Moving to TO (Los Angeles, Thousand Oaks, Moorpark: homes, construction, place to live)

[SoCalMomma]

OH2CA,

There are tons of shopping centers that include both a grocery store and some shops and a coffee establishment.. Many are walkable distances from homes. BUT most people probably drive there, then walk around. You will see lots of people going for walks, just around their neighborhood, walking their dogs, etc. I dont see too many people walking to the grocery store, etc. That doesn't mean they dont do that, but I just dont notice it.

As far as a 'hang out sort of places', those might be more limited, but there are still many strip malls around town that people like to sit and relax and mingle with others...

Janss Mall is nice, its an outside mall with restaurants, shopping (some larger storesand some smaller), coffee places, movie theaters.. Its on Moorpark Road close to the 101 Freeway

Closer to the 101 freeway, Moorpark Road at Thousand Oaks Blvd. they have a nice little strip mall with Starbucks, Jamba Juice, Pier One, Tillys.. Lots of people like to go sit outside and relax with their 'drinks'. There are other things nearby, within walking distance - Borders Books Store, a golf store, Longs Drugs, a nursery...

Newbury park has a nice area that my family calls 'The Food Court'. They have several quick food sorts of restaurants, a sit down restaurant (Islands), Starbucks, Jamba Juice, couple small shops. Walk a little and you'll be at Target and Home Depot. This one is located right off the 101 at Wendy.

Another in Newbury Park is off Reino Road and Kimber. They have an Albertsons, Starbucks, Longs Drugs, a nice Hallmark store, and several small places to eat (Subway, Chinese food, Carls Jr, Pizza Hut...)

At Westlake Blvd & Thousand Oaks Blvd, 3 of the corners have large shopping/restaurant centers. AND along thousand Oaks Blvd going towards Thousand Oaks there are TONS of places, too!!!!

The Lakes on Thousand Oaks Blvd (near the Civic Arts Plaza) is a nice place to hang out. They have some nice restaurants and some upscale sort of shops, Coffee Bean, etc. They actually have some small ponds/lakes that you can sit and enjoy. Its a nice place to go.

I could go on and on...

Since you are not local, I guess it will be harder for you to 'get the feel' of the area. If you give us specific areas to 'describe' to you, I am sure we can do that I have lived here in TO for about 30 years, I know the area pretty well.

I know people who work at CLU and they all say its a great place to work. It's a growing campus, lots of new construction and upgrades happening there. Good luck on getting the job!

I just thought of something. You are looking for apts., but maybe you could rent a condo in the Wildwood area, then you could actually WALK to work at CLU. It would be probably a 15 minute walk. Those condos are located at Lynn Road & Avenida de los Arboles. Just a fyi - Lynn Road turns into Olsen Rd right up there near CLU.

There are other condo/apt. areas right there next to CLU (Mountclef Apts - low income, govt subsidized - dont move there), but there are condos, I cant remember what they are called.. They are kind of nice. I want to say McAfee is the street. Might want to check into those, too. I dont know what they rent for, but they are small, so I cant imagine it would be too much more than an apt.

Let us know if you need any more info!

[OH2CA]

Thanks SoCalMomma .. that was full of useful information.

I will definitely be back if the job works out, I should know in about 2 weeks or so :-)

In the meantime I'll be reading other messages on this board to get more of a feel for Southern California/Los Angeles.

[thettpfam]

Originally Posted by Roma

Good for GlenB, There are lots of great places to eat in the area but you have to go to Jacks Deli in Westlake for lunch sometime. I miss the whole area. I lived in the area for 28years. My high school (T.O had a surfing class) only in California LOL. My husband worked for Amgen. He started there when they had less then 1,000 employees, now they have over 8,000. He retired from Amgen quite nicely at the ripe old age of 40. I'ts a great area with lots to offer.

It sounds like you think highly of Amgen. Would you recommend it as an employer today? My husband might have an opportunity to work for them and I'm just curious. Even though your husband is now retired, do you keep in touch with current employees? Do they like the company? It appears many people do, since they're on the Top 10 "Companies to Work For" List. I just wondered your personal opinion. Thanks!

[Roma]

Hi thettpfam,
Yes,Your husband should take the job. My husband highly recommends Amgen. Amgen has changed a lot from when my husband first started working there in 1991. In the 90's the stock would split and split and split so there was lots of money to be made. When Amgen was smaller it was more intimate. It has grown so large but Amgen is still a great company to work for. My husband has some good friends that still work there. The company is great.
The area around Amgen (Newbury Park, Thousand Oaks, Westlake, Oak Park, Agoura. Moorpark and Simi Valley) are all nice and safe areas. They all have great schools. Most are Blue Ribbon schools.

[thettpfam]

Thanks, Roma for the specific feedback!

[GlenB]

Hey Roma or anyone else who may know....as I have posted...I will be officially moved to T.O. in less than 2 weeks....one of the things that made me a bit nervous (nothing serious though)...when I visited the area I noticed that there is an abundance of "chain" type restaurants...I grew up in Northern New Jersey and have lived in South Florida now for severaly years...one of the things I love about both of those areas is the amount of privately owned....unique restaurants....will I be able to find any of those in T.O. ???? Thanks in advance

[Roma]

Hi GlenB,
Yes, There are lots of privately owned restuarants. I moved from California 2.5 years ago (hopefully moving back though) and I moved from T.O to the beach 3.5 years before that. So my information on restuarants might be a little dated by 6 years but I'm sure the restuarants are still there and even more.

List of some of my all time favorites in the area:

1) Jacks Deli = (great for lunch) Westlake
2) Fins = (fish and steak) Westlake
3) Marcellos = (Italian) Thousand Oaks
4) Tuscany = (Italian) Westlake
5) Rendezvous = (French) Newbury Park

There are more, I just can't think right now. (maybe someone will add some).

[SoCalMomma]

Hi GlenB,

Ditto to the ones Roma listed. (Except that Le Rendezvous is out of business)
We also like:
Chens (chinese) in Thousand Oaks
Country Harvest (home style food) in Newbury Park
Magoos (great pizza) in Newbury Park
Bocaccios (Italian) in Westlake

You'll surely find your own 'favorites'...

[GlenB]

awesome!! thanks guys...i figured they were around...I was only around for a couple of days and was mostly looking for a place to live .

[Roma]

GlenB,

I have to add one more restuarant to my list:

6) Lupe's = (Mexican) Thousand Oaks