Glendale, Pasadena, Arcadia, Monrovia? (Palmdale, Vista: new home, neighborhood, school district)

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by Drowningintherain2

Just curious... why do you like Glendale much more? More amenities? Vibe? Schools? I thnk Burbank is charming but I haven't spent much time in Glendale. I want to check it out when I'm down there next month.

Burbank is nice, but the word VIBE sticks in my mind. There has always been something special about Glendale. I also think, but could be wrong Glendale has better schools. Both areas have good reputations, Glendale is probably, overall a little more upscale. Again, this is opinion only...Do check the city out.

Nita

[comingfromcarlsbad]

wow La Crescenta is lacking in "curb appeal" from what I see....some of the houses for $2400 look like they should be torn down

Glendale looks like the best bet, verdugo village? anyone from there or know anything about it?

or this? did go that far west when we were on our tour
High Ceiling Townhouse with great layout.

La Crescenta-Montrose gets some great reviews, but my wife needs something with less junk cars and falling apart houses.... I dont mind

[stuffavail]

Originally Posted by comingfromcarlsbad

wow La Crescenta is lacking in "curb appeal" from what I see....some of the houses for $2400 look like they should be torn down

Glendale looks like the best bet, verdugo village? anyone from there or know anything about it?

or this? did go that far west when we were on our tour
High Ceiling Townhouse with great layout.

La Crescenta-Montrose gets some great reviews, but my wife needs something with less junk cars and falling apart houses.... I dont mind

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It is hard to find a home for lease in a good area for $2400. Period.
Is that your absolute max?
Recommendation: start with where you work, then go out and out from there.

[stuffavail]

Originally Posted by comingfromcarlsbad

Hello and am I glad I found this forum!

Looking to relocate to the above listed area since I have found a great job in Glendale, and am looking for advise on which area to go to that would be close enough to commute (but not top priority-I drive 20 miles from Carlsbad to San Diego now-about 40 minutes)

Top priorities will be school quality (2 middle school students) neighborhood safety and it needs to be somewhat affordable ($2k per mo range)not above living in a nice apartment but would prefer SFR. I was focused on Pasadena, but they seem to have some low API scores, and education is very important to my wife and I.

any suggestions-tips-advise would be appreciated!

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GreatSchools - Public and Private School Ratings, Reviews and Parent Community
This site compares public and private schools, all ages.

$2000/mo is tricky in good school areas. Many people shop for homes based on school district.

Burbank has good schools generally but higher rents
and is adjacent to Glendale.

Glendale homes for lease under $2000 are generally next to a freeway or in a modest neighborhood.

La Canada/Flintridge (canyada) is a good area. Im not sure they have a middle school.

Carpenter School district in Studio City is good. But I would expect to bump up on $3000 a month rent and up. Commute to Glendale under 15.

keep your chin up!

[Londonteacher]

"It is hard to find a home for lease in a good area for $2400. Period.
Is that your absolute max?
Recommendation: start with where you work, then go out and out from there."Stuffali


Stuffali- we have just found a lovely home in lovely neighbourhood for 2100- they are out there you just have to look at lots to find them- this is a rentors market.westside rentals- and craigs list were all we used and we found stuff around 1900-2200- one of which we snapped up as soon as we looked at it.

But i do not have school age kids- i understand the area we move to does have lots of families so guessing there must be some sort of schools- any major city has problems with its schools but these more family areas have got to be better than down in LA.

If you can find a decent school in glendale, the find a good house- worth longer commute for good school.

I hardly know burbank but I just think glendale has a really nice small city feeling and the people are friendly ....so far.

By the way- i have not seen any houses with washer and dryers- it seems that is the rentor's area here!

Good luck on sunday- really hope you find something that inspires you and your family.

[comingfromcarlsbad]

I have seen plenty of houses in Glendale that are very nice in my price range, but the difference is the schools-there are some dramatic differences in Glendale school quality reflected in their test results,it seems all the nice and more affordable homes are located by a low scoring school-if it wasnt for the difference I would have found a place already. La Crescenta/Montrose schools are the best in a 30 mile radius of my job.

I didnt look into Studio City (next mission here at 4am), but $3k a mo is out of the range-my new job is commission based (its my career, always been commission) and will have to build clientele before I can afford that, hence the $2k area budget.

I use greatschools first-then craigslist and rent.com to tell me about an area-thanks stuffavail but I think if they monitor their site they are tired of me lol

My job is in Glendale, I would love to live there-the Verdugo Village apartments are 1.8 miles away, I would sell my car and buy a scooter to get back and forth-but being a "car" guy, I really want at least a one car garage.

So it seems (at this point) I have 3 choices.
1. Rent a "condo" (feels like an apartment to me-what makes it a condo anymore?) in Glendale-Verdugo, Archstone, or similar building (family really liked the ammenities at VV) and put my race car and garage stuff in storage somewhere-but feels like apartment life to me

2. A "real" condo in Montrose-not quite the "stuff" like choice 1 (i.e. pools, movie rooms, etc) but no offsite storage, easier parking, and 15 minute drive versus 5

3. Keep the family here in Carlsbad for another month, move in with my friend in Palmdale for now and keep looking, since my job starts Nov 8th-the commute from Pdale is going to take all my searching time (not looking forward to that drive) but would rather do that than regret my decision afer signing a lease.

Im frankly tired of this searching, but refuse to move until I am sure I made the right choice!

[streetscenes]

Originally Posted by comingfromcarlsbad

So it seems (at this point) I have 3 choices.
1. Rent a "condo" (feels like an apartment to me-what makes it a condo anymore?) in Glendale-Verdugo, Archstone, or similar building (family really liked the ammenities at VV) and put my race car and garage stuff in storage somewhere-but feels like apartment life to me

2. A "real" condo in Montrose-not quite the "stuff" like choice 1 (i.e. pools, movie rooms, etc) but no offsite storage, easier parking, and 15 minute drive versus 5

3. Keep the family here in Carlsbad for another month, move in with my friend in Palmdale for now and keep looking, since my job starts Nov 8th-the commute from Pdale is going to take all my searching time (not looking forward to that drive) but would rather do that than regret my decision afer signing a lease.

Im frankly tired of this searching, but refuse to move until I am sure I made the right choice!

Sorry the search is taking so long. If it were me I would take choice #2. You have room to store your stuff, easy parking and 15 minutes is not far for a commute and you could still use your Vespa. Although the apartment amenities sound nice how much would you really use them and would that make it worth the other sacrifices. The pool is good for the summer and if your kids are like mine they will go to the movie room a couple of times and then not much again. Worse choice is #3, that's a lot of driving and like you said doesn't really solve the problem because you won't have time to find a place.

If you get the condo choice you can always continue to look for that "perfect" house in your neighborhood. Look for signs while riding your scooter to work, look for signs when you go for a walk or walk the kids to school, etc.

[nmnita]

ok, option 1 and 2, do you have to sign a long term lease? if you do, I would opt for number 3 and I know, this isn't the advise everyone would give, but as well as looking on your own, call a realtor if you haven't already. Particularly with the market (real estate) not being great right now, the realtors are more willing to work with rental clients, but the good house go really fast..

Nita

[comingfromcarlsbad]

The condo I had targeted in Montrose was 2 blocks out of Glendale school district and my kids would go to Tujunga school.....darn it! (sorry but the schools just dont compare)

Why did I forget about South Pasadena?

My latest and greatest option is this
1. Get a smaller (maybe too small for now) apt like this http://losangeles.craigslist.org/sgv...440439378.html

2. Storage for stuff, since we have a lot of it-with the savings in rent that would be easy

3. Search around the different areas (its hard to drive 2 1/2 hours, then drive around different neighborhoods, then 2 1/2 hr drive home-I am suprised Sunday went as well as it did, but the car did get "tense" on the way home) and hope to find something in the same school "zone" so no more changing school for my girls.

So. Pasadena seems to have a good mix of small apartments and nice/affordable houses within the same school district.....that might just do it. Glendale might too, but im sick of craigslist for now

Realtor is a good idea, any referrals in the area?


Wow Im going crazy with this......

[streetscenes]

For realtor listed stuff go to the Glendale/Itech MLS web site. iTechMLS You can do a basic search and get the agent information from the listings. Click on "Find Properties", check the box for "Residential Lease" and enter the filter info you want. To narrow areas click on the shaeded box next to Areas, area code for La Crescenta is 635. Sorry I didn't think of this sooner.

A big management company in the Pasadena area is Beven and Brock. Beven & Brock | Property Management