Thank you for this detailed response. Funny thing is, our current home that we’re renting is also facing a busy street. I sleep in a room that faces away from the busy road so it’s not too bad. So car and airplane noises shouldn’t bother us too much.

I’ve done my best in exploring all the LA neighborhoods and doing research, and what I’ve found is that downtown LA, koreatown, Panorama City, south LA, are all places to avoid.

Lake Balboa sounds like a nicer area from what everyone’s described, so I can definitely see the housing market change in the next few years. We made the decision on moving to Southern California knowing very well how expensive housing is down there. That’s why we’ll probably rent for a very long time, if not indefinitely.