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Anteater Alum_IHB

Anteater Alum_IHB

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Really quick couple of questions for the Forum's advice/response:

Would like to spend $500-$600k on a single family home in a good school district in Orange County with accessibility to commute via train to downtown LA. Thanks.
 
That's tough. Close to the train tracks in suburban-mentality CA is usually relegated to poorer communities. Different than more urban East Coast or Europe where being close to the train station is considered a big plus. I think the best balance might be to try to search around for a good school in Orange, maybe some of the non-Villa Park houses in Orange feed into the Villa Park schools? Any further south and you're looking at more than an hour on the train.
 
I take the train to our office in downtown from time to time. From Irvine the train into Union Station takes about 75 minutes. Then you are probably going to have to hop on a shuttle to get to your office. So you are looking at 1.5 hours each way. 3 hours a day. If you are able to take advantage of that time (sleep, work, entertainment) then its not so bad. The train does get very crowded the nearer you get to LA. It is also kind of expensive.

Personally I wouldn't do it, but it might be worth it for the right job.
 
Stick to catching the train in Irvine if you can.... many of the schools around that part of Orange are less desirable (I worked as a sub in that area when I went to Chapman for grad school).

I commute to the Griffith Park area everyday for school. For me, driving is much quicker than taking Metrolink and the subway.

But, my husband and I (he works in Irvine) spend over $400/ mo. in gas (and rising). We currently live in the Bixby Knolls area of Long Beach (very close to the freeway).

If you want to know which LA area freeways to avoid, let me know...
 
I think the Irvine train station is by 5 FWY & Sand Canyon Ave? Quail Hill, Oak Creek, and Woodbridge are all nearby. If you want something newer, go north on Sand Canyon and you'll see new homes to right and left.
 
Fullerton Train station goes to Union Station

There are parts of Fullerton that have great schools. (Troy HS and probably Jr. High and Elementary surrounding) I am not sure of the housing prices in that area though.

I am not sure if the "train" in Norwalk goes to downtown, but Cerritos has good schools and SFR in the 600s.
 
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