LA Filter: Family friendly neighborhoods near Glendale?

I've lived in Pasadena and Altadena, my kid goes to school in La Canada, and I've visited South Pasadena quite a bit. I also have a dog and a kid, and I moved here from Seattle! Here's how I would compare and contrast them based on your criteria: -Safe neighborhood This can be had in any of these towns, so it's not a point of discrimination from my viewpoint. -Good schools (or private options) Pasadena and Altadena have poor public schools in general (they are both part of PUSD). However, there are some newish dual-language programs (English/Spanish, English/Mandarin) that I have heard good things about. Unfortunately, I have no idea how to navigate the public school system there....it involves lotteries. South Pasadena and La Canada have good public schools. -Houses with prices in the Ks and not in the Ms. I think Pasadena is expensive given that it doesn't have good schools. Yes, there are really good private schools. And some are really, really expensive (by my standards). Polytechnic (mentioned above) is $30K/yr. The cheapest private schools seem to be around the $10K mark, and they are usually religious. South Pasadena and La Canada are both expensive because of their public schools. Both are family friendly. (But I know at least one person who felt that there was a lot of conspicuous consumption in La Canada, and refused to send his kids to the public schools there for that reason.) If you had one kid, then it would make more financial sense to buy in a cheaper part of town and send your kid to private school (of which there are many, many choices). I'm not sure how the calculation works with two kids at the present time. I think it's borderline, given that it's not efficient to pay for school through a mortgage, since you have to pay interest on it. Some more notes: I think South Pasadena is the most walkable of the cities mentioned above. Altadena is unincorporated LA County, so it doesn't have the same strict rules and regulations (for e.g. renovation permits) that Pasadena has. Whether you view that as a positive or negative is up to you! Good luck! I moved here from Seattle, and I really love the sunshine!

I currently live and grew up in Altadena/Pasadena. There are lots of great neighborhoods here, and while the public options aren't great, there's a ton of private schools. Similaraly La Cañada, except the schools are great but houses cost more. If you have specific questions about Glendale/neighboring cities, feel free to memail me!

Monrovia is just a little farther afield, but we thought the craftsman houses and walkable historic downtown were charming. I can't speak for the school district though. On that side of town, I have always heard that La Canada has the best schools. As far as considering Pasadena goes - bear in mind that South Pas enjoys a good reputation. North Pas (like, north of the 210) decidely does not.

Not sure if I'd want to drive from Claremont to Glendale except during non-rush hours. I agree that Claremont is probably a nonstarter on the basis of the commute; it would be at least an hour's drive in heavy traffic.

For what it's worth, the smog isn't any worse in Claremont than it is in Pasadena. And overall the smog is much, much better than it was even 10 years ago. Not sure if I'd want to drive from Claremont to Glendale except during non-rush hours. I'd say Pasadena or Altadena or South Pas.

pasadena is a great city and has a range of neighborhoods/prices. it doesn't have good public schools but their private schools (polytechnic, westridge, etc.) are fantastic. overall, it is very family-oriented. it's a good mix of people. great architecture of lots of styles: craftsman, spanish revival, etc. south pasadena has great public schools. not cheap for housing. quaint little town with horrid traffic. small town feel. more great residential architecture. i did once hear it described as "the place where old people go visit their parents" but i think it's gotten younger and more fun with some newer shopping areas & even a farmer's market. very family-oriented. la canada and san marino have awesome public schools. san marino is very high pressure socially & academically, very old money and i wouldn't live there unless you like hanging out with the country club set and can keep up with that lifestyle. very expensive. i don't know too much about la canada other than they have good schools and nice houses and is also expensive. altadena is a funky little town just north of pasadena at the base of the local mountains. it seems like a good mix of people. you can send your kids to private schools in & around pasadena if you live there. glendale is sort of like a junior pasadena but not quite as nice as pasadena generally. nice for residential architecture. other surrounding towns to check out are la cresenta, montrose, atwater village, silverlake (super liberal, artsy and funky), los feliz (can be pricey but nice, hipsterish), mount washington, eagle rock. check out the blog http://la.curbed.com/ http://maps.latimes.com/neighborhoods/ guide for stats http://www.pasadenaviews.com/ looks like it has some neighborhood descriptions/info on the right side

Can you sneak a quick trip to L.A. to do a recon mission? I'm wondering if the heat might be something you and your family need to consider. The good family-friendly areas within a sane commute of Glendale get damn hot in the summer. (And our summer goes through September, so it's a long hot season.) May be a non-issue for you folks, but I thought I'd mention it since the L.A. Times just ran an article about the best American cities to live in to beat the summer heat, and of course your Seattle topped the list.

I and my family have lived in La Cañada for several years now. We have three kids, two of whom are in the public schools, and it's been a great place to live. The people are nice, the public schools are amazing, the parks are great, and it doesn't feel like you're in a big city at all, since it's over a hill from the rest of L.A. and there's nothing but mountains to the north. And the air is a bit cleaner and the weather not quite as hot as in the valleys. It's about a 5-10 minute drive to downtown Glendale. It's difficult to find a house in the Ks rather than the Ms, but we recently bought ours for a price in the Ks and not even close to the Ms. It's a nice house, plenty big for our family of 5, and didn't need any renovation. We were very lucky with the price of our house, but I don't think it's impossible to luck out like we did. Also, the schools have been amazing for our kids so far, including bending over backwards to set up and get funding for an individualized education program to accommodate a disability of one of our children. I agree with everything ApathyGirl wrote, as well. Altadena and Pasadena have some beautiful neighborhoods and have lower housing prices than La Cañada and La Crescenta, but their public schools are not great. Feel free to MeFiMail me if you need any further information.

South Pasadena is great and has great schools. When we were house hunting (which we did for 3 years), we were never able to find a house there we could afford that was big enough for our family. But it was at the top of our list if we did find a place.