Hispanic family wanting to move to L.A. (Los Angeles, El Monte: hardwood floors, low income)

[uptown_urbanist]

There have been a bunch of reports out recently that have noted that Texas cities are doing well, relatively speaking, on the job front; you'll certainly find plenty of Latino culture and heritage, cost of living will be lower, and assuming you need to work, a better chance at finding a job.

[Lovetheoutdoors]

You don't need to live in a Hispanic neighborhood to teach your son about his heritage. I'm Hispanic and I was raised in Woodland Hills.

The truth is, though, that L.A. may not be the place for you. It is REALLY expensive to live here. My wife and I don't have kids just because we wouldn't be able to afford them. We gave up kids. However, we may give up California as she really wants to have kids in the real near future.

You may want to look elsewhere. Places like New Mexico or Texas. You may be able to find decent homes in those places. Every urban area has an organization dedicated to building affordable housing for low-income families. I really do think that Texas is what you're looking for.

We may be joining you there.

[Mach50]

Originally Posted by erebos

i was born and raised in a city that isnt
[SIZE=3]Culturally different let alone anything like mine to be frank about the matter there is no culture here and we hate it. My mother was born and raised in Minneapolis, mn where there is culture and diversity. She was forced to move here and then got married and had her kids and all of that. My thing is this I want my son to be raised to be proud of his culture not ashamed maybe los angels isn’t the best choice to show him but its way better than it is up here. We aren’t in the best place up here and my son can’t even play outside because of that. I now know that yea Los Angeles isn’t the city but it took me 7-8 months to figure that out lol that is very sad. I feel very stupid. We will be looking elsewhere and lets pray that we don’t end up in another bad community due to our fixed income that is my biggest worry. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]thanks again,[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]mya[/SIZE]

Texas or Florida are far better for what you are looking for or somewhere along the border. However, San Antonio would be my recommendation just because I have Mexican family there that still live exactly like you describe and do it far cheaper than here.

As for your kids being proud of their culture, I'd recommend to educate them in Spanish, piñatas and quinceaneras, then assimilate to the American prosperity and they will feel proud of being Mexican regardless.

[erebos]

Thank you guys very much for all your help and i sure will look more into tx as well as fl thanks for everyones input!

[bhcompy]

Originally Posted by Mach50

As for your kids being proud of their culture, I'd recommend to educate them in Spanish, piñatas and quinceaneras, then assimilate to the American prosperity and they will feel proud of being Mexican regardless.

I agree with this. America has prospered for many years because of the melting pot. The cultures are supposed to blend in order for this great experiment to work.

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by erebos

Thank you guys very much for all your help and i sure will look more into tx as well as fl thanks for everyones input!

NM is another option..But certainly CA is not. On a small fixed income I will be honest you are going to have to watch very carefully every penny and the dogs may not be welcomed..It is hard to find places that want pets period, especially the kinds you have. One of the reasons is insurance..If your dogs bite someone and do serious damage, unless you have insurance you can be certain the victom will go after the landlord...

I also agree about instilling in your son your cultural values and traditions. This is up to you more than the neighborhood you live in. Sometimes it is better for kids to be raised in more diverse communities where they can learn about the real world and not just one aspect of it.

Good luck regardless of where you end up..Again, I think you have been given some better ideas, NM, TX and Fl but you will also need to get a job. It is very hard to find something to rent without a job. You may have to give up on college for awhile as well.

Nita

[Count David]

Originally Posted by cl723

I guess my question is that how come you don`t want to be around people who don`t share your same cultural background?

I wonder this too. I wonder this about anybody who seeks to live around nothing but their own race/cultural background (hence the "status" I've had for awhile).

Originally Posted by erebos

i was born and raised in a city that isnt
Culturally different let alone anything like mine to be frank about the matter there is no culture here and we hate it. My mother was born and raised in Minneapolis, mn where there is culture and diversity. She was forced to move here and then got married and had her kids and all of that. My thing is this I want my son to be raised to be proud of his culture not ashamed maybe los angels isn’t the best choice to show him but its way better than it is up here. We aren’t in the best place up here and my son can’t even play outside because of that. I now know that yea Los Angeles isn’t the city but it took me 7-8 months to figure that out lol that is very sad. I feel very stupid. We will be looking elsewhere and lets pray that we don’t end up in another bad community due to our fixed income that is my biggest worry.

I see that you live in Spokane. I believe you posted on the Spokane forum that you live in Hillyard. That might be part of the reason why you don't like living in Spokane (Hillyard is one of Spokane's "bad areas" for those of you unfamiliar).

I lived in Spokane for 5 months last year. Ancestrally, I am Mexican. I had no trouble fitting into Spokane (I grew up in Southern CA). You need to accept that there's more to you and your family than "being Mexican". It's so sad that you feel that you need to put yourself in a box like that. You are limiting your/family's possibilities by thinking that you need to live near other Mexicans. If I had decided not to move to Spokane because "there's no Mexicans there", I would have never gotten the opportunity to see what a gem the place is (IMO).

Is there nobody in your household that can work? That solves the income problem right there. And yeah, Los Angeles isn't it on $1100. They do hand out welfare like candy in CA, but not like they do in Spokane.

Culture and diversity are overrated. Make your own culture and diversity instead of adhering to an existing one. Conformity sucks.

[Mach50]

^^ I too am "sick of the racial isolationists".

[the one]

so in the LA area we do have some pretty heavily latino areas that can be pretty safe, with catholic schools and such. would they be cheap? some of them. i will list some cities to look at. starting with the most expensive and safest.

Whittier
Downey
Alhambra

Monterrey PArk
Montebello
SF Springs

Bell
Southgate
Inglewood
Pico Rivera

Lynwood
Maywood
Huntington Park
Compton

East Lost
Watts
Historic South central
Florence
etc etc.

you can also check the LA times Homicide report to get a better understanding of crime in different cities and zip codes. check wiki pages on these cities. check the CD stats.

its pretty easy.

[PugMom17]

San Fernando would be the perfect city for you. It's got at least two Catholic Schools (St. Ferdinand and look the other up at L.A. archdioses website) and it is a very nice and safe hispanic community. You can walk and not feel scared. It is it's own city and is kept up well. It's located about 25 miles north of Los Angeles. Don't move to Los Angeles. You want a suburb.