deciding. Did you work anything out in terms of school for your son?
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Old 02-08-2018, 10:43 PM
 
125 posts, read 113,599 times
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Good luck!
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Old 02-09-2018, 09:02 PM
 
Location: Norway
80 posts, read 83,237 times
Reputation: 73
Hi Cloudwalker, Huja,

I figured there are good schools in South Bay and SM, both are near the ocean. So for now it will be SM, we'll see if it ends up being public, charter or private. I don't yet have a job, so that may influence the choice.

I have until this summer to get a job and a better/my own place.
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Old 10-14-2018, 11:03 PM
 
Location: Norway
80 posts, read 83,237 times
Reputation: 73
A small update on my status here.


I'm still in West LA, close to Santa Monica, and can't complain.


However (what did Joe Walsh sing, "I can't complain, but sometimes I still do" lol), after living here for over half a year, and regularly visiting some new friends I made in Manhattan Beach back in February, there is one thing I notice.


Yes, Santa Monica is livelier, younger and has a lot of things to do. Manhattan Beach (and Hermosa, probably Redondo too) are more small, local, provincial feeling towns that just happen to be part of greater Los Angeles.


The thing I've noticed is that here in Santa Monica, I don't know my neighbors, or basically anyone from the area, and there are a lot of tourists here day and night.


In the South Bay, at least with the people I've been hanging out with at El Porto, there's this sense of community. We all sit and have a coffee or beer on the Strand in the morning when I visit to surf, after only a few times some of the neighbors greet me by name and sit down and have a chat, there's this whole local community vibe that I really like, and enjoyed in Europe, that I don't (or haven't yet) found in Santa Monica. Maybe it exists and I'm just in the wrong place (technically in the West LA, not SM)?


I will need to move sometime before next summer when my son (then 16 years old) is supposed to move here. Either closer to Santa Monica High School (I don't want to be south of the 10, even though the school is), or Manhattan/Hermosa Beach (love the sense of community and knowing my neighbors, great school for my son, not so great that there isn't nearly as much to do or experience as in Santa Monica).


Thoughts? Are there areas in Santa Monica where neighbors actually know each other and have a sense of community? Would I be giving up a whole bunch of fun and things to explore in SM by moving to the South Bay? Manhattan Beach does feel pretty limited in terms of things to do outside going to the beach. Nor does it seem to be the most progressive place. But I do miss the sense of community, that's something I really enjoy.
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