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Hey there. I am a 26 year old single father of a 9 year old boy (yes I know I was young when he was born...). We are of Yemeni/Persian/Israeli Jewish descent and currently live in Queens, NY where I have lived since moving to the United States at age 11. I work in the financial division of a nationwide residential construction company and they are giving me s raise and moving me to their Burbank, CA office.
I am flying down there this week for a few days to find a suitable place, since I have limited time to look I have narrowed it down to a few places. My budget is a bit tight ($1800 for 2 bedrooms) but I have found a few places in the following areas and I want an angeleno opinion on if these are good areas to raise my son.
- Encino
- Valley Village
- North Hollywood
- Northridge
The apartment I saw online in Encino (on Yarmouth Avenue) seems the nicest and the area seems best in terms of proximity to amenities and work, safety, family friendliness and access to a Jewish and Persian community which is important to me because I want my son to be around his culture.
I have a concern with schools also. All of those areas are in the San Fernando Valley in the city of LA which makes them part of the LA Unified School District. This didn't bother me originally because he currently attends NYC public schools and generally if the school is in a nice area it is usually at least alright. However I did some research and I have not heard one decent thing about the LAUSD, I'm also concerned about the lack of "diversity" demographically in the district. For instance according to city-data Encino is 75% Caucasian non-Hispanic and Valley Village is 66% however the local schools are 85%+ Hispanic and over half ESL students. I wouldn't mind at all for him to go to a school with kids of many backgrounds (his school now is about 1/3 white 1/3 Asian 1/3 Hispanic) but to be quite honest I don't want him to be the only white kid in the class because when I first moved to the USA as a kid (I spoke English already) I wound up in a school that was about 90% black and Puerto Rican and I was pushed around and bullied a lot...where do the kids who live in Encino/Valley Village/Northridge go to school? All private? My mother would likely help me pay tuition for him to go to k-12 Hebrew school/Jewish day School I would much prefer that he attended Public School with kids from our neighborhood but if there is no decent options (I don't need a blue ribbon school just somewhere somewhat decent) The SFV is the most convenient place for me to live in my price range and I cannot afford the independent cities in the valley like Burbank or Calabasas.
I also saw a small 2 bedroom duplex that was way below my budget in an area called Tujunga. I looked on Google Maps street view snd it seems quite nature-y and not so built up which is really nice. I am just wondering if this is a good area, how will the commute to downtown Burbank be, any/everything else about the area..
Encino definitely has a large Persian population so it's probably a good fit. As for schools, encino also has pretty good rated elementary schools. The closer to Ventura blvd you live the more likely the school will be acceptable. Schools in the valley are diverse regardless of the neighborhood. If you end up in encino, your kid will probably be in school with kids of Armenian, Russian, latino, and Israeli immigrants. There will be some white American kids as well, but they'll most likely be a minority. Good luck with the move.
You could definitely afford a two bedroom apartment in Burbank, an initial search on CL brings up ~20 apartments with 2br <1800, though I am not sure about the quality of the apts. I think this would be the best option. Your commute would be very short and Burbank has the best schools in that area. you can use a website like Great schools: Burbank Unified School District in Burbank, CA | GreatSchools to find which elementary schools are best, because there is quite a bit of variance in the quality of schools within the district.
Another option could be Glendale, not too far away (~10-20 Min) depending on where in the city you chose to settle. Glendale also has its own independent school district. The city is larger and the rents are slightly cheaper than Burbank. The school district is not as great as burbank's in my opinion but the diversity is much greater, Whites, Latino, Asians, and many many Armenians.
Finally, if non of these options appeal to you and you decide to live in LAUSD territory... Depending on your child's test scores you could try to get him into a LAUSD magnet school. There are some issues with this though, first, the magnet schools typically work as a lottery so no matter how high you child's test scores are he still might not get in. Second, you might have quite a bit of a drive if he does not get selected for the closest one. Third, you might be stuck with the same problem when time comes for him to switch to secondary school, the middle schools and high schools of LAUSD are much much much worse than the elementary level.
Hey there. I am a 26 year old single father of a 9 year old boy (yes I know I was young when he was born...). We are of Yemeni/Persian/Israeli Jewish descent and currently live in Queens, NY where I have lived since moving to the United States at age 11. I work in the financial division of a nationwide residential construction company and they are giving me s raise and moving me to their Burbank, CA office.
I am flying down there this week for a few days to find a suitable place, since I have limited time to look I have narrowed it down to a few places. My budget is a bit tight ($1800 for 2 bedrooms) but I have found a few places in the following areas and I want an angeleno opinion on if these are good areas to raise my son.
- Encino
- Valley Village
- North Hollywood
- Northridge
The apartment I saw online in Encino (on Yarmouth Avenue) seems the nicest and the area seems best in terms of proximity to amenities and work, safety, family friendliness and access to a Jewish and Persian community which is important to me because I want my son to be around his culture.
I have a concern with schools also. All of those areas are in the San Fernando Valley in the city of LA which makes them part of the LA Unified School District. This didn't bother me originally because he currently attends NYC public schools and generally if the school is in a nice area it is usually at least alright. However I did some research and I have not heard one decent thing about the LAUSD, I'm also concerned about the lack of "diversity" demographically in the district. For instance according to city-data Encino is 75% Caucasian non-Hispanic and Valley Village is 66% however the local schools are 85%+ Hispanic and over half ESL students. I wouldn't mind at all for him to go to a school with kids of many backgrounds (his school now is about 1/3 white 1/3 Asian 1/3 Hispanic) but to be quite honest I don't want him to be the only white kid in the class because when I first moved to the USA as a kid (I spoke English already) I wound up in a school that was about 90% black and Puerto Rican and I was pushed around and bullied a lot...where do the kids who live in Encino/Valley Village/Northridge go to school? All private? My mother would likely help me pay tuition for him to go to k-12 Hebrew school/Jewish day School I would much prefer that he attended Public School with kids from our neighborhood but if there is no decent options (I don't need a blue ribbon school just somewhere somewhat decent) The SFV is the most convenient place for me to live in my price range and I cannot afford the independent cities in the valley like Burbank or Calabasas.
I also saw a small 2 bedroom duplex that was way below my budget in an area called Tujunga. I looked on Google Maps street view snd it seems quite nature-y and not so built up which is really nice. I am just wondering if this is a good area, how will the commute to downtown Burbank be, any/everything else about the area..
Thanks!!
To be succinct and helpful to you, there are a lot of white families living within the El A Unified School District but most of them attend private schools. That's how it works in El A. You can consider places like Arcadia and LaCanada which are Asian or turning Asian but have enough whites so he is still comfortable. I don't think your son will be met with thuggery in those areas and coming from Queens it won't be a big demographic change.
Hi Coeur d'Or. I'm a single parent (mom) as well about to make the same move. My daughter (12) and I (33) currently live in Harlem. A few years back I was "bi-costal" in LA about every other week for 3 years without my little one. Now, I'm ready to make the big move. Unfortunately, I had the tourist experience staying only in Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, West Hollywood, and Westwood. In a few weeks, we plan on "scouting" Burbank before settling in or an apartment. I'm pretty much already figured out what area, I think I want to live in but, of course, we need to visit there and see the vibe.
If possible, please share your experience and discoveries.
Hey there. I am a 26 year old single father of a 9 year old boy (yes I know I was young when he was born...). We are of Yemeni/Persian/Israeli Jewish descent and currently live in Queens, NY where I have lived since moving to the United States at age 11. I work in the financial division of a nationwide residential construction company and they are giving me s raise and moving me to their Burbank, CA office.
I am flying down there this week for a few days to find a suitable place, since I have limited time to look I have narrowed it down to a few places. My budget is a bit tight ($1800 for 2 bedrooms) but I have found a few places in the following areas and I want an angeleno opinion on if these are good areas to raise my son.
- Encino
- Valley Village
- North Hollywood
- Northridge
The apartment I saw online in Encino (on Yarmouth Avenue) seems the nicest and the area seems best in terms of proximity to amenities and work, safety, family friendliness and access to a Jewish and Persian community which is important to me because I want my son to be around his culture.
I have a concern with schools also. All of those areas are in the San Fernando Valley in the city of LA which makes them part of the LA Unified School District. This didn't bother me originally because he currently attends NYC public schools and generally if the school is in a nice area it is usually at least alright. However I did some research and I have not heard one decent thing about the LAUSD, I'm also concerned about the lack of "diversity" demographically in the district. For instance according to city-data Encino is 75% Caucasian non-Hispanic and Valley Village is 66% however the local schools are 85%+ Hispanic and over half ESL students. I wouldn't mind at all for him to go to a school with kids of many backgrounds (his school now is about 1/3 white 1/3 Asian 1/3 Hispanic) but to be quite honest I don't want him to be the only white kid in the class because when I first moved to the USA as a kid (I spoke English already) I wound up in a school that was about 90% black and Puerto Rican and I was pushed around and bullied a lot...where do the kids who live in Encino/Valley Village/Northridge go to school? All private? My mother would likely help me pay tuition for him to go to k-12 Hebrew school/Jewish day School I would much prefer that he attended Public School with kids from our neighborhood but if there is no decent options (I don't need a blue ribbon school just somewhere somewhat decent) The SFV is the most convenient place for me to live in my price range and I cannot afford the independent cities in the valley like Burbank or Calabasas.
I also saw a small 2 bedroom duplex that was way below my budget in an area called Tujunga. I looked on Google Maps street view snd it seems quite nature-y and not so built up which is really nice. I am just wondering if this is a good area, how will the commute to downtown Burbank be, any/everything else about the area..
Thanks!!
If you could afford Encino and probably Valley Village you could also afford Burbank and Glendale.
Tujunga is IMO a nice area but it's LAUSD.
White families, and middle class families of all races and ethnicities, tend to shy away from LAUSD neighborhoods. That's why only 2 percent of the population of West LA, for example, is under 18.
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