Seeking Information on Raising Children in Glendale Area

Hi! I live in Monrovia,CA it's a great city to live in. I have been here since my kids were in pre-kinder and I have not moved from here so they can finish High school. I have heard good stories about Glendale but do not know more about that. Arcadia,CA is also a good city to live in. I was told that Glendale is very populated with the armenian community and also a little of everything, the malls are good too. But I am vias towards Monrovia. Well if you like you can always email me when you get here and maybe I can show you and hubby some good spots to visit. ____@____.com

sincerely,
D.:)

If you think you'll be needing day care down the road, say when your baby is 6 weeks or older, get on a day care waiting list the moment you get pregnant. Seriously, all the good places have wait lists of a year or longer! And that year goes by fast, even you think you're going to stay home but there's an outside chance of going back to work, get on a wait list, you can always so no when your time comes up on the wait list but you can't get him/her in if suddenly you've got to get back to work. Good ones are Glendale Adventist and the Glendale Community College Laboratory, there's others that are great too. If you have the money live in the verdugo woodlands school district, it's excellent and you won't have to send the little one to private school. Look at he glendale school district website, they have maps and you can find out which district you are in before you get your home. you can then cross check the schools with different sites that rate public schools. Glendale Pediatrics is great but the are limited in which HMO's they take, if you have an HMO call them to see if they take yours if not try the office that Dr. Laura Mabie is in which located in La Canada, they are fantastic.

i don't live in Glendale but i live close and it's a great area..it's been up and coming for awhile now..lots of cool places and it's near Pasadena ..and Pasadena has everything
our pedi is in Pasadena..Dr. Schlundt at the Rose City Pediactrics
lots of parks..also the Glendale Galleria is great
i think you'll like it..also check out Eagle Rock ..right next to Glendale..great restaurants and cool hangs.

Hello!
I just wanted to say that we have family in Chathem, IL, just south of Springfield. Anyway, you may want to consider the Glendale annex of La Crescenta. It's a very nice area, with top notch public schools. In fact, people will move here, or even rent just for the schools. They have high API scores, and many are Blue Ribbon schools. The district here is Glendale Unified. Also, there are many excellent choices for daycare around here. Some are Center for Children, Robbin's Nest, and La Crescenta Montessori. For pediatritians, Glendale Pediatrics is the best. Dr. Bradley Bursch and Dr. James Henry are wonderful. Also, the weather here is pretty nice year around. I hope this helps. Good luck!

Hi A.! Apparently I am the only party pooper, but I am going to give you my real opinion. My husband and I moved to Southern California from Colorado two years ago for his job. We thought it would be a fun change and we'd enjoy the warmer weather. We first moved to Burbank, which is close and maybe a little bit better than Glendale. Even in a safe place like Burbank, you still see graffiti on mailboxes and sidewalks. I am a teacher and the schools are okay, but most are overcrowded and a bit behind the times in my opinion. The private schools are amazing but expensive. We have since moved to San Fernando to get a little more house for our money.Many of our friends live in Santa Clarita - it's a farther drive but a nicer suburban area for families. That is the biggest bummer around here - you better make a ton of money if you want to afford a house! In Burbank it is around 2300 a month for a two bedroom house just to rent (and this is usually a teeny old house with old plumbing, one teeny garage spot, and no central air or dishwasher!). We recently went down to one income so I can stay home with our 5 month old and there is no way we can afford a house here even though we have excellent credit and my hubby makes close to 100,000. So that is the main realistic thing to think about if you'd like to be able to invest in real estate. I had my OB and hospital experience in Glendale and it was okay, but there are soooo many people. Everything is crowded, including all good OB's, pediatricians, etc. The highways are a nightmare and the news reports fatal crashes and shootings on a DAILY basis. I'm worried about my baby getting asthma because there is a much higher incidence in LA due to all of the bad air, especially in the Valley (where Glendale and Burbank are). The heat in the summer is ridiculously hot, so I can't even go for a walk or to the park past 10 in the morning.
With all of that being said, I'm trying to stay positive. I've found some good mommy groups and try to take advantage of the cool things about LA and the beach when I can. It's very fun to take weekend trips around here. However, I can't WAIT to leave and go back to Colorado. Sorry to be such a downer, but I wish someone had given me a little reality check before we moved here. Good luck with your decision!!

Hi A. - I am a mom who grew up in Metamora IL (just outside of Peoria) who now lives in Glendale! I really like it here a lot. I have found good doctors (of all kinds), nice local moms groups and plenty of things to do with my little one (now 16 months). I find that Glendale in particular has a lot to offer for families and the community in general - to get a taste - check the leisure guide (put out 4 times a year I believe): http://www.parks.ci.glendale.ca.us/
or the parent education classes (free) at Glendale Community college: http://www.glendale.edu/parenteducation/
We live in Northern Glendale near Montrose in an area called Verdugo Woodlands - it's very nice here. If you are looking into moving here you may also like Pasadena - it's also very nice and has a lot to offer.

My mom always says, "I can go anywhere, I bloom where I am planted" - I wish you the same!!

Good luck with your research & travel
A. :)

you'd probably like Silver Lake better while you're non-parents--more "hip" and even after you have kids because the pre-schools and public schools are good (better than Glendale) check out Atwater Village (right in the middle of SL and Glendale--a very good, new arts charter school is opening ther this fall...

Great pediatrician " Glendale Pediatrics" ###-###-#### any of their docs are great. Huntington Hospital in Pasadena is good for delivering or even Glendale Memorial. I have lived in the San Gabriel area and San Fernando Valley areas all my life so I have spent a lot of time in Glendale. It is a nice area but very crowded. We live in Lake View terrace which is about a 10-15 min drive to glendale and it is much quieter and nicer area to live, but just close enough to everything else.

I have lived in the glendale area (la crescenta) my entire life & i love it! I couldn't imagine raising my children (ages 10 & 1 mo.) anywhere else. The school system is one of the best (blue ribbon schools), the town is clean & the police dept response is quick. However, you should know that nearer to downtown glendale is mostly made up of the armenian community, so if that bothers you or is a concern, you need to know that. My husband & i live in the "sparr heights" area on the north east end of glendale & my son goes to fremont elem. Which is one of the top public schools in the glendale unified school district (mountain avenue being the other). You may also want to consider looking in the la crescenta/montrose area as well. This is adjacent/north of glendale & both are outstanding little communities (especially montrose - it really has maintained that small town 50's era feel). You can look up these areas on the web - maybe google 'montrose chamber of commerce' or you can even try reading the local paper "the valley sun" - la crescenta to really get the feel of these towns & crime reports (which mainly consist of someone's gym bag being taken out of their locker at the gym). If you can't tell by now, crime & police response/compitence is something i pay attention to(i work dispatch for the city of los angeles & come from a family of law enforcement). I don't know, however how much you can afford (i'm not familiar with the house prices in il.)...but just as an fyi, the median cost for a 3 bedroom home out here has gone down to about $600,000 & they seem to be going down more each week w/all the bank owned/foreclosures. Hope this helps you!

Hi A.,

My ex husband grew up there and his mom and sister still live there. North Glendale by the college is very nice. there are some areas to stay away from. the part of glendale by the train tracks (near san fernando rd) is not a very good area. Watch the school you plan on sending the kids to. My neices and nephews whent to Glendale schools and they were very overcrowded. you may want to look into private schools. Burbank is very close to Glendale (right next to it) and the schools are better there. I am not knocking down Glendale at all. There are some very nice parts in the hills and if your looking for places to go shopping/dining there are quite a few to choose from as well as theaters. Griffith park is next to glendale as well and its easy to get to Hollywood from there (about 15min from the south side of Glendale). It is centrally located to many other cities such as Pasadena, Los Angeles and not far from the San Fernando Valley. Do you have an idea what part of Glendale you are thinking to move to?

Dear A.,

I am originally from Washington state on a rural island and lived in Alton Il while going to college. I am now currently living in Burbank which neighbors Glendale. Just like any city there are portions of Glendale that are very nice and are safe - stay away from the southern end! I am right at the border between the two cities, east of the 5 and feel quite safe here. We go for walks (my two year old and I) in the evening almost everynight after dinner and I never worry about our safety. However, I also recently did an easter egg hunt with her that was a mommy and me and was incredibly disappointed by the behavior of many of the adults who grabbed eggs faster than most of the kids could walk (granted it was on behalf of their kids but it took the fun out of having to find the eggs. My daughter was able to grab one but there were many children there who didn't even get one egg because the parents were trying to help but not "do for". Having grown up rurrally this was not my expectation - my husband who is from here says its just part of being in a ciity - I guess we'll just do our own hunts from now on.

As far as schools go, I can't really tell you yet - we aren't at that point, and we are with Kaiser so I can't suggest doctors etc. unless that is the health insurance you will be having too. My husband, who is a realtor, says the Burbank schools are some of the highest ranked in the state and I know the highschool is considered a "distinguished school", an awarded title. There is quite a community of deaf people here so they have a GREAT sign language program and having access to that has been wonderful for doing sign with my little one. The neighbors directly around me are pretty friendly neighborly people with only one exception and a few people who just kind of keep to themselves (which is obviously fine). But it is the first community I've been in in SoCal where people are neighborly and don't just keep to themselves all the time.

I guess I feel its a mixed bag just like anywhere else you might live. I would suggest Burbank over Glendale though, or at least the area of Glendale nearest Burbank. It is a little cleaner looking here, more trees, etc.

R.