Long Beach vs Cerritos vs Cypress vs La Palma (Anaheim: for sale, crime)

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I'm an Asian Indian. A software Engineer. I work in El Segundo. Looking for good place to buy home between $500K to $600K.

I looking for place where schools are good(at least 8 rating), less crime and the place should be central between LA and Orange country, so if I want to change my job, I can look jobs both in Orange county and in LA. I prefer not to travel more than 30 miles for work.

Long beach has good home for $500K to $550K. Similar kind of home cost $600K Cerritos, Cypress and in La Palma, and there are less homes available for sale compared to Long Beach. Long beach has more crime than Cerritos, Cypress and in La Palma.

Schools I see much better schools in Cerritos, Cypress and in La Palma than Long Beach. But some areas in Long Beach has good schools.

Now I'm confused which city is better. Out of four cities which city do you think I should consider buying a home and why?

Also I already thought buying home in North LA (Burbank, Sherman Oaks) but it looks like less software jobs in those areas and plus I can't travel OC if want to change my job.

[Electrician4you]

My buddy bought in Whittier around Beach and Whittier BL. Safe area he likes it.

[timtemtym]

Living up in LA would mean working up in LA and nowhere else. Traffic in and out would make it unreasonable. The areas of Northeast Long Beach are great and the schools up there are pretty good. I think out of the 4 you mentioned, Cerritos is always ranked highest (schools and safety), but Long Beach has some great areas and being so close to the 405 makes it more convenient to jobs. Your commute to El Segundo could be an hour each way though on a regular day.

I'd seriously avoid any interactions with the 91 freeway, it can be a total parking lot most times of day. If you plan to stay in El Segundo, you could look at Torrance for safe areas with good schools. I wouldn't want to drive to El Segundo from any of the cities you listed on a daily basis.

Also, driving from any of these cities down to work in Orange County might not be that good of a deal either if you're going to work in Irvine. If you can figure out where you want to keep working, then it would be optimal to buy close to it. But that's just my thought!

[pacific2]

How about Fullerton in North OC? According to Google Maps (I know; often unreliable), it should take about 45 minutes to travel there from El Segundo. Maybe someone else can tell you what the trip is like in real time during rush hours since it would involve taking the 91E. BTW, I wonder if your company has any carpool vans travelling from El Segundo to Fullerton? That would certainly make the trip even easier.

Anyway, living in Fullerton would place you within reasonable driving distance to Irvine should you ever get a job in that city. There are some pretty nice neighborhoods in Fullerton.

[timtemtym]

Fullerton is a nice area with great schools and more space than anywhere west of it. But the 91 is insane, and even jumping up to the 105 doesn't help as that gets awful as well. There aren't enough good East-West connectors in LA. You really have to shrink your life radius here.

[RudyOD]

[About me: I live in Buena Park, near La Palma; graduated from John F. Kennedy High School in the city of La Palma; attended Cal State Long Beach, and have family and friends all over Long Beach.]

Honestly, Cerritos and La Palma share a lot of similarities in terms of demographics - except Cerritos is slightly more expensive, with a bit more to do and the neighborhoods are aesthetically more pleasing as they are tree lined. Not to mention Cerritos is a city of parks (glorious, glorious parks in which I spent a lot of my childhood in). They are both family centered, with large Asian communities. Cypress is a bit more white and a little less Asian, but otherwise not that much different from La Palma except that it covers a larger area, and it is home to local community college (Cypress College.) In terms of schools, Cerritos has Whitney High School (a magnet school)- one of top in the NATION. Oxford Academy, in Cypress, part of Anaheim Unified High School District (which includes La Palma) serves as a counter point as it is also one of the best in the nation. In fact, the only other schools nearby in the same strata as those two would be University High School in Irvine and Troy High School in Fullerton.

I noticed a lot of people mention how horrible the 91 gets, but if you are strategic about it, you can relocate to the areas of La Palma and Cerritos that are off the 605, completely bypass the 91 and take the 105 straight to El Segundo. Also, how important is it for you to be near a large Asian Indian community? If it is vital, then living in La Palma/Cerritos/Cypress would be preferable over Long Beach as you would have Little India (in Artesia) only a few minutes away, as well as various temples (Sikh/Jain/Hindu) nearby in Buena Park which is off the 91, in between the cities of La Palma and Fullerton. Of course, for all I know, you might be Christian/Buddhist or not religious at all.

Now, for Long Beach...as it is a city of half a million people, with an actual urban core, it is best to understand it through the sum of its parts (neighborhoods) and not as a whole alone. For what you are looking for, I think neighborhoods like California Heights, Bixby Knolls (those first two are off the 405), Belmont Heights, Alamitos Heights and the neighborhoods off the 605 near CSULB (i'm not sure what their name would be). All these areas are as safe as any other, family friendly, community focused, progressive, aesthetically pleasing, have great schools, incredible diversity, and with all the cultural amenities and entertainment that only a big city like Long Beach can offer. If cafes are your thing, Long Beach has a plethora of them. As for the 'bad' areas...stay away from the west side/wrigley, parts of central LBC, and North Long Beach (near compton).

The nice parts of Long Beach, overall, provide a better quality of life than Cerritos/La Palma/Cypress. Of course, that is subjective and dependent on your interests; it isn't like those cities are that far away from Long Beach to take advantage of its cultural and entertainment offerings when you want them (you just won't be able to walk/bike to them as continuously more residents of that city prefer.)

Best of luck!

[mrsltd]

Originally Posted by Electrician4you

My buddy bought in Whittier around Beach and Whittier BL. Safe area he likes it.

That area is the total bomb! It's where LA County (Whittier and La Habra Heights) and Orange County (La Habra) meet. It's like its own little world. Spent a happy part of my childhood there and visit when I can.

[russlancea]

Originally Posted by RudyOD

[About me: I live in Buena Park, near La Palma; graduated from John F. Kennedy High School in the city of La Palma; attended Cal State Long Beach, and have family and friends all over Long Beach.]



Now, for Long Beach...as it is a city of half a million people, with an actual urban core, it is best to understand it through the sum of its parts (neighborhoods) and not as a whole alone. For what you are looking for, I think neighborhoods like California Heights, Bixby Knolls (those first two are off the 405), Belmont Heights, Alamitos Heights and the neighborhoods off the 605 near CSULB (i'm not sure what their name would be). All these areas are as safe as any other, family friendly, community focused, progressive, aesthetically pleasing, have great schools, incredible diversity, and with all the cultural amenities and entertainment that only a big city like Long Beach can offer. If cafes are your thing, Long Beach has a plethora of them. As for the 'bad' areas...stay away from the west side/wrigley, parts of central LBC, and North Long Beach (near compton).

The nice parts of Long Beach, overall, provide a better quality of life than Cerritos/La Palma/Cypress. Of course, that is subjective and dependent on your interests; it isn't like those cities are that far away from Long Beach to take advantage of its cultural and entertainment offerings when you want them (you just won't be able to walk/bike to them as continuously more residents of that city prefer.)

Best of luck!

To me, I would only live on the eastside of Long Beach, if I had to. Keep as far away from the ports and oil refineries as you can, because of air pollution and the many health reports that link these sources to cancer and other health problems.

I'd probably pick Cerritos over LB, though. I love being near the LA/OC border, because you are pretty centered to both counties. It's still a long commute to El Segundo.

[krmpradeep]

Originally Posted by timtemtym

... I think out of the 4 you mentioned, Cerritos is always ranked highest (schools and safety)..

I would disagree with this point. Cerritos is NOT the safest of these 4 cities. In fact, it is the second most unsafe in the list:

La Palma - safest (being the smallest city in the list helps. The police response time is the lowest in OC - less than 2 minutes!)
Cypress - safer
Cerritos - safe
Long Beach - some not-very-safe areas

When it comes to schools, the ABC school district (which Cerritos is a part of) is a bit over-hyped. There are some really good schools in Cerritos, but you can find equally good (if not better) schools in Cypress and La Palma too. So, no winner there. For more info about schools in these cities, check out this thread: http://www.city-data.com/forum/orang...s-schools.html

One thing that I do like about Cerritos is its awesome library!

Disclaimer: I live in La Palma and I have a "soft-corner" for my city :-), but the info I have posted here are facts, and not just what I feel.

[LordOfTheCars]

Cerritos is about the best one on your list, my dentist moved out after the Mexican jetliner crashed there, it's on an airport approach...
1986 Cerritos Airplane Crash - A4 - YouTube