irvine or cerritos to raise kids and buy home? (Long Beach: crime rate, house)

[raj2009]

Hi,
My job is in Culver city i have been living in Irvine for the past 4 years.my wife works in city of orange. we want to buy a house and settle down but we are not sure where to buy irvine or cerritos .I dont want my wife to commute far to work so we are more inclined towards Irvine/cerritos area. but though it would be easier to commute to culver city from cerritos than from Irvine we don't find cerritos as good as Irvine when it comes to schools, safety etc.cerritos has a higher rate of home burglary as per trulia.com .at the same time if i continue to live in Irvine my commute to culver city is pretty tough(though i carpool) i leave home at 7:15AM for work and reach back at 8PM . if i relocate to cerritos i believe i would save atleast 1.5 hrs.we checked shadow park community in cerirtos it is gated and we did like it but its expensive. the maximum we can stretch up to is 750k for a home..but we dont get any homes in shadowpark for 750k ..they are all 850-1.1 million etc.Considering all these situations please advise.i will greatly appreciate it.

[ferretkona]

For raising children I would look at Los Alamitos or Cypress with better schools.

[NaplesRes]

I would choose East Long Beach (El Dorado Park, Park Estates, etc.) or Los Alamitos. They are both very safe, have great schools, fit your price range, and are centrally located to both of your jobs.

[raj2009]

does los alamitos or cypress have better schools than irvine/cerritos? hows the crime rate in those places compared to Irvine/cerritos. how can these cities be rated in terms of safety and education?

[NaplesRes]

Originally Posted by raj2009

does los alamitos or cypress have better schools than irvine/cerritos? hows the crime rate in those places compared to Irvine/cerritos. how can these cities be rated in terms of safety and education?

define better? Newsweek rankings, API scores, parent involvement, availability of extra curriculars, % of students that go on to IVY colleges? It depends on what you want.

[raj2009]

API scores ,% of students going to IVY.and neighbourhood safety(less crime,home burglaries,etc)