Leafy neighborhoods with good schools and location? (Pasadena, Woodland: houses, to buy)

[kylex]

We are looking for communities with good public schools that fall under most of these criteria - we currently work at home but would like to be close to job centers (IT jobs) for the future.

Must have:
1. Excellent schools K-12
2. Leafy, tree lined
3. Convenient location to business centers (possible 30 minutes commute or less)

Perferred:
4. Urban and walkable
5. Interesting architecture, no cookie cutter houses
6. Good microclimate, less smog

We can stretch to buy up to $900k but would certainly love the cost lower. Where can we find neighborhoods that satisfy 1, 2 and 3, and hopefully include some of the 4, 5, and 6?

Thank you all for your input!

[BRinSM]

santa monica, south pasadena, beverly hills, and the south bay beach cities come to mind, but $900k won't get you much in these cities. you could look down in orange county, but you're going to give up #4 and #5 and probably #2. you'll probably have to compormise a bit at your price range. from my experiences, most people tend to either move to the cookie cutter burbs or drive longer than 30 minutes to work.

[fatmancomics]

Woodland Hills and Calabasas in the San Fernando Valley pretty much meet all of your criteria.

[kylex]

Originally Posted by fatmancomics

Woodland Hills and Calabasas in the San Fernando Valley pretty much meet all of your criteria.

I'll look into these areas. Are they also easy access to outdoors, such as biking or hiking trails? Where are the nearest business centers for jobs? Thank you!

[NaplesRes]

Belmont Heights

[bhcompy]

Tree lined streets and urban doesn't really mix well in LA. It's not called the concrete jungle for nothing.

[uptown_urbanist]

South Pasadena fits the bill on all counts.

[KnoxTown]

Originally Posted by kylex

I'll look into these areas. Are they also easy access to outdoors, such as biking or hiking trails? Where are the nearest business centers for jobs? Thank you!

Plenty of it

[smokingGun]

Belmont Heights and South Pas are great neighborhoods but homes under $1M are slim pickings. I would take a look at La Canada for it's excellent schools and according to my friend you can still find older homes in the 900k range.

[uptown_urbanist]

South Pas has homes under one million; it depends on how big you're looking for, though. Options really seem to mostly start in the 700k or so range, and then of course expand dramatically as you go up from there. La Canada does have great schools and it's worth a look, although I'd always heard (although this is not based on personal experience; I've never looked at prices in LC) that it's more expensive than South Pasadena.