Cal Club Autocross Forums

Sho Torii wrote:

George Schilling wrote:Sho, next time you're in town, try and visit my area. Close to the beach, cool ocean breeze, a great mix of nationalities, a close neighborhood feel, very low crime rate, close to everything, no smog, reasonable home prices compared to the rest of the near beach communities. I feel blessed to live here.

George, I will make sure to visit Lakewood next time when I'm in So Cal. You made it sound sooo tempting.

I agree with George 100%. Great place to live. I rented a house there for about 10 years. Out of my price range when I was ready to buy, but highly recommend the area.

Sebastian Rios wrote:

Bill Schenker wrote:What about what Toby suggested this morning? Looking at Corona; Seb, what do you say?

Toby thought that there were a lot of Japanese companies in Irvine (is that your experience, Sean?) for Keiko to work at and if your company air ships from Japan, perhaps it will come through March air base - so Corona will put you half way between commuting to Irvine and March (if your company sets up there, Sho).

He also suggested perhaps renting at first to see where you like; the area is so big here and can be daunting to figure out where to live.

Geographically, Corona is great. Only 1.5 hours towing to SD, 40 mins to El Toro, 30 mins to Fontucky. My house is in an older neighborhood, but is quite safe.

I would not live here if I had a westerly commute. Or rather; I would not get a job that required a westerly commute. The 91fwy is a complete nightmare. Luckily I work here too. Shauna commutes to Ontario, it takes her about 1/2 hour. Traffic is usually not too bad.

Sho: If you do decide to look at Corona, please let me know. My Grandfather (in-law) owns the local Century 21 office, I'm sure he would be happy to help you find something.

As someone who commuted from Corona to Irvine most of the past five years, I can say that the 91 West can be difficult, but it isn't as bad as the west 10 or north 5 into downtown L.A. If anything, it's worse on the weekend than during the week depending on which way you're headed. If you're going to Irvine/central OC, the toll road is a huge time saver. The only drawback is that traffic on north 241 backs up from the east 91 for the afternoon commute. Once you're through that it's just like any L.A. freeway in rush hour.

That said, you can catch a Metrolink train into OC or to downtown L.A. The direct line to Union Station makes few stops so the ride is about an hour.

Sho, just to be clear, as much as I like Lakewood and the weather here, I would seriously consider other states. The business climate in California is bad, real bad. We are arguably the most regulated state in the nation. Taxes are ridiculously high, the state and many cities are near or heading toward bankruptcy. The number of welfare recipients by far leads the nation. Were it not for my all my children and grandchildren being here, I'd be tempted to leave. On the plus side, if the governor has his way, you'll be able to ride a bullet train from one hell hole to another. We're all looking forward to that.

Darn! I forgot to warn Sho about George! Oh, Sho.....

Bill Schenker wrote:Darn! I forgot to warn Sho about George! Oh, Sho.....

But it's all true Sho. The only part that can be construed as being opinion regarding the bullet train is verifiable by looking it up.

In Websters dictionary:

Palmdale n. 1. medium size city in California northeast of Los Angeles famously known as being a hell hole......avoid at all cost.

Fresno n. 1. city located in the central valley of California considered a hell hole by most.

There it is.......verifiable proof.

Thanks for the heads up, George. When you were talking about the Bullet train from one hell hole to another, were you refering to the one from Los Angeles to New York? New York is pretty far from Heaven and I'm used to that. Besides, due to all those regulations, HR specialists are in higher demand in California. My wife may have a better chance to land a good job there.

Sho Torii wrote:Thanks for the heads up, George. When you were talking about the Bullet train from one hell hole to another, were you refering to the one from Los Angeles to New York? New York is pretty far from Heaven and I'm used to that. Besides, due to all those regulations, HR specialists are in higher demand in California. My wife may have a better chance to land a good job there.

Absolutely. Compliance specialist are in high demand! Welcome to California!

Sho Torii wrote:Off topic but this was the first time for me to hear someone mentioned a "Grandfather-in-law"! Somehow, people don't seem to get involved with spouse's grandparents much. At least I didn't through my 2 marriages. It's great that you have a grandfather-in-law whom you are close to.

Though my grandparents are all deceased now, as an adult, I was much closer to one of my Grandmothers-in-law (passed last year), than I ever was to my own grandparents. I thing in someways the lack of the "child" relationship allows for a closer adult relationship across the generational gap.

Back on subject, I would highly recommend renting first. Just about any city (community) in the greater LA Basin has better and worse neighborhoods within. Many with single street variations, as mentioned above. I love my home, and neighborhood. When we were shopping in '04 we arrived at the house with the realtor driving from the West. Had we arrived from the East, or North, my wife and I both agree, we would have vetoed the home based upon the areas we would have driven in from.

Some of the older, less desirable neighborhoods are getting gentrified and actually becoming much nicer.

While some are going the other direction. We live on the edge of South Pasadena ... a block from Lovely ... down the street from the Rosebowl, two blocks from Trader Joes (walk instead of trying to park there!) ... but Highland Park is pushing up against us, ie. hoods and gangsters.