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Old 12-23-2008, 10:41 AM
 
Location: Los Angeles
5 posts, read 9,885 times
Reputation: 10

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I did look up the API reports of all the schools in CA. Granada Hills and Northridge schools are ok, still LAUSD, but they are a little better than the inner city schools. Pasadena has some decent elementary schools, the middle and high schools seem pretty bad with API score in the 600s. It's amazing...all the neighboring towns such as South Pas., San Marino and Arcadia have excellent schools while Pasadena Unified has such a low API average.
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Old 12-23-2008, 04:05 PM
 
147 posts, read 381,564 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by vmmom View Post
I did look up the API reports of all the schools in CA. Granada Hills and Northridge schools are ok, still LAUSD, but they are a little better than the inner city schools. Pasadena has some decent elementary schools, the middle and high schools seem pretty bad with API score in the 600s. It's amazing...all the neighboring towns such as South Pas., San Marino and Arcadia have excellent schools while Pasadena Unified has such a low API average.
This is where I get turned off by the class issue which has become so prominent during the recent housing boom (ponzi scheme); those areas you mention have a higher percentage of Asian students who are more driven by their parents to excel, and are often sent to private tutors. They also have a higher tax base resulting in better funding.

Pasadena schools as most school districts are also excellent, it just has more pockets of lower income areas and it reflects in the scores, it has nothing to do with the level of available education. The student is only as good as their mentor, aka parent(s).

All the best.

Last edited by Radical Raul; 12-23-2008 at 05:04 PM..
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Old 12-23-2008, 05:35 PM
 
Location: Lake Conroe, Tx
637 posts, read 3,226,396 times
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Looking to move to the SFV; brush up on your Spanish, unless you have the $ to live in one of the few islands.
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Old 12-23-2008, 07:15 PM
 
Location: South Pasadena
689 posts, read 2,571,655 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Lake Conroe resident View Post
Looking to move to the SFV; brush up on your Spanish, unless you have the $ to live in one of the few islands.
And which islands would that be Tex? OP is looking in Granada Hills/ Northridge area in the SFR neighborhoods, he'll be fine.

To the OP, biggest concern should be schools if you have a kid going into grade school next year. Sounds like you will be working all over the place so try to find something you can afford with good schools. My recommendations would be Burbank, La Crescenta, some areas of Glendale and previously mentioned areas in the San Gabriel Valley. You will probably have to sacrifice some on the housing side but if you aren't worrying about having to send your kids to private schools it will be worthwhile. There are good pockets of LAUSD schools in the valley but it takes work to find those particular schools.
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Old 12-23-2008, 09:28 PM
 
Location: So Cal
10,010 posts, read 9,429,916 times
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Oh man...Had I known I would have waited until I got back to the lodge.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Charles View Post
Did you look at the schools for the homes you may consider?

I wouldn't be too concerned about the landfill issues, the water you drink comes from the Sierras where people are peeing under chair 16 at Mammoth through the Owens Valley and the flats where people are dumping their used motor oil at the Sacramento delta. (Not that you really don't have anything to worry about - I just haven't read too many concerns.)

Granada Hills as far as I know doesn't have bad air. It does get some of the most intense Santa Ana winds though. I used to play quite a bit of golf up at Knollwood and it could get breezy.

What I would be concerned about is the daily commute. Not sure if taking the metrolink will work for you. I can't imagine the 118/5 is that easy of a drive.

Did you look at La Crescenta, Pasadena, La Canada or other places a little closer to central LA? It looks like there is a vein of good schools running northeast from South Pasadena up through Arcadia....I don't know those areas at all but looks like it is a good combination of schools and commute.
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Old 12-23-2008, 10:26 PM
 
Location: Spring Branch, Tx
514 posts, read 1,434,298 times
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I lived in Northridge for 6 years until last January.The area I lived in was great.The Traffic was tough during normal traffic hours.La Crescenta is a town I grew up in.Normally very quite and the GUSD is one of the best.Now,You dont get much value on homes as you would elsewhere. Parts of Granada Hills/Northridge and Porter Ranch are great,Just be prepared to deal with Traffic
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Old 12-23-2008, 11:47 PM
 
Location: Los Angeles, CA
419 posts, read 1,443,853 times
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With its schools (better than Pas, not as good as South Pas, arguably par with GUSD), down to earth people, great city services (libraries, parks, rec centers, YMCA, city-wide bus, free door-to-door senior transport, water & power, police, fire, etc etc), relatively affordable, vibrant, different areas with their own distinctive flavor, outstanding mass transit options, family oriented, close to jobs, clean city.... I just keep coming back to Burbank.

We can't even go to the market without running into people we know/have met, and we have only been here a few months. It's like Mayberry (for better or worse!).

With the possible exception of Glendale (which never really grabbed us like Burbank - more industrial perhaps? Also less accessible to the west valley.), I can't find another city/community near LA that balances each of these factors so well, slightly on the "boring" side favoring families.

But that's just me...
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Old 12-24-2008, 12:02 AM
 
Location: Los Angeles
5 posts, read 9,885 times
Reputation: 10
Thank you all for the helpful feedbacks.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Clnconcpts View Post
Just be prepared to deal with Traffic
Which one is the worst (& best) freeway coming out of Northridge/G.H. area? Is it the 405, 101, 118 or 5?
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Old 12-24-2008, 03:33 AM
 
Location: Northridge/Porter Ranch, Calif.
24,451 posts, read 33,116,977 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by vmmom View Post
Thank you all for the helpful feedbacks.

Which one is the worst (& best) freeway coming out of Northridge/G.H. area? Is it the 405, 101, 118 or 5?
The 118 is probably the least crowded freeways in the northern San Fernando Valley. The 101 and 405 are the most crowded.
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Old 12-24-2008, 10:51 AM
 
897 posts, read 1,583,789 times
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In order to get to Beverly Hills you can't avoid the 405. If you end up in Northridge, Granada Hills or Knollwood you'll have to take the 118 to the 405. In order to get to Pasadena it will be a much better commute since you'll take the 118 to the 210 which always moves quicker than any of the other freeways.
If you insist on living in those hills, I would suggest looking into Porter Ranch as well. I think the prices are still comparable but you're more likely to get a nicer neighborhood there.
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