Home purchase/School District Advice (Riverside, Glendale: new home, buying, prices)

[LArenter]

Here is my situation and I appreciate any advice and feedback.

I am searching for a new home, I currently reside in Pasadena. I have a 1 YO child and we plan on having a couple more children. For our next home purchase we wanted to be in an area where we can send our children to public school, at least through elementary school, and then possibly move again in 10-12 years.

We are trying to stay around the sub-$1 million dollar range and we are looking for a 3+ bedroom, 2+ bath, 1750SQ FT+, small lots are ok.

We were planning on moving to the South Bay, but then my wife just got offered a job that shes been waiting for in Glendale. I currently work in Downtown, but in case things don't work out with my current employer, I want the option to commute to either Downtown or Century City.

Therefore, Arcadia, Sierra Madre, and South Pasadena are pretty much out due to distance. La Canada and San Marino, I'm priced out anyways.

I'm not too familiar with areas outside of those mentioned.

I've been doing some research and I see that Studio City (Carpenter School) is excellent and there are a couple homes sub $1 million that fit the bill. I know Ivanhoe in Silver Lake is excellent but not in my price range. I understand that with LAUSD, I need to do the research and find the pockets of areas that have decent schools; and even then, there is no guarantee that 4 years from now that the school will still be performing at the same level.

Any other thoughts or suggestions of where I should be looking? Thanks again.

[BRinSM]

studio city seems like a good start, also add burbank and sherman oaks to your list. sherman oaks is also LAUSD, but has some highly rated elementary schools. there should be plenty of homes available up to $1M in both areas. encino is getting futher away, but is quite similar to sherman oaks when it comes to home prices, schools and access to the westside.

[mayorhaggar]

California School Performance Maps

[dexters]

South Pas, La Crescenta and La Canada. We just moved here with two elementary aged children and ended up buying in La Crescenta. we much preferred the look and feel of S. Pas., but we got more for our money in LC., and the schools are actually ranked above SP. La Canada is another terrific choice; it was a bit out of our price range.

[JohnG72]

745 EVERGREEN, Burbank, CA 91505 | MLS# B12092678

For Glendale, commute is negligible...15-20 minutes max. Maybe as little as 10 minutes depending where it is.

For Downtown, its about a 30 minute morning commute. If the 5 south is bad, just take Victory or Riverside through Griffith Park. For Century City, just take Lankershim to the 101 south, then exit at Highland and take that down to Olympic. Around a 45 minute rush hour commute.

Your welcome.

[DynamoLA]

Originally Posted by LArenter

Here is my situation and I appreciate any advice and feedback.

I am searching for a new home, I currently reside in Pasadena. I have a 1 YO child and we plan on having a couple more children. For our next home purchase we wanted to be in an area where we can send our children to public school, at least through elementary school, and then possibly move again in 10-12 years.

We are trying to stay around the sub-$1 million dollar range and we are looking for a 3+ bedroom, 2+ bath, 1750SQ FT+, small lots are ok.

We were planning on moving to the South Bay, but then my wife just got offered a job that shes been waiting for in Glendale. I currently work in Downtown, but in case things don't work out with my current employer, I want the option to commute to either Downtown or Century City.

Therefore, Arcadia, Sierra Madre, and South Pasadena are pretty much out due to distance. La Canada and San Marino, I'm priced out anyways.

I'm not too familiar with areas outside of those mentioned.

I've been doing some research and I see that Studio City (Carpenter School) is excellent and there are a couple homes sub $1 million that fit the bill. I know Ivanhoe in Silver Lake is excellent but not in my price range. I understand that with LAUSD, I need to do the research and find the pockets of areas that have decent schools; and even then, there is no guarantee that 4 years from now that the school will still be performing at the same level.

Any other thoughts or suggestions of where I should be looking? Thanks again.

Have you checked out Glendale in the area of Verdugo Woodlands Elementary, RD White Elementary, and up in Montrose? Very good elementary schools, with the cost of housing not so exhorbitant (relatively).