Family Friendly Suburbs - Commute to Culver City (Los Angeles, Glendale: rent, houses)

[ryanms3030]

Originally Posted by majoun

Both.

In the nicer LAUSD neighborhoods there are few kids going to conventional schools from those neighborhoods.

Plus 700k is still getting you a sfh in an area that was a gang controlled ghetto 10 years ago. Most of those poorer families are still there and add in illegal family members so you have households with six poor immigrant families in one house next door to white transplant family that just spent $700k on their small fixer upper house. Welcome to LA

[elhelmete]

Originally Posted by paigemadison

Are schools assigned based on your address - or are students bused in from various locations as well? I'm sorry, I don't exactly understand your response, though I appreciate you responding!

There is also an extensive (and sometimes overwhelming) and successful magnet program in LAUSD that is not terribly hard to get into. Once in, you're unlikely to be going to your immediate neighborhood school.

In fact, the irony is that moving to a neighborhood with "good schools" actually backfires because it counts against you getting into a magnet program. Add to that the fact that a given neighborhood may have a terrific k-5 school but a horrendous middle (6-8) school. So add in high school and you now have three levels to consider when moving to a neighborhood and you've paid more for "the good school neighborhood." Or work to get into the magnet program and live where you want, which in this scenario can now include decent areas with crappy schools (which by design add to your magnet acceptance likelihood).

[majoun]

Originally Posted by elhelmete

There is also an extensive (and sometimes overwhelming) and successful magnet program in LAUSD that is not terribly hard to get into. Once in, you're unlikely to be going to your immediate neighborhood school.

In fact, the irony is that moving to a neighborhood with "good schools" actually backfires because it counts against you getting into a magnet program. Add to that the fact that a given neighborhood may have a terrific k-5 school but a horrendous middle (6-8) school. So add in high school and you now have three levels to consider when moving to a neighborhood and you've paid more for "the good school neighborhood." Or work to get into the magnet program and live where you want, which in this scenario can now include decent areas with crappy schools (which by design add to your magnet acceptance likelihood).

Those difficulties are part of the reason why most parents if they can afford not to live in LAUSD don't, and why many of the nice neighborhoods in LAUSD (especially on the westside) are virtually devoid of children.

[ryanms3030]

Originally Posted by majoun

Those difficulties are part of the reason why most parents if they can afford not to live in LAUSD don't, and why many of the nice neighborhoods in LAUSD (especially on the westside) are virtually devoid of children.

not to mention home values are generally higher in neighborhoods with great non-LAUSD schools and values tend to appreciate faster

[LoveMeSomeSFVHouses]

SCHOOLS: In LAUSD at least, you are assigned a home school, but you can apply to go to a different one. So if your home school is only a 4, you could apply to a different school (usually charters get applications, but I *think* you can apply to any of them) and be accepted to a different one. It's not guaranteed, of course, and can sometimes be a numbers game. I have a friend who applied to more than 15 schools to get one she loved. That's one reason why the numbers might be skewed.

Also something to consider is some of the other local school districts will allow students who aren't residents if the parent works there. Like Burbank will accept someone who lives in LAUSD but has a work address within Burbank's perimeters. I don't think Culver is one of them unfortunately, but you could verify.

My personal opinion is that schools are subjective. While one might be highly ranked it might not fit your child's learning needs. And vice versa. So if you have an option to tour some of them, that would be best. My friend chooses to send her kid to a 7 instead of the 9 that her home school is because she finds the culture pretentious and the academic teachings to not suit her kid's needs. The other school was more in line with what she was looking for.

That being said, can you give us some more information? Are you looking at elementary, middle, or high? Do you intend to be there for a long period of time? If you have elementary aged kids but you see this as 5 year house, then you might not care about the high school rankings. What size home do you need? Assuming that you want a 3 bedroom, I think anything in the LA Basin - Westside or Southbay - you'll be looking at condos & townhouses with a $700K max. There isn't a single condo in Culver under $700K right now, but there are some options in Torrance.

Other posters are right: you can find in the Valley single-family homes up this way. Sherman Oaks mostly has condos as well, but there are homes in Encino in Encino Park that would work (That would be between Burbank & Oxnard, Lindley & Louise) and would likely be in decent condition. Emelita is a 7, but I've heard they've opened up a new school over there and that it's pretty good. A friend in the neighborhood pulled her kids out of private school because they thought the new school was great. That's my only experience with it though.

For best schools across the board though, I would check into Woodland Hills/West Hills or Granada Hills. Granada Hills Charter High and El Camino High (in Woodland Hills) are two of the top-ranked high schools in the state and you can get a pretty decent experience across the board with middle and elementary there as well. All 3 should be commutable within 90 mins. I just googled West Hills to Culver and it came up as a 50 min. commute at this time of day.

[majoun]

Originally Posted by LoveMeSomeSFVHouses

SCHOOLS: In LAUSD at least, you are assigned a home school, but you can apply to go to a different one. So if your home school is only a 4, you could apply to a different school (usually charters get applications, but I *think* you can apply to any of them) and be accepted to a different one. It's not guaranteed, of course, and can sometimes be a numbers game. I have a friend who applied to more than 15 schools to get one she loved. That's one reason why the numbers might be skewed.

Also something to consider is some of the other local school districts will allow students who aren't residents if the parent works there. Like Burbank will accept someone who lives in LAUSD but has a work address within Burbank's perimeters. I don't think Culver is one of them unfortunately, but you could verify.

My personal opinion is that schools are subjective. While one might be highly ranked it might not fit your child's learning needs. And vice versa. So if you have an option to tour some of them, that would be best. My friend chooses to send her kid to a 7 instead of the 9 that her home school is because she finds the culture pretentious and the academic teachings to not suit her kid's needs. The other school was more in line with what she was looking for.

That being said, can you give us some more information? Are you looking at elementary, middle, or high? Do you intend to be there for a long period of time? If you have elementary aged kids but you see this as 5 year house, then you might not care about the high school rankings. What size home do you need? Assuming that you want a 3 bedroom, I think anything in the LA Basin - Westside or Southbay - you'll be looking at condos & townhouses with a $700K max. There isn't a single condo in Culver under $700K right now, but there are some options in Torrance.

Other posters are right: you can find in the Valley single-family homes up this way. Sherman Oaks mostly has condos as well, but there are homes in Encino in Encino Park that would work (That would be between Burbank & Oxnard, Lindley & Louise) and would likely be in decent condition. Emelita is a 7, but I've heard they've opened up a new school over there and that it's pretty good. A friend in the neighborhood pulled her kids out of private school because they thought the new school was great. That's my only experience with it though.

For best schools across the board though, I would check into Woodland Hills/West Hills or Granada Hills. Granada Hills Charter High and El Camino High (in Woodland Hills) are two of the top-ranked high schools in the state and you can get a pretty decent experience across the board with middle and elementary there as well. All 3 should be commutable within 90 mins. I just googled West Hills to Culver and it came up as a 50 min. commute at this time of day.

There aren't any condos in CC under $700K? What's this, then?

https://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sal...19_rect/12_zm/

A 50 minute commute from West Hills going southwest towards CC would at best put you in Beverly Glen and more likely put you in Sherman Oaks.

[nightlysparrow]

Originally Posted by paigemadison

Looking at school digger in all of the towns we can afford it seems like my children will be a minority as white students - many of the schools are only reported as 10-15% white, maybe 25%.

White majority right here, get thee to Las Virgenes USD (Calabasas or Agoura Hills) Las Virgenes Unified Summary - Kidsdata.org

Possible inter-district transfer from LAUSD is possible but difficult--(deadline Feb 2018 for the 2018-19 year):
https://www.lvusd.org/permits

[majoun]

Originally Posted by nightlysparrow

White majority right here, get thee to Las Virgenes USD (Calabasas or Agoura Hills) Las Virgenes Unified Summary - Kidsdata.org

Possible inter-district transfer from LAUSD is possible but difficult--(deadline Feb 2018 for the 2018-19 year):
https://www.lvusd.org/permits

They're talking about commuting to Culver City not to Woodland Hills.

Calabasas isn't cheap either. It's no cheaper than the beach cities are. Their budget would permit a condo or a mobile home there not an SFR.

[LuvSouthOC]

Originally Posted by nightlysparrow

White majority right here, get thee to Las Virgenes USD (Calabasas or Agoura Hills) Las Virgenes Unified Summary - Kidsdata.org

Possible inter-district transfer from LAUSD is possible but difficult--(deadline Feb 2018 for the 2018-19 year):
https://www.lvusd.org/permits

Someone finally spelled it out.

[ryanms3030]

Los Angeles County demographics from LA County website based on 2010 census:


Hispanic 47.7%
White 27.8%
Asian 13.7%
Black 8.7%
American Indian .7%
Pacific Islander .3%


Those numbers have obviously changed since the last census and I highly doubt they've changed to be more white. So if you are looking to raise your family in a white community and have them in schools with a white majority then LA probably isn't the right place for you