Raising a family in Los Angeles (San Diego, Torrance: apartments, for rent, house prices)

[PureHapa]

Don't feed the trolls.



All of the South Bay cities have their own school districts, police departments, etc. While Palos Verdes peninsula towns are farther away and more of a commute, I know people who do it. It's up to you.

[artichoke63]

Originally Posted by PureHapa

Don't feed the trolls.



All of the South Bay cities have their own school districts, police departments, etc. While Palos Verdes peninsula towns are farther away and more of a commute, I know people who do it. It's up to you.

PureHapa,

PV is a lovely area to go to school. But why recommend it to someone who is working in Culver City? Santa Monica has good schools too and it's closer. I drive from Beverly Hills to Palos Verdes all of the time. (Beverly Hills is not too far from Culver City.) You have to drive down Los Cienega to get on the 405 South--horrendous on most days. And then you exit Hawthorne Blvd to drive all the way to the Palos Verdes penninsula, which sticks out on the ocean. This entire route is jammed with traffic during rush hour. It might take this poor guy two hours to get home to his family in the evenings. What kind of life is that?

[TheRealAngelion]

Originally Posted by artichoke63

PV is a lovely area to go to school. But why recommend it to someone who is working in Culver City?

Where do you think all the people who live in PV work? They have to come down off the mountain to earn a living too.

When I last lived in LA, my office was in Brentwood and one of my colleagues commuted from PV every day. Many people who live in PV work on the Westside and downtown too.

[artichoke63]

Just because other people do it, doesn't really change the commute time, does it? I used to make the drive about 15 years ago. It was tough back then when traffic was lighter. Now it's just plain ugly...

[TheRealAngelion]

The guy is looking for a nice place to live to raise a family. Commuting to Culver City from PV is by no means extreme or out of the ordinary. People who live in PV work all over LA county and in other counties too.

[artichoke63]

Well, he might have to hire someone else to raise his family if he is gonna be spending that kind of time on the road, don't ya think?

[morefromcali]

Hi

I'm sorry, I must be missing something. Yes, PV is wonderful. I lived there for a year and loved it -- and then left because I didn't like the commute to my job in Santa Monica.

Speaking of Santa Monica -- it's lovely there, very walkable, good schools and only 10-20 minutes form the OPs job in Culver City. It's also comparable to less expensive than PV. So if we are comparing those two cities . . .

[sobaygal]

Jim999
O.K so do you want the truth or do you want us to cushion it??? This is a great place to live or rather used to be a great place to live. It is getting VERY expensive not only gas but food prices too. Are you buying or renting? If renting expect to pay at least 1200.00 a mo. for rent and that is in the not so good area for maybe a 2 bedroom apt. But I have to say in school systems you would want the Torrance district or Palos Verdes if you have no money problems. I did not see where you were coming from but if you do come here those are the schools that are the best in my opnion. Good Luck!!

[T&D]

Hi Joe:

We are a Canadian family moving to Los Angeles at the end of June. We share very similar concerns. We put a post on this site about our upcoming move awhile ago asking where to live. My husband will be working in Westwood Village (close to Culver City) and the overwhelming response was to live closeby to avoid a nasty commute and enjoy more family time together. We were down last weekend to look for a place to lease for a year, and we rented a townhome-style condo in Santa Monica. We looked at a wide variety of neighbourhoods, ranging from the westside, to Sherman Oaks, to the beach cities (Manhattan/Hermosa/Redondo). It was very clear after just 2 days of driving around that we were given very good advice about living near work. The 405 freeway was absolutely horrendous, even in the middle of a Saturday afternoon. We could not even imagine commuting on that freeway 5 days a week during rush hour...

I did extensive research on the public schools in Los Angeles. Not surprisingly, the best schools (or what I would consider acceptable schools) seem to be found in the most expensive areas of the city. The vast majority of public schools in Los Angeles seem to be extremely bad. I looked into private schools, but the cost is prohibitive for our family. So, we only looked at rentals with a good designated public elementary school.

I think you may want to consider Santa Monica also, for a decent commute to Culver City and a nice neighbourhood with good schools. Beware the Santa Monica neighbourhoods south of the freeway however, as only the school in the Sunset Park neighbourhood is decent imo. Whatever you decide, do your research on the designated school for any address you are considering, so you don't get an unpleasant surprise after you move. LAUSD, Santa Monica-Malibu USD, etc. all have boundary maps you can check out. Then you can get detailed information about any given school on greatschools.net.

Good luck,

T&D

[Dennis P]

Originally Posted by morefromcali

Hi

I'm sorry, I must be missing something. Yes, PV is wonderful. I lived there for a year and loved it -- and then left because I didn't like the commute to my job in Santa Monica.

Speaking of Santa Monica -- it's lovely there, very walkable, good schools and only 10-20 minutes form the OPs job in Culver City. It's also comparable to less expensive than PV. So if we are comparing those two cities . . .

I agree that the original writer of this thread live as close to work as possible, and I would recommend Santa Monica or Culver City. One of my sisters lives in Rancho Palos Verdes. She worked as a legal secretary for a law firm in Manhattan Beach, until her older daughter was born in 1999. My sister told me that the drive to work from RPV took her 40-45 minutes one way. The bulk of that drive was spent coming down the hill on one of the twisting, winding roads in order to get to work. It was especially treacherous during the winter when it rained.