Moving to SO CAL

Elaine,

I am a CA native and just moved to TX from So. Cal. myself.
A lot of neighborhoods near LAX are not great places to live. El Segundo can be okay in some areas, though. I would suggest places like Newport Beach or Laguna Beach, however, they are MUCH more pricey. Tell your friend that Irvine is not bad and is still affordable, but in order to live in a descent neighborhood, they're going to have to commute a bit. That's one of the reasons we left L.A. in the first place.

Tell her I said good luck!
K.

There is no affordable housing in So. Cal. I feel bad for your friend.

Torrance is a good city, with good schools and has houses and apartments. It's only 15 minutes from LAX with no traffic, which never happens, so it'll take 45 minutes to an hour to get there.

El Segundo on the west side of PCH is good. Stay away, far away, from the other side. It's very close to the airport and would take 5 minutes to get to from there. However, everyone knows this so it'll be hard to find anyplace. But I would look there first and then Torrance (for atmosphere, affordability and availability).

Stay far away from Hawthorne, Carson, and Harbor City. Redondo Beach and Hermosa Beach are good too.

The reason I moved to Texas is because the living conditions are very harsh in So. Cal. Everyone works, some work 2 jobs, so there are few moms at home. Maybe in Santa Monica where prices are very high (and it's a long drive to the airport) moms can afford to stay home, but your average M. cannot.

I looked real quick and found the rents around $2,000 to $3,000 for a 2 bedroom and 2 bath.

Elaine-

I lived in Southern California for 7 years so I'll try to offer some advice. Affordable is going to be tough! In terms of nice neighborhoods, I would reccomend Looking in Newbury Park or Thousand Oaks. It's about a 40 minute drive from the airport because of traffic but an AWESOME area. Lots of families and plenty to do. You could also try Glendale. It's a bit more "city like" but might be more affordable and close to everything including the airport. In my experience the farther away from the city the better the area. My neighboors all worked in L.A. but lived in Thousand Oaks because of the schools and family life. I beleive it was voted one of the safest cities a few years back. Hope this helps. Southern California is great and I hope your friend enjoys all it has to offer!

Hi Elaine,

I'm from LA and depending on how far he wants to commute, he's not going to find affordable rental properties that are not in the 'hood'.

I would say stay away from ANYWHERE close to the airport. That area (Santa Monica) is SO expensive AND so shady.

If he doesn't mind a commute, I recommend cities that are more south-east of LAX (think Orange County or San Bernadino County). For instance, Chino Hills, Upland, Ontario, Rancho Cucamonga, Diamond Bar, Azusa, Glendora, Pasadena, Brea, San Dimas, Irvine, or Costa Mesa. He could also consider moving north of LA in the high desert. Lancaster/Palmdale is where I lived right before I moved here, but before that I was in Chino Hills. Up north, there is Quartz Hill, Canyon Country, Valencia, and some other cities along I14 that I can't think of right now. The land is more open there and people don't live on top of each other like they do closer to LA. Housing is also more affordable there by far.

With all of those, he will have a commute and LOTS of traffic. There is no way around it when you live in LA. I haven't lived there since 2001, and I know it's gotten worse (despite ALL the CA plates I see here in TX!!). There is the Metro Link and that is VERY nice to take to get around town so living near a stop wouldn't be a bad idea. Especially since gas is way over $3.00 a gallon there. <I heard in San Fran this weekend it was $4.15 for the cheap stuff!!!OMG!>

As for the MDO programs, I'm sure they do at local churches. I wasn't a M. there so I don't have any recommendations.

Tell your friend I'd be more than happy to talk to her if she'd like. Just send me a message and I'll give you my email.

I am presently living in San Diego, soon to be moving back to Texas. I know there is a Mamasource page she can sign up for the SD area, not sure about LA.

Also, try GoCityKids.com. I used it for references for my son's preshcool here in SD. Great references for everything kid! They may have MDO listed too. Try Meetup.com to find other playgroups and such.

I'm sorry I'm not much help with the neighborhoods. If she were moving to SD I'd be able to help. Good luck!!