Where is the best place to live in So Cal if you work in Downtown LA?
I don't mind a long commute. I am already commuting 1.5 hrs each way. I am ready to buy a house. I want nice, relatively reasonable houses near decent schools. A challenge, I know! I've been looking into Corona, Ontario, Santa Ana, Anaheim, Valencia... Seems like LA County is too expensive. WDYT?
Los Angeles - 7 Answers
Random Answers, Critics, Comments, Opinions :
1 :
How about Diamond Bar or Chino Hills?
2 :
I've heard Downtown LA itself is a pretty good place to live now since it's had a resurgence in popularity. Valencia? oh hells no, if you want to commute at least 2-3 hours a day then by all means go live there. You need to remember that the only access to get out of the Santa Clarita Valley, which is where Valencia is, is the Newhall Pass; where the 5 freeway and 14 meet, it gets congested EVERY FRIGGIN' DAY, particularly on Friday nights when you have all those people driving to Las Vegas through the Palmdale way, on top of that every time there's a brush fire nearby in Canyon Country, Saugus, Stevenson Ranch, etc, they almost always evacuate large areas of Santa Clarita.
3 :
You don't say how much you want to spend. My dh works in one of the tall buildings downtown and some of the employees at his firm live in places La Verne, Chino, Chino Hills, Claremont, Montclair, Rancho Cucamonga, Diamond Bar. Some take the metrolink. Also, areas like Monrovia and Glendora. These areas probably have both really good and not so good schools, you can check at the website below. You might also consider smaller homes or condos closer to downtown, in areas like Burbank, Glendale, La Crescenta, Pasadena/Altadena, South Pasadena, Alhambra, Monterey Park. Good schools in those areas. Pasadena/Altadena has some good elementary schools and Marshall is a good middle/high school, families who had kids in great private schools are happy with it. Even though you think you're OK with the commute, when you own a home, it seems like you need to spend time on it, and after awhile the commute can get to you, especially if you have kids and they have events and activities you want to attend. Safety, school and home info: http://www.lalife.com/ Homes for sale with map view: http://www.movoto.com/ Homes for sale: http://www.realtor.com/ Schools: http://www.greatschools.org/ Good luck!
4 :
Sorry, but there's no such thing as "cheap and safe" in SoCal. This is a variant of the usual C&S question we get here. It's all based on supply and demand. EVERYBODY wants what you want. That creates high demand. Couple that with limited supply, and you'll see that the price of such property is very expensive. Sorry, but there's no magic land that's cheap and safe any more, unless you're willing to live in the Inland Empire, like Temecula or Menifee. "LA" is such a big place, there are so many neighborhoods/cities where you can live. Of course, even within a city or neighborhood, there are safer sections and less-safe sections. In Los Angeles, some nice sections are West LA, Brentwood, Westwood, Marina Del Rey, Playa Del Rey, Los Feliz, Silverlake, and Eagle Rock. Palms and Mar Vista are pretty good, too. In the Valley(part of LA), you have Encino, Tarzana, Studio City, Toluca Lake, Granada Hills, Woodland Hills, Sherman Oaks, West Hills, and Chatsworth. Glendale and Burbank are good places, and are incorporated cities of their own. To the east: South Pasadena, parts of Pasadena, Altadena, Arcadia, Monrovia, Glendora, San Dimas, Laverne, Azusa, Rancho Cucamonga. Along the beach: Santa Monica, Marina Del Rey, Playa Del Rey, Redondo Beach, Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach, Torrance, Palos Verdes, Rancho PV. In Orange County aka "The OC": Seal Beach , Huntington Beach , Newport Beach , Corona Del Mar , Laguna Beach , Dana Point , Capistrano Beach , San Clemente , Brea, Yorba Linda, Orange, Tustin, Irvine, Laguna Hills, Rancho Santa Margarita, Lake Forest To the west: Agoura, Calabasas, Thousand Oaks, Westlake Village, Simi Valley, Moorpark. This is not an all-inclusive list, but it's a start. I might also suggest any of the cities close to a Metrolink stop. Great thing, that Metrolink.
5 :
diamond bar and chino hills is TOO far. monterey park, alhambra, san gabriel, downey, arcadia, san marino, south pasadena, pasadena. dammmm ontario is far.
6 :
Check out Mt. Washington.
7 :
belmont shores, long beach is nice.
Read more other entries :
About When the brush fires hit southern california...
