Exploring Westchester

I can't imagine that there's a tougher place to nail down an area to live than Los Angeles! If we wind up staying in LA proper we'll probably be moving here. This spot is not far from the airport and even though it's not bad noise-wise, the prices are quite a bit lower. For the price of our 1940s 1000 ft2 Midvale house we can get nearly twice as much house here in Westchester. The neighborhood is a bit on the old-side, but these 1950s houses have decent sized yards too, so it's a no-brainer. The neighborhoods are gorgeous and driving around we saw lots of young families and kids playing out on streets. There are parks and community centers and the school situation is actually very good- it's got to be the most family-friendly area in Los Angeles that isn't crazy-expensive.

There are couple exceptional charter schools in the area or close by, Open Charter, Magnolia Academy, Goethe International... and so even if the public schools may not be the best we have an excellent chance of getting our kids into a charter school through high school. One of the schools that just opened this year is a German immersion program with an IB curriculum. I went through 6 years of language immersion in elementary school and even though I don't use my French at all now, becoming fluent in a language at a young age really had an impact on me. I feel like it gave me a lot of confidence in my abilities and made me comfortable to try new things; when I think about how quickly I advanced in the workplace I think it ties back in large part to my foundation in language immersion. I'm really excited about the school possibilities here and even though Charter School spots aren't guaranteed, there are enough options that in all likelihood we would get in somewhere. I can't imagine there are going to be as many amazing exceptional experiences anywhere else in the country for the cost of a public education experience.

The ward actually had a number of young families in it, several of whom had purchased homes. The Primary was a good size, but I was a bit discouraged when I saw the Sunbeams. There were only three kids in there! Caleb and Julian have 15-20 kids in Sunbeams where we are now, enough for two classes. Having kids their age means not only Joy School cohorts, babysitting swaps, playdates and family friends, but my SAHM colleagues are MY best friends and my life support. I worry that even though the community here is great, there wouldn't be as many people as I have now, and that's something I have really come to rely on. Maybe these are silly fears, but it gives me pause.

Well, we may still wind up here. The house prices are much better, although not fantastic, the area is really close to Ian's work, the houses themselves are OK... but it's still LA. Next stop- Orange County.