La Palma schools vs Cypress Schools (Long Beach, Anaheim: apartments, rental, condo)

[krmpradeep]

I keep hearing/reading that Cypress schools are better than La Palma schools, and are comparable to Cerritos schools. I would like to know why you consider Cypress schools to be better. I am planning to buy a home in La Palma and the schools assigned to that home are:

Los Coyotes Elementary - Rated 10
Walker Jr .High - Rated 7
John F Kennedy High - Rated 9
Oxford Academy (if kid qualifies) - Rated 10


The best-rated schools in Cypress are:

Margaret Landell Elementary - Rated 9
Lexington Jr High - Rated 8
Cypress High - Rated 9
Oxford Academy (if kid qualifies) - Rated 10

Based on these facts, Cypress and La Palma schools look nearly identical to me, with La Palma having an advantage over Cypress if my kid manages to enter Oxford, as he will be attending 10-rated schools throughout. Is there a specific reason why Cypress schools are preferred? I understand API scores are not the only thing to look for, but I do not see Cypress having any big advantages over La Palma schools.

Your inputs will help me a lot in making the buying decision. Thanks!

[Joe Van Fossen]

The overall average score for Cypress schools is 1 point higher. Fairly negligible. Your breakdown is much more detailed and goes to show that there really aren't that many differences and it largely depends on which schools are in the neighborhood you choose to live.

[bhcompy]

The difference isn't so much in the school as in the people, for the most part. La Palma is a little lower on the economic ladder in places and that gives it a negative impression. Kennedy is a fine high school.

[krmpradeep]

Thanks Joe and bhcompy for your quick replies.

Regarding the difference in the economic ladder between the two cities, the numbers I see online seem to point the other way. The below statistics are from city-data.com. The data is 3 years old, and La Palma's population of 15000 (1/3 of Cypress) might have skewed the percentages, but otherwise, have things changed drastically in the last 3 years in either of these cities?


La Palma:
Estimated median household income in 2009: $80,262 (it was $68,438 in 2000)
Estimated per capita income in 2009: $31,362
Estimated median house or condo value in 2009: $531,163 (it was $285,800 in 2000)
Unemployment in August 2012: 7.7%
Crime index: 119.4

Cypress:
Estimated median household income in 2009: $78,182 (it was $64,377 in 2000)
Estimated per capita income in 2009: $29,899
Estimated median house or condo value in 2009: $508,275 (it was $246,300 in 2000)
Unemployment in August 2012: 8.1%
Crime index: 132.5

[ferretkona]

In Cypress you are only a short bicycle ride from the beach.

La Palma is a stone throw from Buena Park and Stanton.

[krmpradeep]

I thought Cypress was the city that shares the border with Stanton and Hawaiian Gardens (and Buena Park, Anaheim, Long Beach, Lakewood, etc), while La Palma shares the borders with Cerritos, Cypress and Buena Park.

So it sounds like, if I am able to find a nice home in La Palma in the areas that are closer to Cerritos or Cypress, then I should be good to go.

[Joe Van Fossen]

I think you'd be good to go if you found a nice home in either city. It sounds like you've done a lot of solid research already.

[krmpradeep]

Originally Posted by Joe Van Fossen

I think you'd be good to go if you found a nice home in either city. It sounds like you've done a lot of solid research already.

Thanks for your input Joe. Yeah I have been spending a lot of time reading and talking to friends about this, and have also been spending time walking and driving through the streets of these cities.

[ragnarkar]

I doubt there's any statistical significance to the slightly higher median income in La Palma vs. Cypress.

Much of both cities are virtually indistinguishable from each other.. in other words, most neighborhoods in either city are fairly good places to live.

[krmpradeep]

Originally Posted by ragnarkar

I doubt there's any statistical significance to the slightly higher median income in La Palma vs. Cypress.

Much of both cities are virtually indistinguishable from each other.. in other words, most neighborhoods in either city are fairly good places to live.

That is the feeling I got while visiting the cities. More specifically, the homes in La Palma and Cerritos are almost identical: most are 2-level homes built in 1960/70s with similar facade (like the home from Brady Bunch), with Cerritos having more greenery and street landscaping than La Palma. Cypress has a blend of rental apartments, 1-level and 2-level homes, but also has a healthy percentage of commercial areas(office space/retail/etc), similar to Cerritos. La Palma has very few retail spaces, making it almost purely a residential city.

I have an approved short-sale for a home in La Palma in the Moody street vicinity (near Cerritos). This is my rationale for my buying decision:

La Palma:

Pros:
Schools: comparable to Cypress (with an opportunity to attend Oxford Academy)
Safety: Very safe
Home prices: ~10% less than in Cerritos, for identical (if not bigger) homes
Tax: OC tax is less than LA tax

Cons:
Library: Small library, but it is part of OC libraries network, so no big deal. Also, I wouldn't mind paying $100/yr to use the awesome Cerritos Library. Much cheaper than paying 10% premium AND more tax for the house. That way, I get to use both Cerritos library and the bigger OC library network too :-)
Kids classes (swimming/music/etc): While La Palma offers some classes, there seem to be more variety in Cerritos. It is around $15 more for a non-Cerritos resident to enroll in any of these classes. Again, no deal-breaker here either.


Schools were the only thing restraining me from buying the home, but after looking at the responses here, it seems that there isn't much of a difference.