We lived in San Diego for a decade+ before moving to LA. We lived in Central / Central Coastal San Diego (Clairement, then Bay Park) and didn’t want to live too far inland for climate purposes. This pointed us to areas like Santa Monica, Manhattan Beach, etc (which were a bit too expensive). But we found some nice pockets on LA’s west side that are really nice places to live. You shouldn’t omit these areas in your search.
The places you are looking are nice, but to me the heat and air quality in places like Pasadena overcame the positives you’ve already mentioned.[/quote]
I grew up around the Poway/RB area then the last 4 years after college rented in Carmel Valley. We don’t really like the idea of the extreme heat but schools and safety are our biggest considerations. We do have an Autistic 3 yr old son (and 1 yr old daughter) and will be trying to take advantage of the additional services offered in CA, both through our insurance and school system.
What nice pocket areas did you find? I’ve heard about torrance and culver city but seems a little out of our price range. We’re looking for a 3/2 SFH under 675K, we can technically afford more on my husbands salary but don’t want to stretch too far with a special needs child. We are planning on renting initally to get a better feel for the area but also feel a little clueless on where to rent. If it’s true that the only reasonable place we can afford is out in Valencia then I feel we should rent out there to see if hubby can handle it, otherwise we’ll have to re-evaluate if a townhome/condo would be better.
