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Old 01-05-2013, 07:27 AM
 
25 posts, read 44,942 times
Reputation: 15

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Hi there!

My husband and I have lost both of our jobs, he got another job for barely 50K with chances of eventually getting percentage of profit.

We leave in Burbank with our 5-year-old and he was going to Catholic school. Needless to say he's going to public now, which I'm not really happy with, even though people keep telling me how great Burbank District Schools are, but the problem actually is that schools here are hit or miss kind of situation, and this school is definitely a miss; from budget cuts with 3 hours a day of school only to kindergarteners who call other kids stupid and the f word...

We really like Burbank, however, the housing is really expensive (especially the areas that we would have to leave in order to get a decent public school for my son), and with that salary we would have to rent a 1 bedroom apart in order to get something decent, which I cant even imagine.
My husband is working in Korean Town now, any ideas of other good neighborhoods with great public schools?

Valencia seems to be a good option pricewise but the commuting and gas expense would be a lot so I'm not sure that would be worth it... Plus, strangely enough, I'm really used to the Valley...

Please give me as many suggestions u have... I sit even possible to make a decent living with that kind of salary anyways for a family with a kid (and another on the way, I should mention)...

Thanks so much! We're kind of lost...

Last edited by Adrianala28; 01-05-2013 at 07:52 AM..
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Old 01-05-2013, 08:57 AM
 
Location: East Bay, San Francisco Bay Area
23,512 posts, read 23,986,796 times
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La Crescenta is a great area with great public schools. But, usually, areas with good public schools have high real estate price tags.
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Old 01-05-2013, 09:39 AM
 
1,286 posts, read 3,479,516 times
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I have heard good things about the Wiseburn School District in the south bay area:
Wiseburn School District

Also since your husband works in K-town, you should check out renting something in the 3rd Street School's area. It's a great public school. School is on 3rd, a bit east of La Brea.
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Old 01-05-2013, 02:32 PM
 
25 posts, read 44,942 times
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Thanks, but La Crescenta is farther than Pasadena even, therefore it's farther to K-town, I would assume... I have seen nice gated communities in Winnetka and Tarzana... Does anybody know about safety in those areas and quality of public schools? txs!
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Old 01-06-2013, 07:28 PM
 
1,286 posts, read 3,479,516 times
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You can research schools on greatschools.net.

Most of the ones in Winnetka and Tarzana will suck, as does most of LAUSD. Best bet is to get lucky and get into a magnet school.
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Old 01-06-2013, 10:30 PM
 
Location: South Bay
7,226 posts, read 22,187,529 times
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encino has some pretty good public schools, but the commute to k-town would be tough. one of the benefits of moving to valencia would be commuting via metrolink/metro rail. if this is something you would consider, then you'd have lots of options from anywhere that metrolink has a station and meets your schooling requirements.
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Old 01-07-2013, 10:20 AM
 
Location: TOVCCA
8,452 posts, read 15,034,390 times
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You might consider Simi Valley, has good schools and Metrolink for the commute.
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Old 01-07-2013, 03:07 PM
 
Location: Santa Monica, CA
1,626 posts, read 4,012,837 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Adrianala28 View Post
Is it even possible to make a decent living with that kind of salary anyways for a family with a kid (and another on the way, I should mention)...
IMO it's not possible for a family of 3 or 4 to live comfortably on $50k in LA. I don't even think it's possible in the inland empire. You need one healthy income, or two decent incomes, to afford what you're looking for.
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Old 02-08-2013, 08:25 AM
 
Location: Birmingham, Alabama
2,054 posts, read 2,566,714 times
Reputation: 3558
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dunbar42 View Post
IMO it's not possible for a family of 3 or 4 to live comfortably on $50k in LA. I don't even think it's possible in the inland empire. You need one healthy income, or two decent incomes, to afford what you're looking for.
Old thread from a month ago...I agree with what you said regarding what one can raise a family on. 50k is probably not enough money to raise a family in many places in the US, much less LA or NYC metro areas. It's not really possible in Birmingham, AL, unless one wants to do low-end rent, and never, ever look for entertainment.

So, my point in reviving this thread is, WHY are salaries in many industries consistently less than this number? It's not a living wage, as we just discussed, and families need more. And are much more settled and willing to put in the work to keep the job and do well. Sure, I could live on 50k if I was single, and had no responsibilities, but then again, would I be as desirable of an employee?

Help me out with this one...
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Old 02-08-2013, 09:28 AM
 
Location: Los Angeles (Native)
25,303 posts, read 21,443,353 times
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I agree, wages are way too low versus costs today. In the 50s people used to be able to buy a house in a nice area have new cars on one persons salary. This is definitely no longer the case. Areas of L.A that are now 1million+ were lived in by factory workers and returning veterans.

The WHY in my opinion is because companies have been getting away with paying these low wages. People keep working for the wages so they keep paying them.

If you take a look at CEO/top executive pay it's actually gone up several times over the decades...while the average salary has stagnated. Outsourcing plays a big role too in many industries. Although obviously not every job can be outsourced.

One solution is to become your own boss if you don't like the wages being paid
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