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Old 04-03-2010, 05:46 PM
 
3 posts, read 13,695 times
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Hello! I'm a single mom moving from DC to LA for work towards the end of May. Can anyone suggest some LA neighborhood's with good schools and 2 BR apartments in $2,000 -$3,000 price range? I have a toddler, so I'm concerned about the price daycare and pre-schools. I've heard a lot about Malibu, West Hollywood, and Studio City but I'm flexible when it comes to location. Thanks!
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Old 04-03-2010, 06:44 PM
 
Location: Las Flores, Orange County, CA
26,329 posts, read 93,761,592 times
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Where is your job? That's the key. Most likely you will be in OK shape. LA traffic is worse than DC/NOVA traffic (if you can believe that).
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Old 04-03-2010, 08:21 PM
 
687 posts, read 1,119,567 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SDJ10 View Post
Hello! I'm a single mom moving from DC to LA for work towards the end of May. Can anyone suggest some LA neighborhood's with good schools and 2 BR apartments in $2,000 -$3,000 price range? I have a toddler, so I'm concerned about the price daycare and pre-schools. I've heard a lot about Malibu, West Hollywood, and Studio City but I'm flexible when it comes to location. Thanks!
Please let us know where your job location will be and then we can suggest more specific areas to live. Your price range is great for just about any safe area where there are good schools. Studio City as Carpenter Elementary which is a wonderful award winner elementary school and Sherman Oaks has a number of good ones too depending on what side of Ventura Blvd and east/west borders you might live. Further up you have Calabasas, Agoura, Oak Park, Westlake Village and Thousand Oaks that all have good schools, are extremely safe and family oriented with neighborhood pre-schools too. Feel free to send a Direct Message for more details.
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Old 04-03-2010, 08:30 PM
 
10,624 posts, read 26,736,582 times
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I agree with the others; location of the job really comes first, at least if you don't want to spend a lot of time commuting.

If location truly is completely flexible (you work at home or something similar) or if you're working anywhere between downtown and out towards the San Gabriel Valley, then I'll put in my plug for South Pasadena: great for families, good schools, safe, filled with kids (and nice parks), and you'll have no problems finding a 2 BR house or apartment in your price range.

I agree that your price range sounds reasonable and you should have no problems finding something in an area with good schools convenient to your work.
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Old 04-03-2010, 08:53 PM
 
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Thanks for the feedback! I'll be telecommuting so I'm lucky that I won't have a commute.
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Old 04-04-2010, 02:09 AM
 
4,538 posts, read 10,629,904 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SDJ10 View Post
Thanks for the feedback! I'll be telecommuting so I'm lucky that I won't have a commute.
Your rent amount puts you in most of the best neighborhoods of LA. So its really a matter of where you want to live and how much of a place you want for your money.

Really you can probably pretty easily find an apartment in any of these costal cities in LA County with good schools:

Santa Monica
Hermosa Beach
Manhattan Beach
Palos Verdes
Torrance
Probably others I missed. Note I purposely omitted areas under LAUSD even if the area has good elementary and intermediate schools.

More inland areas:

South Pasadena
Arcadia
La Crescenta
Burbank
Woodland Hills(LAUSD, but exceptional schools elementary through high school provided you live in the right area)
Cerritos/La Palma

Just FWIW, I don't think of West Hollywood or Studio City as neighborhoods particularly geared towards children and families. The streets seem quite busy, the stores and main street area seem oriented towards adults, and there is quite a bit of traffic in both places, even on the smaller streets. West Hollywood for instance has speed bumps on many side streets and also no turn signs in quite a few areas in an effort to limit the amount of traffic running through those streets.
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Old 04-04-2010, 08:08 AM
 
Location: Las Flores, Orange County, CA
26,329 posts, read 93,761,592 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SDJ10 View Post
Hello! I'm a single mom moving from DC to LA for work towards the end of May. Can anyone suggest some LA neighborhood's with good schools and 2 BR apartments in $2,000 -$3,000 price range? I have a toddler, so I'm concerned about the price daycare and pre-schools. I've heard a lot about Malibu, West Hollywood, and Studio City but I'm flexible when it comes to location. Thanks!
Locations that are repeatedly mentioned on City Data as having good schools and a family friendly environment and amenities (parks, sports leagues, pre-schools, other families of similar demographic, etc.) are Irvine, South Orange County, the Conejo Valley (Agoura, Westlake Village, Thousand Oaks, Oak Park), Calabasas, Simi Valley, Moorpark. South Pasadena is also mentioned but I don't know that area very well.

These places aren't cheap but they aren't as expensive as other parts of the Los Angeles area: in other words, you get a lot of bang for the buck.

One of the biggest negatives of these areas is the hassle of commuting from them to big job centers such as downtown Los Angeles or West Los Angeles or El Segundo. But since you are not commuting, these would be strong candidates.
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Old 04-04-2010, 05:49 PM
 
3 posts, read 13,695 times
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Thanks so much for the all information! I'll have plenty of places to check out when I head to LA later this month.
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Old 04-04-2010, 08:54 PM
 
Location: L.A County Beaches
32 posts, read 80,697 times
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If you're telecommuting and want a more relaxed lifestyle by the beach (as opposed to "big city" life and traffic around downtown LA) with good schools and safe, more upscale neighborhoods, definitely look into the western South Bay area. That's the 310 area code along the beaches.

Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach, Redondo Beach, Torrance, Rancho Palos Verdes, Rolling Hills Estates, and the upper parts of San Pedro. It's very beautiful here and you will be most definitely find something in your price range. These places are all 20-30 minutes south of the airport so great for travel but without the noise.
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Old 04-05-2010, 08:05 AM
 
Location: Bella Vista, Ark
77,771 posts, read 104,739,062 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SDJ10 View Post
Hello! I'm a single mom moving from DC to LA for work towards the end of May. Can anyone suggest some LA neighborhood's with good schools and 2 BR apartments in $2,000 -$3,000 price range? I have a toddler, so I'm concerned about the price daycare and pre-schools. I've heard a lot about Malibu, West Hollywood, and Studio City but I'm flexible when it comes to location. Thanks!
If you do not have to worry about commting much I would stay on the no east side for the schools if nothing else. Places to consider and I think they have been suggested: Arcadia, So Pasadena and La Crescenta/La Canada. There are some great area closer to the beach if that is what you are considering especially Torrance which is very family friendly. You would be better off not considering places like West Hollywood or Studio City with the kids and Malibu is very pricey, just like Palos Verdes.

Child care is going to set you back a bunch, but you are relocation from another area with high prices so it won''t be much different.

Someone said the traffic was worse in the L.A basin than the DC?Nova area, we have lived in both, I would say that isn't the case or certainly there isn't much difference. D.C. NOVA is pretty bad. The only thing making some difference would be better rapid transit in D.C.

Nita
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