Moving - Need Suggestions for Great Neighbourhoods.

Try Los Alamitos, or Cypress, Seal Beach?

Cerritos has a good tax base from all the auto dealerships - and they seem to use it well. Check out the school scores and the public library & parks.

Have you considered Hawthorne (the Wiesburn school district is supposed to be great, new charter school there for HS and proximity to the 405 for commute to work). Great park, library and neighborhood feel. A friend just moved there and it is great place for upcoming value on homes.

You know in your head what points of the new house you are looking for. List them on paper if you think it may help to have a visual record. Keep searching for that house with as many points on your list as possible for your area. You may even want to form your list into most important to least and focus on finding things about a place that can't be changed.
Two years ago, I had to house hunt too. I knew the ideal location for me was a small town just outside the big city limits. The school is just down the street and my girls walk there. It's a real community oriented school. The neighbors are very friendly and maintain their yards well. Before buying into a certain neighborhood, I suggest walking around it to get a feel for the area and the school. Even if the house is your dream vision, the crappy neighborhood environment can spoil everything. You can't pick up the house and move it. Once you're there, your there.
My house doesn't have a garage that I wanted, but I can always build one if I really want it. It has a double-sized shed which suits me fine for now, so that wasn't an issue really that can't be remedied later. It's a corner lot, which I've never lived on before, but I love the resulting breezeway effect. I never ran my air conditioning at all last summer. The mature trees provide wonderful shade. I didn't want a newer lot with no trees. I'd have had to wait a while for my shade then. The bedrooms are all oversized and the ceilings are high. It gives the house an open feeling that I love as well. It's not fenced in but my kids are teenagers and If I really want a fence, it'll be another thing to add later. If I get a chain linked fence, I can still keep my breeze too.
I must say, don't judge a house by the pictures in the listing because they rarely do it justice. My house was the least likely of 4 that I had a choice of at the time in my price range. The pics showed a dark, drab clutter filled dump. My top choice of house by the pictures turned out to have had a fire at some time in its life. There was silver paint in the basement rafters which is the indicator of fire. The basement also floods and the carport sags. The roof would have needed to be replaced right away as well as some windows in the house and garage. From the start I would have sunk thousands into the house just to get it livable and much more along the way. The other 2 houses would have been almost as bad. I feel I made the best choice with what was available at the time.
Unless you can afford to build your perfect house, you'll need to make compromises and sacrifices for the things that are most important. Find as many things on your list that you can. Don't settle for too much missing but don't rule out a house for the wrong reasons. If things are missing that you really want, make sure you can add these things later if needed or that you can live without them until your next place. Your ideal house may even change in 5 years. The price should also reflect the missing things (the burn victim house was $30 thousand dollars less than this 1 that I got, but I would have sunk in double that and more to it by now). Little things will get done here and there year after year so don't worry. Every house has some potential as long as the area is good for you. Happy house hunting with your family is really fun so enjoy.

My sister used to live in Brea and worked in Carson and swore it only took her 30 minutes. She moved up to the Sab Jose area a few year back and moved back down to Brea. It's got a very family feel and the school district is supposed to be good. Not sure of your budget but Cypress also ha a good school district. I'm in the same situation currently living in Torrance but homes are too expensive and rather older than I'd want in a home. As I work in Rancho Doinguez need to be somewhere easily accessible in the event of an emergency
Good luck

There are some nice areas in Long Beach, also Belmont Shores.