<p>I always like to see if the area is “student friendly”, with places to eat and safely hang out.</p>
<p>A little late to the dance for Cal Lutheran, but it just came on my radar with comments on the board, and some very very nice financial aid that I saw on their website.</p>
<p>Any information would be much appreciated</p>
<p>thanks</p>
<p>ray</p>
<p>The area around CLU is wonderful. We live about 25 minutes away toward LA. CLU is hidden away from major roads, in a fairly suburban area of nice houses. Thousand Oaks has one of the lowest crime stats in the country for a city of that size. There are LOTS of restaurants, and a huge upscale shopping mall (The Oaks), movie theaters, within a few mile radius. Also a Trader Joes. You see undeveloped hills from the campus, but have a lot of things nearby. The beach is about a 20 minute drive, downtown LA about 45 minutes. The area was one of the major factors in our decision - safe to walk around at any time, away from freeways, and beautiful. Look carefully at crime stats at some of the other schools in SoCal - it is a very different story. It may also be helpful to you to look at google earth, although much has been built on the CLU campus since our version of it anyway.</p>