Live in Santa Clarita - Work in Universal City - Good Idea?

[LisaCACO]

hi,

I lived in Glendale (NW) before moving two weeks ago to CO. it's a lovely place. our mortgage was $3500, and we had a pool and a pretty nice place (hardwood floors, large lot, great area north of Kenneth near the Burbank border). We enjoyed living there-very quiet. the neighborhood is full of folks working for the Industry (hollywood) but not pretentious, kwim? it's not the place for hollywood types, just people who are family oriented. the schools can be good, just depends on which schools you're looking at.

good luck!

[montevista1]

santa clarita is fine its a 30 minute drive nice and clean too

[mommabarlo]

interesting the remarks you received. Santa Clarita is not as bad as some make it out to be. Of course, not all schools are great. as with any area do the research before you move into a house. GreatSchools.net is good.

We lived in Sherman Oaks and our local elem rated very poorly as did several others in the area. Carpenter rated well but you had to live in the studio city area which is nice if you can afford the houses there. I'm sure you can find something for $3500. you can take the bus to universal. Remember LA is more spread out than other cities and there will be some walking to bus stop/subway station.

There is a train in santa clarita and a commuter bus (santa clarita transit i think), check it out. Valencia is a very nice area with good schools (verify the one in your area) and lots of things for families. We live out in the boon docks in the sand canyon area...also very nice...but more removed. we have to drive to valencia for entertainment, shopping, etc. In between are not so nice areas with trailer parks/apartments and houses.

Santa clarita is getting congested and traffic is bad at certain times. My husband started leaving at 630am and hit tons of traffic. now he leaves between 830-930 and the roads are clear.

Again, there's a transit bus (look it up on internet) and a train that goes to burbank (so you'd have to find a bus to go to universal) and downtown LA (to connect to red line subway but you'd be back tracking). I have friends that take the train and the bus and they love it. they read all the way into downtown LA.

other areas mentioned are nice like la canada (v. expensive...but rental might be found in your range) and there's a commuter bus to downtown, there may be one to universal or the red line at least. Anyway, our transit systems aren't fantastic and you may have to go in a roundabout way to get to your destination and it may take a while but it can be done. Ask at work about carpools....also v. good.