los angeles moms!!!

[mama2wes]

hi I am from the bay area, and we moved to Atlanta 3 weeks ago, and hate it here!! We might move back to ca but to southern ca. we have never been there except for disneyland. The area would be santa clarita. If anyone can share with me any info about the area and what its like would be so wonderful. is it kid friendly, are there good stores to shop at, any mom/play groups, churches to reccomend. that sort of stuff. any farmers markets? what is traffic like? my husband would be going to palmdale everyday. would that suck really bad? thanks for your help!!!!!

[Ironica]

Hm, you might want to change your subject line to mention Santa Clarita specifically... I've lived in LA all my life, and have barely been to Santa Clarita a couple times. It's LA County, sure, but not very close to the city.

[applejuice]

Santa Clarita is a very family friendly area. Lots of new developments, new schools, new shopping centers. I am ten miles away from there....:..

Make sure you work there because driving South on the I-5 anywhere in the am is torture. Driving home and going North in the pm is the same, especially on Fridays...

Going to Palmdale is do-able as it would be east on the C14 and 20 miles. Yes, lots of farmer's markets, homeschooling groups, and pm me about 4-H if that is what you would like to do here.

[artgoddess]

I'm in Santa Clarita. It's definitely suburban and I did not want to move up here years ago when I was single. Now that I'm a mom I LOOOOOOVE it here. We have a yahoo AP group that is active I'll try to pm you a link to hook up with them

Tons of community parks, a pretty decent library, great public schools, there are a lot of churches up here. What denomination are you looking for? Two farmers markets. Sunday morning in the parking lot of the local community college and Thursday afternoons on Main street in old town Newhall.

I second what applejuice says. I quit commuting in 2003, and I will never work out of the Santa Clarita Valley again.

Shopping is tough. We have all the major chains. Problem is that the mom and pops are hard to find. The community grew very quickly in the last 15 years or so. I think retail space must be very pricey here. When I find a great mom and pop store I try to stick with them. Unfortunately more than a few gems I have found did not last long.

[mama2wes]

thanks so much for your help guys. we are open to denominations of church. we would need to rent a place out there, and don't know the area. where is a safe family area to rent? is it possible to find a place to rent under 2,000 a month?
thanks!!:

[artgoddess]

There are plenty of options for under $2,000 in nice areas. It all depends on what you are looking for. If your DH will be working in palmdale and need to take the 14 freeway you might look in Fair Oaks Ranch area. It's a new development in Canyon Country. Near a lot of shopping, they have everything from 1 and 2 bedroom apartments up to 6 bedroom homes. I like my UU church quite a bit, and if you are open to varied denominations that may work for you. www.uuofscv.org