Raising a family in Los Angeles (Torrance, Vista: apartment, rental, crime)

[DontH8Me]

I actually disagree with artie - based on my own experiences as a child. My parents moved us around a lot because they always 'traded up' as they were doing better financially and leveraging for career - for instance, grade 5 for me was spread out between three different schools due to moves. Eventually, we stayed in the same house from end of 5th grade until I graduated from HS. In my case, I can credit my adaptability, tolerance of change, cultural sensitivity, and intellectual curiousity to the fact that my parents didn't stay in the same house/area for my entire childhood.

You don't need to live 2 hours away from your job in CC if you move here - there are plently of safe, family-oriented neighborhoods with great parks and schools in the area. PM me if you want further details.

[jm999]

To Artie:

No offense, but you ARE looking for an argument. Just the fact that you are:

A. Trying to tell me how to raise my own children while you have no parental experience to speak of. Dogs don't count by the way.
B. Telling me that I don't know how my actions will effect my children
C. Telling me that I plan to move for selfish reasons
D. Your condescending attitude

I'll have you know that I am in fact moving to LA for my family. Right now I'm unemployed and we are barely scraping by week to week. I have the chance to double my previous income which will benefit my family tremendously. I've had long talks with both of my kids about moving and they fully understand what happens when you move as they have done it before. Like I said, they are excited about it. They have both been to LA to visit family and loved it as well. They are also very intelligent kids who know that they can find "playmates" wherever they go. Neither one has voiced any opposition to the move and I have made no attempt to "talk them into moving".

I didn't ask for your insight into the raising of my family. I have no problem in that department. If you would like to actually put forth some facts about raising kids in the LA area then I would love to hear them. Otherwise, you're wasting your time.

No, I'm not looking for an argument. I'm just telling you the truth. Moving is never easy for children. It's awful for them. You can talk kids into anything, even into thinking this is going to be an "exciting" move for them. They have no concept of what California is like. How on earth do they even know what to be excited about? Moving children who are already in school who have playmates around the country, to a new home every few years, is never a good thing. You aren't moving here for your family. You are moving here for you and your job offer. I hope it works out well for you.

[jm999]

Originally Posted by DontH8Me

I actually disagree with artie - based on my own experiences as a child. My parents moved us around a lot because they always 'traded up' as they were doing better financially and leveraging for career - for instance, grade 5 for me was spread out between three different schools due to moves. Eventually, we stayed in the same house from end of 5th grade until I graduated from HS. In my case, I can credit my adaptability, tolerance of change, cultural sensitivity, and intellectual curiousity to the fact that my parents didn't stay in the same house/area for my entire childhood.

You don't need to live 2 hours away from your job in CC if you move here - there are plently of safe, family-oriented neighborhoods with great parks and schools in the area. PM me if you want further details.

Thanks for your input. I appreciate it. I tried to PM you but my account does not have private messaging privileges for some reason.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by jm999

Is LA good for family life? ...

Can you tell us your price range for (I assume) buying a house? Can you work flexible hours? For example, 6AM to 3PM; One hour of driving at 5 or 6 AM is twice or thrice as far as one hour of driving at 8AM. You will only age 20 percent faster driving then as opposed to aging 50 percent faster driving during rush hour.

If you could flex to 6AM I would recommend Thousand Oaks, Calabasas, Agoura Hills, & Westlake Village. Homes in the 2500 sqft range (no basements) will be between $850K and $950K. These towns are within an hour of Culver City early in the morning.
Schools are excellent. Pretty, well maintained neighborhoods. Pro-active parents. Lots of community activities for kids like sports, teen dances, part time jobs. If you have more than two or three kids it makes financial sense to buy a home in a good school district (for predictably more money/sqft) than to pay for private education. The areas mentioned above have excellent government (aka public) schools.

The driving will really suck in the long run. Lots of road rage.

Originally Posted by jm999

I know I would love living there because I've been there and absolutely wanted to stay.

It won't be too long until this:



results in this:




Welcome to LA.

[jm999]

HAHA. Where did you get that picture of me!? No but really, I'm already accustomed to horrible drivers. I've also sat in LA traffic a few times and know what to expect somewhat. I'm certainly not looking forward to it, but can live with it.

As far as a price range goes, I will be able to swing $2500 - $3000 a month. Obviously I'll be renting to start out and as me and my wife's income increase we'll begin to look at houses. Hopefully by then the real-estate bubble out there will begin to pop a little. Flexible hours are certainly doable.

How long is the commute from the Santa Clarita area if I were to leave home at 6am or so?

Originally Posted by Charles

Can you tell us your price range for (I assume) buying a house? Can you work flexible hours? For example, 6AM to 3PM; One hour of driving at 5 or 6 AM is twice or thrice as far as one hour of driving at 8AM. You will only age 20 percent faster driving then as opposed to aging 50 percent faster driving during rush hour.

If you could flex to 6AM I would recommend Thousand Oaks, Calabasas, Agoura Hills, & Westlake Village. Homes in the 2500 sqft range (no basements) will be between $850K and $950K. These towns are within an hour of Culver City early in the morning.
Schools are excellent. Pretty, well maintained neighborhoods. Pro-active parents. Lots of community activities for kids like sports, teen dances, part time jobs. If you have more than two or three kids it makes financial sense to buy a home in a good school district (for predictably more money/sqft) than to pay for private education. The areas mentioned above have excellent government (aka public) schools.

The driving will really suck in the long run. Lots of road rage.



It won't be too long until this:

Attachment 4147

results in this:

Attachment 4148


Welcome to LA.

[PureHapa]

The South Bay (Manhattan, Hermosa and South Redondo beaches and Torrance) is nice, safe and fine for families. Hermosa maybe not as much because it's so dense, the lots are tiny so you don't get any yard, and the demographic is mainly singles. Torrance is very middle-America, with a high Asian immigrant population. Come on down!

[tired of being inside]

jm999 - I feel with you, I myself am on the verge of moving my wife and two young sons out to LA from the east coast. Like you, I have my family in mind as I do it. For me the primary driver was feeling closed in six months out of the year because of the weather. And I've used this post to learn a lot about the LA area before making the jump but you'll see quickly you'll get a lot of opinions that are counter to your own. There are very diverse outlooks on this forum, which is a good thing, IMO. Just to try to see which of those outlooks agree with yours in general and follow their guidance if it makes sense and works for you. For me, I don't think I have found any agreement from this blog with our choice to rent a loft condo in downtown Long Beach. It's not a location anyone associates with raising kids. Still, we've exposed our two boys to NYC plenty and an urban environment is what we prefer so we're making the move. Of course my sons are young enough (1 and 3) that we are still able to feel out where we want to be.

But I wish you the best and hope you are thrilled with your choice to move out to LA, as I am expecting to be with mine!

[jm999]

Originally Posted by PureHapa

The South Bay (Manhattan, Hermosa and South Redondo beaches and Torrance) is nice, safe and fine for families. Hermosa maybe not as much because it's so dense, the lots are tiny so you don't get any yard, and the demographic is mainly singles. Torrance is very middle-America, with a high Asian immigrant population. Come on down!

Thanks a lot for the input. I think I'm def. going to check out Redondo/Torrance before I look further away.

Originally Posted by tired of being inside

jm999 - I feel with you, I myself am on the verge of moving my wife and two young sons out to LA from the east coast. Like you, I have my family in mind as I do it. For me the primary driver was feeling closed in six months out of the year because of the weather. And I've used this post to learn a lot about the LA area before making the jump but you'll see quickly you'll get a lot of opinions that are counter to your own. There are very diverse outlooks on this forum, which is a good thing, IMO. Just to try to see which of those outlooks agree with yours in general and follow their guidance if it makes sense and works for you. For me, I don't think I have found any agreement from this blog with our choice to rent a loft condo in downtown Long Beach. It's not a location anyone associates with raising kids. Still, we've exposed our two boys to NYC plenty and an urban environment is what we prefer so we're making the move. Of course my sons are young enough (1 and 3) that we are still able to feel out where we want to be.

But I wish you the best and hope you are thrilled with your choice to move out to LA, as I am expecting to be with mine!

Thanks for the support. I know what you mean about the winter. It's brutal up here in Rochester too. It would be nice to be able to actually enjoy the outdoors year round and retire the trusty snow shovel. Good luck with your move as well.

[artichoke63]

Originally Posted by jm999

Thanks a lot for the input. I think I'm def. going to check out Redondo/Torrance before I look further away.



Thanks for the support. I know what you mean about the winter. It's brutal up here in Rochester too. It would be nice to be able to actually enjoy the outdoors year round and retire the trusty snow shovel. Good luck with your move as well.

Jm99,

You are working in Culver City, right? Torrance and Redondo Beach are a horrid commute. I drive that way often, and it is not anything I would want to do during rush hour. Torrance is not very pretty. Lots of malls and car dealerships all up and down Hawthorn Blvd and Crenshaw. Any reason you don't want to find a place to live in Culver City? The rule of thumb in this town is live near where you work. I never get in my car unless I have to.

Artie

[anniebird]

Santa Clarita is definitely family friendly, good schools and pretty safe (reminds me of Henrietta--in a desert setting), but if you are looking for a place that you can go outside year round, you might want to stay closer to the beach. We've got the opposite problem in LA inland -- it's too hot to go outside many months of the year Santa Clarita is one of the hotter spots and seriously, some years from May-November you'll be looking at 90+ nearly everyday and 100+ many days.

You might want to look at Burbank or La Crescenta if you decide to look outside the beach area. Both are family friendly places with very good schools and are slightly cooler (temp. wise) than Santa Clarita.

Good luck with your move! I'm leaving LA in 10 days to move to Rochester