Pasadena or Long Beach for family of 4?

[Rigeleer]

Agreed nice parks and pretty neighborhoods, but I have to agree with CA4Now on the low public school ratings. I hear Pasadena has some good private schools.

Agreed that one should avoid north of 210 except for Altadena. North of 210 and west of Lake is kind of mixed because of some gentrification going on but it's a higher crime area than families would want. A male friend who lived there said he was too uneasy trying to go for walks after sunset because of the people he saw around.

Since you mention wanting easy airport access, that's a big plus for Pasadena. Except for morning rush hour, you can get to Burbank airport in 20-30 minutes usually without hitting a big jam. That airport is 50x less hassle than LAX and hosts short hop flights up the coast.

Another plus is you can get to big Eaton Canyon nature park in 10-20 minutes, which is great for kids, and you're a few minutes from the main highway up into San Gabriel Mtns Nat. Monument which meets the 210 at La Canada.

[cyberfx1024]

Originally Posted by CA4Now

Pasadena Unified School District has some of the lowest ranked schools in the state.

Some are very bad yes. But Field, Hamilton, Don Benito are good schools.

[DabOnEm]

Originally Posted by Salmonista

Home: at least 2 bed/1 bath condo, townhouse, or house... 3 bed would be nice

Climate: does it get as hot in Long Beach as SGV in summer?

Schools: our oldest starts K in two years. We want a diverse school. Test scores not as important. Prefer like a 5 at least on Greatschools. In Pasadena we like Hamilton or Willard. Looks like Los Cerritos in LB might be a good option. Want to live close to an elementary school.

Transit: husband works downtown and rides the Gold Line now. In LB we'd want to be close to the Blue Line.

Lifestyle/neighborhood: we like parks, libraries, diverse restaurants, and kid-friendly stuff. We are pretty active with church. Walkable area is a big plus.

Airport: extended family in Portland, OR so like to be able to fly back and forth easily.

So, what do you think? Do we seem more like Pasadena or LB people?

I lived in both cities for about a year each, and what I can say:

Home: Definitely get more for your money in the good parts of Long Beach.

Climate: Long Beach stays much cooler in the summer and does not get as cold during the winter. I'd take Long Beach weather any day over Pasadena.

Schools: Unless you are going private, Long Beach has a better public school system and is one of the better large urban districts in the country. Pasadena Unified underperforms with the amount of money in the area because there are so many private schools in the area (too many in my opinion).

Transit: Both have transit access via rail, but the Gold Line is by far more pleasant / safer to ride than the Blue Line. The Blue Line runs through some of the roughest hoods in LA so you have to deal with that crowd in those areas depending on time of day.

Lifestyle/neighborhood: Long Beach is definitely more beach oriented, especially south of PCH. More relaxed and laid back, though Pasadena is pretty relaxed too. I think the biggest difference is that the areas/cities around Pasadena (in all directions) are also generally nicer. If you go West/Northwest/North of Long Beach, you can hit some pretty rough spots. Heading Northeast into Lakewood/Cerritos or East into Orange County is fine though.

I liked the mountain backdrop in Pasadena, but the Palos Verdes Hills and Signal Hill are good compromises for Long Beach (especially when you include the ocean being right there).

Airport: Long Beach has an airport that is very convenient for people living in the city with Southwest as the largest airline. Pasadena has Burbank's airport very close-by, which has a handful more direct-flight destinations than Long Beach. Both are very old school and easy to fly in/out of.

All things considered, if I had a family with your budget, I'd go with Long Beach. The only downside would be the Blue Line but during regular rush hour, you'll be on there with a bunch of other business folks. It's really only bad during mid-day or sometimes on the weekends. Long Beach's downtown/waterfront continues to get better with more to do for families and couples too. You have more areas to "hang out" in Long Beach (downtown, the waterfront, 2nd Street) versus Pasadena (really just Colorado Blvd).

Originally Posted by socal88

I'd take Pasadena over Long Beach any day. The only downside is that $800K doesn't get you much house in Pasadena.

Weather-wise, Long Beach is cooler, but it has a fair number of not so great pockets and the public school system isn't very good like Pasadena. Although I'm sure there are some good schools in the better parts of Long Beach at the elementary school level. Long Beach is just a city by the water rather than an actual nice beach city like you see in other parts of the South Bay or OC. The desirable parts such as Belmont Shore are very expensive.

Pasadena has a great Old Town, nice parks, good restaurants, is walkable, and it's easy to get to downtown and other areas. More pros than cons when compared to Long Beach.

Actually Long Beach has a higher rated school district than Pasadena, which does terrible for the amount of money in the area. That's because all the people with money send their kids to private schools.