Long Beach anyone? (Anaheim, Orange, Lakewood: real estate, to rent, high crime)

[zmommy]

Anyone here live in Long Beach? What is the community like? Are there nice areas for a families with young children?

[Lifeshadower]

Just to clarify Long Beach isn't in Orange County, but in the SE Corner of LA County.

Long Beach is a city of almost 500,000 people, and is a little more than 119 square miles (of which 50 of it are on land). In order to get a better idea of what the city is like, you need to break it down into sections and neighborhoods. Generally speaking, the closer you are to the coast, the nicer the area becomes. The further away from the coast, the more rough it becomes. I would generally avoid most places north of the 405, east of the 710 (especially North Long Beach, since its really really really ghetto). The area south of PCH is extremely nice. If possible, check out Belmont Shores since its nice, walkable, and has enough parks to keep any kid happy.

However, the most important question is 'how much money are you working with?' This will determine how nice your area will be.

[NaplesRes]

lifeshadower is on it. big city with lots of different types of neighborhoods

for family areas near the coast with walkability check out belmont park, belmont heights, naples, and the peninsula

for family areas with bigger yards and more suburban feel check out el dorado park, los altos, and college park

for really big houses and lots check out park estates, bixby knolls, and virginia country club

LB is great and there is a neighborhood for everyone.

[Marcase LBC]

Originally Posted by Lifeshadower

Just to clarify Long Beach isn't in Orange County, but in the SE Corner of LA County.

Long Beach is a city of almost 500,000 people, and is a little more than 119 square miles (of which 50 of it are on land). In order to get a better idea of what the city is like, you need to break it down into sections and neighborhoods. Generally speaking, the closer you are to the coast, the nicer the area becomes. The further away from the coast, the more rough it becomes. I would generally avoid most places north of the 405, east of the 710 (especially North Long Beach, since its really really really ghetto). The area south of PCH is extremely nice. If possible, check out Belmont Shores since its nice, walkable, and has enough parks to keep any kid happy.

However, the most important question is 'how much money are you working with?' This will determine how nice your area will be.

This is as accurate as you're going to get right here, great post.

[heartfocus]

Originally Posted by NaplesRes

lifeshadower is on it. big city with lots of different types of neighborhoods

for family areas near the coast with walkability check out belmont park, belmont heights, naples, and the peninsula

for family areas with bigger yards and more suburban feel check out el dorado park, los altos, and college park

for really big houses and lots check out park estates, bixby knolls, and virginia country club

LB is great and there is a neighborhood for everyone.

Good post. I grew up in the El Dorado park area and it was nice all the way to the Lakewood line. It's held its real estate value well, I believe.

[russlancea]

Hi zmommy. I used to live in Long Beach and still work there. I agree with the others, that there are some great neighborhoods in Long Beach. It's a very diverse city of very poor, high crime areas, to nice middle class and affluent areas. It does depend on how much you can afford to rent or buy, but I have mixed emotions about moving back to Long Beach. Reason? Several studies have shown that the air quality in Long Beach is horrible. It stems from the ports of Long Beach and LA in the downtown, coastal area. The closer you live to the port, the higher the risk of asthma and cancer. They say the diesel particulate matter drifts to more affluent areas of Bixby Knolls and East LB where homes are beautiful. Naples, Belmont Shores and other areas are affected too since they're close to the ports. I can't smell it, but in the downtown area, a fine black soot will blanket cars. The ports are cleaning up their act, so it's suppose to be a lot better, but the air still smells awful in the Wrigley area when I'm there visiting people. Long Beach is also close enough to the refineries in Wilmington so that when a refinery malfunctions, a rotten egg smell will drift over that is unavoidable. It doesn't happen often, but it's awful breathing that stuff in. Many residents have also complained about the city's leadership: cutbacks at libraries, potholes citywide that took forever to repair, lack of parking in downtown and other areas, city managers/leaders making over 100k while the city faces years of budget deficits, etc. I hate sounding so pessimistic. I love Long Beach, but don't want a newcomer to not be aware of these problems. There are great things about LB: summer concerts & movies in the park, beautiful homes, cool coastal breezes...if you do decide to move to LB, I would avoid the downtown areas, North LB, Westside, Central LB, areas by Long Beach City College's PCC campus, and Wrigley, because of crime, blight, & gangs. The only problem I see in the beautiful Naples, Belmont Shores area is the lack of parking. Alright, I'll stop now and await the downpour of angry replies from LB residents

[NaplesRes]

Originally Posted by russlancea

Hi zmommy. I used to live in Long Beach and still work there. I agree with the others, that there are some great neighborhoods in Long Beach. It's a very diverse city of very poor, high crime areas, to nice middle class and affluent areas. It does depend on how much you can afford to rent or buy, but I have mixed emotions about moving back to Long Beach. Reason? Several studies have shown that the air quality in Long Beach is horrible. It stems from the ports of Long Beach and LA in the downtown, coastal area. The closer you live to the port, the higher the risk of asthma and cancer. They say the diesel particulate matter drifts to more affluent areas of Bixby Knolls and East LB where homes are beautiful. Naples, Belmont Shores and other areas are affected too since they're close to the ports. I can't smell it, but in the downtown area, a fine black soot will blanket cars. The ports are cleaning up their act, so it's suppose to be a lot better, but the air still smells awful in the Wrigley area when I'm there visiting people. Long Beach is also close enough to the refineries in Wilmington so that when a refinery malfunctions, a rotten egg smell will drift over that is unavoidable. It doesn't happen often, but it's awful breathing that stuff in. Many residents have also complained about the city's leadership: cutbacks at libraries, potholes citywide that took forever to repair, lack of parking in downtown and other areas, city managers/leaders making over 100k while the city faces years of budget deficits, etc. I hate sounding so pessimistic. I love Long Beach, but don't want a newcomer to not be aware of these problems. There are great things about LB: summer concerts & movies in the park, beautiful homes, cool coastal breezes...if you do decide to move to LB, I would avoid the downtown areas, North LB, Westside, Central LB, areas by Long Beach City College's PCC campus, and Wrigley, because of crime, blight, & gangs. The only problem I see in the beautiful Naples, Belmont Shores area is the lack of parking. Alright, I'll stop now and await the downpour of angry replies from LB residents

Not too many arguments from me. I love Long Beach and I love older cities and the character/culture they offer. But along with character old cities are starting to show their wear. All of LA has it's infrastructure issues and Long Beach is no different. I know this is a top priority for many residents and through stimulus funds, etc there will be some improvements. There needs to be more done though.

Regarding the air quality, through environmental initiatives it's better than it has ever been but as you say being close to the port is still a problem. It's mostly on the west side of town along the 710 freeway because the vast majority of pollution stems from the trucks. The port has implemented a clean trucks program where they have begun banning older trucks. Supposedly this is having a positive effect.

[funkyavocado]

What would the commute from Long Beach to Anaheim be like?

[BRinSM]

long and slow

[NaplesRes]

Originally Posted by funkyavocado

What would the commute from Long Beach to Anaheim be like?

It's actually not bad. Since the 22 freeway was improved that drive is about 30 minutes depending on which part of lb to which part of anaheim. East LB to Disneyland is 30 minutes.