Husband has new job in Encino...where to look to live? (Los Angeles: rental, condo)

[Dcg630]

We are coming from the Chicago suburbs and are looking for family friendly neighborhood with one hour or less drive time to Encino. We will have a 15 year old in high school and 18 year old looking to start college. The move has to be completed by fall so we have time to look into things. Looking to rent either a 3+ bedroom house, condo, or townhome. Any and all help greatly appreciated.

[munchitup]

Budget?

I know that within the city, Woodland Hills has a good high school and is only about 5 miles from Encino. Outside of city limits look for Agoura, Oak Park, Thousand Oaks which are longer drives (between 30 minutes to an hour depending on traffic) and much more suburban and have solid high schools. I'm actually not sure what is less expensive between Woodland Hills and those outer suburban areas, sometimes (for some reason) you pay a premium to live within the city limits even if they are nearly identical areas.

[jm1982]

Many L.A residents will recommend living as close to work as possible. Encino itself is a pretty nice area to live in. It also seems like it would be pretty family friendly as well. It is considered a pretty safe area too.

It's not considered cheap though , so it really depends on what your budget is. The neighboring areas of Sherman Oaks, Studio City, Woodland Hills are all considered nice areas too.

Reseda, Van Nuys, Canoga Park will definitely be cheaper, but likely to have higher crime. They are not 'war zone' type ghetto areas though . Demographics change a lot too in the valley depending on the area.

West Hills and Northridge could also be other nice options both should be less expensive than Encino, Studio City ,Woodland Hills and Sherman Oaks.

They will all be considerable under and hour and commute and probably more like 30mins.

Would recommend staying in the valley areas for sure .

[jm1982]

Originally Posted by munchitup

Budget?

I know that within the city, Woodland Hills has a good high school and is only about 5 miles from Encino. Outside of city limits look for Agoura, Oak Park, Thousand Oaks which are longer drives (between 30 minutes to an hour depending on traffic) and much more suburban and have solid high schools. I'm actually not sure what is less expensive between Woodland Hills and those outer suburban areas, sometimes (for some reason) you pay a premium to live within the city limits even if they are nearly identical areas.

Yeah I agree Agoura, Thousand Oaks and Oak Park would be nice areas too.

It will definitely feel a lot more suburban in those areas versus Encino or the other areas within the valley. So it depends what you are looking for . I wouldn't know how it compares to Chicago suburbs though. They are definately nice pretty upscale and clean areas and I've been noticing some nice new restaurants and things opening around there. Thousand Oaks mall is very nice.

[volosong]

If I were in your shoes, Thousand Oaks, Simi Valley, and Santa Clarita, in that order.

[BRinSM]

I also work in Encino and live nearby so I feel extremely qualified to answer your questions. Having said that, I can't answer your questions justly without getting more specifics from you. First, what is your rental budget? Second, what size house are you expecting (both square footage and bedrooms). Third, besides work, what else would you like to be near to? Fourth, how comfortable are you with diversity? Lastly, are you expecting to send your youngest to the local private school or a private school after you move?

Without answers to those questions, I cannot give you an honest recommendation. We can all throw around different ideas, but none of them will mean anything without the context of your situation. Having said that, I can tell that I work with people who commute from every direction to Encino. Many people live to the west in Woodland Hills and beyond into the Thousand Oaks area. A few live to the east beyond Pasadena, but that is quite far. Others live to the north in Chatsworth and Santa Clarita. Some live to the south on the westside, but they don't have kids. I work for a software company, with mostly experienced professionals as well who are paid pretty well, so keep that in mind.

[Dcg630]

Well you have mentioned some of the places I have been looking into, Simi Valley and Santa Clarita seem to give more bang for the buck. Hoping to keep rent between 2,000-2,500 per month. What would actual drive time from these cities to Encino be? Public schools would be our choice. Would like to be 15-20 minutes from shopping areas.

[volosong]

Originally Posted by Dcg630

Well you have mentioned some of the places I have been looking into, Simi Valley and Santa Clarita seem to give more bang for the buck. Hoping to keep rent between 2,000-2,500 per month. What would actual drive time from these cities to Encino be? Public schools would be our choice. Would like to be 15-20 minutes from shopping areas.

Shopping all over the place. You won't have to drive far.

Drive time to Encino from Sta. Clarita or Simi? Depends on the time of day. Rush hour, figure 45-minutes to an hour. Absolutely worst on Friday afternoon, on the 405 (get-away day). All bets are off then. During non-rush hour? Figure legal speed limit, (a mile a minute or better).

My car mechanic is in Tarzana, (adjacent to Encino), and depending on the time of day, I'll take Reseda Blvd. across the Valley instead of the 405 and then pick up Rinaldi to Balboa and catch the 14 freeway from there. That's to Sta. Clarita and points north. It might be slower time-wise, but I absolutely hate sitting on the freeway parking lot, not moving. Way too stressful.

To Simi, there are fast surface streets before picking up the 118 at the Sta. Suzanna pass. During light traffic times, take the 405 to the 118. Same amount of time, half an hour to 45-minutes, a bit longer during rush hour.

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Not sure if it is still true. It was when I lived in eastern Simi. At that time, according to FBI crime statistics, Simi and T.O. would flip-flop every year as being the safest city of its size in the nation. It has been said that one out of every ten homeowner in Simi is a policeman. There are a LOT of Los Angeles city policemen who hop over the hill into Ventura county when they go home after their shift. The gentleman from whom I purchased my house in Simi was a retired undercover policeman who lost his wife and couldn't bare to stay in his house due to the shared memories with his wife. He moved to Lebec. Sta. Clarita is also near the top of the list as being one of the safest cities in the nation of its size.

[Marv101]

Simi Valley & Thousand Oaks are indeed extremely safe despite having lost their title for safest cities in the USA to Irvine a few years ago; Santa Clarita & Valencia are also very safe, with the same level of top-notch schools and family friendly lifestyles that TO and SV have been noted for for decades.

The advice about 'living as close to work as possible' is also great advice, which is why I'd favor any of the communities to the west of Encino, including Agoura or Thousand Oaks over the cities mentioned above, but they're all very safe and the schools are all top-notch.

[UB50]

You also might look towards the other side of the valley: Burbank, Toluca Lake, Studio City, etc. You actually have a lot of housing options if you are working in Encino.

Also, it's frequently faster to stay off the freeways and take "surface streets" to get to various places. The SFV is like a big huge checkerboard and some streets go the entire way across the valley (Victory, Burbank Blvd., Nordhoff, Devonshire, etc.)