Need some honest opinions for good schools and neighborhoods for the following cities... (Los Angeles: estate)

[bhcompy]

For a place to raise kids I would put in this order from your list

Los Alamitos/Rossmoor/Seal Beach
Cerritos
eastern Long Beach
Irvine

Los Alamitos area is a great choice. The schools are excellent academically and nationally recognized in sports. The youth sports programs are growing and very good(esp. football). The high school is second to none as far as giving kids a great atmosphere to learn, great selection of elective classes, while still being more relaxed like the community around it is.

Cerritos has very strong academics(especially Whitney HS) and is a very well maintained city. It is a primarily asian area(many Koreans), and the schools reflect that in their methods toward learning. Whitney is very difficult and I've known a few kids that have burnt out from it. Different style than your typical school in the US. Not a great youth sports town, but neighboring Lakewood is rated top in the nation in Sports Illustrated for youth sports.

Eastern Long Beach is similar to Los Al/Seal Beach/Rossmoor, just in a different county.

Other nearby areas you might consider are Cypress and western Garden Grove.

These areas are all much more palateable in the summer being close to the beach than some of the other cities you have on your list and are very accessible being on the 405/605/22 interchange. The atmosphere is different than the Valley or southern OC with a very laid back beach community vibe across the area.

Irvine is very nice, but I'm not fond of the location.

[JerZ]

I haven't read all the replies yet but I skimmed your list and just wanted to give props to Claremont for safety, beauty and a "homey" feeling in general. (Not yo-yo-yo homey, but rather, home-like.) I'm in a neighboring town and have heard good things about their preschool programs. I'm not sure about grade school. Then, of course, the Claremont colleges are right there. Lots of shopping if you're into that...I'm not a huge shopper but the town area is walkable and I do love that part. It's a town with a good feel.

Good luck with your decision!

[blmccloud]

thanks everyone for your opinions in this matter! I am still doing research, but it is nice to have the pinions of people actually there!

[junkman18]

Originally Posted by blmccloud

Well, just to give you a little info... my husband wants to move closer to his family (mom especially) so our kids and he can spend more time with her before she passes and plus our kids can have the rest of his family close too!
My husband's mother lives in Lancaster, CA.. but I have heard it is not a very good area anymore and the schools suck! So, I have been doing some research for areas around there up to 2 hour drive away, cause I figure we can always drive that to vist!
So, I have heard good things about these following cities I will list below and would like to know which ones have good schools k-12 (by good schools I mean safe, and quality education), good nieghborhoods (safety first!!), and nice areas to live for us! Please any insight would be great!! Thanks!

Cities:
Palisades Park
San Gabriel
Cerritos
Thousand Oaks
Irvine
Riverside
Alhambra
Manhatten Beach
Los Alamitos
San Marino
Santa Clarita
Arcadia
Burbank
Claremont
Agoura
Culver City
Torrance
Long Beach
Sherman Oaks
Redondo Beach

I don't think you can fined any good schools in south California. When the SoCal schools are compared to good schools in some other states..

[missionhome]

This is a great tool. Zoom in on Southern California and it will show a map of all public schools and their test score rating on a scale from 1-10. Basically blue is good and red is bad. It is a good way to get an overview of a community and see the quality of its schools. It is defaulted to show only elementary, but if you check secondary schools, it will show middle and high schools also.

California School Performance Maps

[Lake Conroe resident]

Originally Posted by sgvkev

Palisades Park- VERY expensive... lots of celebrities in this area. In LAUSD which is a bad district..
San Gabriel- Good schools but if you live in the incorporated part stay above Las Tunas. The central and south parts are more lower/working class and have gang issues. The unincorporated part is very midle class.
Cerritos- Good area with good schools although it gets a bit sketchier the closer you get to Artesia, Norwalk, and Bellflower.
Thousand Oaks- Nice, hilly, and has good schools.
Irvine- A bit cookie cutter (although very nice) but great schools and the police get the job done.
Riverside- One that you should stay away from. Southeastern part is very good but the schools aren't that good and lots of undesirables who were kicked out due to Los Angeles gentrification in the central and northeast areas are moving there.
Alhambra- Solid area with good schools. Areas to avoid are the southeast, central, and parts of the west.
Manhatten Beach- Great choice and has what you want... huge price tag though.
Los Alamitos- Good area although a bit low on my recommendation order. Outside of the race track nothing stands out.
San Marino- Has everything you want but VERY expensive... known as the Bel Air of the San Gabriel Valley.
Santa Clarita- Valencia and Saugus are good as is nearby Stevenson Ranch. Canyon Country and Newhall can be a bit sketchy though...
Arcadia- Great area with a good school district. Many of the areas have "McMansions" which are large homes on small lots though. Really close to Pasadena, which has lots of night life...
Burbank- Very good schools, nice neighborhoods, and a great police force. The northwest parts near the airport are a bit sketchy.
Claremont- If you love a small town atmosphere this is the place. Has everything you ask for and is very pretty.
Agoura- Very similar to Thousand Oaks...
Culver City- Pretty good although west of the 405 isn't that good...
Torrance- Okay... south and west are fine, north is hit or miss, and east is pretty bad.
Long Beach- The eastern part is the best area for you. Avoid zip codes 90805, 90813, and 90810 at all costs. Same with most of 90806 and parts of 90804. Those areas are mainly lower income and can be very dangerous...
Sherman Oaks- Nice, blue collar area except that it's in LAUSD and the affordable parts are going a bit downhill.
Redondo Beach- Same as Manhattan Beach.

This is VERY accurate, the person who wrote this has obviously lived in So Cal for a long time and has also had their eyes open while there...

[sethihomes]

Originally Posted by blmccloud

Well, just to give you a little info... my husband wants to move closer to his family (mom especially) so our kids and he can spend more time with her before she passes and plus our kids can have the rest of his family close too!
My husband's mother lives in Lancaster, CA.. but I have heard it is not a very good area anymore and the schools suck! So, I have been doing some research for areas around there up to 2 hour drive away, cause I figure we can always drive that to vist!
So, I have heard good things about these following cities I will list below and would like to know which ones have good schools k-12 (by good schools I mean safe, and quality education), good nieghborhoods (safety first!!), and nice areas to live for us! Please any insight would be great!! Thanks!

Cities:
Palisades Park
San Gabriel
Cerritos
Thousand Oaks
Irvine
Riverside
Alhambra
Manhatten Beach
Los Alamitos
San Marino
Santa Clarita
Arcadia
Burbank
Claremont
Agoura
Culver City
Torrance
Long Beach
Sherman Oaks
Redondo Beach

Culver City is ranked among the best..

[lauragizzi]

YOU LISTED LONG BEACH:

i have lived in the long beach/lakewood area all my 43 years. lakewood used to be part of long beach, but annexed itself in the 40s. it is a wonderful city. nice, clean, low crime, nice folks, lots of parks, good schools.

long beach, except the part that is north/east (adjacent to lakewood)is an armpit. some will argue, but its true.

lot of work in long beach, so your close to that. your close to orange county, so you can work in lots of areas. jobs no probs!

i am moving soon, out of california, but as far as all the cities listed, ill put in my two cents for lakewood,

some will say the beach areas, but too much traffic and parking issues and not worth it.

LAKEWOOD CA !

[bhcompy]

i was raised in lakewood and can vouch, but i'd stick to lakewood east of lakewood blvd or so and west of the 605(which is still a mighty big area). east of the 605 will be a little cheaper, but also a few more crime problems and not as good schools. lakewood has smaller homes as it was one of the levittowns of the 50s. 2 bed+den or 3bed and a lot of detached garages(which people convert into playrooms and such). some decent back yard sizes, nice parks, and as i mentioned earlier the top ranked city in the US for youth sports by sports illustrated.

[MKW]

Thousand Oaks and Agoura will be the best as far as safety goes. And really good schools as well.