LILA school and working in Torrance (Los Angeles, Santa Ana: apartment, rentals, condo)

[paulchek]

Hello LA
My family and I are moving from Milano to LA soon and we are looking for a place to live. As we have a youngster with us schools are a concern. We are considering the Lycee International school in Tustin because it’s the most similar to the International School in Milan which we love. However I will be working in Torrance and the budget will be tight. I’d like to keep rent around 2,000$ per month. Can anybody offer advice on where to live between these two locations? Obviously we’d want to be closer to the school. Help please.

[Mike121]

If you have your heart set on this plan and are only looking for suggestions for cities, the cities half-way along the 405 are all fine: Seal Beach, Westminster, Garden Grove. Obviously some neighborhoods are better than others, and some neighborhoods are more new immigrant than others, but, there is nothing exceptionally concerning.

But, please, please, please consider living near your job and sending your kid to a local school. Traffic is terrible. Even if you choose a place halfway between Santa Ana (where LILA is) and Torrance, you're still looking at more than an hour a day in your car. It is much better to have kids sent to an average school but have happy parents than to have kids sent to a great school and have tired, stressed out parents.

Also, schools in Torrance are pretty good, and most schools in California are 'international'. Most of the children in Los Angeles County schools are children of foreign-born parents.

[paulchek]

Thanks Mike, I've heard the traffic is terrible... and frankly I'd save a bundle of money sending Jr to public school. Thing is, he and my wife are French speaking bilingual, and the Int. school in Tustin is French/English. It just seems ideal since we'd like to keep him speaking both languages. However, as you say, miserable parents speaking French (or whatever), are still miserable parents.

[Mike121]

Le Lycée Français de L.A in Culver City is much closer to Torrance than LILA in Santa Ana. I don't know anything about the French-language schools: I don't know if it is good or if it is too expensive.

But, if you lived half-way between Culver City and Torrance, it might be a slightly better option. Halfway between Culver City and Torrance is Manhattan Beach and El Segundo (very expensive) as well as Inglewood and Hawthorne (much cheaper, less nice, bad air traffic noise in some neighborhoods).

[paulchek]

I'm beginning to think this plan is seriously half-baked, given the meagre salary I'm expecting aprox. 115k until my wife finds work. Regardless of the private schools, that salary won't afford much in way of what is beautiful about SoCal. What is the Cali income tax like?

[pacific2]

1. Schools

If you want, you can place your child in a good publlic school and save. That way, you would also be able to live closer to your job in Torrance.
California School information by City: Popular Cities

2. CA Taxes

California State Income Tax Rates
How California State income tax rates are structured

The tax table below will show in detail the California state income tax rates by income tax bracket(s). There are 7 income tax brackets for California. If your income range is between $0 and $7,168, your tax rate on every dollar of income earned is 1%.
If your income range is between $7,169 and $16,994, your tax rate on every dollar of income earned is 2%.
If your income range is between $16,995 and $26,821, your tax rate on every dollar of income earned is 4%.
If your income range is between $26,822 and $37,233, your tax rate on every dollar of income earned is 6%.
If your income range is between $37,234 and $47,055, your tax rate on every dollar of income earned is 8%.
If your income range is between $47,056 and $1,000,000, your tax rate on every dollar of income earned is 9.3%.
If your income range is $1,000,001 and over, your tax rate on every dollar of income earned is 10.3%.
Income tax brackets data last updated March 3rd, 2009.
California Income Tax Rates - California & other state tax rates information. CA tax calculator.

3. Rental Housing

Torrance, CA Homes for Rent - Rentals in Torrance - Realtor.com®

[Mike121]

I'm sure that taxes are less than in Italy, but, the laws are too complicated for me to take a guess. Overall, state and federal income tax comes out to about 35%, and VAT is ~10% here.

Yeah $115k is a strange amount: it is a great salary for a common person, far more than most people here will ever earn, but, not enough to put you in the next tier. It is perfectly fine if you want to live like a native. You can find a apartment or condo in a decent area and send your kids to nice public school with enough money left over to really take advantage of the city. It is definitely not enough to live that international lifestyle where your kids go to the same schools as other international workers and are separate from the problems of the local city. I doubt you can do that for less than $200k.

[paulchek]

Thank you both so much. Pacific2 those links are great! And Mike, I think you nailed it. I've never lived in LA before, and we did want to sort of avoid living like a native, but only because we have no idea what that is really like. I'm from the Midwest, and my wife is from the east coast, and we're both pretty intimidated by LA's size, traffic, cost of living etc... Expat life has been reality on hold, and now we have to get serious about our circumstances.

So where would you recommend then? The beaches seem too expensive even considering a public school. We like going for walks in the evening and on weekends.
Thanks again!

[Mike121]

Originally Posted by paulchek

So where would you recommend then? The beaches seem too expensive even considering a public school. We like going for walks in the evening and on weekends.
Thanks again!

If it were me with a job in Torrance, I'd try to live near my job, send my kid to the local school, try to keep the work commute to the absolute minimum. Torrance, it's a fine city and a fine school district. Nothing to worry about. Also, rent for the first year, preferable without a long lease, until you get a feel for the region.

You'd be 3 or 4 miles from the beach, which is an easy bike ride. With biking, you don't have to worry about the difficult beach parking. Maybe it is time to dust of your biking skills.