Redondo Beach, California

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

The Pros and Cons of Redondo Beach