About Hawthorne's Hollyglen

I've had a number of clients over the past year contact me as they're being relocated to the LA Air Force Base and want to explore housing options before they arrive. As with many, the conversation usually starts out with their interest in Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach and Redondo. That is....right up until I let them know what the average home prices are in those cities. This is the "we're not in Kansas anymore" moment....or in this case it's usually Colorado.

There is an alternative, however, and it's the fairly unknown neighborhoods of Hollyglen and Del Aire (see real estate map) The neighborhoods are actually located in Hawthornebut with a very different feel. Del Aire is actually quite a bit larger than Hollyglen, but for the time being I'm going to focus on the areas of the neighborhoods west of the San Diego Freeway (or 405 as you'll come to know it once living here). The neighborhoods are fairly isolated from other parts of the South Bay with the 405 on one side, the commercial facilities of Northrup Grumman and Xerox on another and Manhattan Beach to the South. This limits the access and makes for a very quiet, and peaceful area with a real neighborhood feel. The homes are primarily the original single level homes on fairly good sized lots so it doesn't feel crowded or overdeveloped like much of it's neighbors. Homes generally start in the low $500K range and most have been nicely upgraded over the years, with some occasional "fixers" coming onto the market. It is ideally located near the LA Airforce Base, just a short drive to the beach, close to freeway access and much closer to downtown and the Westside than the rest of the South Bay. Hollyglen and Del Aire are fortunate enough to have their own award winning school system known as Wiseburn making it an even better family neighborhood.

If you're moving to the South Bay keep in mind the charming neighborhoods of Hollyglen and Del Aire.

Some additional resources.

• Wiseburn School District
• Recent Hollyglen - Del Aire home sales
• Average Home Prices
• Search the MLS for Hollyglen homes
• Daily Listing Updates

Contact us for more information: Keith Kyle - Realtor, e-Pro - South Bay Brokers 2501 N Sepulveda Blvd Manhattan Beach, CA 90266 - 310-251-2344 - Keith.Kyle@SouthBayBrokers.com

For real estate information, open houses, and FREE MLS access visit www.KeithKyleHomes.com

This is a continuation of a series of blog postings on the communities in the Wiseburn school district in Hawthorne - Wiseburn, Hollyglen, and Del Aire.

On Saturday, April 26, 2008, the Wiseburn Education Foundation held their annual Rock Around the Block at the new Dana Middle School in Hawthorne's community of Holly Glen.

The event started out with - what else - a walk around the block! The Hawthorne Police Department was out and sectioned off part of the street for the walkers. Upon everyone's return to Dana Middle School, the festivities were underway!

Live music was provided by members of the Wiseburn school faculty and members of the community. They were having a great time performing and everyone was enjoying their music.

Kids immediately flocked to the two focal points of the event - the inflatable jumper-slide and the inflatable "Easter Island" rock climber. Also popular was the train rides on the baseball field, with kids taking 3, 4 or even more rides. And right next to the train ride was a kids golf game were they would try to hit a golf ball as close to an inflatable target as possible.

The older kids were definitely not left out. They also had a chance to play Guitar Hero, Wii, and Dance Revolution. I'm sure some parents also let the inner child come out to play with these games! I know from personal experience how much fun Guitar Hero can be.

Kids and adults were drawn to the silent auction, which had a wide variety of great auction items, like sports collectibles, theme park tickets, gift baskets, and more.

And a special treat was a series of displays from several science clubs at Dana Middle School. Kids in one of the clubs had a project where they built a working underwater ROV. This project included the creation of a budget, project design, assembly, and was even submitted to a statewide competition. The accomplishment shown by these middle school students on this project is testimony to the success of the Wiseburn Education Foundation.

And of course, no festival would be complete without food! Beverages, pizza, tacos, chips, brownies, and fresh fruit cups were available out of the school cafeteria. The event attendees kept the kitchen volunteers busy from the very beginning of the event to the end.

I think everyone will agree that this event was a smashing success, with a lot of fun had by all.

Tiffany D. Wilson has lived in the South Bay of Los Angeles County for almost 10 years. She and her family enjoy the safety and rich family features that the beach communities of the South Bay have to offer, including a close community feel that many other communities in California lack. Also, having experienced an out-of-country move to California over 10 years ago, she is perfectly positioned to assist foreign buyers in their search for real estate in the South Bay and additional surrounding communities of Los Angeles and Orange County. She can be reached directly at 310-503-0557.

Copyright 2008 Tiffany D. Wilson. All rights reserved.

This is a continuation of a series of blog postings on the communities in the Wiseburn school district in Hawthorne - Wiseburn, Hollyglen, and Del Aire.

The residents of Hollyglen and adjacent Wiseburn are extremely lucky. They have within their small community not 1, but 2 parks that buzz with activity all times of the year. Families, dog owners, and active individuals all make good use of Hollyglen's parks.

The older of the two parks is [not surprisingly] named Hollyglen Park. It resides at 5255 W 137^th Street in Hawthorne, CA, though the easiest way to get to it is to head South on Glasgow from 135^th Street.

Hollyglen Park features a large children's playground, equipped with several play structures, swings, all in a sand play area. The play area is also fully fenced around the perimeter to prevent children from wandering off.

At Hollyglen Park you will also find a public basketball court and tennis courts. The basketball court is used frequently, with small, impromptu basketball games that often begin amongst local youths and adults. The well maintained tennis courts are popular every day, just about every time of the day. It is a rare occasion to see them NOT being used.

Extremely popular in the summer months is the children's wading pool. It is filled daily, typically from Tuesday to Saturday, with times varying each year. Many local children and their parents make their way here to beat the summer heat and mingle with their neighbors.

Picnic tables and charcoal BBQs are also available, making weekend events a regular occurrence during the warmer months. There are typically several birthday parties being held at the park on each weekend.

The other park in Hollyglen is Glasgow Park, and it is only a few years old. The city of Hawthorne finished a vacant stretch of land that runs along Glasgow (hence the name, Glasgow Park), between the street and the freeway. For years, it was used by locals for walking, jogging, and exercising their pets. It was a logical decision to make it into a walking and exercise park, also allowing for leashed dogs.

Numerous benches, garbage cans, water fountains, and even exercise equipment are situated throughout Glasgow Park. It is extremely popular amongst joggers and dog owners, being used during almost every second of daylight.

Just about everyone in the communities of Hollyglen and Wiseburn know of these two parks and have visited them at some time. The residents will tell you that these two parks help make Hollyglen real estate, as well as Wiseburn real estate, extremely desirable in the South Bay. After all, it was probably one of the determining factors for making one of these quaint communities their home in the first place!

Tiffany D. Wilson has lived in the South Bay of Los Angeles County for almost 10 years. She and her family enjoy the safety and rich family features that the beach communities of the South Bay have to offer, including a close community feel that many other communities in California lack. Also, having experienced an out-of-country move to California over 10 years ago, she is perfectly positioned to assist foreign buyers in their search for real estate in the South Bay and additional surrounding communities of Los Angeles and Orange County. She can be reached directly at 310-503-0557.

Copyright 2008 Tiffany D. Wilson. All rights reserved.

This is a continuation of a series of blog postings on the communities in the Wiseburn school district in Hawthorne - Wiseburn, Holly Glen, and Del Aire.

The Wiseburn Public Library is almost literally the center of the communities of the Wiseburn school district. Though the area it serves is small in comparison to some of the larger libraries, like the ones in Manhattan Beach or Redondo Beach, the library is always bustling with activity during peak times. Many families, seniors, and school children are drawn to this quaint library with a large community heart.

Located at 5335 West 135^th Street in Hawthorne, this county library is conveniently located right next to where the new Juan Cabrillo Elementary school is being built, and also less than a mile from Peter Burnett and Dana Middle schools. Because of this ideal placement, it draws a large number of after school kids looking for homework help, project research, and to use the publicly available computers.

The library also holds many weekly children's events which draw a regular - and growing - crowd of kids and parents. Every Saturday at 10:00 am is storybook time, followed by a fun craft for the kids. On Tuesday nights at 7:00 pm, kids in their nighttime wear crowd onto the A-B-C rug to listen at Pajama Storybook Time. For new (and not-so-new) families in the area, attending either of these educational and fun events is a great way to meet other families in the community.

On top of these regularly scheduled events, the Wiseburn library also schedules some special treats at different times of the year. There is a day dedicated to Dr Seuss on his birthday, where - you guessed it - they read all Dr. Seuss books. Christmas is special, as the big man himself, Santa Claus, makes a special stop to greet the children of Hawthorne.

Summertime is no exception. Though school is out and the "boob tube" -watching time is on the rise, the Wiseburn library presents some stiff competition with special guests like a portable petting zoo, magicians, humongo-bubble makers, and many more. They also hold a reading contest, publicly logging young readers' progress throughout the summer, and rewarding every reader.

The Wiseburn Library is also host to a book club that meets on a regular basis. This group of intelligent folks read some of the recently-talked-of literature, and then do some of it themselves at the library. The only requirement for joining this club is a thirst for reading!

Though this library is small, it does have a wide variety of media available to all patrons of the Los Angeles County Public Library. Available are a wide selection of children's books, fact and fiction, CDs, DVDs, and VHS. Several computers are also available for accessing the Internet, and most recently, free Wi-Fi is available to folks with laptops that have wireless Ethernet cards.

But the icing on the cake at this library is the folks working there. Many of them have been working at the library for years, and are as much a part of the community as the folks that live here. Library patrons are warmly greeted as they come in the front double-doors, "early-birds" are rewarded with stickers as they arrive for Storybook Time, and if you are nice enough, they may even waive late fees for you (I know this for a fact!).

So if you are new to the neighborhood - or even if you have been here for years - take a trip to the Wiseburn Public Library in Hawthorne, and tell them I said "hi".

Copyright 2008 Tiffany Wilson. All rights reserved.

Truth IS stranger than fiction! This past weekend, I was out for my morning walk in the Holly Glen area of Hawthorne - a beautiful, crisp morning. Holly Glen is a unique, small, hidden gem in the South Bay which consists of mostly owner-residing, single family homes. It has 3 excellent, award-winning schools: 1 which is less than a year old (Dana), another which is less than 20 years old (Burnett), and a third under construction (Juan Cabrillo). An excellent place for families with school age kids.

Anyways, it was pretty early, so I could only see one other person on the walking path. But there was something else that I saw which I did not expect. (Cue the shocking music...)

THE CHICKEN!

Yes, the chicken was on the loose. I have no clue where it came from - maybe it made a brave escape from the back of a truck which was headed for some market.

But, no matter where it came from, this chicken knew it was free, and it was going to do whatever it wanted!

For a while, it just pecked around, scurrying away as I neared it, my curiousity urging me to take a closer look.

Then, it actually began to follow me for a short bit, worrying me a few times as it broke from a chicken-walk to a chicken-trot. Has anyone ever been mauled by a chicken?

Finally, I guess I bored it, and it took the final act of chicken-defiance:

It crossed the road!

Have a great week! By the way, this story is true in its entirety. I hope you get a kick out of it like I did.