Long Beach family-oriented neighborhoods? (Fullerton, Corona: rental, condo, hotels)

[mamamea33]

We are looking to buy our first home and are considering Long Beach. We have friends that have lived there for years and love it. They recommended zip codes 90808 and 90815.

Our budget is small. We would like to buy a small SFR or condo for somewhere between $350k-$400k. I've been watching the MLS and have seen houses in that range that are 1100SF - 1400SF. We don't need a lot of house, or a lot of yard. We just want a little house with some character that we can work on together. Safety and schools are important.

We currently rent in Brea and are also considering Fullerton and possibly Corona.

Any thoughts on those zip codes? Are there others we should consider?

Thanks!

[TurcoLoco]

There have been quite a few threads on this topic so I won't beat on that horse any more but the following map should give you a rough idea about what areas to stay away from:

[bhcompy]

The family oriented part is the east side of town. You might be able to find an old condo near Belmont Shore or something for that price(I haven't looked). I know that price will work fine in neighboring Los Alamitos for a solid condo, and Los Alamitos is extremely family friendly.

[mayorhaggar]

California School Performance Maps

Useful to find good school ratings, just zoom in.

[Joe Van Fossen]

Originally Posted by mamamea33

We are looking to buy our first home and are considering Long Beach. We have friends that have lived there for years and love it. They recommended zip codes 90808 and 90815.

Our budget is small. We would like to buy a small SFR or condo for somewhere between $350k-$400k. I've been watching the MLS and have seen houses in that range that are 1100SF - 1400SF. We don't need a lot of house, or a lot of yard. We just want a little house with some character that we can work on together. Safety and schools are important.

We currently rent in Brea and are also considering Fullerton and possibly Corona.

Any thoughts on those zip codes? Are there others we should consider?

Thanks!

My friends just recently bought their first home in Long Beach in around the same price range you're looking at. It was a fixer and needed some work, but they're very happy there.

Fullerton is also a great area, generally safe with good schools. You can probably get more for your money in Corona, but it sounds like that might be a bit of a commute for you. I'm not sure where you work, but that's a pretty wide radius you're considering. It's never fun spending more of your waking hours behind the wheel than you're spending enjoying your home.

[mamamea33]

Originally Posted by TurcoLoco

There have been quite a few threads on this topic so I won't beat on that horse any more but the following map should give you a rough idea about what areas to stay away from:

Ah, excellent. Thank you!

Originally Posted by bhcompy

The family oriented part is the east side of town. You might be able to find an old condo near Belmont Shore or something for that price(I haven't looked). I know that price will work fine in neighboring Los Alamitos for a solid condo, and Los Alamitos is extremely family friendly.

Thanks for the info!

Originally Posted by mayorhaggar

California School Performance Maps

Useful to find good school ratings, just zoom in.

Thank you.

Originally Posted by Joe Van Fossen

My friends just recently bought their first home in Long Beach in around the same price range you're looking at. It was a fixer and needed some work, but they're very happy there.

Fullerton is also a great area, generally safe with good schools. You can probably get more for your money in Corona, but it sounds like that might be a bit of a commute for you. I'm not sure where you work, but that's a pretty wide radius you're considering. It's never fun spending more of your waking hours behind the wheel than you're spending enjoying your home.

Thank you Joe. We are hesitant about Corona because of the commute. Long Beach is a possibility only because my husband could always find work in that area after we move, should he choose to, because of the hotels, convention center, etc. But we have been happy so far in Brea and will probably try to look here and in Fullerton and Placentia first, keeping Long Beach in mind as well. I'm just not sure if we will be priced out of the safer areas of Fullerton. I know it would be a challenge to find something in Brea at our price point, although the schools are excellent.

[timtemtym]

Corona seems less safe to me than the east areas of Long Beach. Just my opinion though and the traffic would detract from quality of life.

Originally Posted by TurcoLoco

There have been quite a few threads on this topic so I won't beat on that horse any more but the following map should give you a rough idea about what areas to stay away from:

I love that map!

[JohnSoCal]

I would strongly consider Lakewood which adjoins Long Beach. My daughter and SIL live in Lakewood. It is a clean safe area with modestly priced homes.

[TurcoLoco]

Originally Posted by timtemtym

Corona seems less safe to me than the east areas of Long Beach. Just my opinion though and the traffic would detract from quality of life.

There is nothing unsafe about East Long Beach! I wonder if you meant West side of LB (the part with the skull)?
In any event, I honestly never felt unsafe in any part of the city. Even most of the areas I included in the "undesirable" part of LB is really not that bad and especially if you like early 1900s architecture (building built around 1910 thru 1940), the parts on the West side would be more suitable. The rental prices in those areas are also quite a bit lowers than the ones in East LB.

There are a few pockets where it may not be ideal to hang around at, especially at night but I seriously doubt any C-D folks looking to locate to LB would be interested or even consider those shady areas in West LB anyhow.

I ride my bike around West/South-West parts of LB all the time and some of the architecture and streets are really quaint.

Where I live right now is technically South West part of Signal Hill bordering LB.
Here is the album/slideshow of the part of Signal Hill I live in. The photos taken from the top of the hill are capturing Long Beach (mostly toward downtown):

[TurcoLoco]

Originally Posted by timtemtym

Corona seems less safe to me than the east areas of Long Beach. Just my opinion though and the traffic would detract from quality of life.

There is nothing unsafe about East Long Beach! I wonder if you meant West side of LB (the part with the skull)?
In any event, I honestly never felt unsafe in any part of the city. Even most of the areas I included in the "undesirable" part of LB is really not that bad and especially if you like early 1900s architecture (building built around 1910 thru 1940), the parts on the West side would be more suitable. The rental prices in those areas are also quite a bit lowers than the ones in East LB.

There are a few pockets where it may not be ideal to hang around at, especially at night but I seriously doubt any C-D folks looking to locate to LB would be interested or even consider those shady areas in West LB anyhow.

I ride my bike around West/South-West parts of LB all the time and some of the architecture and streets are really quaint.

Where I live right now is technically South West part of Signal Hill bordering LB.
Here is the album/slideshow of the part of Signal Hill I live in. The photos taken from the top of the hill are capturing Long Beach (mostly toward downtown).

I love that map!

Thanks!

I am no Da Vinci but I am not too bad creating quick and dirty images using MS Paint!