One in Thousand Oaks, one in Los Angeles or Ventura. Where to live for 2 reasonable commutes & good schools? (Oxnard: home, find a job)

[ejml]

Hello all,
My husband is considering a job in Thousand Oaks. He has toured the area, and has reported that Westlake Village seems appealing in terms of commute for him, schools for our kids, and attractiveness and amenities of the town. I have not taken the tour myself, but from what I see online, I don't disagree, it does seem to be a nice town. The big question I have is, where will I work?

Living in Westlake Village seems to cut off my options, however. He has been told that Ventura / Oxnard / Camarillo is out because the "grade" makes the commute a nightmare. Santa Monica and Los Angeles are out because the commute would be horrific.

What does that leave me? Do I have to find a job in Thousand Oaks or nothing? Not knowing the towns immediately surrounding Thousand Oaks, I don't know how plentiful the jobs are in my field, which is public health. County health departments, human services agencies (like child/maternal health, for example), behavioral health services - these all tend to be located in larger cities or county seats, like Ventura, or Los Angeles. A preliminary search tells me that all the really interesting public health jobs are in Ventura or Los Angeles, but maybe someone will tell me I am wrong?

Some thoughts:
Is Woodland Hills a good middle ground for us? Could he commute to Thousand Oaks and I commute to LA or Santa Monica? My husband looked there and said it seemed like a good option.

Sherman Oaks? He looked there also and thought it could work ... but how are the schools? I believe they are LAUSD, which I know varies greatly from town to town. But then I'll probably have the 405 to contend with.

Is Camarillo a good middle ground for us to live so I could commute to Ventura or Oxnard? He was told that the grade was terrible going to Thousand Oaks - is it really?

We need help figuring out a good place that we can both have reasonable commutes in different directions, good public schools.

Thanks in advance - looking forward to any suggestions.
-ejml

[nightlysparrow]

No, "the grade" is not terrible, it's just a big hill, and cars don't strain or anything going over it. Nor is the commute from WLV or TO to Cam/Ox/Ventura terrible. In fact, the drive is very interesting scenically, as it involves 4 or 5 microclimates. The grade actually can have its own climate along with a great view.

Going into the Valley to woodland Hills or Sherman oaks is also doable for work, but traffic is heavier. But the schools in the Valley are LAUSD, which are poor in comparison to Las Virgenes, Oak Park, Westlake or TO school districts.

[Cream1]

If you work in Ventura, live in Camarillo. If you work in "LA" (which doesn't really tell us much as LA is huge but I'll assume you'll work downtown), live in Sherman Oaks. The commute from Woodland Hills to downtown is horrible during regular commuting hours (not that Sherman Oaks is much better).

[ejml]

Hi, thank you both for the info. Based on what you're telling me, I think I should focus in the direction of Ventura for my employment... I am glad to hear that the horrors of "the grade" may not be what we have been told. Out of curiosity, could it be traffic is such that going over the hill in the direction of Thousand Oaks in the morning is worse than going over it toward Ventura in the morning? I'm curious about what makes this hill such a terror to those that have told us it is so.

In any case, thanks for the advice!

[nightlysparrow]

In the morning you are driving into the sun when going toward TO, which rises earlier in the summer, naturally, and you're driving into it again going home. The traffic is slightly greater, but not appreciably so. Of course, the time in the morning you start out is always a factor.

The grade has many lanes, at least 5, maybe even 6 lanes. Trucks do slow going over it, but they stay to the right, and they are obedient because there are truck weigh scales at the top and there's often police cars present. There is no "terror" factor about the grade, and I cannot understand why anyone would think so.

[SoCalMomma]

I agree that the grade is generally not a terror. It may be a pain, because there are often small fender benders that tie up the freeway in that area. But its totally doable. I would rather drive from TO to Ventura than anywhere in LA. Obviously, if you could both work in the same area that would make things easier, but I would not fear the grade!

You could maybe get a job with one of the school districts in the area and not have to go as far as Ventura. I am not sure exactly what you would look for in a job.

I have lived in the Thousand Oaks area since the late 70s and its a great place to live. I work for the school district and I can tell you first hand that we have really great schools in the Conejo. (both my kids are products of CVUSD and both turned out great and are successful).

Westlake Village is more expensive, generally, than Thousand Oaks or Newbury Park. All 3 cities are known as Conejo Valley, and may officially be in the City of Thousand Oaks. Just different 'areas' of the city. You cant go wrong with any of them!

Good luck in your search for the perfect spot

[user_id]

Originally Posted by SoCalMomma

I would rather drive from TO to Ventura than anywhere in LA. Obviously, if you could both work in the same area that would make things easier, but I would not fear the grade!

The drive from Thousand Oaks to Woodland Hills, and much of the west valley, is much shorter than the drive from Thousand Oaks to Ventura.

For someone living in Thousand Oaks, I would definitely look for jobs in the San Fernando Valley rather than Ventura.

[user_id]

Originally Posted by ejml

Is Woodland Hills a good middle ground for us? Could he commute to Thousand Oaks and I commute to LA or Santa Monica? My husband looked there and said it seemed like a good option.

Sherman Oaks? He looked there also and thought it could work ... but how are the schools? I believe they are LAUSD, which I know varies greatly from town to town. But then I'll probably have the 405 to contend with.

Just to note, both Woodland Hills and Sherman Oaks are part of Los Angeles so you'd have to specify what part of LA you're thinking about commuting to from these districts of Los Angeles.

[RoaminRebel]

If you could live in T.O. and work in T.O., it would be ideal. Although it seems now that the Valley has a more diverse selection of employers. The grade isn't terrible like other posters said, but it really gets old doing it twice a day. Older or underpowered cars and trucks do slow a bit and there is the first exit at the bottom that really invites trouble (sharp turn at the bottom of a hill) The 101/405 exit in S.O. is pretty congested throughout the commute time window.

[SOON2BNSURPRISE]

The Conejo Grade is not that bad. Here is what you would deal with. A 2.7 mile long drive that is 1,000 feet in elevation from bottom to top. Both North and South sides (Although at the grade it is really East West) have plenty of lanes for the traffic, most of the time. An accident can change that, not that accidents happen all the time. The only vehicles I have ever owned that had an issue with the grade were my Chevy LUV pickup truck and its little 4 banger, a Ford Pinto, and a 1965 VW Bug that I owned.

Also much cooler on the Western Side of the grade. we live in Oxnard and cooling the home means opening a window.

One thing I wish people would realize about the grade is that you really do not need to ride your brakes going down. Kind of frustrates me when that happens. At the bottom on the Camarillo side everything levels out and in fact looks like it has a slight incline that happens to slow your car down. Lots of space to slow down at the end. Still people will ride the brakes.

As far as Public Health, You may want to check the Counties Job board. For many things listed in Ventura they also have jobs that would be in TO or Simi Valley. (Feel free to shorten Thousand Oaks to TO)