For many who want the beach city life, but don’t have the budget to back up a $3 million purchase, Redondo Beach offers much of what they seek without as much green required. The more spacious and sleepier sister to [**Hermosa**](https://lookyloomove.com/locations/hermosa-beach) and [**Manhattan**](https://lookyloomove.com/locations/manhattan-beach) beaches, Redondo generally gets homeowners more bang for their buck in terms of lot size, home square footage and for those in South Redondo, proximity to the ocean. Even in North Redondo, which sits inland to the east of Hermosa and southern Manhattan, residents might not have direct access to the ocean but they certainly don’t have to give up their dream of coastal living. 

In South Redondo, residents enjoy much of what the pricier beach communities have to offer, like easy ocean access, waterfront amenities and a vibrant beachside dining and shopping area. Like most beach cities, the waterfront is a huge draw for residents. Built in 1888, the large pier is a designated historical landmark that attracts fisherman and sightseers from all over. One block from the beach is Riviera Village with boutique shops and diverse restaurant options that satisfy your craving to “go out” without being as rowdy or crowded as the downtown areas of Manhattan or Hermosa.

With all of these things going for it, plus the award-winning schools of [**Redondo Unified School District**](https://www.rbusd.org/), it’s easy to see why the best thing about Redondo is that you can get all this for a lower price than if you lived just a few miles up the coast.


More Bang for Your Buck

The Best Thing About Redondo Beach?

It’s more affordable here, yes, but only relative to the city’s hyper-affluent neighbors to the north. According to Zillow and Redfin, the median price of homes in Redondo is $1.36 million. And if that sticker price doesn’t shock you, note that you won’t find even a starter home or townhome in this area for under seven figures. The community is a suburban and urban mix, with just under half of its residents renting. For renters, the prices are again better than Manhattan and Hermosa but still aren’t cheap. You will find a 2 bedroom apartment goes for a median rent of $3,450, or $2,800 for a 1 bedroom. 

And once you have the home, there are additional somewhat unique costs to ownership in this part of the country. First, frequent earthquakes mean high insurance deductibles (so high that most owners opt-out of insuring their home), and perfect conditions make termite infestations far more likely than most other areas of the U.S.


But It’s Still Pricey

The Worst Thing about Redondo Beach

The “forever sunny” weather means residents spend lots of time exercising and exploring outdoors. Beach volleyball, fishing on the pier, water sports like surfing and boating, biking along the beach, running in the many parks and hiking the trails at nearby Palos Verdes are popular pastimes. You can even ‘escape the city’ without ever leaving. Hopkins Wilderness Park, an 11-acre protected nature study area, features an urban wilderness campground and is home to 4 ecological habitats of forest, stream, pond and meadow. 

Beyond the outdoors, the community is a more laid back and spread out vibe than Manhattan and Hermosa beaches. More diverse too than neighboring cities, locals have access to an array of churches, synagogues and mosques.


Kick Back in the Sun

Lifestyle of Redondo Beach

Redondo Beach is rated the 4th best place to raise a family in the LA area by [**Niche.com**](https://www.niche.com/places-to-live/redondo-beach-los-angeles-ca/). Families move to Redondo Beach for the quality school district, peaceful residential living and relative affordability for a city by the beach. The Redondo Beach Unified School District is award winning and home to eight elementary schools, two middle schools, one high school, one continuation school, and one adult school. The district scores highly on GreatSchools and received an “A+” rating on [**Niche.com**](https://www.niche.com/k12/d/redondo-beach-unified-school-district-ca/). These schools are relatively diverse compared to Manhattan and Hermosa schools. 

The Redondo Union High School is competitive with and rivals Mira Costa High School in Manhattan Beach for academics and athletics. It is in fact the second largest high school campus in all of California (56 acres!) and serves just over 3,000 students. The high school’s large sports facility is open to the public, allowing residents to enjoy its tennis courts, soccer fields, football fields and swimming pools. In addition to public offerings, there are well performing private schools nearby like the South Bay Faith Academy within the city limits and several others in neighboring cities like Torrance Beach to the south. 


Some of the Best in LA

Schools in Redondo Beach

With pandemic shut down as a not-so-distant memory, Redondo Beaches' access to outdoor living should not be undervalued. Access to the beach, great surfing, bike paths, hiking trails, parks and even kayaking helped to keep residents, especially those with children, healthy and entertained when indoor group activities were necessarily unavailable. With so many types of homes available in Redondo, and the distinct differences between North and South, some who can just barely afford to move here do so knowing that they can immediately benefit from the outdoor lifestyle of a South Bay beach community while investing in a future where they might be able to grow into a single-family home without moving to a new neighborhood or city. 


Access to the Outdoors

Why You Should Move Here Now

You can think of Redondo Beach in two distinct sections: North and South. North Redondo Beach, surprisingly, includes no beach at all. Instead it lies directly east of Hermosa Beach and the southern part of Manhattan Beach. This makes it popular with those who wish to live in Hermosa but cannot yet afford it, or more generally with all who find the price is more realistic for them without compromising on good schools and proximity to the coast. 

Both North and South Redondo have a variety of housing options including everything from apartment buildings and duplexes to condos and single-family homes, but one criticism of North Redondo is how all of these options can coexist within the same few blocks, leaving it lacking in “residential neighborhood feel.” One exception to this is the TRW Tract area. Comprising the northeast corner of North Redondo, the TRW Tract consists exclusively of single-family homes and wide streets. It is also close to schools and the 405 freeway for easier access to LA.

Median home price for North Redondo is $1.4m.


Families/DINKs/SINKs

North Redondo

South Redondo is where you will find the oceanfront and oceanview homes that you’d expect from a beach town. Similar to its northern “sister cities” of Manhattan and Hermosa, South Redondo is a bit pricier because of its proximity to the beach. It includes King Harbor, Redondo Beach, the Redondo pier and beach front street of the Esplanade. Two of the most popular neighborhoods in South Redondo are The Avenues and the Lower Riviera (or Hollywood Riviera). 

The Avenues is popular for its community feel, safety and location. Here large, single-family homes sit on large lots nestled into tree-lined streets. Some blocks shut down periodically for block parties, and most streets have speed bumps allowing parents to feel comfortable allowing kids to play in the front yard. And all of this exists only a 10-minute walk to the beach and Riviera Village shops and restaurants. 

Interestingly, the Lower Hollywood Riviera neighborhood is technically located in Torrance Beach, but has RB addresses. Here the single-family homes often boast ocean views and are walking distance from “everything.” Just south are the hiking trails of Palos Verdes and just north are the boutiques and restaurants that make up the Riviera Village.

Median home price in South Redondo is $1.4m (includes more condos/townhomes than North Redondo). 

Families/DINKs

South Redondo

Redondo Beach

**Moving to LA - Redondo Beach vs El Segundo?**

I grew up in ES. Go for Redondo if possible.
ES is quirky. And dealing with planes and smells and christian conservatives was all well and good when the homes were below 1 mill.

It's lost a lot of initial charm. LOT of east coast transplants, just like Manhattan. Moms in yoga pants walking dogs as far as the eye can see.

Don't get me wrong, there are rad parts of ES. Very insulated so there's rarely traffic in town or some kind of inconvenience within the borders (like construction), there are some cool old shops and history, places by LAX are open late every night, light speed travel to LAX if you need to fly out, etc.

But unless you found a place that would save you tons of money there (just gonna safely assume thats not the case) it's not worth it nowadays. Redondo indeed has a lot more flavor and feels a lot more like LA, all while still being a beach city that leans affluent.

Torrance is really awesome as well. Again, I grew up in ES but Torrance and Redondo are my favorite areas there is just a lot going on and you can choose what "type" of LA you want to be in all within the same town. The hustle and bustle of the Del Amo mall. The subtle vibes of old town torrance and craft breweries. Chill by the beach or ride your bike to Palos Verdes trails.

A side effect of ES's insulation and being near LAX is that it's AWFUL to get out. Have to go through the damn tunnel under LAX or take the beach route which has infinite construction once you hit Playa Del Rey (which you have to hit in order to get to where the tunnel connects above westchester). If you find a place by the coast you either deal with coastal traffic into Manhattan or back track all the way to PCH to get around the oil refinery. There's also huge swaths of business and military buildings on the east side, so there's no cool sneaky quick way to get outta town

I wouldn't factor in air quality too much. I don't reckon the town scores any better or worse than other towns. It's an affluent area, if there was a serious health risk residents would be holding local government to the fire for it. That said, if that bothers you, just one more reason to avoid ES and stay near Redondo or west Torrance away from that one refinery they have. (It's LA, there's gonna be some pollution lol)



**What is the general perception of Redondo Beach? What first comes to mind when you think of it?**

Moved to South Redondo from Hawthorne, huge culture shift for me. It’s quiet! I can walk my dogs at night! No fireworks (that’s changed in the last year, waiting to see if it was just Covid boredom...)

We have a small condo, would love a house again but now we’re pretty priced out of anywhere decent. First world problems.

People generally nice but haven’t really met any neighbors like we had in Hawthorne who would give you the shirt off their back and defend you to the death.

**Which of the coastal communities (Santa Monica, Redondo, etc) has the best night life?**

Santa Monica - young, hip, wannabe influencers, douchebags

Venice - more hip, hippies, hipsters some influencers, hipster douchebags

Redondo - older, well to do, mixed with normal middle class folk

Hermosa - younger, rowdier, bros, blondes, and douchebags

Manhattan - rich douchebags

Redondo Beach, California

Low Key Beach Living at a Good-ish Price

Looklyloo Score: 86

We're on it!