Torrance, HB or Aliso Viejo areas??? (Long Beach, Huntington Beach: apartment, rentals, condos)

[missikie]

My husband has been offered a position in Carson. We are looking for a safe neigborhood with good schools (6th grade and up). He is willing to commute up to an hour. Are there any nice, yet affordable areas within an hour of Carson? (We do not want to live in Carson). Also, I have heard good and bad things about Torrance. (Although, our children our into everything Japanese, so might actually perfer Torrance).

Personally, I would like to be as far away from LA as possible. Being close to the beach is not important, but having nice parks close by and areas to walk and hike would be nice. He prefers a small town atmosphere, which I imagine is difficult to come by.

I have done some research and noticed that a nice 3 Bdrm apartment can run $1900 $2400 pe rmonth, or more. We are currently living in Northern California (Sonoma County) and pay nearly $1800 for a 3 Bdrm house. We would eventually like to buy and are looking the the $275-$325K range.

We could be moving as soon as June.

Any ideas?

[proudmommy]

California School Performance Maps

[pacific2]

HB is a large city. It all boils down to your preferences and this thread will provide you with some information:
Making the move from UK to Aliso Viejo

Aliso Viejo is a small, safe, hilly, attractive and family- friendly city of about 46,000 with good schools and tons of activities for kids, located adjacent to Laguna Beach. It has lots of walking trails and parks (23):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpN40_1h5NE
For what it’s worth, Soka University of America (based in Japan) is located in Aliso Viejo:
“SUA is secular and nonsectarian, though established by Soka Gakkai, a lay Buddhist organization. SUA's history and educational philosophy originate in Soka Gakkai, particularly in the work of Tsunesaburo Makiguchi, who founded Soka Gakkai as a small group of educators dedicated to social and educational reform during the years leading up to World War II.[10] Makiguchi was a principal of an elementary school in Japan. He was strongly influenced by John Dewey and American educational progressivism.”
Soka University of America - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Josho Daiko Appreciation Reception (At Soka in Aliso Viejo)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZ5LWNNF0gI

Soka University Student Perform Malay Traditional Dance

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzLEszUevNU

[CelticViking]

I am a big fan of H.B...spent a lot of time there. You also have seal beach which can give you the small town feel, and is as well a great area. It also borders Long Beach. Torrance will give you the L.A feel since it is well in L.A, but there are some nice parts of Torrance. You also could look into the other L.A Beach Cities...Redondo,Hermosa,Manhattan.

[Vascodagama]

Originally Posted by missikie

My husband has been offered a position in Carson. We are looking for a safe neigborhood with good schools (6th grade and up). He is willing to commute up to an hour. Are there any nice, yet affordable areas within an hour of Carson? (We do not want to live in Carson). Also, I have heard good and bad things about Torrance. (Although, our children our into everything Japanese, so might actually perfer Torrance).

Personally, I would like to be as far away from LA as possible. Being close to the beach is not important, but having nice parks close by and areas to walk and hike would be nice. He prefers a small town atmosphere, which I imagine is difficult to come by.

I have done some research and noticed that a nice 3 Bdrm apartment can run $1900 $2400 pe rmonth, or more. We are currently living in Northern California (Sonoma County) and pay nearly $1800 for a 3 Bdrm house. We would eventually like to buy and are looking the the $275-$325K range.

We could be moving as soon as June.

Any ideas?

I grew up in Torrance and now live in HB. We like HB much more, Torrance is nice buy way too crowed me anymore. For $2400 you can rent a 3 bedroom home in HB.

[missikie]

How long is the commute from Aliso Viejo to Carson? My partner will be working in Carson, I will probably be working in Irvine. He is partial to the Torrance area because it is closer to his office, I am partial to the Aliso Viejo area.

We will be heading down there in a couple of months to look around. What areas within a 45-60 minute commute of Carson should I be looking at?

We currently reside in a community of 27,000 but are within 5 miles of a city of 185,000. Finding something in between would be nice.

We are looking to rent at first, 3 Bd, 2 Ba. We understand there will be sticker shock, as rents here are in the $1500 - $1800 range and appear to be in teh $2000+ range down there. I have a middle school student with special needs, so schools are important. We all enjoy to swim and hike, so a nice condo with amenities would be a nice start, and an area with parks. If we can purchase a condo in the $325-$350K price range, we may consider that over renting.

Thanks for the feedback.

[pacific2]

How long is the commute from Aliso Viejo to Carson? My partner will be working in Carson, I will probably be working in Irvine. He is partial to the Torrance area because it is closer to his office, I am partial to the Aliso Viejo area.
The drive from Aliso Viejo to Carson would be a real bear if done during rush hour. According to Google, it would take your partner 1 hour and 10 minutes with traffic, and 55 minutes without it, via the 405. So, you might want to consider cities north of here.

We will be heading down there in a couple of months to look around. What areas within a 45-60 minute commute of Carson should I be looking at?
Maybe Seal Beach would be more suitable. You would still be in a small city, but the commute would be more tolerable for your partner, and not too bad for you.

We currently reside in a community of 27,000 but are within 5 miles of a city of 185,000. Finding something in between would be nice.
There are about 46,000 people in Aliso Viejo.

We are looking to rent at first, 3 Bd, 2 Ba. We understand there will be sticker shock, as rents here are in the $1500 - $1800 range and appear to be in teh $2000+ range down there. I have a middle school student with special needs, so schools are important. We all enjoy to swim and hike, so a nice condo with amenities would be a nice start, and an area with parks. If we can purchase a condo in the $325-$350K price range, we may consider that over renting.
Aliso Viejo is located within the Capistrano Unified School District, and my understanding is that there are services readily available for kids with special needs.

Check realtor.com for rentals, and that plus redfin.com for condos to purchase. Most condo communities have pools, plus there is a large Aquatic Center in Alsio Viejo: http://cityofalisoviejo.com/AquaticCenter/

Biking, hiking, etc. are readily available and there are plenty of parks around, but your partner would probably be too tired to enjoy the city's amenities if he has to spend so much time on the road.
　

[VeronikaW]

Originally Posted by pacific2

We are looking to rent at first, 3 Bd, 2 Ba. We understand there will be sticker shock, as rents here are in the $1500 - $1800 range and appear to be in teh $2000+ range down there. I have a middle school student with special needs, so schools are important. We all enjoy to swim and hike, so a nice condo with amenities would be a nice start, and an area with parks. If we can purchase a condo in the $325-$350K price range, we may consider that over renting.
Aliso Viejo is located within the Capistrano Unified School District, and my understanding is that there are services readily available for kids with special needs.

I just wanted to add that I am in Aliso Viejo and my son recently was evaluated and falls on the autism spectrum. We are extraordinarily happy with the services he's receiving.

However, the commute from AV to Carson would be horrible, even if you took advantage of the $5/each way toll road.

If you look on a website like redfin.com you can see home prices and schools and their ratings, which I find to be a really invaluable tool.

Good luck in your search!

V. =)

[DinsdalePirahna]

Aliso Viejo is very nice but very sterile and beige. Good place to work. Good Schools. Also a of bear of a commute to Carson.

Huntington and Torrance are mostly older cities, and safe if you stay in the right areas.

HB schools are top notch with programs for special needs children.

Personally I prefer the downtown and Harbour areas. We are doing some condo shopping ourselves and finding very good deals under $300K. The Caveat is to make sure that you are not buying on leased land.

You may also want to look at Seal Beach, Cerritos and Los Alamitos.

[pacific2]

OP, since you have a family, you may want to consider the fact that Huntington Beach is now the Drunk Driving Capital of California. There‘s lots of "colorful" boozing, barfing and driving under the influence going on there. "South Siders," "Skin Heads," "PeckerWoods," and "Nazi Low Riders," all major gangs (there are even more-minor clubs for thugs), also help to keep things "interesting" in Huntington Beach. Drug-dealing and violence, what would life there be without them? Oh, let's not forget chop shops and other garages, since HB has more of them than parks and trails.

Seriously though, I would suggest finding something close to Carson.