City vs. Suburbs and School Info (Los Angeles, Thousand Oaks: new home, to buy, construction)

[Nysee53]

I think Harvard-Westlake School looks pretty good. I am surprised at the size of the student body of Wildwood School. I think a larger school is better for my child at this point having been in a smaller one for several years.

[missionhome]

For the job in Harbor City, the Palos Verdes Peninsula is the way to go if you ask me. It is really close to the job (thirty minutes or less) and a beautiful area. Communities on the Peninsula include Palos Verdes Estates, Rancho Palos Verdes, Rolling Hills, and Rolling Hills Estates. These are very exclusive communities right near the ocean that I think you will really like. I'm not sure about the private schools in the neighborhood, but I did see one poster mention Chatwick, so you should look into that.

Palos Verdes Peninsula

[RPV2NC]

I second Palos Verdes if you get the Harbor City position. Chadwick is well-regarded, but the public schools are also top notch. IMO Palos Verdes is the best place to live in Los Angeles. Hancock Park, while nice, is in the City of Los Angeles. Anything dealing with the City of Los Angeles is a nightmare. La Canada is also lovely and has amazing schools. I'd be concerned about air quality that far east. Also, I don't know how far it is from West Hills. If you do get the West Hills job, then I would definitely consider La Canada/San Marino.

[missionhome]

For the job in West Hills, Harvard-Westlake School is a good option. It is well known as a prestigious school in the LA area and there are many many wealthy folks with kids there. The school is said to be very challenging.

There are many expensive and prestigious neighborhood surrounding Harvard-Westlake School and you can pretty much choose from places like the Holmby Hills, Beverly Glen, Beverly Hills, and Bel-Air if you can afford those communities. Westwood is a nice established community also.

La Canada Flintridge is a little far from West Hills for my tastes. I would rather be a bit closer to work. The distance from LCF to West Hills is about 30 miles and when you add in traffic, well..... you know.

[Nysee53]

My father actually lived in Rancho Palos Verdes for many years after my parents divorced. I always thought that it was very nice, but I guess I was led to believe that the communities to the north of Los Angeles were nicer than those in the bend area. I will definitely look into that as I like the ocean, and I live near the water now.

I have read that the air quality near La Canada Flintridge can be bad, but is it something to be very worried about? Where I live air quality is said to be very good, with only about 30 days of the year considered to be indoor activity days. Our family does need clean air due to health issues, so that might be a concern.

I will definitely check out Holmby Hills, Beverly Glen, Beverly Hills, Bel-Air, Westwood, as well as Rancho Palos Verdes. Right now I am living in a relatively conservative family-oriented area, where most activities revolve around the powerful public high school. I hear that La Canada was the most like this of the LA suburbs. The job local is a little undecided as we are entertaining multiple offers. I will definitely look at Chadwick also. The real estate agent the recruiter hooked us up with recommended Pasedena, which seemed a little low-end for our budget.

[timelesschild]

Originally Posted by Nysee53

The real estate agent the recruiter hooked us up with recommended Pasedena, which seemed a little low-end for our budget.

Um, have you actually seen Pasadena? You might do some research there before saying such a thing. But suit yourself. the Polytechnic School in Pasadena is a very good day school by all accounts.

[Nysee53]

I looked at some of the housing and it seemed like you got a lot for your money compared to the other areas I have looked in. I noticed the size and demographics of the community and that is an issue because I am coming from a small suburb of about 9,000.

[hsw]

LA's a difficult region to interpret even well-regarded pvt schools....unlike NYC/SF, many of LA's affluent are part of entertainment industry which, shall we say, tends to be less education-oriented....

Seems like many professionals in finance/other non-entertainment industries choose to live on Westside....and land/home prices reflect that dynamic....Brentwood/Palisades tend to attract a more family-oriented crowd....and enjoy some of best weather and air quality in LA region...but suffer issues of being part of City of LA...

Others seem to prefer City of BH (N of Sunset, but not BHPO)....superb, well-run, capitalist town that seems to know how to protect its residents/taxpayers well....(many who recall early '90s LA riots have a deep appreciation for being in a locale that's home to many powerful people who will gain priority protection in any unrest...or in any quake recovery)....

Traffic in LA is much easier than many claim....many senior execs, esp in finance, arrive at office at <6AM-ish in LA, esp those w/many NYC and London colleagues/clients....so the commute dynamics are very different from those w/conventional 9-5 jobs....and many "upscale" commutes are much easier commutes than those who have the more typical commutes from distant areas like Encino/Calabasas/PV/LCF, etc w/lower-cost housing twd concentrated office corridors like CenturyCity....

[Nysee53]

I have been looking at schooling options and I came across Hollywood High School, which I believe is a magnet school. I think if we lived in Los Feliz or the Hollywood Hills, correct me if I am wrong, we could get into the school because we are in the Los Angeles school district. I looked at the greatschools.net profile, which are really helpful, and I was not too impressed by the rank of 4/10. I know some people say that the rankings are affected by demographics and other factors, so I read some of the reviews, which most seem to be fairly possitive of the school, but then there are some that say that the school is not safe and offers little. My top concerns are safety, extracurriculars, test scores, college placement, and class size. I would like to send my child to a school with no safety issues, like we have now. I want a school with great extracurriculars like a CAD program and academic programs like Introduction to Business or Business education. Right now I am looking for class sizes of hopefully around 18-20 but under 25 is a requirement. I am pretty confident in both La Canada High School and San Marino High School, based on what I have read and heard from locals. Do La Canada and San Marino offer a CAD program, business education, and a La Crosse team? Those are some things that we require.

I looked at Bel-Air and Holmby Hills for housing and most of the stuff in our price range looks like stuff from the 1980's or 1990's, but in the Hollywood Hills, Los Feliz, and La Canada Flintridge we can get either brand-new or gut-rehabbed. I did a search on the forum for Encino and came up with interesting things like there has been a lot of development and it is very glitzy, glitzier than neighbor Sherman Oaks, is what I heard most often. I am going to look at Brentwood, because it seems to be similar to Hancock Park.

[missionhome]

Originally Posted by Nysee53

I have been looking at schooling options and I came across Hollywood High School, which I believe is a magnet school. I think if we lived in Los Feliz or the Hollywood Hills, correct me if I am wrong, we could get into the school because we are in the Los Angeles school district. I looked at the greatschools.net profile, which are really helpful, and I was not too impressed by the rank of 4/10. I know some people say that the rankings are affected by demographics and other factors, so I read some of the reviews, which most seem to be fairly possitive of the school, but then there are some that say that the school is not safe and offers little. My top concerns are safety, extracurriculars, test scores, college placement, and class size. I would like to send my child to a school with no safety issues, like we have now. I want a school with great extracurriculars like a CAD program and academic programs like Introduction to Business or Business education. Right now I am looking for class sizes of hopefully around 18-20 but under 25 is a requirement. I am pretty confident in both La Canada High School and San Marino High School, based on what I have read and heard from locals. Do La Canada and San Marino offer a CAD program, business education, and a La Crosse team? Those are some things that we require.

I looked at Bel-Air and Holmby Hills for housing and most of the stuff in our price range looks like stuff from the 1980's or 1990's, but in the Hollywood Hills, Los Feliz, and La Canada Flintridge we can get either brand-new or gut-rehabbed. I did a search on the forum for Encino and came up with interesting things like there has been a lot of development and it is very glitzy, glitzier than neighbor Sherman Oaks, is what I heard most often. I am going to look at Brentwood, because it seems to be similar to Hancock Park.

Hollywood High School isn't a magnet school. Its test scores are really low, so it obviously isn't. For your particular questions on La Canada and San Marino High, I think you should just call or email the schools directly. They should be happy to help you and answer your questions. Many high schools have all the courses they offer online in a catalog too.

I hate to confuse you even more and add another area to your list, but you might like the Conejo Valley/Thousand Oaks area. It is upscale and suburban area with a decent amount of beautiful custom homes that you might like. The schools out there are some of the best in the area also and that will give you many options. It also it very very close to the job in West Hills.

Here are the cities I would recommend in the Conejo Valley area and far west San Fernando Valley and the high schools the cities/neighborhoods go to:
Calabasas- Calabasas High School (10/10)
Hidden Hills (very close to West Hills)- Calabasas High School
Oak Park- Oak Park High School (8/10)
Agoura/ Agoura Hills- Agoura High School (9/10)
Westlake Village- Westlake High School (10/10)
Lake Sherwood- Westlake High School
Thousank Oaks- Thousand Oaks High School (9/10)

This gives you six more areas to look for a house in and this is very close to West Hills. The area is a bit newer than La Canada or San Marino, so you may not like it as much if you like the stately home look. You can't really go wrong with any of the areas you are looking at right now. This is just to give you a few more options.