Moving to Los Angeles

[CAdreaming]

At this point in his career it looks moving to LA is really the best option for DH (he is in film and TV). Aside from health insurance which I know is a huge issue, especially when not employed by a company, can anyone give me feedback on living in LA? We are in Kent right now but a quick train ride to London. I have heard that schools in LA aren't great and that private schools cost a fortune. I have also heard that if you don't need to commute to an office each day the best places to live are Malibu, Manhattan Beach or Palos Verdes as the schools are good (but houses are expensive). Can anyone give me feedback on any of these areas?

I am currently a SAHM and am a bit afraid of being lonely if DH has to travel for extended periods of time so would love to live somewhere that people are reasonably friendly and welcoming. My kids are 10 and 12 so we want to do this sooner rather than later, it would be a long term, permanent move most likely and I am fine with them choosing to live in the US long term. DH is a US citizen as he was born there so that side of things is also a bit easier, he has lived and worked in LA in the past too but that was pre marriage and kids so his experiences are not very helpful in the decision at this stage of our lives!

I am of no help but - jealous!!!!!!

Manhattan Beach and Palos Verdes are both too far away from LA. Malibu is lovely but expensive. Try Topanga Canyon, North Hollywood and Sherman Oaks? Santa Monica too. I don’t know about schools but if he has an agent they can help with local information.

Is Manhattan Beach really that far? It is right near the airport which seems great since I'm sure DH will have a fair amount of travel. Someone told me that is the best bet if we don't want to do private schools. Malibu does seem a bit too $, the only affordable homes I've seen are in a trailer park (a nice one but still...) We would love Pacific Palisades since that has good schools and is supposed to be great but the prices are insane, it is $4million for a 3 bedroom house!

Manhattan Beach isn't TOO far from LA. It depends how your commute is. If your husband's going to be freelance and traveling to studios on production hours, it may be a bit tough on top of those brutally long days. It's also pretty expensive. There are plenty of places with access to good schools, even if they are not your closest neighborhood school. There are tons of magnet and charter schools to apply to, if you'd like. If you're set on your kids walking to the nearest neighborhood school, you probably want either a very expensive area, or a town that's got it's own school district, not part of Los Angeles Unified School District. Good choices are Culver City (love it there!), Santa Monica, Burbank, and South Pasadena. Pretty much everywhere is going to be friendly and welcoming, especially if you have kids to facilitate meeting people. Don't worry too much. Maybe rent for a year to figure it out? Transferring schools is easy, they have to take you if you're in the neighborhood!

Agree all those areas are tough if he ends up working at any of the studios - I love Manhattan Beach but even though it looks close on a map it’s a bitch to get in and out of!

Don't try living near LAX. The noise will drive you crazy.

We lived in LA for a few months about ten years ago - we still talk about how brilliant it was, so I am very jealous, you'll have a great time! We lived in Brentwood Village which was lovely with a really nice park and handy to get lots of places.

We were meant to be in Pacific Palisades which was a brilliant family area but £££. If you have the budget for it I would definitely look there though. It is the first town you come to from Malibu towards LA along PCH. There's a great park, the beach, hiking in the mountains, a library, a lovely town centre, friendly community and it's walkable!! There is a charter school there which I think was meant to be very good, but as I said I'm talking ten years ago. I can't imagine living in Malibu itself - it's just the beach, houses and some restaurants as I remember. I knew someone who lived in Topanga Canyon and that sounded nice.

I found people very friendly, especially once they found out I was British. I would go and live there again in a heartbeat!