oh no not another newbie!
Aug 17th 2004, 8:32 pm
#16
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Joined: Jun 2003
Location: California since 1997 now back in UK since July 2004
Posts: 1,398
Re: oh no not another newbie!
Originally Posted by Hugh Jaas
Well the actual job is in Woodland Hills, Ventura might make it a hefty commute. I dont know I've not really truly experienced proper LA traffic. I hear its bad. I was hopping to live around Camarillo or 1000 oaks, maybe Westlake. I hear they are nice/safe places with good schools. Only they sound expensive.
Have you heard of those areas? Good places?
I think we can handle the temperature ok. I am actually Indian of origin, but born and bred in the British Climate cooler climes is where I function the best. Mind you, I guess one gets acclimatized wherever you go. I have heard Valley temperatures can go nutty.
Have you heard of those areas? Good places?
I think we can handle the temperature ok. I am actually Indian of origin, but born and bred in the British Climate cooler climes is where I function the best. Mind you, I guess one gets acclimatized wherever you go. I have heard Valley temperatures can go nutty.
I can help you definately..... We just moved back from California a couple of months ago... Hubby worked in woodland hills for almost 7 yrs... We have 4 kids so know the schools... We lived in West Hills, about 4 miles from woodland Hills......
Not sure on your budget, but there are loads of places Nr. woodland hills that are safe and not too expensive...... Are you looking for a house or appartment?
Schools.... LAUSD SUCKS!!!!!! But some are better than others.... Do you need elementary, middle or high schools?
If I had a choice, the nicest place I think to live near woodland hills is Calabasas. Better elementary, middle and high schools there...( my eldest went to the middle school for that area) Also they have The Commons. A small shopping area with cinema, restaurants and Starbucks... Safe for the kids to go to the movies with friends, and a nice place for the family to hang out on a warm summer evening.....
Simi Valley is another area to consider. They have their own school district, and are supposed to be better than LAUSD.... House prices are comparable to West hills....
GOD I sound like a tour guide... LOL
If I can help with anything let me know..... Good luck with your adventure....
Aug 18th 2004, 12:59 am
#17
dealing with it
Joined: Feb 2003
Location: DC
Posts: 2,916
Re: oh no not another newbie!
HM!!!!
You’re great! Where have you been!!!! I missed you, how are things going back in Blighty?
You’re not really missing much over here, its still raining in NYC and I’m getting very sick of talking politics, I suppose I’ll have to suck it up until at least November and probably a lot longer than that based on the 2000 election!
Chopper
You’re great! Where have you been!!!! I missed you, how are things going back in Blighty?
You’re not really missing much over here, its still raining in NYC and I’m getting very sick of talking politics, I suppose I’ll have to suck it up until at least November and probably a lot longer than that based on the 2000 election!
Chopper
Aug 18th 2004, 1:28 am
#18
Forum Regular
Thread Starter
Joined: Aug 2004
Location: CheadleHulme - los Angeles - Austin,TX
Posts: 69
Re: oh no not another newbie!
GOD I sound like a tour guide... LOL
Excellent! A tour guide is exactly what I need!
honeymommy, thank you for the welcome! I wonder if this should be started as a new thread, so it’s useful for anyone else?
First off I have to ask, you moved back after 7 years, how come?
7 years? Is that on a H-1B Visa?
I’d be looking for an Furnished Apartment, 2 bed to start with. I would like to try to stay under $1700 per mtn. I have done a few searches.
I feel we would have to take a step back before we move forwards. We currently have a small 3-bed semi. Got two sprogs but the are 2 and 3 yrs old. But Schooling later on will be important and It seems like you have to be in the catchment area for schools.
Ok here’s where I go stoopid , What is LAUSD. I take it means Los Angeles summat? I have heard LA county schools are bobbins and the equivalent UK kids are 2 years ahead. Hence, I would like to move to an area that keeps us in Ventura County.
West hills sounds nice, is that near Westlake Village?
Did you guys manage to explore much of VENTURA COUNTY? I keep hearing great things about 1000 oaks. It was voted safest place to live in the Nation, just beat Simi Valley. I don’t know how credible it is . It was from the online ‘Ventura County Star’.
This is the article. I hope it’s ok to post it here ‘Big Brova’
I will definitely have more questions for you Honeymommy. Should I post them as a new thread though?
Thank you very kindly.
Thousand Oaks Is Safest Large City
Ventura County suburb ends neighbor Simi Valley's long reign atop the low-crime list.
By Daryl Kelley, Times Staff Writer
Seven California cities were among the nation's 10 most crime-free large cities in 2003, and two Ventura County suburbs topped the list again, FBI and census figures show.
Thousand Oaks nudged rival Simi Valley from the top spot among cities with at least 100,000 residents last year, the ninth straight year one of the two communities on the western flank of the San Fernando Valley ranked first.
In Los Angeles County, Glendale and Santa Clarita ranked fifth and seventh, respectively. In Orange County, Irvine ranked sixth and Huntington Beach was eighth. The Bay Area city of Sunnyvale placed ninth.
The low-crime list was dominated again by overgrown suburbs that are essentially small towns that don't have much poverty and were created as havens for refugees from big-city problems, said demographic researcher Joel Kotkin, who is completing a history of cities worldwide.
"These places grew very rapidly and have not yet developed an underclass; they're the slumless city," said Kotkin, a senior fellow with the Davenport Institute for Public Policy at Pepperdine University.
"And in the case of Thousand Oaks and Irvine, they were created as being middle or upper middle class," he said. "They were designed to have little crime, and it worked."
The low-crime rankings were compiled by The Times based on a ratio of population to crimes reported by local police agencies to the FBI in seven categories: murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, theft and auto theft. Each crime is given the same weight, so a homicide counts no more than a bike theft.
When only violent crimes are considered, Irvine ranked as the safest among large U.S. cities, and Amherst, a college community near Buffalo, N.Y., was second.
In topping the low-crime list, Thousand Oaks edged Simi Valley for the first time since 1997. It was the 13th time in 16 years that one of the cities had prevailed. Amherst was first the other three times and ranked third last year.
The rankings are often seen as a boon by both city officials and business officials. Real estate agents regularly reprint articles about them, and employers cite them when recruiting.
"As the mayor of Thousand Oaks, I'm quite proud," Bob Wilson Sr. said. "This community has made public safety and open space and education its top objectives. We have all the good things, so good people want to live here."
But Wilson said he values low-crime rankings not for bragging rights over Simi Valley, but as a reflection of the overall safety of neighboring cities, including Moorpark and Westlake Village in Los Angeles County.
"We're all pretty much one community, with the same goals and aspirations," he said.
However, because Simi Valley has held the "safest city" title most recently and more often, officials there often take it more to heart.
"It's always disappointing if we drop out of first place," Simi Valley Mayor Bill Davis said. "But we've always felt that if we stay in the first four, we've done a really good job."
Simi Valley, which experienced a 16% crime increase last year, created an eight-person citizens' patrol that took to the streets early this year.
Driving old police cruisers and communicating by cellphone, the volunteers roll up alleys, through shopping centers and past houses whose owners notified police they were going away on vacation.
"If they call, we have an officer there in a matter of a minute," Davis said.
Nationwide, preliminary reports show crime dropped last year, about 3% in violent offenses but only slightly in property crimes. In California, violent crime was down 3.2% and property crime up 2.8%, the attorney general reported recently.
Leading the way were the suburbs that ring California's largest cities, where crime rates were about half the state's overall. Thousand Oaks' rate was about 16.1 crimes per 1,000 residents and Simi Valley's was 17.6. By comparison, the California crime rate was about 39 offenses, and the U.S. rate was about 41 in the most recent reports.
In Orange County, Irvine had a rate of 21.3; Huntington Beach, 23.4; Orange, 27.6; Garden Grove, 31.9; Santa Ana, 33.5; Costa Mesa, 35.3; Anaheim, 35.4; and Fullerton, 38.5.
In Ventura County, Oxnard's rate was 31 and Ventura's was 40.8.
Riverside's crime rate was 54; and San Bernardino's was 78.8, one of the highest in the state.
San Jose's crime rate of 26.8 was easily the best among the nation's largest cities and was 14th lowest among all 237 large cities that reported to the FBI.
Los Angeles' crime rate was 48.6 per 1,000 residents last year. It had 2,872 fewer violent crimes than the previous year, a 5.6% reduction, and 3,516 fewer property crimes, a 2.5% decrease.
Of the nation's 10 largest cities, only New York at 29.2 per 1,000 and San Diego at 42.7 had lower rates than Los Angeles. The highest rates among the largest cities were Dallas' 94.7 and Detroit's 90.3.
Excellent! A tour guide is exactly what I need!
honeymommy, thank you for the welcome! I wonder if this should be started as a new thread, so it’s useful for anyone else?First off I have to ask, you moved back after 7 years, how come?
7 years? Is that on a H-1B Visa?
I’d be looking for an Furnished Apartment, 2 bed to start with. I would like to try to stay under $1700 per mtn. I have done a few searches.
I feel we would have to take a step back before we move forwards. We currently have a small 3-bed semi. Got two sprogs but the are 2 and 3 yrs old. But Schooling later on will be important and It seems like you have to be in the catchment area for schools.
Ok here’s where I go stoopid , What is LAUSD. I take it means Los Angeles summat? I have heard LA county schools are bobbins and the equivalent UK kids are 2 years ahead. Hence, I would like to move to an area that keeps us in Ventura County.
West hills sounds nice, is that near Westlake Village?
Did you guys manage to explore much of VENTURA COUNTY? I keep hearing great things about 1000 oaks. It was voted safest place to live in the Nation, just beat Simi Valley. I don’t know how credible it is . It was from the online ‘Ventura County Star’.
This is the article. I hope it’s ok to post it here ‘Big Brova’
I will definitely have more questions for you Honeymommy. Should I post them as a new thread though? Thank you very kindly.
Thousand Oaks Is Safest Large City
Ventura County suburb ends neighbor Simi Valley's long reign atop the low-crime list.
By Daryl Kelley, Times Staff Writer
Seven California cities were among the nation's 10 most crime-free large cities in 2003, and two Ventura County suburbs topped the list again, FBI and census figures show.
Thousand Oaks nudged rival Simi Valley from the top spot among cities with at least 100,000 residents last year, the ninth straight year one of the two communities on the western flank of the San Fernando Valley ranked first.
In Los Angeles County, Glendale and Santa Clarita ranked fifth and seventh, respectively. In Orange County, Irvine ranked sixth and Huntington Beach was eighth. The Bay Area city of Sunnyvale placed ninth.
The low-crime list was dominated again by overgrown suburbs that are essentially small towns that don't have much poverty and were created as havens for refugees from big-city problems, said demographic researcher Joel Kotkin, who is completing a history of cities worldwide.
"These places grew very rapidly and have not yet developed an underclass; they're the slumless city," said Kotkin, a senior fellow with the Davenport Institute for Public Policy at Pepperdine University.
"And in the case of Thousand Oaks and Irvine, they were created as being middle or upper middle class," he said. "They were designed to have little crime, and it worked."
The low-crime rankings were compiled by The Times based on a ratio of population to crimes reported by local police agencies to the FBI in seven categories: murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, theft and auto theft. Each crime is given the same weight, so a homicide counts no more than a bike theft.
When only violent crimes are considered, Irvine ranked as the safest among large U.S. cities, and Amherst, a college community near Buffalo, N.Y., was second.
In topping the low-crime list, Thousand Oaks edged Simi Valley for the first time since 1997. It was the 13th time in 16 years that one of the cities had prevailed. Amherst was first the other three times and ranked third last year.
The rankings are often seen as a boon by both city officials and business officials. Real estate agents regularly reprint articles about them, and employers cite them when recruiting.
"As the mayor of Thousand Oaks, I'm quite proud," Bob Wilson Sr. said. "This community has made public safety and open space and education its top objectives. We have all the good things, so good people want to live here."
But Wilson said he values low-crime rankings not for bragging rights over Simi Valley, but as a reflection of the overall safety of neighboring cities, including Moorpark and Westlake Village in Los Angeles County.
"We're all pretty much one community, with the same goals and aspirations," he said.
However, because Simi Valley has held the "safest city" title most recently and more often, officials there often take it more to heart.
"It's always disappointing if we drop out of first place," Simi Valley Mayor Bill Davis said. "But we've always felt that if we stay in the first four, we've done a really good job."
Simi Valley, which experienced a 16% crime increase last year, created an eight-person citizens' patrol that took to the streets early this year.
Driving old police cruisers and communicating by cellphone, the volunteers roll up alleys, through shopping centers and past houses whose owners notified police they were going away on vacation.
"If they call, we have an officer there in a matter of a minute," Davis said.
Nationwide, preliminary reports show crime dropped last year, about 3% in violent offenses but only slightly in property crimes. In California, violent crime was down 3.2% and property crime up 2.8%, the attorney general reported recently.
Leading the way were the suburbs that ring California's largest cities, where crime rates were about half the state's overall. Thousand Oaks' rate was about 16.1 crimes per 1,000 residents and Simi Valley's was 17.6. By comparison, the California crime rate was about 39 offenses, and the U.S. rate was about 41 in the most recent reports.
In Orange County, Irvine had a rate of 21.3; Huntington Beach, 23.4; Orange, 27.6; Garden Grove, 31.9; Santa Ana, 33.5; Costa Mesa, 35.3; Anaheim, 35.4; and Fullerton, 38.5.
In Ventura County, Oxnard's rate was 31 and Ventura's was 40.8.
Riverside's crime rate was 54; and San Bernardino's was 78.8, one of the highest in the state.
San Jose's crime rate of 26.8 was easily the best among the nation's largest cities and was 14th lowest among all 237 large cities that reported to the FBI.
Los Angeles' crime rate was 48.6 per 1,000 residents last year. It had 2,872 fewer violent crimes than the previous year, a 5.6% reduction, and 3,516 fewer property crimes, a 2.5% decrease.
Of the nation's 10 largest cities, only New York at 29.2 per 1,000 and San Diego at 42.7 had lower rates than Los Angeles. The highest rates among the largest cities were Dallas' 94.7 and Detroit's 90.3.
Aug 18th 2004, 1:32 am
#19
Forum Regular
Thread Starter
Joined: Aug 2004
Location: CheadleHulme - los Angeles - Austin,TX
Posts: 69
Re: oh no not another newbie!
Originally Posted by Chopper-Chris
HM!!!!
You’re great! Where have you been!!!! I missed you, how are things going back in Blighty?
You’re not really missing much over here, its still raining in NYC and I’m getting very sick of talking politics, I suppose I’ll have to suck it up until at least November and probably a lot longer than that based on the 2000 election!
Chopper
You’re great! Where have you been!!!! I missed you, how are things going back in Blighty?
You’re not really missing much over here, its still raining in NYC and I’m getting very sick of talking politics, I suppose I’ll have to suck it up until at least November and probably a lot longer than that based on the 2000 election!
Chopper
Aug 18th 2004, 1:45 am
#20
dealing with it
Joined: Feb 2003
Location: DC
Posts: 2,916
Re: oh no not another newbie!
Originally Posted by Hugh Jaas
Hey Chopper, (cue DeNiro Voice).you talkin' to me? have you got the right thread Chopper?
yeah, sorry to hijack...I just havn't seen HMommy for months and it was nice to see her name again...
back to Ventura then
Aug 18th 2004, 2:00 am
#21
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 6,848
Re: oh no not another newbie!
Originally Posted by Chopper-Chris
yeah, sorry to hijack...I just havn't seen HMommy for months and it was nice to see her name again...
Hey - are you getting grounded from flying your chopper when the Republicans come to town?
(er, Hugh Jass = Fatbum/Jaswinder?) sorry for going off topic here!
Aug 18th 2004, 2:24 am
#22
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Thread Starter
Joined: Aug 2004
Location: CheadleHulme - los Angeles - Austin,TX
Posts: 69
Re: oh no not another newbie!
Originally Posted by Englishmum
Chris: Ever since HM has been back in Blighty she's been posting regularly on the "Moving Back to the UK" board!
Hey - are you getting grounded from flying your chopper when the Republicans come to town?
(er, Hugh Jass = Fatbum/Jaswinder?) sorry for going off topic here!
Hey - are you getting grounded from flying your chopper when the Republicans come to town?
(er, Hugh Jass = Fatbum/Jaswinder?) sorry for going off topic here!
no probs guys. I dont mind. Fatbum/Jaswinder lol. Nice try Englishmum
Aug 18th 2004, 2:34 am
#23
dealing with it
Joined: Feb 2003
Location: DC
Posts: 2,916
Re: oh no not another newbie!
Originally Posted by Englishmum
Chris: Ever since HM has been back in Blighty she's been posting regularly on the "Moving Back to the UK" board!
Hey - are you getting grounded from flying your chopper when the Republicans come to town?
(er, Hugh Jass = Fatbum/Jaswinder?) sorry for going off topic here!
Hey - are you getting grounded from flying your chopper when the Republicans come to town?
(er, Hugh Jass = Fatbum/Jaswinder?) sorry for going off topic here!
Aug 18th 2004, 3:04 am
#24
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Mar 2004
Location: Chicago, Il
Posts: 1,320
Re: oh no not another newbie!
Hi Hugh
ok, my wife and I (who hails from stockport btw) moved here (woodland hills) in Jan this year as I landed a nice job working for Neversoft Entertainment (Tony Hawks) as a programmer.... anyways... Woodland hills is very nice, the 101 is a nightmare but to get almost anywhere you HAVE to use it unless you fancy the surface streets which are doable at a push.
re: apartment for less that $1700 - I currently rent a 3 bed apartment with 1280 sqr ft, nice place for $1775, in my complex you'll get a 2bed 800sqft for $1380, 2 bed 950sqft for $1555. BTW - this is On Erwin/Owensmouth where Genuine Games are ... Hope this helps.
what do you do btw?
PM me for my email addy
andy
ok, my wife and I (who hails from stockport btw) moved here (woodland hills) in Jan this year as I landed a nice job working for Neversoft Entertainment (Tony Hawks) as a programmer.... anyways... Woodland hills is very nice, the 101 is a nightmare but to get almost anywhere you HAVE to use it unless you fancy the surface streets which are doable at a push.
re: apartment for less that $1700 - I currently rent a 3 bed apartment with 1280 sqr ft, nice place for $1775, in my complex you'll get a 2bed 800sqft for $1380, 2 bed 950sqft for $1555. BTW - this is On Erwin/Owensmouth where Genuine Games are ... Hope this helps.
what do you do btw?
PM me for my email addy
andy
Aug 18th 2004, 3:19 am
#25
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 18,950
Re: oh no not another newbie!
Originally Posted by Hugh Jaas
Well the actual job is in Woodland Hills, Ventura might make it a hefty commute. I dont know I've not really truly experienced proper LA traffic. I hear its bad. I was hopping to live around Camarillo or 1000 oaks, maybe Westlake. I hear they are nice/safe places with good schools. Only they sound expensive.
Have you heard of those areas? Good places?
Have you heard of those areas? Good places?
Aug 18th 2004, 3:31 am
#26
BE Site Lead
Joined: Aug 2004
Location: MA, USA
Posts: 92,175
Re: oh no not another newbie!
Originally Posted by Hugh Jaas
Greetings to all on the Forum! ( from Cheshire, Cheadle Hulme),
yep newbie to this forum, er actually come to think of it newbie to any forum.
Got the Embassy apointment in Sept for a H-1B.
I'm hoping to re-locate( with my wife and 2 sprogs) and go work in LA October of this year. I work in the Computer Games Industry.The Area I'll be locating to is Ventura County, anybody hail from there?
Been to the
I've found the forum incredibly useful. So you guys provide a really awesome service that one would really struggle to get from offical places. I mean you can't beat learning from someone else's experience.
Got no questions as of yet , just thought I'd say hello.
yep newbie to this forum, er actually come to think of it newbie to any forum.
Got the Embassy apointment in Sept for a H-1B.
I'm hoping to re-locate( with my wife and 2 sprogs) and go work in LA October of this year. I work in the Computer Games Industry.The Area I'll be locating to is Ventura County, anybody hail from there?
Been to the
I've found the forum incredibly useful. So you guys provide a really awesome service that one would really struggle to get from offical places. I mean you can't beat learning from someone else's experience.
Got no questions as of yet , just thought I'd say hello.
Good luck....I've almost had three offer's myself ranging from san fran, virginia and texas and they all baulked when they found I didn't have greencard in hand *l* though one did keep a place open for a few months.
San Fran bay area is where it's at to be honest, loads of jobs, even with tiny places, but another hot spot is austen, texas....don't know why...
Aug 18th 2004, 4:53 am
#27
my arm aches
Joined: Jul 2003
Location: the warm waters of Florida
Posts: 2,289
Re: oh no not another newbie!
Originally Posted by Hugh Jaas
Yeah Church Road, just off the Roundabout, and there's an actual Church On Church Road! We are off Gilbent Rd!
We are off Gilbent Rd!
Aug 18th 2004, 4:57 am
#28
dealing with it
Joined: Feb 2003
Location: DC
Posts: 2,916
Re: oh no not another newbie!
Originally Posted by ladyofthelake
Well that's even closer then, my Dh grew up on Thorn Grove. The In laws still live there now.
Lady of the lake: "do you have a brother called Mike? cos if you do, I kissed him on the lips in 1963 behind the big oak tree on Yew Tree Drive"
This is great!
Aug 18th 2004, 6:00 am
#29
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Joined: Jun 2003
Location: California since 1997 now back in UK since July 2004
Posts: 1,398
Re: oh no not another newbie!
Hey Hugh... Tour guide here again... LOL
Yes we had H1b.... Looong story, but due to USA screw ups we had to leave....
OK....
I must say something straight away...... Crime rates.... It doesn't compare to the UK at all.... Woodland Hills, West Hills, Calabasas, Thousand Oaks, Simi Valley.... I could go on........ Basically there is hardly any crime. If you are paying $1700 a month for an appartment you can just about guarantee a happy crime free area..... In 7 years I have had no problems and very few concerns regarding crime, neither have any of my friends there.
As Far as Ventura...... Yes... Been through loads of times, never thought about living there as the commute for hubby would take away from family time...
I really would recommend living close to work. It takes just one woman breaking a fingernail on the freeway to close down the whole thing for ages... The other thing is... You get less vacation time in the US. Being close to home means more quality time with family.... Just my opinion though...
OK... Furnished apartment..... Would be more expensive....Alternative that will save you money and give you choice is to rent an apartment and seperately rent the furniture you need. This gives you choice on what you have and should you choose to buy your own things there is no messing around, you just stop renting those items..... There are loads of rental places available....
We went to the USA with 14 suitcases, 2 car seats and a large travel cot. 4 kids ages 6,4 and 2yr olds twins.... we took airbeds for the first week. Purchased the beds, dining table, basic kitchen stuff, and TV the first week, then slowly bought other things to make the apartment nice. It can be done very cheaply.....
We lived at the Warner Center Apartments on Canoga Avenue when we first moved there. I will say I didn't like it, but..... I did not like apartment living period..... I felt like I was in a rabbit hutch..... It was harder with 4 kids though..... Looking back it was a nice complex.... The summit is nice also versailles...... I would ask you new company to recommed somewhere, they may actually help with it all.....
West hills is close to Calabasas and Hidden Hills which is a gated housing area... very nice area yes.... We had a detached 3 bed with a den. Double Garage, nice front and back yard.... Rental price included water rates and a gardener..... We paid $1575 a month... The rent was lower than the average as we had been there for 5 yrs.... The landlord didn't raise the rent much as we were such good tenants..... Going rate now would be about $1800 I think, but there are some in the area for less..... Parts of Canoga park are really nice also, the parts close to west hills I mean....LOL.... Rent is cheaper there.....
OK.... LAUSD is Los Angeles Unified School District.....
http://notebook.lausd.net/portal/pag..._schema=PTL_EP
Heres a link for you..... To be honest USA is behind UK generally no matter where you go... They have a different curriculum... I hated it at first and never actually got to say I liked it, I guess I just adjusted...... Hale Middle School is a good school... El Camino a great High School... Haynes Elementary is a good start, their Kindergarten is wonderful.... BUT>>> If I could afford private I would have paid.....
http://www.mapquest.com/ This may help to see the area.....
Zip code for West Hills area.... 91307...... Woodland Hills.... 91367
No need for a new thread for more questions, just post here....... It will save you running all over the forum looking for answers...
Will try to think of some other useful stuff... got to run, kids ready to kill each other again.....
Oh just a thought... Whats your wife going to be doing?
PS..... CHOPPER CHRIS!!!!! Been here honey... Mostly in back to UK thread.... All OK here, but miss Calif and friends desperately......
Yes we had H1b.... Looong story, but due to USA screw ups we had to leave....
OK....
I must say something straight away...... Crime rates.... It doesn't compare to the UK at all.... Woodland Hills, West Hills, Calabasas, Thousand Oaks, Simi Valley.... I could go on........ Basically there is hardly any crime. If you are paying $1700 a month for an appartment you can just about guarantee a happy crime free area..... In 7 years I have had no problems and very few concerns regarding crime, neither have any of my friends there.
As Far as Ventura...... Yes... Been through loads of times, never thought about living there as the commute for hubby would take away from family time...
I really would recommend living close to work. It takes just one woman breaking a fingernail on the freeway to close down the whole thing for ages... The other thing is... You get less vacation time in the US. Being close to home means more quality time with family.... Just my opinion though...
OK... Furnished apartment..... Would be more expensive....Alternative that will save you money and give you choice is to rent an apartment and seperately rent the furniture you need. This gives you choice on what you have and should you choose to buy your own things there is no messing around, you just stop renting those items..... There are loads of rental places available....
We went to the USA with 14 suitcases, 2 car seats and a large travel cot. 4 kids ages 6,4 and 2yr olds twins....
we took airbeds for the first week. Purchased the beds, dining table, basic kitchen stuff, and TV the first week, then slowly bought other things to make the apartment nice. It can be done very cheaply.....We lived at the Warner Center Apartments on Canoga Avenue when we first moved there. I will say I didn't like it, but..... I did not like apartment living period..... I felt like I was in a rabbit hutch..... It was harder with 4 kids though..... Looking back it was a nice complex.... The summit is nice also versailles...... I would ask you new company to recommed somewhere, they may actually help with it all.....
West hills is close to Calabasas and Hidden Hills which is a gated housing area... very nice area yes.... We had a detached 3 bed with a den. Double Garage, nice front and back yard.... Rental price included water rates and a gardener..... We paid $1575 a month... The rent was lower than the average as we had been there for 5 yrs.... The landlord didn't raise the rent much as we were such good tenants..... Going rate now would be about $1800 I think, but there are some in the area for less..... Parts of Canoga park are really nice also, the parts close to west hills I mean....LOL.... Rent is cheaper there.....
OK.... LAUSD is Los Angeles Unified School District.....
http://notebook.lausd.net/portal/pag..._schema=PTL_EP
Heres a link for you..... To be honest USA is behind UK generally no matter where you go... They have a different curriculum... I hated it at first and never actually got to say I liked it, I guess I just adjusted...... Hale Middle School is a good school... El Camino a great High School... Haynes Elementary is a good start, their Kindergarten is wonderful.... BUT>>> If I could afford private I would have paid.....
http://www.mapquest.com/ This may help to see the area.....
Zip code for West Hills area.... 91307...... Woodland Hills.... 91367
No need for a new thread for more questions, just post here....... It will save you running all over the forum looking for answers...
Will try to think of some other useful stuff... got to run, kids ready to kill each other again.....
Oh just a thought... Whats your wife going to be doing?
PS..... CHOPPER CHRIS!!!!! Been here honey... Mostly in back to UK thread.... All OK here, but miss Calif and friends desperately......
Aug 18th 2004, 10:27 pm
#30
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Thread Starter
Joined: Aug 2004
Location: CheadleHulme - los Angeles - Austin,TX
Posts: 69
Re: oh no not another newbie!
Originally Posted by USBound
Hi Hugh
ok, my wife and I (who hails from stockport btw) moved here (woodland hills) in Jan this year as I landed a nice job working for Neversoft Entertainment (Tony Hawks) as a programmer.... anyways... Woodland hills is very nice, the 101 is a nightmare but to get almost anywhere you HAVE to use it unless you fancy the surface streets which are doable at a push.
re: apartment for less that $1700 - I currently rent a 3 bed apartment with 1280 sqr ft, nice place for $1775, in my complex you'll get a 2bed 800sqft for $1380, 2 bed 950sqft for $1555. BTW - this is On Erwin/Owensmouth where Genuine Games are ... Hope this helps.
what do you do btw?
PM me for my email addy
andy
ok, my wife and I (who hails from stockport btw) moved here (woodland hills) in Jan this year as I landed a nice job working for Neversoft Entertainment (Tony Hawks) as a programmer.... anyways... Woodland hills is very nice, the 101 is a nightmare but to get almost anywhere you HAVE to use it unless you fancy the surface streets which are doable at a push.
re: apartment for less that $1700 - I currently rent a 3 bed apartment with 1280 sqr ft, nice place for $1775, in my complex you'll get a 2bed 800sqft for $1380, 2 bed 950sqft for $1555. BTW - this is On Erwin/Owensmouth where Genuine Games are ... Hope this helps.
what do you do btw?
PM me for my email addy
andy
