East Coast Family Possibly Moving to Southern CA (Los Angeles, Torrance: real estate, rentals)

[EastCoastMomof2]

We are considering moving to Southern CA as my husband has been offered a job that is based in Beverly Hills. We have two kids, ages 5 and 6. We currently live in a beautiful, small town in PA where we can walk to parks, shops and restaurants. It is very quaint and safe. My husband currently commutes to NYC on the train which takes roughly an hour and a half door to door.

Ideally,we are interested in renting a house ($2,500-$3.500 a month) in a neighborhood that is family friendly and safe. We also want a better commute for my husband than the one he currently has. We are interested in Catholic schools.

Is South Pasadena too far to commute to Beverly Hills? Any other recommendations? Any advice would be appreciated. We know nothing about the area except for what we see online. Obviously, we'll be visiting soon to check places out in person.

Thanks in advance!

[Charles]

Originally Posted by EastCoastMomof2

We are considering moving to Southern CA as my husband has been offered a job that is based in Beverly Hills. We have two kids, ages 5 and 6. We currently live in a beautiful, small town in PA where we can walk to parks, shops and restaurants. It is very quaint and safe. My husband currently commutes to NYC on the train which takes roughly an hour and a half door to door.

Ideally,we are interested in renting a house ($2,500-$3.500 a month) in a neighborhood that is family friendly and safe. We also want a better commute for my husband than the one he currently has. We are interested in Catholic schools.

Is South Pasadena too far to commute to Beverly Hills? Any other recommendations? Any advice would be appreciated. We know nothing about the area except for what we see online. Obviously, we'll be visiting soon to check places out in person.

Thanks in advance!

It would most likely be unnecessarily far during normal commute hours.

Maybe Culver City, maybe Santa Monica, maybe Sherman Oaks. Not sure about rental prices but those towns look to be closer than South Pasadena.

[jaypee]

I'd add in Marina del Rey, West LA, or even in Beverly Hills. I doubt there'll be stand-alone homes at those prices but condos and townhomes are possible. Use padmapper.com and see.

[cali_to_nj]

As someone who recently made the opposite move and now commutes by train to NYC rather than by car to Bev Hills, I would encourage you to try to stay on the Westside otherwise your hubby may burn out on his commute very quickly. Driving in traffic on the freeway during rush hour is TORTUROUS compared to sitting on a train, even if the train commute is twice as long. Santa Monica is still hugely overpriced but you could try other coastal areas such as Playa Del Rey or even El Segundo or Manhattan Beach. The commute is longer from there to BH distance-wise, but he can take side streets along the coast and then towards BH and I found that to be much more tolerable. Plus you get to live near the beach on the weekends.

For Catholic schools in those areas, St. Anastasia in PDR and American Martyrs in Manhattan Beach are both quality schools.

I would add that living in the LA area is nothing like small town, east coast living, especially when it comes to raising kids. I wouldn't move back for any amount of money.

[Fontucky]

It's nothing like small town anywhere living. Might have something to do with the size...

[cali_to_nj]

^^oh totally agree, but the individual neighborhoods like Playa Del Rey or other beach towns still don't have the same level of community identity as on the east coast, even with a comparable number of people.

[Joseph Marnix]

How about Torrance / Redondo Beach. Somewhat close to the 405 Freeway. Catholic schools nearby would be Nativity, and Mary Star to name a few.

[tranza]

if you are used to quaint small New England towns, it will be a huge shock coming to LA. Diversity and dealing with different ethnic groups is something you have not experienced in small town PA. Private school in CA is not good as private or even public schools in New England. Ghetto areas are too close to nice neighborhoods. In LA, you have to pass through ghetto areas to get to nice hoods. South Pasadena is ok, although there are some not so good areas towards Alhambra which is a huge Asian community. Its a pain in the ass to drive to BH everyday. Driving time is approximately 1-1.5 hrs in the traffic.

[Cloudwalker]

If you go closer to the top end of your budget, you should be able to find something in West Los Angeles, Mar Vista, Culver City (90025, 90066, not sure of the CC zips). These are areas that would give you a more reasonable commute to BH than South Pasadena. It won't be like PA, but you can still safely and easily walk to parks, shops and restaurants in most parts of those areas.

Although they are in the LAUSD, there are still a number of decent elementary schools. Middle and high school gets a bit more tricky, but those are a ways off for you. Individual schools vary greatly in LAUSD so when you are looking at different areas, be sure to use the Greatschools website (read the parent reviews as well as the APIs and Greatschools score to get a more rounded picture) as well as http://askamagnetyenta.wordpress.com/ which has really great current info from parents throughout the district.

Also, if you can handle perhaps a smaller house nearer the top of your budget and up to $4000, you should be able to find something in Santa Monica which has reasonable public schools at all levels, is generally very walkable, quite family-oriented, especially in places like Sunset Park, and has a strong community feel. Think of the extra rent as an investment in your sanity and family harmony. Don't know too much about Catholic schools, but St Monica's seems to be fairly good and goes from K-12. You could also look at Rancho Park but not so sure of the rental value there.

Take a look at Westside Rentals as a guest to get a feel for what is around. Once you start to look seriously, it's worth springing for a membership as they do have probably the best stream of credible listings. There seem to be quite a few people looking for places at the moment and listings get added as soon as they come in, so make sure to look on the website at least once every day and act quickly if you see something you are interested in.

[yogirunner]

I hope I can piggyback off this post since I have a related question. We are from Summit, NJ and NYC and are moving to LA in the next couple months with 2 kids (6 and 8). We had originally decided on Santa Monica b/c of the schools and are flying out in 2 weeks to meet with our realtor and see places.

Eastcoastmom- I think Manhattan Beach has a small-ish town feel. Lots of families and activities. It is pretty and very pricey. We wanted more diversity for our family so decided on Santa Monica, but I'd move there in a second if it was cheaper than SM. Pacific Palisades might be an OK commute for your husband and good for families. Maybe also look at El Segundo.

MY QUESTION: Our realtor has sent us many places in our price range that are very close to Santa Monica. Amazing places with much lower prices than SM. The difference is the school systems, which look dismal after elementary or middle school.

We are from Summit, NJ and NYC so we can deal with high real estate. We most recently lived in Summit which had amazing schools. However, we are used to the idea of charter schools from NYC.

But what is the charter school high school system like in LA? Is it cutthroat to get a spot? Are there enough schools to fit the needs? Is it purely performance-based admissions or are there weighted variables?

I would choose a less expensive town and hope my kids get into charters for high school if the system for magnet or charter schools seems manageable.