scubamama Posted March 26, 2009 Share Posted March 26, 2009 Hi again, It's me, the PA chick that's moving to the LA area. I'm looking online for a rental home. Can anyone tell me if Torrance, CA is a fairly good place to live? I must have heard about every story folks could come up with about gangs, etc. Now, I know we're from PA and it's a totally different situation here - but I'm gonna go out on a limb and imagine that not ALL of CA is on fire, devastated by earthquakes, and every block is in the middle of a gang war drive by shooting. Call me crazy if you must.... SO, anyone know enough about Torrance to make a reccomendation? Or are you busy dodging bullets :tongue_smilie: Thanks in advance! Michele Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sassenach Posted March 26, 2009 Share Posted March 26, 2009 I half grew up there. My grandparents still live there. It's a nice city. Definitely one of the nicer ones in the south bay area. I'm going apples for apples here. I've never been to PA, so I have no idea how it is going to be different from there. Torrance has many older neighborhoods, with tree-lined streets. There is a decent amount of parks and a nice community center with a pool and theatre. There is all the shopping conveniences you could ever hope for, but that's not a unique thing in SoCal. I am more familiar with the western side of Torrance, around the Del Amo mall and closer to the Redondo side. It would be a much better commute than any OC city. I'm sure Torrance has a gang presence. I cannot think of a single city in SoCal that doesn't. Repeat this mantra- gangs are not a huge deal, gangs are not a big deal. Truly, I grew up in SoCal and yes, they are present, but I can say that my life was NEVER effected by them. Now, if you move to Crenshaw or Watts, yes, your life will be effected, but there is no such thing as a gang free city in SoCal. And really, it'll be ok. The biggest visible impact they have is graffiti. I have never feared my safety in Torrance. Torrance PD is well respected and an excellent police force. I would live there in a heartbeat. The biggest downside will be the traffic. A lot of the South Bay is not super close to the freeway, so I feel like there is a lot of street traffic overall in the city. I can't speak to the homeschool environment. Overall, I think Torrance and Redondo Beach would be excellent options for you guys. Top of my list, if you don't want a killer commute. Feel free to PM me if you want to talk specific streets/neighborhoods, we could even chat on the phone if you want. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle O. in MO Posted March 27, 2009 Share Posted March 27, 2009 We were living in Torrance when we moved here to Missouri 3 years ago. My dh grew up out there and knows the South Bay like the back of his hand. There are good neighborhoods and not so good ones, but as a previous poster mentioned Torrance overall is one of the better places to live. They have homeschooling communities there. Here are a few options: http://www.bayshoreeducational.com/homeschoolers.html http://sbhn.50megs.com/ The second link is a group that meets at a local Torrance park. My kids and I attended that one a few times. Quite a few families were unschoolers, but there are classical oriented families in that group as well. It was a good opportunity for us to meet other homeschooling families out there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wagnfun Posted March 27, 2009 Share Posted March 27, 2009 Hi again,It's me, the PA chick that's moving to the LA area. I'm looking online for a rental home. Can anyone tell me if Torrance, CA is a fairly good place to live? I must have heard about every story folks could come up with about gangs, etc. Now, I know we're from PA and it's a totally different situation here - but I'm gonna go out on a limb and imagine that not ALL of CA is on fire, devastated by earthquakes, and every block is in the middle of a gang war drive by shooting. Call me crazy if you must.... SO, anyone know enough about Torrance to make a reccomendation? Or are you busy dodging bullets :tongue_smilie: Thanks in advance! Michele Michele-- you have a PM! Corby Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suzanne in ABQ Posted March 27, 2009 Share Posted March 27, 2009 I lived in Torrance for five years, and loved much about it. There are many, many homeschoolers there. My best friend there is an officer in a homeschool umbrella school that has over 200 families! Of course, there are other options to homeschoolers. Overall, I agree with the others who say that, though gangs are around, they almost never affected my life. The only exception were the riots after the OJ trial in the early 90s. Overall, Torrance is very clean, and orderly, and charming. We used to love to walk to Old Torrance on Sunday mornings and get a treat at the Torrance Bakery. I still go there at least every two years (sometimes more -- twice last year) to see old friends, and take my kids to the beach. We moved there with the military, and expected to hate it. But, we ended up extending our tour twice, and I made the best friends of my life there. I have very fond feelings toward Torrance, CA, along with the beach cities (Redondo Beach, Hermosa Beach, and Manhattan Beach) and the cities "on the hill" (Rolling Hills, etc.) Definitely look at it. Don't be afraid of it. Housing is expensive, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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