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Old 05-05-2010, 03:50 PM
 
1 posts, read 1,150 times
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Got out of the Army recently and currently stuck with a house in a less than desirable part of Alabama. I am a cop here and and trying to get my wife, child and dog out of the southeast if not forever, then for a while. LA is on the short list of places we are looking at. I plan on visiting with my wife this summer to look around and take the LAPD written test. As far a budget, we can afford up 600k for a house. I understand it would be hard to suggest anything without knowing where my wife would be working, but could you give me a few neighborhoods to look at with good schools and relatively low crime. Thanks.
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Old 05-05-2010, 03:55 PM
 
Location: Las Flores, Orange County, CA
26,338 posts, read 93,576,483 times
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A lot of LAPD live (or used to live) in Simi Valley. That would fit your budget, average to good schools.

But you're right, it's tough to make suggestions without more information.

I think I've heard Santa Clarita is popular with cops?

I know these towns personally, very safe, good schools, very suburban, family oriented.

Thousand Oaks
Agoura Hills
Westlake Village
Calabasas
Oak Park
Camarillo (kind of far from LA though)
Moorpark
Santa Clarita
Simi Valley
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Old 05-05-2010, 10:20 PM
 
Location: Vancouver, WA
8,198 posts, read 16,624,735 times
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Yes, and to the southwestern boundry of LA you have the South Bay along the coast which I am very familiar with. I think Torrance would be a good place to look especially after the RE bubble burst. To get a good idea of the nicer areas in LA County checkout California School Performance Maps. Zoom into the LA area and scroll around. There is a direct correlation between the better school districts and family friendly neighborhoods. Of course there may be a few exceptions to the rule. But this is a good way to get a general feel for neighborhoods of LA. I'm sure as a cop you can relate to this - bad school district usually indicates other problems in the 'hood.' Boyz in the Hood of South Central had a rep for a reason.

Lastly its a good idea to avoid LA Unified school district areas when you have a choice. In LA County you have many smaller cities with their own city hall, police, fire, school districts, etc... Torrance is a good example of that. Some of the Valley areas which Charles mentioned have decent school districts and family friendly neighborhoods as well.

Derek

Last edited by MtnSurfer; 05-05-2010 at 10:29 PM..
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Old 05-06-2010, 12:32 AM
 
4,537 posts, read 10,603,590 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Squid in Bama View Post
LA is on the short list of places we are looking at. I plan on visiting with my wife this summer to look around and take the LAPD written test.
Go to dailynews.com and search los angeles budget.

City of Los Angeles is currently only hiring enough officers to replace the officers they lose to retirement and that may last only for a short time longer as there is a projected $450 million short fall for the next fiscal year and a $1.1 billion dollar short fall projected for 2012. City employees have already been laid off and IMO, its only a matter of time before they stop hiring new officers.

If you are intent on moving to the Los Angeles area, what I would suggest you do is call each of the entities here and ask to speak with their personnel department. Each city, county, etc has a web page and advertises job openings. IMO you won't get a totally straight answer unless you speak to a personnel department employee. As a lateral transfer, you may have a much better shot than anyone else.

Honestly as to where to live on $600K, it will somewhat depend on where you are working. If you wind up working for the largest agencies here.....LAPD, LA County Sheriffs, Long Beach, or OC Sheriffs, you're money will go furthest in Lakewood. $450K gets you a nicer older home with decent schools in a safe neighborhood. $600K would get you a pretty nice place. From Lakewood, its a negligible drive to Long Beach, about a 25 minute non rush hour drive to 3/4's of the LAPD stations, and same for about 1/2 the LA County Sheriffs stations. If you want to live in outlying areas that Charles listed, it costs much less but it will take a long time to get to work and your wife will have a harder time finding substantial employment, though you might not need her to work if you buy inexpensively. Lots of cops live in those places. I'm honestly not sure why. There are lots of nice suburbs around LA that were affordable until 7 years ago or so, an slowly are becoming affordable again. Lakewood(and La Mirada, La Habra, Whittier, and Downey) just happen to be the ones that have really fallen off the most so far.

However, for affordability and availability of work, you might be better off looking into Texas. Parts are lots nicer than where you are and the places that built up over the past decade have not declined like most of the rest of the nation. Particularly nice IMO are Austin(and many many towns within a 50 mile radius) and San Antonio. Lots of history and culture in both places surrounded by lots of new build suburbs.

Last edited by JohnG72; 05-06-2010 at 12:42 AM..
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