School Transportation in TO (Lang Ranch) (Rancho Cucamonga, Thousand Oaks: renter, buying a house, neighborhoods)

[dwatkins14]

My family is looking to relocate to the Conejo Valley. We still have a lot of homework to do but currently the Lang Ranch area of Thousand Oaks appeals to us. This area is in the Los Cerritos Middle School and Westlake High School districts. It just came to my attention (from reading another thread) that these schools do not have bus transportation. Forgive me as I was born, raised and still live in a suburb North of Boston, MA where there is no such thing as no buses for public schools. How do kids get to/from school when they are too young to drive and both parents work? I noticed that there is public bus transportation but it doesn't appear to go near the Lang Ranch neighborhoods. Am I missing something? Is this typical in other communities (Oak Park, Westlake Village, Agoura Hills, Newbury Park, Moorpark, Simi)? Thanks!

[DKM]

Elementary schools around here don't use buses. Parents walk or drop their kids off to school. Its a great way to interact with other parents and know people you live near. This is why parents come into work at 830 or 9. It was an adjustment for me too, but I love it. I suggest buying a house walking distance to the school. Its walking weather to school nearly every day. If you want to be anonymous or have other more important things to do than do this with your own young children you might want to rethink SoCal. You are in for a few more surprises about how schools work here.

[dwatkins14]

Originally Posted by DKM

Elementary schools around here don't use buses. Parents walk or drop their kids off to school. Its a great way to interact with other parents and know people you live near. This is why parents come into work at 830 or 9. It was an adjustment for me too, but I love it. I suggest buying a house walking distance to the school. Its walking weather to school nearly every day. If you want to be anonymous or have other more important things to do than do this with your own young children you might want to rethink SoCal. You are in for a few more surprises about how schools work here.

Thank you. My kids are middle school and high school aged. I'd love more information about what other surprises are in store for me. I don't really have the luxury to rethink SoCal as my husband works in Westlake Village and has been commuting back and forth to Boston for 1.5 years. That lifestyle is wearing on us. I'm sure I won't work as soon as we relocate - in order to get the kids settled, but let's face it - the cost of living out there is tougher on the pocketbook than I'm used to so I can't imagine we would be able to maintain our current lifestyle on one income alone for an extended period of time.

Maybe the lifestyle is much different. Certainly we don't walk to school around here. First of all we don't have sidewalks and second of all our weather sucks. I work full-time from 8-4. My daughter starts school at 9 and finishes at 3. I have a 30 minute commute to work. I am unable to drop her off at school and pick her up. I just assumed working full-time there would be similar. Chances are I will be commuting around 30 minutes (no way I'm going to LA...must find something relatively local) and that the kids school day would also be similar (although middle school starts at 8 here and high school at 7...my daughter is in her last year of elementary school and my son in his last year of middle school). How do you get the kids to/from and still work? Are employers just far more understanding out there?

Again thank you and please do share. I'm the kind of person that likes to know exactly what I'm getting into

[DKM]

Originally Posted by dwatkins14

Thank you. My kids are middle school and high school aged. I'd love more information about what other surprises are in store for me. I don't really have the luxury to rethink SoCal as my husband works in Westlake Village and has been commuting back and forth to Boston for 1.5 years. That lifestyle is wearing on us. I'm sure I won't work as soon as we relocate - in order to get the kids settled, but let's face it - the cost of living out there is tougher on the pocketbook than I'm used to so I can't imagine we would be able to maintain our current lifestyle on one income alone for an extended period of time.

My advice is to treat it like you are moving to a different country. Seriously. It is very enjoyable once you shift out of the mentality of where you came from. Los Cerritos doesn't have hallways, is that strange where you are from? Probably. Its good you won't work at first because it will take months for you to settle in and fix your house up. Most people renovate at least some parts of homes when they move in...unless you live in the newer homes behind the gates. Or if you are a renter then you're covered, but that's a lot of money you're spending on rent.

Originally Posted by dwatkins14

Maybe the lifestyle is much different. Certainly we don't walk to school around here. First of all we don't have sidewalks and second of all our weather sucks. I work full-time from 8-4. My daughter starts school at 9 and finishes at 3. I have a 30 minute commute to work. I am unable to drop her off at school and pick her up. I just assumed working full-time there would be similar. Chances are I will be commuting around 30 minutes (no way I'm going to LA...must find something relatively local) and that the kids school day would also be similar (although middle school starts at 8 here and high school at 7...my daughter is in her last year of elementary school and my son in his last year of middle school). How do you get the kids to/from and still work? Are employers just far more understanding out there?

Again thank you and please do share. I'm the kind of person that likes to know exactly what I'm getting into

Not everyone has flexibility but many employers do allow it for various reasons. I take my kids to school everyday and the wife picks them up. Most of the parents I work with show up to work when they can (school drop off plus commute time). Many work it out so one parent goes into work early and picks the kids up and vice versa. There are buses for middle school so you're good. The one by our house picks up at about 8:25. I don't know if Westlake high has buses or not. To be honest many kids don't use buses for middle or high school. There are a lot of SAHM's here.

[DKM]

PS, you would be paying a premium if you lived in the Lang Ranch elementary school boundary. The price drops a good chunk if you live in an area without a stellar elementary school, which you don't need. If you're choosing where to live based on great schools scores, don't be fooled, Colina is not a worse school than Los Cerritos.

[SoCalMomma]

There are a few buses available, but I am not sure what the criteria is. I know they offer them for my neighborhood because the kids would need to cross over the freeway to get to school. Its not free, though, you pay for the bus service. I always drove my kids to school. We were too far away to walk. But the weather is great most of the year so if you are close enough, you could certainly have the kids walk.

You could find a carpool in your area with other families, possibly. Or pay for childcare (Boys & Girls Club at Los Cerritos) so you could drop off on your way to work and pick up after work. High School is a different story, I am not sure what parents do when they both work. Carpools probably, or maybe allow your child to uber home?

All of the Conejo Valley middle schools & high schools are highly rated and good. Like DKM said, if you dont have an elementary aged child, you dont need to live in Lang Ranch (most people seem to buy homes there to go to that school because it gets high test scores). I always say that test scores dont tell the whole picture. I worked for the school district for years and the higher testing schools were not necessarily the best schools. I strongly suggest you visit the various schools and find the ones that would be best for your children.

Public transportation in the Conejo Valley is a joke. It really only goes from mall to mall.. Its not really meant to be used as daily transportation between destinations inside the Conejo other than shopping.

I think you will love it here! The weather cant be beat, its a nice safe place to raise kids. Lots of outdoor activities! Lots of clubs and sports available year-round.

Good luck with your decision!

[dwatkins14]

Thanks all! I really need to get out there and look around (planning a trip soon). I really want a neighborhood where all of us (especially the kids) can get out and get to know each other. It is not like that here. My neighbors and I have about 2 acres of land each so although I suppose the privacy is nice you don't get to know anyone and it can be isolating. Of course I worry about the kids making friends and fitting in and in my mind a great close knit neighborhood is a good start. My husband has previously lived in CA (in the IE - Rancho Cucamonga) and finds the way we live here like living in the middle of nowhere (which it's not - we are less than a 5 minute drive to shopping and restaurants but you can't walk anywhere you must drive). I'm used to it. So I think another criteria for us is not being too isolated in the neighborhood - so close to shopping, restaurants etc. We chose the valley for the mix of both worlds...in other words it won't be too much of a culture shock for me and the kids, but will give us some of the positive experiences we have been missing out on. If anyone has any suggestions for neighborhoods I should consider - I'll gladly accept! We would like our top budget to be $900,000 but we may go over this a bit for the perfect move-in-ready house. It needs to be a 4 bedroom because we have a grown daughter who will likely make the move with us and will need to stay with us for a short-time and also a space for my parents to stay and possibly live at some point. Love the houses with 1 bedroom down and 3 up. Ideally we would love to grab up a fixer upper in a great neighborhood for around $800,000. We want a pool (or space for a pool and room in the budget) - a community pool works great too and might even be preferable. Thanks again for your help. It's so difficult planning such a monumental relocation from over 3,000 miles away.

[nightlysparrow]

The only middle school near Lang Ranch that has bus service is Colina, not Los Cerritos.It's $200 a year if you pay all at once: Conejo Valley Unified School District > Departments > Business Services > Transportation

Many houses in TO have 4 bedrooms, although maybe not one downstairs. But there are also a lot of single-story ranch styles. If you want your middle schooler to walk to Los Cerritos, you'd need to live very close by. That would mean the houses in these tracts: Symphony, Tamara, Oakbrook,and the ones south of the school down Erbes Road. If you are looking at Verdigris or anything east of Westlake, that is too far of a walk. Are you sure you want to move someplace for a 2-year middle school? There are no buses to Westlake High, and that is far from the Lang Ranch area. Have you also considered Westlake Village--the western part that is in Ventura County? You'd have Colina Middle, and Westlake High.

[DKM]

You should definitely check out the rest of the Westlake High school neighborhoods then with 4 bedroom homes around 900. You can find them easily enough on zillow or redfin. Your budget is about barely enough for what's out there with your requirements unless you are flexible on being close to a noisy road. You should really go all over the Conejo Valley neighborhoods to get a feel for where you'd like to live.

[dwatkins14]

Thanks all! You have been an enormous help!