Ode to Arcadia
Congratulations to Arcadia, selected by Business Week as the top place to raise kids in California. Runners-up were Diamond Bar and Monterey Park.
The magazine worked with OnBoard Informatics, a New York-based provider
of real estate analysis, which selected towns with at least 50,000
residents and a median family income between $40,000 and $100,000. (Arcadia's is $81, 417.)
Both groups used the following criteria: school performance; number of schools; household expenditures; crime rates; air quality; job growth; family income; museums, parks, theaters, and other amenities; and diversity. They looked at school performance and safety most heavily, but also gave strong weight to amenities and affordability.
So what's to love about Arcadia? We DO love the schools (our 6-year-old attends Holy Angels Catholic School there) and we know many families who happily send their kids to the public schools there. We love that everything is so close, from the mall (undergoing an expansion to include my beloved JJill!), to Chinese bakeries, grocery stores and of course, the Arboretum and Huntington Library are so close.
Arcadia was my beat for a year or two before Wonder Boy was born and I liked the mayor (Gary Kovacic), who still wrote thank you cards, rode his bike for miles around the community, and once headed up a welcoming committee for a returning serviceman one Christmas.
My sister, who's worked in Arcadia for more than 10 years, can zip through her errands (dry cleaning, newsstand, etc.) in one morning, although, like me, she can do without the traffic on Huntington Drive, Duarte Road or Baldwin Avenue. And I guess the city put a stop to the bank robberies that seem to make the news blotters too often (otherwise, they wouldn't have made the grade!)
Arcadia is lovable for its proximity to Monrovia and Pasadena, which boasts family-friendly venues and Saturday night locales both. And the view of the mountains can't be beat. And yes, we have seen our share of wandering peacocks, sometimes they're hanging at the mall parking lot.
I know Arcadia is a great place to raise kids because some of the parents at my son's school grew up here, and they still love the place.
So there.
Both groups used the following criteria: school performance; number of schools; household expenditures; crime rates; air quality; job growth; family income; museums, parks, theaters, and other amenities; and diversity. They looked at school performance and safety most heavily, but also gave strong weight to amenities and affordability.
So what's to love about Arcadia? We DO love the schools (our 6-year-old attends Holy Angels Catholic School there) and we know many families who happily send their kids to the public schools there. We love that everything is so close, from the mall (undergoing an expansion to include my beloved JJill!), to Chinese bakeries, grocery stores and of course, the Arboretum and Huntington Library are so close.
Arcadia was my beat for a year or two before Wonder Boy was born and I liked the mayor (Gary Kovacic), who still wrote thank you cards, rode his bike for miles around the community, and once headed up a welcoming committee for a returning serviceman one Christmas.
My sister, who's worked in Arcadia for more than 10 years, can zip through her errands (dry cleaning, newsstand, etc.) in one morning, although, like me, she can do without the traffic on Huntington Drive, Duarte Road or Baldwin Avenue. And I guess the city put a stop to the bank robberies that seem to make the news blotters too often (otherwise, they wouldn't have made the grade!)
Arcadia is lovable for its proximity to Monrovia and Pasadena, which boasts family-friendly venues and Saturday night locales both. And the view of the mountains can't be beat. And yes, we have seen our share of wandering peacocks, sometimes they're hanging at the mall parking lot.
I know Arcadia is a great place to raise kids because some of the parents at my son's school grew up here, and they still love the place.
So there.
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