Any Social Neighborhoods (Oxnard, Thousand Oaks, Arcadia: homes, buying, schools)

[colete00]

Currently live in Arcadia an old fun part of Phoenix, AZ. Our hood has lots of impromptu front yard wine nights and playdates. Everyone has a cruiser bike and you can walk to a handful of places for dinner. Its like a time warp to the 1980's, where kids are in the yards and neighbors will stay all day.

Considering a job in Thousand Oaks and would love to find a good neighborhood suggestion similar to what we have here.

Priorities ...

1. Great Schools (2 kids, 8, 12)
2. Good Athletics for Kids
3. Social Atmosphere / Friendly / Laid-back
4. Walk to Dinner ....

I would love specifics, rather than general area info - like great streets and little niches w/ good vibes.
Who is the best on halloween? Any streets known for having parties all the time

Budget 1.5-1.75M


Thank you!

[AmericanRenaissance]

Lynn Ranch comes to mind. Older ranch homes with bigger yards. It's also technically not part of Thousand Oaks.

[wac_432]

Originally Posted by colete00

Currently live in Arcadia an old fun part of Phoenix, AZ. Our hood has lots of impromptu front yard wine nights and playdates. Everyone has a cruiser bike and you can walk to a handful of places for dinner. Its like a time warp to the 1980's, where kids are in the yards and neighbors will stay all day.

Considering a job in Thousand Oaks and would love to find a good neighborhood suggestion similar to what we have here.

Priorities ...

1. Great Schools (2 kids, 8, 12)
2. Good Athletics for Kids
3. Social Atmosphere / Friendly / Laid-back
4. Walk to Dinner ....

I would love specifics, rather than general area info - like great streets and little niches w/ good vibes.
Who is the best on halloween? Any streets known for having parties all the time

Budget 1.5-1.75M


Thank you!

That's not info you're going to find on here.

In my experience, if you want that kind of neighborhood, you have to build it, yourself. Get to know the family next door, two doors, three doors, down. Consistently send invitations and hold front yard gatherings. Follow through with promises to get the kids together in back yards or the park. People are busy--especially here in CA where the weather is always perfect for whatever, and when they're not busy they're flakey, so if you want a tight-knit community, you have to build and maintain it with a few likeminded neighbors (whom you can find anywhere).

We moved into a neighborhood with a great community; Christmas caroling, neighbor-knowing, block-party throwing. However, as the older families kids grew up and moved out, they got more involved outside the neighborhood, and it fell to the families with the young kids to continue the traditions or let them fade away. The HCOL also attracted more DINKS, who tend to be less involved in front yard or neighborhood block parties, and more interested in child-free wine-and-cheese events in their back yards.

I'm happy to say that our street has a TON of families with young children and with covid on the decline in our city, we're back to hanging out in each other's yards, throwing block parties, and gathering in the street or at the nearby park. This isn't TO, and I don't want to advertise precisely where I live (nor will anyone else), but you should be able to find what you are looking for.

I do encourage you to do what I did before buying; walk around and knock on doors or say hi to people in front yards. See if you get friendly responses, or hesitant ones. That's the best way to judge a neighborhood's character without actually living there.

[Winston Smith]

Sorry to say that no neighborhoods with a big social feel like that come to mind for me anywhere in Ventura County. People tend to keep to themselves. The exceptions might be some Latinx neighborhoods in Oxnard, Santa Paula or Fillmore, where bigger celebrations bring out the neighborhood from time to time.