Best, safest LA outskirt city for family (Los Angeles, Glendale: rental, buying a house)

[SCtoCA]

I'm new to this forum, so I hope I've posted this in the correct place! My husband and I currently live in a small town in South Carolina and are planning to move to the Los Angeles area for work within a year. Since this will, hopefully, be a permanent move, we plan to settle down and start a family shortly thereafter. At the risk of sounding extremely naive, I was wondering if anybody could list a few places in the surrounding LA area that are 1) safe and 2) affordable (housing that is give or take in the 300's). This is probably the best place to find local opinions, and that is what we need -- Honest and straightforward opinions from people who know the area and are willing to dole out a little advice. Thanks in advance!!

[Jonotastic]

My vote would be for Irvine, but it depends where your husband's work is located.

[SCtoCA]

Originally Posted by Jonotastic

My vote would be for Irvine, but it depends where your husband's work is located.

I think the work would either be in the city of Los Angeles or in Glendale. It depends on where he gets hired (this is all very early guesswork at this juncture).

[impala666]

San Dimas

[PalmBch]

Glendale or Glendora.
Glendale is slightly closer to Los Angeles.


Finding a nice house (unless very small, old & not very good area) for 300s is no way in LA/O.C area.
California is not South Carolina. Housing pricing is among the highest in the nation, and so are taxes.

[SCtoCA]

Originally Posted by PalmBch

Glendale or Glendora.
Glendale is slightly closer to Los Angeles.


Finding a nice house (unless very small, old & not very good area) for 300s is no way in LA/O.C area.
California is not South Carolina. Housing pricing is among the highest in the nation, and so are taxes.

I definitely understand that. I appreciate your input! However, I just wasn't sure what kind of price range to put for two people who have earned professional, upper lever SC salaries who will be bringing that SC money to expensive California. That kind of move, I imagine, will not be easy -- I've told my husband numerous times that I don't want to live in California, but it's where the jobs are that he's gone to school for. So here I am, looking at a potentially very poor California future -- haha.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by SCtoCA

I definitely understand that. I appreciate your input! However, I just wasn't sure what kind of price range to put for two people who have earned professional, upper lever SC salaries who will be bringing that SC money to expensive California. That kind of move, I imagine, will not be easy -- I've told my husband numerous times that I don't want to live in California, but it's where the jobs are that he's gone to school for. So here I am, looking at a potentially very poor California future -- haha.

Does he have a job in CA yet? If so, where?
If not, recommend you re-post this question after he gets a job, unless you know exactly where he would be working (or one or two extremely likely places).

Otherwise, people will spray paint responses all over the place and nothing will get accomplished. You have to anchor your question around a location because commuting is a huge part of a response.

[BRinSM]

there are plenty of areas in the region that have nice houses in your price range with good schools, they just aren't especially close to LA. however, because the region is so big and spread out, jobs aren't all centralized in downtown area. instead, there are numerous job centers scattered across the region. if your husband find a job in ontario for example, you could find a nice house within a 20 minute drive the office for under $300k. if he ends up working in LA, this won't be possible, but we do have a decent commuter rail system that you may want to keep open as an option for commuting.

[uptown_urbanist]

I agree with Charles. The LA area is HUGE; even the city itself is gigantic. It can take hours in traffic to cross from one part of what is technically within LA city limits to the other side. Budget and location are the two biggest factors, along with how long of a commute you are willing to endure.

I know you want to buy, but I'd also strongly recommend renting first. It sounsd like you don't know LA very well, and you'll have a far better sense of what you like and where you'd like to live once you move (or, for that matter, whether you like it or not and are willing to stay). It would make life a lot easier if you moved, rented an affordable 1 BR for a year, used the money you save to be put towards buying the house, then move after you know what you like. There's also no stigma in renting; I know many people who choose to rent in LA because they can afford to rent a nice place in a safe, convenient neighborhood with good public schools. Buying a house in those same neighborhoods is often out of reach for many people. We paid $1900/month for a 2-BR house in a nice city with good public schools; that same house was valued in the $600k+. Prices may have come down a bit, but they're still extremely high, especially in areas that are safe, don't involve hours of commuting, and have decent schools. They're still high in the areas that aren't all of those things, too.

We moved from a 1-BR into a 2-BR rental house when I was pregnant, so it's easy enough even if you are starting a family. We lucked into the perfect house, but if it wasn't for that I sometimes think it would have even have been better to wait until we absolutely needed the second BR before we moved; housing prices are through the roof, and the savings could go towards buying a place later.

On the issues of schools, though, I will say that there's been a movement by parents (including those who can afford private) to take a closer look at public schools, and to do whatever it takes to make them a viable alternative once again. I know there's an active group at work in Pasadena, and if you're willing to live in a slightly less safe (but not horrible) neighborhood and go with Pasadena Unified School District you could find a place in the 300s. There are probably similar places across the area. But again, think small house, transitional neighborhood, school districts with potential but also facing large problems.

[SCtoCA]

Thank you so much for all the responses! I know it is very difficult to pin down an accurate guess as to where I should be living that's safe and affordable. It's true -- I know very little about the place, and have actually never even visited! I think renting in the beginning is going to be a good option (as long as there are pet friendly places to rent -- 2 cats and 2 dogs ).

From what it sounds like, we'll have to raise our price limit in order to get into what we're looking for, that is equivalent to what we live in now (ie. 4 beds, 3 baths, nice yard, nice neighborhood). For now, I'm jotting down all of the suggestions that come in, and when we know precisely the location of our jobs, I can use these suggestions to go from there.

This is a little bit of a side question (I apologize) but what kind of jobs do people work in CA who live in houses that are, say, $600k, in the LA area? I'm just wondering if we're diving into some "idea" of a house that only a CEO or (whatever pays high) can own?