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We currently live in Texas and my family and I are thinking of moving to the Santa Clarita area for a new job in January. We have been to the area a couple of times and it seems very nice, clean and safe. However, as you can imagine, we have several questions that still linger in our heads and we were hoping you could help us answer them. Any information you can provide would be greatly appreciated. Thank you all for your thoughts!
A little background information:
We are a family of four, 2 daughters both 13
We come from an area of Dallas called McKinney. It is suburbia, great schools, great neighborhoods, great neighbors, family friendly, etc.
I am hesitant about taking the job because I hear all negative things about living in California and the LA area (housing, TAXES that are crazy, earthquakes, etc). Although my family and I LOVE it out there and have been to LA several times.
We are totally done with the Dallas area - boring, weather that is just to hot to do ANYTHING outside, and just the lack of things to do overall. (Although, to be honest, Dallas is a great clean, safe city for the most part)
Our biggest issue that I think we are struggling with is: Are we giving up "the good life" to move out to California just to be close to the beaches, mountains, outdoor activities and things to do. Which, is very important to the whole family. As a family, we love being outside and going to festivals, events, and nature.
Questions:
1. Is Santa Clarita safe? Are there areas of Santa Clarita (and surrounding areas) we should avoid when looking for houses? What are the nice neighborhoods that you can reccomend?
2. Realistically, what price of housing should we be expecting to live in the areas you recommend?
3. Is $220K enough money per year to live a good lifestyle in this area?
4. What are the schools like? Both middle (junior) and high schools? Are they safe, ratings, are they good schools overall, etc?
5. Where do you shop for groceries??? Funny question but, here it is mostly at Walmart!
6. What is traffic like?
7. How long does it take to get to the beaches (Santa Monica, etc). I need to ask this for my klids!
8. Can anyone recommend a good dance studio and/or gymnastics academy? (One kid in competitive dance, one in competitive gymnastics.)
9. Are there areas that we are completely overlooking to move to?
Lastly.....can you convince to move or not to move out there? Is there anyone that has made this move from Dallas to California? What are your experiences?
SC is plenty safe compared to the rest of Los Angeles. I am not sure how it compared with where you are now. Schools are much better than Los Angeles unified. I would say Canyon Country and some areas of old Newhall are less safe-still not bad. But with $220 you should be just fine anywhere. The more expensive areas are Westridge in Valencia and Stevenson Ranch.
Look on Redfin and you will get an idea of what you can afford.
CA dept of education website has data (I think dataquest) with each school's performance, number of students and even racial breakdown (if you care).
The traffic in the valley itself is not bad, but commuting to LA in rush hour is not fun. Bear in mind, this is southern CA, so we consider 45 minutes a reasonable commute.
Grocery shopping is done at Ralph, Vons, Albertsons, Sprouts, Costco, Walmart and whole foods depending on how much you want to spend.
There are websites that calculate your salary for 2 different areas and tell you where you would stand based on taxes and cost of living etc. For example, it would tell you to maintain the same lifestyle you have in Dallas with $220K, would need X amount in LA.
I think you will be just fine, good luck.
When you say "giving up the good life" and then go on to list all the things Southern California has to offer it's kind of confusing. Those are the things that make life "good". Santa Clarita is a nice, clean area. It gets hotter out there than it does in the LA Basin though, but the humidity is low which makes it more bearable. You can take the back route to the Angeles and San Bernardino National Forests (mountains, lakes, winter skiing). The beach isn't close. The back roads to the beach at Ventura (a great little town) might take less time than the trip thru LA to Santa Monica
First of all, just want to make sure you understand, it's very hot in Santa Clarita in the summer. Probably not much different from Texas. It's a high-desert/mountain climate, not the more mild climate in the coastal areas of LA. Typically the humidity is low, so it's nice and cool at night, which makes for great evening barbeques/patio time. That said, I came from the Northeast, and it hasn't generally been an issue. I still go biking at noon on Saturdays, I just bring more water than I would have in New Jersey.
1) Anywhere you're looking with your income will be safe. The only questionable areas are some parts of Newhall and Canyon Country that are predominately apartment/townhouse rental areas. If you're looking to buy a single-family home on a $220k income, anywhere you're looking will be safe. Being in the rich areas is no guarantee against property crime. I have friends in Valenica and Saugus who have had their expensive road-bikes stolen from their garages. But violent crime is rare and is typically between low-income people in the apartments (drug/gang related, etc...).
2) You can find what I would consider an extremely nice family house for $400k, but the sky is the limit here, and I don't know what you're coming from. You can easily spend over $1 million on a palatial estate with room for horses, or you can get what I would consider a decent house for a family of 4 in the upper $200's or $300's that has a yard in a good area of Canyon Country.
3) Yes, although again, it depends on what you consider acceptable. My wife and I lived on a $90k salary for 6 months, and we were extremely comfortable, renting a 1400 sq ft house in a good neighborhood. We have money to go out to eat and explore the area. She found a job and now we'll be living on ~$140k a year, and we expect to be able live an extremely nice life and still save about $40k a year.
4) Schools in generally are good. The less affluent parts of Newhall and Canyon Country have average schools, but the nicer parts of those towns have schools that are effectively just as good as those in Stevenson Ranch, Valencia, and Saugus.
6) Coming from New Jersey, I don't really consider Santa Clarita to have traffic. To get from one extreme end to the other takes 30 minutes at worst, and usually it's about 20. Traffic into and around LA during rush hour is another story, and is basically awful. I drive the other direction to work (out to Palmdale), so traffic is a non-issue in my life.
7) You can be in Ventura in about 45 minutes, and in Santa Monica or Malibu in about an hour. We go to the beach probably 1-2 times a months. It's easy and one of the things I love about living here.
9) Check out the Sand Canyon area in Canyon Country. You'll have more breathing room (lots of country estates with lots of horse properties mixed with more traditional suburban tracts), so coming from Texas, you might like it. The schools in that area of Canyon Country are just as good as those in Valencia, etc... I live near here, and I would seriously consider buying here if I had the money.
But more generally, figure out where you will be work and find a nice neighborhood near there, or at least so that you have easy access to the proper freeway. I consider commuting into LA from Valencia to be crazy, even though a lot of people do it. Spending 2+ hours in a car every day will seriously degrade your quality of life. It's hard to give more specific advice without knowing more about you or where you'll be working. My personal opinion is that I would not in want my children to grow up in Valencia or Stevenson Ranch, because I find the people to be somewhat snotty and superficial (obsessed with what car their neighbor is driving, obsessed with micromanaging their children's "development" to the point of denying them a childhood). I like the people in Canyon Country because I find them friendly and normal, but the people in Valencia consider us beneath them. It's all in your perspective.
dfwtexas...you will love Santa Clarita! it is one of the safest cities in the country...check out the FBI website for top safe cities...
I have to take issue with CanyonDanny...I live in Valencia and to say that all Valencia people are "snotty and superficial" is like saying all people in Canyon County are trashy...SERIOUSLY???? People are people everywhere...my neighbors and those I come in contact with every day are lovely people and very neighborly and helpful. Please disregard canyondanny's remarks!
Stevenson Ranch and Valencia are the most desirable areas to live in the valley due to schools, shopping, newer homes, location to the 5 fwy, etc. The east side of the valley bordering the 14 fwy Canyon Country area -west of freeway tends to be older smaller homes, east of 14 fwy are newer developments with larger homes and a very nice shopping center on the hill.
As for groceries, yes we have 3 walmarts - 2 super walmarts, however, we have Vons, Ralphs, Albertson, Trader Joes, Whole Foods (upper end organic markets).
The SCV lifestyle is very much family centered, with parks, hiking trails, the aquatic center, skateboard park, etc. Please check out the city's site for information...Santa-Clarita.com. As for homes and prices, please check out SCVHomeBuyersGuide.com, you will also be able to get school information from this site.
As for beaches, 45mins to Ventura Beaches, 55 mins to Oxnard, 90 mins to Santa Barbara area. Over an hour or better to Santa Monica, Malibu (depending on traffic on 405 and 101 respectfully).
Traffic can be brutal, however we do have the metrolink trains with 3 metro link stations that will take you into Los Angeles.
Not knowing where your work is, it could be a matter of having to drive. Many companies also have carpooling for their employees, there are 3 lots that I am aware of in the valley for that.
Santa Clarita is it's own independent city - we are not part of the city of LA - thank goodness! We have many award winning schools, low crime areas and the city is very responsible with pot hole repair/road repair and any sort of graffiti is removed very quickly. The Sheriff's department has a zero tolerance for any gang activity, and consequently we are much better off that most of the Los Angeles basin. We do have crime, anyone who is dumb enough to leave their homes unlocked (which was pretty common here a few years back), cars unlocked with expensive items in view, garages with open doors can expect to be burglarized. Use common sense people!!! Because we are an upscale area, we do get people from other areas of the county that come here for the easy hit. Our sheriff's are very responsive to the community and I feel very safe driving, walking at all hours of the day or night. I think you will love it here! And you can certainly live very comfortably on $220k a year!
This input from locals is worth more then anything! I appreciate your comments and truthfulness!! Can either of you tell me anything about the taxes out there? Both the property taxes and anything else you may have. Thanks again!
I have been keeping tabs on the SCV real estate market too, from the perspective of a potential buyer. I try to read up on different posts on this web site, and also follow this blog: www.scvtalk.com. I think it gives insights on the current issues surrounding life in Santa Clarita.
Thank you "housepoor" this is a very good reference. I'm still trying to decide what a good fit for me and my family is in the SCV area (Valencia, Stevenson Ranch, Canyon Country, etc) Love the area, just wondering if the SCV area is a little too far away from beaches, city life, etc.
Thank you "housepoor" this is a very good reference. I'm still trying to decide what a good fit for me and my family is in the SCV area (Valencia, Stevenson Ranch, Canyon Country, etc) Love the area, just wondering if the SCV area is a little too far away from beaches, city life, etc.
DFWtoLA, I think I may have missed where your new job will be located, so it's hard to say what your commute will be like from other areas. In my experience, it's not so much the distance of your commute, but whether you will be traveling with or against traffic that will determine commute time. With a $220k annual salary, I think you may have other options in addition to SCV.
I myself am also looking at La Crescenta, which would be to the southeast of SCV. LC is not as pretty or anywhere near as master-planned as SCV, but most of it feeds very good schools. You might drive around there and see if you like the feel of the neighborhood, and check out their farmers' market on weekends to get a sense for the locals. House prices there will be much more than SCV (on a per square foot basis, I roughly estimate maybe the costs might be higher by a factor of 1.5, but the home sizes would probably average smaller than SCV). I haven't tried the commute myself, but I suspect that LC to downtown LA (if that's where your job is located) would be less brutal than SCV to DT LA.
I am also considering the Thousand Oaks area (including Agoura Hills and Oak Park). These are master planned communities as well, but older. Also very family-friendly areas (as far as I can tell), with good schools. Seems like a very safe city, if FBI crime stats are to be believed. House prices here may be more in line with SCV (maybe just a bit higher on a per sq ft basis). This area, to the west of San Fernando Valley, is also pretty remote from DT LA, but would be closer to beaches than either SCV or LC.
The above alternatives align with my personal preferences, which may be very different from yours.
For school information, you might check out greatschools.net. The LA times has/had an online "crime mapping" function, but I cannot recall the link.
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nd/or gymnastics academy? (One kid in competitive dance, one in competitive gymnastics.)
