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Old 07-31-2011, 10:09 AM
 
2 posts, read 4,923 times
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Hello,

I have a 3 and a 5 year old and I am looking at places to live that are close to the VA hospital in Long Beach. I'm hoping to walk to work or to live close enough to an elementary (Pre-K and 1st grader) that my wife can walk the kids to schools. We are downsizing to one car and would like to cut down fuel costs as much as possible. Any recommendation or where we should look for rental homes or apartments would be greatly appreciated. We would like to keep the rent under $2,200.

Is it worth dealing with the commute to/from the VA in Long Beach to/from Huntington Beach area for the 'better' public pre-k programs?

Thanks,
-Craig
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Old 07-31-2011, 10:35 AM
 
Location: RSM
5,113 posts, read 19,715,136 times
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If you want a family area at/under that budget for a house, Lakewood would be a good place to go. Good family city, pretty good schools, and decent enough neighborhoods. Avoid neighborhoods east of the 605 freeway, west of Lakewood Blvd, or in the Paramount School District boundaries.

You could also find 3bd apts in Los Alamitos in the upper 1000s. Not a big selection, though, as most are 2bd. Great family area
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Old 07-31-2011, 11:02 AM
 
5,113 posts, read 5,952,867 times
Reputation: 1748
Quote:
Originally Posted by CraigRech View Post
Hello,

Is it worth dealing with the commute to/from the VA in Long Beach to/from Huntington Beach area for the 'better' public pre-k programs?

Thanks,
-Craig
Absolutely! I commute from Huntington Beach to Redondo/Manhattan and its worth it to my family.
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Old 07-31-2011, 01:30 PM
 
916 posts, read 3,691,432 times
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You can find what you're looking for in Long Beach. For example you could live in Naples and your wife could walk to Naples Elementary which has a pre-k. In my opinion and by most objective measures you won't find a better public elementary school in southern california.

If you do choose to live there, an added benefit is that your wife will be able to walk to nearby parks and 2nd street in Belmont Shore which has many everyday type stuff like a hardware store, post office, coffee shops, restaraunts, and everything else. Plus she'll be a short, easy bus ride to the Aquarium and lots of other nearby family friendly stuff.


There are other neighborhoods that would work nicely in LB as well. You could live in University Park Estates and then you would be within walking distance of both the VA and Kettering Elementary which is a very good school. University Park Estates is a very nice, family neighborhood and is close to the VA, a shopping center, and small golf course.

Last edited by NaplesRes; 07-31-2011 at 01:51 PM..
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Old 07-31-2011, 09:48 PM
 
4,537 posts, read 10,598,896 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CraigRech View Post
Hello,

I have a 3 and a 5 year old and I am looking at places to live that are close to the VA hospital in Long Beach. I'm hoping to walk to work or to live close enough to an elementary (Pre-K and 1st grader) that my wife can walk the kids to schools. We are downsizing to one car and would like to cut down fuel costs as much as possible. Any recommendation or where we should look for rental homes or apartments would be greatly appreciated. We would like to keep the rent under $2,200.

Is it worth dealing with the commute to/from the VA in Long Beach to/from Huntington Beach area for the 'better' public pre-k programs?

Thanks,
-Craig
It might be worth it for you to live in Huntington Beach. I doubt you'll find a SFR there in your rent range, but a townhome or apartment are not out of the question.

The area around the VA is not bad at all. Also anything in Long Beach basically south of the traffic circle is pretty much ok. And Lakewood is nice too. The parts in LB school district have good schools as does Bellflower School District.

You might find a SFR in Lakewood in your rental range.
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Old 07-31-2011, 09:53 PM
 
5,113 posts, read 5,952,867 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JohnG72 View Post
It might be worth it for you to live in Huntington Beach. I doubt you'll find a SFR there in your rent range, but a townhome or apartment are not out of the question.

The area around the VA is not bad at all. Also anything in Long Beach basically south of the traffic circle is pretty much ok. And Lakewood is nice too. The parts in LB school district have good schools as does Bellflower School District.

You might find a SFR in Lakewood in your rental range.
There are SFR rentals in HB for that range
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Old 07-31-2011, 11:32 PM
 
Location: The Chatterdome in La La Land, CaliFUNia
39,031 posts, read 22,974,239 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bhcompy View Post
If you want a family area at/under that budget for a house, Lakewood would be a good place to go. Good family city, pretty good schools, and decent enough neighborhoods. Avoid neighborhoods east of the 605 freeway, west of Lakewood Blvd, or in the Paramount School District boundaries.

You could also find 3bd apts in Los Alamitos in the upper 1000s. Not a big selection, though, as most are 2bd. Great family area
Where do you find apartment rentals in Los Alamitos? I've not had any luck when searching through the rental websites so I was wondering where they were listed.
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Old 08-01-2011, 05:45 PM
 
Location: RSM
5,113 posts, read 19,715,136 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Chatteress View Post
Where do you find apartment rentals in Los Alamitos? I've not had any luck when searching through the rental websites so I was wondering where they were listed.
The majority of them are privately owned or run by local property management companies(the majority of rentals are in complexes of 4 or less units mostly). The best way to see what is available is to drive around Apartment Row(southeast adjacent neighborhood to Katella and Los Alamitos Blvd) and the neighborhood around Oak Middle School. Local realtors handle condo rentals(which may offer more variety in 3bd units, but probably cost more).

A couple local property management cos I see around the neighborhood are BJ Rentals, Ray Roberts Realty, and OC Property Management to name a few(purely informational, not suggesting any particular company). My dealings with organized property management locally has been that they cost a little more than renting from private owners and are a bit less inflexible if you had something you wanted to negotiate on(like pets).
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Old 08-01-2011, 06:33 PM
 
Location: SCW, AZ
8,266 posts, read 13,355,543 times
Reputation: 7916
Also I want to mention a new by-law LB in effect as of 8/1/2011:
- No more plastic shopping bags at stores/market!
- Alternative paper bags cost $.10 a pop or cough up about a $1 for reusable ones.
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Old 08-01-2011, 06:52 PM
 
Location: The Chatterdome in La La Land, CaliFUNia
39,031 posts, read 22,974,239 times
Reputation: 36027
Quote:
Originally Posted by bhcompy View Post
The majority of them are privately owned or run by local property management companies(the majority of rentals are in complexes of 4 or less units mostly). The best way to see what is available is to drive around Apartment Row(southeast adjacent neighborhood to Katella and Los Alamitos Blvd) and the neighborhood around Oak Middle School. Local realtors handle condo rentals(which may offer more variety in 3bd units, but probably cost more).

A couple local property management cos I see around the neighborhood are BJ Rentals, Ray Roberts Realty, and OC Property Management to name a few(purely informational, not suggesting any particular company). My dealings with organized property management locally has been that they cost a little more than renting from private owners and are a bit less inflexible if you had something you wanted to negotiate on(like pets).
Thank you for this info ... I want to stay close to LA County but have a reasonable commute to my PT jobs in OC ... I used to visit Los Alamitos a lot and loved the area.
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