Moving to CA - working in Hawthorne - where should I live with children? (rent, neighborhood)

[eacgirl07]

I am considering a move to CA to work in Hawthorne. I am a single parent with a 5th grader and an 8th grader. Where would a good place to live be?

[Charles]

Planning on renting or buying? What is your budget for housing?

Here's a good start:

School Performance Maps

[eacgirl07]

Thank you! I will probally rent until I know my way around and see where I would like to be. I know the housing is so much more than here in the NM area! It looks like I will triple my rent, and here I have a 3 bedroom house!

[JTGJR]

So, what's your monthly housing budget?

[eacgirl07]

My housing budget would probally be around $1500 - $2000. From what I have looked at on the internet it looks like I can get at least a 2 bedroom apt for that, but I am not sure where these are if they are in a decent neighborhood or not. If you think that is way out of line please let me know!

[graciously]

think if willing to spend that much neighborhood should at least be decent enough for now. Want to live very close to work?

[motoman]

If you say you are going to triple your rent, that means you'll be spending an additional $12,000 or more per year on rent, after tax. That means you'll need an additional $15,000 or more in income just to pay for the higher rent, not to mention the higher taxes and the generally higher prices of just about everything else. So figure you'll need a $20,000 raise to break even.

Are you getting a good enough raise to cover that? Just something to think about.

[eacgirl07]

I was hoping to not be too far away as I know the traffic can be bad, but is that generally a nice area? Or do I need to look around somewhere else? Also, how far could you go with no more than say a 30 - 45 min drive?

[eacgirl07]

Thanks for all the info I really appreciate it! Good points on the cost of living and the increase I would need!

[motoman]

I don't know enough about the areas to comment, but as far as traffic goes, I've found that a pretty good rule of thumb is to figure you'll average 10-15 mph on surface streets and 15-20 mph on freeways during typical rush hours, although those times can vary quite a bit. So 30-45 minutes would mean living within about 10 miles of work, on average.