Reviews & Comments
South Pasadena, CA
Great Place but Really Expensive if You Have a Fa -
1/10/2012I lived in South Pasadena from 2000-2009 and I really took it for granted until I moved.
I relocated from the Midwest and I initially lived in Culver City for about a year. I wound up in South Pasadena completely randomly when a friend suggested I look there when my fiance and I were separating.
The positives of "South Pas", as locals call it, are really endless. From a location stand-point it is pretty awesome, especially if you work in downtown LA or anywhere in central Los Angeles.
The real charm of South Pasadena is that it has a "small town feel" in the middle of Los Angeles. There is quaint "downtown" area with some cool restaurants and coffee shops with quite a bit of activity on a consistent basis. There is also a lot of diversity amongst gender, race, age and sexual orientantion. There is a really great open feeling here.
Also, Whether you like to walk, run or bike there are lots of great places to do this. If you are a runner you literally can run to the Rose Bowl and do a lap and return home. If you are a mountain biker there are some awesome trails really close by.
If you like holidays, you able to walk up to Orange Grove avenue and watch the Rose Bowl parade. And there is a pretty great fireworks display at South Pasadena High School on the forth every year.
Finally, as many others have posted, the school district is hands down one of the best in Los Angeles..
The two negatives to South Pasadena are the weather and the cost of renting and/or purchasng a home. The weather in the summer can really become unbearable so plan on spending a lot on central air unless you want to sweat a lot. The winters are much more temparate and I feel the overall benefits of South Pas outweigh the weather.
The big issue with South Pasadena is really the price of housing. When I first relocated to the area back in '99 my 1000 plus square foot apartment was about $750 per mpnth and I distinctly remember seeing a three bedrom house for around $380k less than a block from where I lived. Fast forward to 2012 and you would be hard pressed to get into a three bedroom townhome for less than $500k with your average three bedroom house hovering closer to $700k. Rents have also gone up in proportion. If you are looking for a one or two bedroom apartment there are still some good deals to be hand but when you get to three spend on spending some money.
Overall great place to live.
San Buenaventura (Ventura), CA
A Mixed Bag... -
1/10/2012I relocated to Ventura about a year and a half ago for a job after having spent over ten years living in the Los Angeles area. So first I will give the good. The weather, as other have stated is purely awesome. While it's true that we do get a lot of fog in the Spring and Summer I would take this any day over 90 plus degree days in Los Angeles and the fact is that many coastal areas in Southern California are very similar. And although I am not a beach person I would definitely say the beaches in Ventura are very nice. Unlike LA beaches it is never very difficult to find parking and the crowds are way better than they are in Santa Monica or Manhattan Beach.
Another positive, again in comparison to most areas in Southern California, is that Ventura is quite bit cheaper than most decent places to live in Southern California. In Ventura is it possible to purchase a three, or even four bedroom house, for between $350K-$450K in a good area. You will not be living four blocks from the beach but you will most certainly be living in a great area to raise a family.
One last positive is the location of Ventura. While Ventura doesn't have all of the action of Los Angeles the fact is that you are located within thirty minutes of Santa Barbara to the North and Thousand Oaks to the South. Santa Barbara is great for a quick weekend getaway, where you might even see a celebrity or two;-), and Thousand Oaks is great if your are looking for your "suburban mall fix." I also should mention Camarillo, even closer than Thousand Oaks, has a pretty decent Outlet mall.
The main "negatives" I see with Ventura I can sum up pretty quickly. First, the population in general seems to skew a bit older. I say this being almost 42 so I am not exactly a young one but I do miss the young hip feeling of LA. Secondly, there seems to be somewhat of a conservative vibe as well. I am a complete liberal and LA obviously skews more this direction. My final issue, which some may perceive as a positive, is that even though Ventura is not what I would call necessarily a small town there are a lot of natives here and it seems a bit hard to break into on the social front.
Overall I would say Ventura has more positives than negatives compared to other areas in Southern California if you can make it work.