Need Advice on San Fernando Valley (Glendale, Santa Clarita: to rent, house, neighborhoods)

[SecOfState]

My wife and I are African American and we have 3 elementray school age children. I have accepted a position in Burbank and will relocate to LA this summer. I'm looking for a house to rent for about $3000 / month.

During a recent visit, we looked at several neighborhoods -- Burbank, Glendale, Pasadena (N&S), Northridge, Sherman Oaks, Simi Valley, Canyon Ranch and Valencia. We're from a multicultural place and want to live in a multicultural neighborhood. Our priorities are good housing, a safe community, and safe public schools. A manageable work commute (30 - 45 mins) would be nice, but not critical.

Our problem is that we hear way too much info / mis-info regarding gang and violence problems in LA and thus can't tell which areas are really safe. It seems like the Santa Clarita Valley is the safest of all the areas that we looked at, but we really dont want to move all the way out there if we don't have to . In fact, we prefer Sherman Oaks and Northridge.

Can anyone provide us some direct and honest counsel on the safety of SO and Northridge. I hear that sometimes a community can be good overall, but have some bads parts that should be avoided. If that's the case, are there bad parts of SO and NR? Lastly, I'd appreciate any internet tools that you can provide so we can continue to research this choice.

This decision is getting to be very stressful, so any advice that you can provide will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance for your help.

SoS

[Charles]

All of those places are safe. Simi and Santa Clarita/Valencia are nice places to live for families but they might be a little less multicultural than the other towns (I don't know anything about Canyon Ranch???).

What are your hours? Can you work early and beat traffic? Or, are you pretty stuck at 8-5 or something like that? I think you will be fine at $3k/month.

You might consider eliminating Santa Clarita/Valencia simply because they are farther than necessary to meet your requirements (not sure about a train from there to Burbank - you should check it out though...see below too). They are a nice place for a family but there are other nice places a little closer. It's also hot there in summer. Northridge is OK but also a little farther away. (Would you consider private schools?) Simi is nice but too far also, however, one thing though is the train runs from Simi - Chatsworth - Northridge -... - Burbank so even though those towns are too far to commute by car they aren't that far for the train - you're lucky there.

I'd be careful of many of the LAUSD schools for your kids. Some of those towns are not LASUD, some are. If you are serious about Sherman Oaks and Northridge (they are both LAUSD) the number one thing I would advise is for you to have really hard looks at the schools. Really hard. I don't think they are really bad but my gut feeling is there are good ones and not so good ones.

[LaoTzuMindFu]

Originally Posted by SecOfState

Can anyone provide us some direct and honest counsel on the safety of SO and Northridge. I hear that sometimes a community can be good overall, but have some bads parts that should be avoided. If that's the case, are there bad parts of SO and NR? Lastly, I'd appreciate any internet tools that you can provide so we can continue to research this choice.

SoS

Just do a search of Sherman Oaks and you'll find all you need. Its been covered and covered and discussed and discussed some more

[SecOfState]

Thanks for the quick response. I did a search on Sherman oaks before posting my own thread. The volume of info was a bit overwhelming and inconsistent. I just got confused so I figured I'd post a question related to my specific needs.

After my initial research on public schools, I feel pretty good. My kids are elementary age and will be for a few years. It seems like there are 2 strong options for them in SO -- Dixie Canyon and Sherman Oaks. Has anyone heard anything about these schools? I only plan to live in LA for 2 years (keeping my fingers crossed). I'm doing a company relo. Thus I'm not too concerned about middle and high schools at this point.

Does anyone know about parks and school-age entertainment in teh area?

[laysayfair]

I can tell you everyone is always trying to get into Dixie Canyon because it's the only one with any kind of reputation. I'd call the school and ask where the boundaries are and are your kids guarranteed to go there if you live in the right place. I know they don't have enough room for everyone who wants to go there.

[laysayfair]

If you were considering Santa Clarita than you should definitely consider the Thousand Oaks area. It's closer and lovelier and cooler weather-wise. It is mostly white but there are Asians, Mexicans, Indians (from India) and it's a mixed-couple mecca. There are fewer Black people but the people are welcoming. There also educated, well-bred, friendly, polite and happy!

[VLWH]

Since schools and safety is a concern, you might want to take a second look at Burbank. They have their own police dept (my brother lives out there and they seem to respond quickly to calls, unlike the LAPD) also they have their own school district.

[Tangee T]

I know that this responds might be late but I'm going to be relocating to LA from DC African American Family of 5 and we are moving to Woodland Hills Area and I hear it's a great area to move too.