Moving to LA with 5 kids (Sacramento, Glendale: real estate, for rent, house)

[joeyla91601]

shadow hills is LA and the schools suck i went to school near there and they stink with a big s

Originally Posted by ccpatt

Thanks to everyone for their input. Any opinions on the Shadowhills area. My husband lived there in the 90's and loved it. Are the schools any good?

[Kashmir]

CCPatt I lived in California since I was a year old. I left the liberal, porn capital almost two years ago now. Please listen to me. GO to SIMI VALLEY. If you are a christian GO TO GRACE BRETHREN schools. They WILL blow you away. T.O. and WestLake are very nice also, right next door to Simi VAlley, and your kids can still go to Grace. I would NEVER NEVER live in the San Fernando Valley and would NEVER NEVER raise my kids in that filthy place. LAXpress on every street mulitple times over. Along with others of this type. LAXPress is a FREE magazine were prostitutes advertise their "Services". Be ready and prepared to be assaulted over and over again, in stores, billboards, the females themselves. Be prepared that your kids along with you, and the temptations your husband will be dealing with EVERYWHERE you go. It is classified the Porn Capital of the World for a reason. Oh yes, you also have all the fun gangbangers-they are a real blast. Oh, I forgot to mention the hundrends of homeless (mostly crazy) people you will see. It isn't what you see on TV.
How about your husband be supportive of you and his children and put himself aside?

[dusesean1986]

To the poster above,

There's probably max a thousand people in Porn in Los Angeles, and our county has ten million people. You can get porn anywhere, if you have an internet source or pornographic magazines. Just because they film it a few cities away, doesn't mean it will affect you in a more severe way, then say you watch porn from your family room in Raleigh, North Carolina. That needed to be straightened out. The San Fernando Valley has a serious gang problem, but doesn't mean even the slightest majority of the valley is infested with gangs, which is absolutely completely false. The San Fernando Valley is a dirty place if you view it as a predominantly gang infested, pornographic, and filthy, dirty rotten place for children. With all due respect to the above poster's opinion and views, I think this outlook needs to be heavily re-examined with practical sense.

[Kashmir]

Don't lie to her. It is EXACTLY what it is. Yes, porn and prostitutes are everywhere. I am telling her the degree to which she IS going to see it there. I have lived there my entired life I KNOW! This is not someone with a chip on the shoulder, looking through negitive eyes, speaking.
CCPatt if you want the web sites that will tell you about all the pron stars, human trafficing, prostitution, etc., that going on there, I will send it to you.
And the San Fernando Valley IS UGLY! Go to Catalina Island and you will not be able to see where the shore line is ONLY because of the thick brown that covers it with smog. No kidding we couldn't see the land, only smog.
To the post above, do your research and join some of the organizations to help these girls out. But STOP lying to yourself and take the rose-colored glasses off. With all due respect.

[puffle]

OH, MY, GOD! With all due respect to Kashmir, it sounds like this is more of a personal issue in your life with regard to porn,etc. and should not be used to frighten people away from the valley. I too grew up in the valley and never had a run in with a prostitute, a gang member or illicite reading material. Sorry your experience was so EXTREME! I don't know where in the valley you lived where you had such experiences, but I don't know of anyone personally that shares the paranoia you have of porn and prostitutes that lived or lives there. The majority of porn filming is done in Chatsworth and that is very much out of the way of most of the valley. Sound to me like an event that touched you and maybe your husband and I am sorry for that.
ccpatt, I stand by my recommendation earlier on good choices for your family. There is a large population of entertainers that also reside in our community and unless your husband is working full-time for a studio in Burbank,Universal or maybe Warner Bros. living in the Conejo Valley would be great meaning it may not be a daily drive to the city. I do hope that your husband makes or has renewed his "connections" and has a promise of work here. I appreciate his dream being your dream, but there are soooo many others coming here for the same reason that struggle without a large family. $3000 is doable in rent here but not anything large and the average price home is $700k, no joke. I live in a small condo with only two bedrooms that rents for $2400 and buys for $600k
just to give you an idea so I hope you have substantial savings to get you by until he has success here. I truly wish you the best. Another site to go to for homes,rent, and school info that I have found very helpful is Moderator cut: link removed, competitor site. CNN Money Magazine has done ratings on the best places to raise a family in the U.S. and state by state. You should go online to check that out or go to Barnes and Noble for the same info. It is a big step.

[Candid Canuck]

hollywood is doing a great job! creating the"city of Dreams!"

[mar99]

I've lived in LA all my life, and am planning on moving now with my husband for the very same reasons that you've expressed your hesitations over (kids, money..). First of all, the areas that others have mentioned here are quite nice, but they are also quite expensive, and I doubt you will be able to find a place big enough for your family for only $3000 -- unless you start looking at places like Canoga Park, Reseda, etc (which are not nearly as nice.)

The LAUSD system is just awful, and the regular schools churn out graduates who can barely do basic math. There ARE a few exceptional magnet programs, but getting in is pretty much a lottery -- a lot of people apply and it's not a guarantee that your kids will get in.

[Jeff The Dream Maker]

You and your hubsand need to decide where you wish to live and life style you want. Moving to Thousand Oaks, West Lake Village is more family oriented than LA. You are close enough to go do things, but not live the daily grind. Simi Valley is the same, just less ritzy. My recommendation, if you are going to pay $3,000 in rent, is to purchase a home. The tax savings and appreciation will help you out tremendously. I am Mortgage Loan Officer.

[myfirsthouse]

Hey there
Good Luck-
Burbank is great....
Thousand Oaks and Simi Valley have great schools.

By the Way ignore all the negative posts, I noticed there are a few posters that simply are negative about everyones situation....(artichoke and marilynn had the same miserable negative comments about my threads.

Take a look at craigslist for housing as well.
My sister just rented her home in Pasadena that is 4 bedrooms and 2000 square feet for 2k......so regardless of what everyone keeps telling you it is doable.
Good Luck

[Sorcerer68]

Originally Posted by dusesean1986

To the poster above,

There's probably max a thousand people in Porn in Los Angeles, and our county has ten million people. You can get porn anywhere, if you have an internet source or pornographic magazines. Just because they film it a few cities away, doesn't mean it will affect you in a more severe way, then say you watch porn from your family room in Raleigh, North Carolina. That needed to be straightened out. The San Fernando Valley has a serious gang problem, but doesn't mean even the slightest majority of the valley is infested with gangs, which is absolutely completely false. The San Fernando Valley is a dirty place if you view it as a predominantly gang infested, pornographic, and filthy, dirty rotten place for children. With all due respect to the above poster's opinion and views, I think this outlook needs to be heavily re-examined with practical sense.

That says it.