petitefrancaise

Yes. Very good idea.

Do a bit of your own investigating beforehand though.... the relocation advisor can help you narrow areas/schools down but they need to know your priorities/needs to do it well.

off_again

I am no expert, but having been to many different parts of the LA area for work, I would vote for OC, Thousand Oaks / Simi Valley and maybe a little further down to say Carlsbad as good places to be. However, its worth noting that Thousand Oaks / Simi Valley and Carlsbad are WAAYYY out of LA and would require a bit of a serious commute, depending on location.

For example

Carlsbad to Irvine - over an hour for 50 miles
Carlsbad to LA downtown - 80+ miles and well over 2 hours!!!!

Doesnt seem much on a map, killer on the freeway! But, if you do it infrequently and can work out of peak rush hours (does LA have any not-peak rush hours?) then it might be do-able.

OldJuddian

It all depends on how good the relocation advisor is. Mine was useless and essentially got in the way. If you go down that route make sure that you get along well with your advisor.

On 2 out of 3 of my relocations the (company supplied) realtor was the best help/source of advice. However in the other one the realtor was horrendous - just like the relocation advisor.

weeziewoozles

Thank you so much. I'm feeling more confident that we can ask the right questions now.

weeziewoozles

So we're going out there for 11 nights to explore. Anyone on here live in Venice or Santa Monica? Where should we go first?

N1cky

You've picked two of the most expensive places. Santa Monica is lovely, they have a lovely downtown area, lots going on, fabulous weather, the beach, Boardwalk... However, it's obviously a huge tourist attraction and that means even more traffic, long waits at restaurants, and very high rents.

Venice is a little quieter, lovely beaches again, and not the same large downtown. The boardwalk seemed really trashy the last time I was down there, but there are some lovely little areas. Again traffic can be a nightmare, and the weather can often be mistier than other areas. Again it's rather pricey.

Check out Zillow.com for rentals. Personally, we couldn't afford to live in either with needing space for a kid.

Houses For Rent in Venice Los Angeles - 120 Homes | Zillow

Did you find out the office location yet?

morpeth

Weather great in California, and some nice places to visit with kids in northern California. Schools, my own experience is forget public schools and seek a private school. Even then standards generally low in my opinion.Traffic in LA horrible- when I worked in California I organized my work schedule accordingly, and wherever possible worked from home. For example I worked out with my company two afternoons a week to work from home, and every other week one day working at home. Actually was more productive that way. Learn which areas to avoid, fairly easy to take the wrong turnoff and end up in area best to avoid.

weeziewoozles

Thanks. Yes the office is going to be in Santa Monica itself and we're determined that my husband won't spend hours in the car. So we'll need to look at rentals within cycling distance of the office which will therefore be expensive. I'm hoping therefore that it will be paid for by the company. Ideally we'd find areas outside the tourist traps but within an easy commute.

RE private schools, there's no way we could afford them so if the company aren't up for footing the bill for three children, it'd have to be public school.

Pulaski

Your chauffeur will probably be able to advise.


Does your husband suffer from depression or have a history of suicidal thoughts?

N1cky

Cycling in Santa Monica is fine, there are bike paths everywhere, and people cycle to work in CA all the time

Beaverstate

You may be a bit behind the curve as far as the Left coast goes. In the Portland area they turn streets with one southbound lane and one northbound lane and one center turn lane into one north, one south, no middle turn and a squeeze entering most intersections. Very few bikers are ever injured since it is expected downtown that they can and may appear anywhere at any time.

Beaverstate

Yes it does help biking especially north and south with the Pacific blocking from one direction.

dj6372

I live up the road in Marina Del Rey, personally we would not live in Santa Monica as beautiful as it is, it is very touristy and I will only go there if I have to!

Yeah LA traffic is appalling but it is manageable, I drive 33 miles each way and cope.

The Metro train is now fully functional into SM so it could be an option to live further out, and use the train.

The area is fantastic, not too hot, beaches are nice, plenty of good food, cycle tracks along the beach (I refuse to cycle on the main roads!!)
As stated before Venice Beach is a tourist trap and a dump, all the bums have set up camp along the boardwalk and it stinks of piddle.
You have Marina Del Rey, Playa Del Rey, Manhattan beach et al.
I love living here, but it effin spendy, gas is on average a buck a gallon more, rentals are stupid prices, but hopefully the salary you receive covers this.
My wife and I both earn very good salaries, but my eyes still water when paying the rent.
Any questions ask away, there are a lot of knowledgeable folk on here.

morpeth

Depending of course on your point of view, parochial schools ( which are no way the same as the image one has from 20 or 30 years ago) may be an option. Worth looking into, and sometimes they can tailor tuition to family's needs. I cant comment on current elementary school situation in UK, but I was very unimpressed by California schools, both public and private, but at least private school generally safer and a bit higher educational standards. The problem is even the private school often judges performance against low California standards- so what California parents consider a "good school" can be woefully inadequate. My experience though was in northern California.

Chrisdc

Some areas to look at -
Pacific Palisades, Brentwood, The peninsula on Marina Del Rey (Speedway,) Playa Del Rey and the east side of Santa Monica away from the tourists...

Brentwood is really nice, but the eastbound traffic to the 405 is a huge concern right now.