CardiffBaseball – you won’t get any criticism from me on where you want to live!
Despite there being fairly clear-cut areas for Latino/non-Latinos, lots of people of all races and ethinicites live in all areas. As your search seems to be based on living space and non-LAUSD cachment areas, then you might consider some of the following. Unfortunately, as I don’t have kids, I don’t really keep track of the school districts, but ZipRealty will be able to show you the cachement areas.
I’m assuming you’re thinking of taking a job near the studios in Burbank/Universal Studios, so the nearer the better.
The 101 is bascially a parking lot at rush hour, so I’d advise finding a place south of the 101 with decent access to the US/Bbk area. Ventura Blvd or Moorpark are often used as a better east/west road, but as they are surface street, it can be time consuming.
I’ll take Universal City as ground-zero, so to speak.
Both the Burbank and Universal City areas are on the northern slopes of the Holywood Hills/southernmost part of the San Fernando Valley, so if you want a view ..look southeast, east, south and southwest of Universal City. If you want a flat yard and don’t mind living in SFV…then look northeast, north, northwest and west of UC.
Bear in mind that the San Fernando Valley can be as hot as hades in the summer, especially the further west you go, but if you don’t mind a ‘desert’ heat and have good A/C then its a nice, and cheaper alternative to living on the Westside – south of the Hollywood Hills.
Westside properties have a huge ‘sunshine tax’ premium (as does most of L.A at the moment), and people still look down on the SFV, but if you have a family that needs some room, then its definately worth looking at.
I’d definately avoid Hollywood proper altogether – its crowded and pretty sleazy. West Hollywood has some sweet little houses, emphasis on the little – but a word of warning, your neighbours have a much better chance of being gay in here, as this is a predominantly gay/lesbian area.
The hills above Sunset Blvd have some nice houses but being in the hills means that yards are hard to some by, and the prices are astronomical at present, for quite modest houses. Look for Cahuenga Pass, Mount Olympus, Hollywood Hills, Whitley Heights and Los Feliz for decent – if sometimes extremely expensive – places directly south of Universal City.
East of UC is Burbank which is quite a nice, safe area, and close by. It also has one of the 3 IKEAs in L.A, which is a plus in my book 😉 Lots of studio folk live there and the area isn’t as pricey as south of the hills. IIRC its also not in the LAUSD cachement area (being an incorportated city), but you’d need to check that. East of Burbank, I dont really know the areas, but i’m sure someone on Piggintons can advise you.
North and West of Universal City are Toluca Lake, North Hollywood, Valley Glen, Valley Village and Studio City. These areas are mostly north of Ventura Blvd, which means that they are less ‘desirable’ – South of Ventura nomally means more toney and more expensive. They’re mainly in the flat land of south San Fernando Valley, but these areas all have SFRs with decent yards. southern Studio City is actually up in the Hollywood Hills, so look for bigger prices and smaller yards.
I’d hazard a reccommendation at this point and say that you might like North Hollywood. It has a decent mix of Latino/non-Latino, and is cheaper than many other areas. Its quite a young and upcoming area, but there are some dodgy part of it, so research it well. Valley Glen and Valley Village are pretty much parts of the North Hollywood area.
Further West and South are Beverly Hills, Sherman Oaks and Encino and Van Nuys.
Van Nuys – where I am – is a lower middle class area, with a mix of Latino and non-Latino. The areas around Van Nuys Airport are nice, but very hot in summer. Prices are coming down, and 2b/2b SFRs with a decent (6000+ sqft) lot are anything from 500 – 700K. Encino and Sherman Oaks are your typical ‘stale white’ areas. North of Ventura Blvd is cheaper – and flatter – and south of Ventura more expensive.
Everyone has heard of “Beverly Hills 90210”, so expect to pay for it!
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Anyway, I hope I haven’t scared you off with too much information!
ZipRealty has searches for all these areas, so make up your own mind. And please feel free to pick my brains on any area you’re particularly interested in and I’ll do my best to help you out.
