Which part of Buena Park is safe? (Long Beach, Norwalk: apartments, to rent)

[ILOVELOVE]

Hello, I am planning on purchasing a house in Buena Park, but am having second thoughts. I have browsed previous posts, and some of the things I have read worries me. Can anyone tell me which part of Buena Park is safe?

Some of the houses I found are around Buena Park mall, Cypress College, and La Palma. Also, some houses are by the Artesia 91 Freeway.

The reason I picked Buena Park was because I was looking for an alternative to Cerritos. I would really love to live in Cerritos, but it is quite expensive. I have looked into Norwalk, Cypress, as well as Lakewood. For work, I will need to commute to Long Beach. I have a kid who will need to go to either Cypress College or Cerritos College.

If you guys have other suggestions, please do give!

My budget for the house would be around $425,000, want a safe neighborhood where my kids can play out, and I would appreciate diversity. I am Asian, by the way. Thank you!!

[Donn2390]

Buena Park is a nice town, nothing to be afraid of. There are some bad areas as in any town. I would suggest renting there until you know the area before purchasing a home. Live there six months or so, and you will know where you want to live.
Plenty of Asian in the area

[MWJamesLDS]

Lakewood has some nice nice areas and has a big sense of community. Plus it's closer to Long Beach. I have friends who live off of south st and bellflower blvd. A lot of people really take pride in their homes there. When a lot of southern California peoples were selling their homes and bailing out SoCal, lots of people in Lakewood took their equity and reinvested in their homes. If you drive around the neighborhoods you'll see a lot of homes that have been doubled from 900sqft.

[bhcompy]

the western portions are the better portions. near la palma, near cypress college, etc. i dont know too much about the eastern portions or the neighborhood near the BP mall, though the BP mall area has certainly seen some cleaning up as they revamp business in the area

[pootie562]

When looking in Lakewood avoid anything past lakewood blvd heading towards paramount and also avoid east lakewood, the area next to hawaiian gardens. Lakewood is definitely affordable for 425000 and it is well maintained. Unfortunately Lakewood does have a mall, but it is not great at all. A costco is opening up, but being an alumni of lkwd high I know that buses of kids will be coming in everyday lining up for a 1.50 hot dog. Our family actually moved out of Lakewood because we did not feel so safe anymore and if you have any other children who are going into the public education system, lakewood does not have the best schools, the city lies within the bellflower, paramount, abc and lb school districts choose wisely. Buena Park is also a great choice, stay close to Cypress and La Palma! avoid anything next to Downtown Buena Park it is hell when Knotts scary farm is around. Buena Park next to La Palma and Cypress has pretty good schools, Kennedy, Cypress or Oxford you can't go wrong.

[ILOVELOVE]

Thank you all for your insights. They are all very helpful.

Don2390- Renting was my first option, but having a 2 big dogs does not help at all. It is so hard to find a decent place that is willing to accept dogs. So that's why I am going with buying.

Pootie562- It's funny you mentioned Costcos. I was very excited when I saw that they were building one there. But the buses of kids part. LOL o man, I love kids, but not fond of loud high-schoolers.

Anyways, can you tell me if this area is a good area? It is in the ABC school district and the house is by Del Amo Blvd. on a street called Slyvanwood, which is right by Cerritos, but also by Hawaiin Gardens.

And wow, your family moved out of Lakewood for safety concerns? Which area did you live in? And what exactly was it that made you feel unsafe? Gang members? Recent crimes around that area? Sorry for all these questions. I just want to know all the cons of the city before I make an offer on any house.

Thanks everyone once again!

[bhcompy]

that area should be okay. never been in that part of the neighborhood, but off del amo(across from the ralphs i believe) seems like an okay neighborhood. as long as you're north of centralia its really not that bad.

i grew up off bloomfield between centralia and del amo.

and as far as safety, most of lakewood is fine. stay east of lakewood blvd for the most part and if you pick east lakewood(which you're looking at), you're usually okay if you stick north of centralia. south it gets a bit shadier until you pass 226th

[pootie562]

No Problem. The schools in that district you will be assigned to is Artesia High school and Feddie Middle School. The demographics of the school will be mostly Hispanic and African American. The reason for our family moving out of Lakewood is because we lived towards the part that borders north long beach and bellflower. Our house backed up to an alley where bums would sleep and the city's demographics are heavily changing was also another reason. If you must live in Lakewood I would buy off of Del amo from bellflower to studebaker, that area is pretty decent.

[Donn2390]

Just as a note on how things change, I went to school at Artesia High School in Artesia. The Lakewood border was about five miles away at that time. Artesia High school is now in Lakewood, and they didn't move the school...! The City of Lakewood has grown by a bunch..!

[MisterDuke]

Buena Park is pretty good city if you are looking into houses. Not so much if you are looking to rent an apartment. Personally, I wouldn't rent an apartment that was in the vicinity of the mall or Knott's Berry Farm. Those are where the older apartments with the cheaper rents are concentrated, and that combination should always be a warning. There are good apartments up around Malvern though.

I don't think there are any really bad neighborhoods of houses though. Many people don't look on Buena Park favorably when they are buying a house because the city has older housing stock. But most of the neighborhoods are very well kept.

There is a growing Korean community in Buena Park. There are many Korean businesses along Beach Blvd, from the 91 fwy, north to Rosecrans.