Any PSers in Valencia/Santa Clarita/Castaic/Newhall?

[hathalove]

Any PSers in Valencia/Santa Clarita/Castaic/Newhall area? Curious how you feel about the quality of life here. Safe? What about raising children and schools ? Do you commute into LA? Thinking about a last minute move to spend what will probably be a couple of years here.

 

[hathalove]

Oh and is there one or two cities that are better than the rest?

 

[madelise]

I wouldn't do it. It's the furthest point out of LA before you're in th grapevine on your way to central and northern CA. It's so dead in that area, and to leave it to get to the city = a bunch of traffic.

And it's super HOT.

All I see from my trips to 6 Flags in valencia are trailer parks.

 

[luv2sparkle]

Super super hot. There are some nice homes there but like most of CA it is getting very crowded. That valley gets some of the hottest temps in california. Are you going to be driving into LA for work?

 

[kenny]

That part of Southern California has HORRIBLE traffic if you work in the main employment centers of LA county.
Also, it's very hot and smoggy.
I know people who live out there, but rent a room close to work and just go home to get reacquainted with their families on weekends.
Traffic is THAT bad.

You'll want to live as close to work and the beach (cooler and better air quality) as you can afford ... even if you can only afford to rent a crappy small apartment.

After living in LA county for decades here are my preferred cities, in order of preference.
None are cheap.
There are much nicer cities on the Palos Verdes peninsula or in Torrance near the ocean (aka Hollywood Riviera), but they are too far from work and houses are in the millions.
Manhattan Beach, the tree section is my favorite but there's no ocean views.
Santa Monica
Hermosa Beach
Venice (the nicer parts)
South Redondo Beach, not North Redondo Beach.
Nicer parts of Long Beach, LA County's cheapest beach city.

Trust me, the traffic in LA can RUIN your life.
If it doesn't ruin your life it still runs your life.
I plan ALL my travel around rush hour (rather, rush 5-hour).

 

[kenny]

Because of the prevailing ocean breeze, the cleanest air in LA county is on west facing beaches, further south where there is less land mass to the west.
For instance Santa Monica has a west facing beach but the land mass of Malibu results in warmer air than Palos Verdes, with no land mass to the west.

An exception is San Pedro which I consider to be a sleeper city.
It's on the east side of the Palos Verdes Peninsula.

Excellent weather and bargain houses, even up the hill with ocean views ... well actually port of LA views.
Excellent weather. Sometimes 20 degrees cooler than downtown LA and maybe 35 degrees cooler than the Santa Clarita area.
... and for the distance from downtown the traffic isn't that bad because San Pedro is at the end of the Harbor 110 Freeway so it can't get much traffic and it goes directly into downtown LA.

Both San Pedro and Long Beach suffer from image of their worst neighboroods (projects), but their better neighborhoods are wonderful and relatively affordable for a Southern California beach city.

 

[kenny]

If you consider Long Beach or San Pedro, I'd be extra careful which school district you'll be in.

 

[acebruin]

Where's your work going to be? That'll determine what your commute will be like as others have mentioned. One summer up there will drive you wallet mad! I have relatives who pay 500$ a month during the summer because air con was on all the time.

 

[kenny]

One summer up there will drive you wallet mad! I have relatives who pay 500$ a month during the summer because air con was on all the time.

Another reason to live close to the beach, little or no AC needed ....... though living near the beach will drive your wallet mad via rent or mortgage payments.

 

[hathalove]

Oh my goodness! I didn't get any responses so I thought this just died! No notifications are anything. Both my dh and I work from home or we travel for work. That means leaving on a plane from LAX throughout the US and Internationally. We currently live in a small apartment with my one child (in charter school) and now surprise we have one on the way. I am not sure we can stay in this space much longer. We currently live in the Culver City area and use to live for many years in Venice. We cannot afford to rent a home with more space on the westside. BELIEVE ME I looked. So since we mostly work from home or travel out of the area on business I thought maybe we could consider living further out. I mean for what we pay gets us a whole lot more out there. I just don't think we can do this much longer with a growing family. My options are move there now or wait another year and move up to Davis, CA or even Rocklin/Folsom area or out of state!

 

[hathalove]

I was feeling pretty excited to start looking...but now based on the responses! Don't know what to do. Sigh...

 

[acebruin]

Have you looked in Gardena or Torrance area?

 

[kenny]

I've heard Torrance has excellent schools.

Though only a tiny part of south-west Torrance is ocean front, all of Torrance is close to the sea and so far south that Torrance's air is clean and cool, even when most of LA county is hot and smoggy.

 

[madelise]

Oh my goodness! I didn't get any responses so I thought this just died! No notifications are anything. Both my dh and I work from home or we travel for work. That means leaving on a plane from LAX throughout the US and Internationally. We currently live in a small apartment with my one child (in charter school) and now surprise we have one on the way. I am not sure we can stay in this space much longer. We currently live in the Culver City area and use to live for many years in Venice. We cannot afford to rent a home with more space on the westside. BELIEVE ME I looked. So since we mostly work from home or travel out of the area on business I thought maybe we could consider living further out. I mean for what we pay gets us a whole lot more out there. I just don't think we can do this much longer with a growing family. My options are move there now or wait another year and move up to Davis, CA or even Rocklin/Folsom area or out of state!

What are you looking for? My friend (who is AMAZING) just put up his apartment in Playa Del Rey for a very decent price. It's right next door to LAX and the beach, and PDR gets access to the Loma Linda joint magnet and special LAUSD schools.

 

[madelise]

Would you be able to maintain your salaries if you moved out of state? Only reason I ask is bc I'm in a similar boat-- struggling with housing $costs$. If you can, that would be so wonderful.

Culver City to Valencia will be a HUGE shift. Just the distance to LAX alone would turn me off. How often do you have to fly? If it's once a month or less, it can be doable, but if it's more frequent, I think I'd shoot my foot.

Is Inglewood an option? Are there any options in Inglewood that are safer/cleaner now that there's been gentrification going on? I remember looking there for possible investment property last year or two. That's also close to the airport.

 

[hathalove]

What are you looking for? My friend (who is AMAZING) just put up his apartment in Playa Del Rey for a very decent price. It's right next door to LAX and the beach, and PDR gets access to the Loma Linda joint magnet and special LAUSD schools.

Although Playa del Rey is lovely. The schools in general are not that great. Lots of magnets this is true but they rate at about 6s. Not great. We would need a three bedroom 3k is the very top of our budget. Schools are definitely a priority. Even though my son can stay where he is for 2 more years (charter) we would have no high school for him to move on to. Of course in LA you have to start thinking about that now and start to transition into those districts...

 

[hathalove]

Would you be able to maintain your salaries if you moved out of state? Only reason I ask is bc I'm in a similar boat-- struggling with housing $costs$. If you can, that would be so wonderful.

Culver City to Valencia will be a HUGE shift. Just the distance to LAX alone would turn me off. How often do you have to fly? If it's once a month or less, it can be doable, but if it's more frequent, I think I'd shoot my foot.

Is Inglewood an option? Are there any options in Inglewood that are safer/cleaner now that there's been gentrification going on? I remember looking there for possible investment property last year or two. That's also close to the airport.

YES Cali is so so expensive. I totally get it. But to answer your question we would be able to maintain our income. Our work is either in our home or contracted jobs around the states and world. So we would just ideally need a great international airport. Although we are open to having to layover by flying from a smaller airport to a larger one before the long hauls.

We looked out in Valencia today in fact. We drove out at about 10am and got there at 10:30am. Not bad. On the way back we left just before 2pm and got back on the westside at 2:35pm. Now the temp change was definitely noticeable. Plus I did notice the dryer air. Also not sure how much the timing was a fluke with traffic. We are going to go out again tomorrow to look at few more places. So we shall see... AND my dh does get on a plane 2-4 times a month. I more like 1-2 times a month and will be a lot less since I will be taking care of a newborn.

Yes Inglewood is going through gentrification and there are some nicer places popping up. Same in other areas that were once considered not safe and trashy ( fairfax, leimert park etc..) but the schools are still CRAP! Its a real problem in LA. To fight over places that are in good school boundary lines.. Or fight for lottery spots for charters and magnets that you may or may not get. Super frustrating!

 

[acebruin]

Torrance has great schools

 

[hathalove]

Torrance has great schools

I'm not super familiar with Torrance. I did work there once a long time ago and the commute I remember was easy but I just would hop off the freeway, drive through an industrial part of town to the location. Never through neighborhoods of Torrance.

Can you recommend an area or what schools are you recommending in Torrance? Then I can see if the surrounding neighborhoods have anything available.

 

[Smores84]

Hi Hathalove, I previously worked in Torrance by Harbor Hospital and that was a sketchy neighborhood by the freeway. I like the Torrance neighborhoods that are closer to the water. The commute to LAX is actually not bad from there. I lived in Westwood and it usually takes me 60 mins in rush hour to go from Westwood <-> Torrance (30 mins during non rush times.)

Good luck and hope that you can find more space there for your growing family!