Moving to LA (Torrance, Santa Monica, Redondo Beach: rental, home, pre-schools)

[vbaskar]

All : Excellent thread..

I am moving from Detroit to LA..I intend to primarily work from home and most of the customers if i need to visit are in Torrance area.

I have a 3 yr old daughter so i am looking for a safe and good neighbourhood.

Rent Range : $1200 to $1600 (2 bedroom preferred)
School : Good school for my kid (preschool)
Area: May be near some malls & hospitals (as my wife would be delivering a kid in 3-4 months)

Rgds

Vj

[Raineycat]

Montrose California 91020. Very nice, small town, cute. Also LaCrescenta/LaCanada...same area.

[vbaskar]

Thanks..It appears its easily an hour & half away from Torrance,CA..Do you have any suggestions which is closeby?

[LuckyGem]

Why don't you investigate living in Torrance?

[JesusisLord]

I agree with the above poster, Torrance or neighbor Redondo Beach. I've lived in the South Bay for 21 years, please ask me if you have any questions. I'm glad to be of help.

[TheRealAngelion]

I third the recommendation about living in Torrance. Especially west Torrance which is close to Redondo Beach. The public schools in Torrance are quite good too.

[POhdNcrzy]

$1200-1600/mo. = That's the range for a one-bedroom in a questionable area like Koreatown, or a one-bedroom in a nice area (WeHo or Santa Monica) that's a real beat-up dump of a place.

The best advice anyone can give about moving to SoCal is this: Be sure you are at least dimly aware of the very large fistful of cash you need to live even a moderately decent yet frugal life down there.

Try to come visit for about a month if you can. That's the time you need to even get a clue or some kind of handle on SoCal. It's a world of its own and rather different from many other areas of the US.

Certainly there are many opportunities of all kinds down there, though.

[joyfull3]

Is LA more urbanly diverse than SD?

[stock66]

I moved from Detroit to Torrance. I've found the area I'm in to be very safe.
There are two large hospitals in Torrance Little Company of Mary and Torrance Memorial. There is also the LA County Harbor/UCLA Med. Center nearby. Stick with either of the first two and avoid the last.
There is a huge mall, Del Amo. Strip malls everywhere, no limits on shopping.
Torrance schools are very popular. I think a lot MI schools are better but they are good by Cali standards. I'm guessing you may not be out of Detroit proper? If you are of course the schools in Torrance will be better. Not real sure on pre-schools since my kids were already in elementary when we got here. I have seen several in the area though.
You want to make sure you are in Torrance Unified schools not Torrance PO (Harbor Gateway). That changes somewhere a bit west of Western.
Your budget seems a bit low but I think you might be able to do it.
As I'm sure you know driving in LA is notoriously bad, try to live near where you work and save yourself the pain.
Let me know if you want more info. Maybe I can help since I know where your coming from and what the differences are.

[vbaskar]

thanks a lot : i have better clarity...I agree that i have underestimated the rental range (i am from detroit so you know about the realestate here )

I would look into Torrance Area..Is there any specific zip's in torrance that's not safe ?