Need your help. Where to live in Yorba Linda? (Anaheim: HOA, insurance)

[charliemets]

Dear Board Members,

My family and I have decided on Yorba Linda to raise our family.

The location is perfect because of the location of our doctors and the hospital that helps take care of our son.

I have looked thru the threads and did not see any info on better locations to live in Yorba Linda.

We have looked at many different houses and different locations throughout the city the past few months.

Where is the ideal neighborhood?

Our concern is the new boundaries of the high schools.
Which High School will be better? Yorba or Esperanza?
Does this even matter?
Our daughter and son are 9 and 5 at the moment. High school is 4 years away for my daughter.

I also noticed the quiet area of East Yorba Linda off La Palma. How is this area. It goes to the New High School.

I have seen some of the threads you need to put our price range which is 650K to 990K.

Thank You!

[ocexpo]

Well, Esperanza is not going to be as amazing of a school after next year when YL takes many of the "high performing" elementary schools out of the Esperanza area and puts them in the YLHS zone.

You really should consider its southern neighbor, Anaheim Hills as well. It is basically the same as Yorba Linda and their scores on state tests are almost identical (and you don't have the big jumbling of high schools like you do in YL). I think you can get really amazing properties in Anaheim Hills (check out on homeseekers.com) for that price.

[bhcompy]

YLHS is poaching from Esperanza's better elementary schools? That sucks

[ocexpo]

Originally Posted by bhcompy

YLHS is poaching from Esperanza's better elementary schools? That sucks

That was the biggest complaint from the people at the meetings; that Esperanza was going to deteriorate because it was as if the board was trying to make YLHS as prestigious and high performing as possible by putting the best Elementary schools into the zone while neglecting Esperanza. At one point, I think they were even contemplating putting Rio Vista into Esperanza which downright outraged many parents (but they ended up not doing that due to the outrage).

[charliemets]

Originally Posted by ocexpo

Well, Esperanza is not going to be as amazing of a school after next year when YL takes many of the "high performing" elementary schools out of the Esperanza area and puts them in the YLHS zone.

You really should consider its southern neighbor, Anaheim Hills as well. It is basically the same as Yorba Linda and their scores on state tests are almost identical (and you don't have the big jumbling of high schools like you do in YL). I think you can get really amazing properties in Anaheim Hills (check out on homeseekers.com) for that price.

Thanks for the info!

It's funny, my wife is going to see a few houses today in Anaheim Hills.

One of them was one you sent us, I believe it was the first on your list.

Will see if she likes any? As well as the area. The Elementary and Middle are fine. Just a little worried about Canyon High.

But OC Register ranked Esperanza #13 and Canyon #17 Not a big difference.

Also, I think you answered the Yorba question, we need to look in the YL high school homes.

[veg8]

Originally Posted by charliemets

Dear Board Members,

We have looked at many different houses and different locations throughout the city the past few months.

I have seen some of the threads you need to put our price range which is 650K to 990K.

Not sure if you wanted a new home but there always the Vista del Verde development those homes go to El Dorado high according to the map here. There are also new home by S&S that go to the new Yorba Linda High School. Most of these homes are in your listed price range.

[SoCalBear]

I lived in AH before moving to south county. A couple of quick items you may not have considered:
Pros for AH:
-AH has its own electric (Anaheim Electric) making your electric bills much, much cheaper. Also, you don't have problems with rolling blackouts, et cetera.
-earthquake insurance is cheaper in AH than in YL (at least when I looked into it back in 2001)
Cons for AH:
-consider whether your association dues pay for any community amenities like pools, tennis courts, et cetera that YL has. I paid $115 in HOA dues for almost nothing--only landscape gardening.
-certain areas of AH are prone to very strong winds. If you are looking at a home in AH, I would highly recommend that you investigate how the winds affect the home. My former street was like a wind tunnel--fences blew over, trees came down, on trash day, you would be on a hunt for your cans. It was awful.
--fire areas. We had a fire nearly every year I lived in AH. Because we lived close to the canyons, it was nerve-racking every time.
Good luck!

[RobE]

If you go to Anaheim Hills, though, stay away from the Serrano area, as it's a slide zone. The area around Esperanza was pretty nice while I was living in YL in the 1990's. I liked Canyon High better, though (my sister and brother both went there).

The areas in YL above Lakeview, especially around Fairmont or past it, are all pretty nice if you can afford to live there. I don't think you can really lose in that part of town.

[drpuppers]

It all depends on what you're looking for in a location. Personally, I grew up near YL Blvd/La Palma on the east side of town and I did not like it all that much, but that is due to several contributing factors. Yorba Regional is a nice park, but it gets crowded especially on weekends and in the summer. I think your money does go a little farther in Anaheim Hills, but if you have to live in YL, I'd say go for somewhere near Esperanza where there are older, nicer ranch homes rather than newer plasticky generic neighborhoods with no character that define a lot of other areas. Anywhere near Lakeview is probably a fairly good bet, I would say. Good luck.