Isolated
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3/15/2017
I own a house in Topanga now. People ask me all the time what it's like to live here so I thought I'd share my experience. I moved here from Santa Monica because I wanted to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city and live somewhere beautiful and peaceful. I also wanted to be close enough to LA to commute. Topanga seemed perfect. I bought my house in 2013 when real estate was more reasonable here and it was less popular. However, in recent years things have changed dramatically in Topanga. I'm planning to move in the next year for 2 main reasons:
The commute in and out of Topanga is no longer manageable! It used to take me 30 minutes to get from the lower canyon to Santa Monica, now it takes me 1.5 hours. And if you live further up in the canyon or in parts of Fernwood it takes longer. There's only one road in and out of Topanga to the PCH so if there's an accident you can be stuck for hours. This happens fairly often. Not having more roads in and out of the place you live can make it feel very claustrophobic. I've started using Amazon regularly and I sometimes order my groceries online. A lot of my neighbors have started doing the same, it's the only way to avoid spending all day in your car.
Another reason I am moving is because of the community. I want to live in a neighborhood that has more young families so when my husband and I have children, they can be closer to their peers. There aren't a lot of young people in general living in Topanga which is probably because of the worsening commute. People of retirement age who don't need to commute can manage the isolated lifestyle, so that is a popular demographic here. Most of the families I know are concerned about the imbalanced population and some are moving out as a result. It seems that the new residents moving in are seasonal residents who are buying their second home here. Their children usually don't go to school here.
Anyways, I hate to be negative but I wanted to share my experience in the effort of helping others. I wish I had known this before I moved here because it would have changed my mind.
Kim | Topanga, CA