Calling those who know Los Angeles ...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Check out Huntington Beach. Mission Viego. Ladera Ranch.

Those are nicer areas but are you CRAZY? Commuting to LA?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Traffic is horrendous and you won't get the place you want for $700K in a nice neighborhood. Transitional maybe - but that is always risky; do you have kids? If so, a transitional neighborhood is probably not ideal.

northern part of alhambra that borders south pasedena is not transitional - it is pretty safe and the schools are good. half hour/45 min commute to downtown easy.

i did a zillow search and found 4-5 decent places for 700k

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Traffic in LA isn't limited to commuting hours. Certain roads are bad all day long.

I went to college in LA 20 years ago. After 7pm, there would be no traffic on the freeway, go full speed. Now, even at 10:00pm at night, there are still loads if cars. I would NOT return to LA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Check out Huntington Beach. Mission Viego. Ladera Ranch.

Are these areas really within an hour of downtown LA? Not being skeptical, they just seem really far.

It's probably a little over an hour going full speed. Not during rush hour or post accident.

[Anonymous]

OP, do you have children? If so that would change a lot of my consideration. The school system is horrific overall so you should also be near and be able to afford private school if that's the way you decide to go.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, do you have children? If so that would change a lot of my consideration. The school system is horrific overall so you should also be near and be able to afford private school if that's the way you decide to go.

West LA is the richer part of LA. You have Brentwood, Santa Monica, Pacific Palisades. Not many parents send their kids to private school there. East LA and South Central La probably have the horrific schools you mention.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Claremont and Upland, but the commute would be pushing it. Try Pasadena.

commute is just too long. Traffic is horrible. If you must do this, try to get closer. I just read an article about how Glendale, which I know well, is up and coming and still affordable. I don't know about Glendale's schools. Pasadena is very expensive but commute is good. San Marino is good but $$. Pacific Palisades is good but $$$$. BTW most families in those communities go private so you have to tack that on top of your housing expenses if you can't go public.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Check out Huntington Beach. Mission Viego. Ladera Ranch.

NO Way if hubby is downtown Los Angeles. OP, where in particular, in Los Angeles. It's a huge sprawl.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Claremont and Upland, but the commute would be pushing it. Try Pasadena.

commute is just too long. Traffic is horrible. If you must do this, try to get closer. I just read an article about how Glendale, which I know well, is up and coming and still affordable. I don't know about Glendale's schools. Pasadena is very expensive but commute is good. San Marino is good but $$. Pacific Palisades is good but $$$$. BTW most families in those communities go private so you have to tack that on top of your housing expenses if you can't go public.

If you live in Palisades or Palos Verdes, you can go public.

[Anonymous]

OP Here. We do have elementary school-aged kids. DH would be working in central downtown LA. Like where the dot is on a map of LA.

[Anonymous]

What about Los Feliz?

[Anonymous]

Bottom line -- it is pretty hard to get anything in a decent area within an hour commute with three bedrooms for less than $1Million. In the nicer areas, it's hard to get anything decent for less than $2 million. Pasadena is one of the better school districts, so is Beverly Hills--I think you can use public all the way through. I've had friends on the west side who are ok with their local elementary schools, but after that it gets dicey. Most send their kids to private or parochial school (and those aren't particularly religious, but there are some catholic schools that are strong academically).

[Anonymous]

OP have you looked at Malibu. It may be a bit of a commute, but totally worth it!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP have you looked at Malibu. It may be a bit of a commute, but totally worth it!

Probably depends on where in Malibu but there is a trailer park there with trailers going for $1 million+

[Anonymous]

Lots of choices of homes in the 500,000 to 700,000 range in LA.
http://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sale/Los-Angeles-CA/pmf,pf_pt/house,townhouse_type/12447_rid/4-_beds/2-_baths/500000-700000_price/1936-2711_mp/days_sort/34.567079,-117.528992,33.472117,-119.293671_rect/9_zm/