Thousand Oaks.. (Los Angeles, Simi Valley, Camarillo: city hall, rentals, low crime)

[Chiara72]

Hi there

My husband is currently going through an interview process for a job in thousand oaks, but I need more information.

Is this a good place to raise children? We have five. Also, what is the average rental costs for a four plus bedroom house, with plenty of space.

Is it purely suburban living, or are there small towns in the hinterland? I'm not massively keen on suburb living.

What are the living costs like there? We don't want to land over there and find that we are struggling financially. The agent told my hubby that salaries are lower in the USA than Australia (where we are currently living) and that 100k - 135k is what he should expect, and that this would be a good salary. Is it? He currently earns a lot more than that in Australia, but living costs mean it doesn't go terribly far.

Any advice at all would be welcome.

Thanks

[user_id]

I'm not sure about the average rental costs, but a 4+ bedroom home is going to be anywhere from around $2,800 to $4,000 depending on the details.

Thousand Oaks is one of the safest cities in the US of its size and has some of the best schools in the area, but it is a suburb of Los Angeles. You're not going to find small town living in the Conejo Valley (which Thousand oaks is a part of), its a fairly affluent part of the greater Los Angeles area. A household income of $100~$130k isn't high for the area, but its not low either. Enough to live comfortably, but not extravagantly.

No idea how the living costs compare to Australia, but other than housing the costs in Thousand oaks are fairly similar to other parts of the US.

[Chiara72]

Thanks for that reply. Wow, those rents are crazy. How commutable are other towns in the area? I have no idea of scale or distances, but could we live elsewhere and commute to thousand oaks?

[nightlysparrow]

Simi Valley is somewhat less expensive for rentals, very close by, and the schools are good. Camarillo is also not bad.

A nice advantage of T.O. is living within commuting range of Los Angeles in case the job doesn't work out. Being in proximity to the largest US city and its employment and cultural options, and yet enjoying a home life of extremely low crime, schools that have very high academic standards, and beautiful scenery, hiking trails and only 12 miles from the beach cannot be overstated.

[user_id]

Originally Posted by Chiara72

How commutable are other towns in the area? I have no idea of scale or distances, but could we live elsewhere and commute to thousand oaks?

This all depends on how far you want to commute, but unless you want to commute long distances I would say the only options would be the two mentioned by the other poster. Both of those cities are different in a number of ways though, so you'd really have to visit each one to see whether the higher costs in Thousand Oaks are worth it to you.

Of course, there are the other cities within the Conejo Valley (Agoura Hills, Westlake Village, etc) but they aren't any cheaper. Generally speaking, it gets cheaper the further you get from Los Angeles so the cheapest community in the Conejo Valley is Newbury Park (its part of Thousand Oaks).

[Chiara72]

Thanks for that guys. Hubby is quite used to commuting, been doing it for years, so an hour would be acceptable.

[socalmommie]

I grew up in Newbury Park (a division of Thousand Oaks) and it's a beautiful community. Although it's grown significantly in the past 20 years, Thousand Oaks is still a bedroom community, albeit a bustling one & traffic down the main freeway artery (101) is increasingly thicker. That said, schools are EXCELLENT & it's a great place to raise kids.

Housing - Rental prices for a nice 4-bedroom are going to run you $2500-3500... it may be worthwhile to consider buying, which - as I understand it - is a bit different from buying in Australia. Here you only put down about 20% & finance the remainder.

Salary - That's a tough question, really, because it depends on what your husband's actual occupation is. Thousand Oaks is an affluent community & the average family income, I would imagine, could not be less than six figures to live comfortably - especially with 5 munchkins! I would check one of the websites like salary.com to see if your husband's job description/offer is on par with the average for the area.

Areas To Live - I live in Simi Valley, which I love, however I am concerned about the middle & high schools. In T.O., you won't have to worry - the schools are highly rated across the board. Other nearby communities to consider are Camarillo, Moorpark (excellent schools), Newbury Park (a little community of its own), or for a more affluent area, Westlake Village (still a part of Thousand Oaks.

Schools - Two great online resources to scope out the area schools are schooldigger.com & greatschools.org. One item that might be of interest is that Newbury Park High School offers an international baccalaureate program, which would allow your kids to be eligible for university in Australia if they chose to return.

Recommendation - if you plan to purchase, I would purchase in Ventura County instead of L.A. County (half of Westlake Village, along with Oak Park & Agoura) are located in L.A. County, which equals higher taxes.

Good luck!!

[nightlysparrow]

Originally Posted by socalmommie

Although it's grown significantly in the past 20 years, Thousand Oaks is still a bedroom community

Hasn't grown much in population---per census---104,187 in 1990 to 126,683 in 2010---that's only up less than 23,000 people in 20 years, or about 1,100 people per year. That's slow growth for a city.

Also, "bedroom community" no longer fits T.O.---except for an airport, almost everything is locally available. It has its own city hall, entertainment center, multiple shopping centers with nearly all chain stores represented, restaurants, hospital and emergency room, DMV, police, Social Security office, medical clinics, banks, auto dealers, post offices, movie theaters, and city-run library.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by nightlysparrow

Also, "bedroom community" no longer fits T.O.---except for an airport,

There used to be an airport, in fact, there used to be two of them:

Conejo Valley view looking west, 1930s. Moorpark road runs left and right. The road running east and west (perpendicular to Moorpark road) is Ventura Boulevard, later renamed Thousand Oaks Boulevard. The airstrip is the first Janss Ranch Airport (Conejo Valley Airport).


Later in 1952, Highway was constructed over it and the airport was moved a little south. In this photo, you can see the new highway, intersected by Moorpark Road, and to the far left, the new airstrip.




The other airport was about where Amgen is now:

Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields: California - Ventura area

[nightlysparrow]

wOw. Never knew that! Thanks for the amazing pics, Charles.