Living in Pierhouse
If you’re a fan of nightlife, beach lounging, shopping and delicious food, the Pierhouse condos are perfectly located for you. Situated just blocks away from downtown Main Street, Pierhouse is near several Huntington Beach foodie favorites; hit up the Sugar Shack for a delicious breakfast, 25 Degrees for burgers and cocktails, and Bruxie for their amazing waffle sandwiches. Not too far is Pacific City, a shopping center that offers home décor and fashion shopping, as well as top quality dining experiences. Lot 579 is the artisanal market opening soon, where you can taste culinary products from all over California.
Named the United States’ best beach by Time Magazine, Huntington State Beach Park is located just across the Pacific Coast Highway. Grab your swimsuit to catch some rays, dive into the crashing waves or cast a line out to catch some of the local fish. An added bonus: head over to one of the 200 fire rings when the sun starts setting to keep warm. And if you have a surfboard, you’re in luck—the city’s nick is ‘Surf City USA’ after all! Running just along the beach is the Huntington Beach Bike Trail. Take a day trip north or south with stunning beach alongside you at all times. Right across from Pierhouse is the Huntington Dog Beach—a 1.5-mile stretch of beach for off-leash dogs to splash around in for hours on end.
Agnes L. Smith Elementary School, Ethel Dwyer Middle School and Huntington Beach High School are the public schools assigned to this community. Receiving a nine out of ten on the API scale is Smith Elementary School where students test in math and English well above the state average. The middle school, Ethel Dwyer, follows a similar pattern also receiving a nine out of ten on the API scale; students are also much higher in math and English proficiency. There are several opportunities to join clubs and athletics at Ethel Dwyer. Such options are drama, music, marine biology, photography, running and yearbook. Ethel Dwyer Middle School is also a part of the Junior National Honors Society. Plenty of after-school sports are available at Ethel Dwyer as well: basketball, volleyball, soccer cross country, track and field and surfing are among many of the sports offered.
Receiving a 9 out of 10 rating on the API rating system is Huntington Beach High School—a California Distinguished School (the highest ranking a school can receive in California). With a graduation rate at 99% graduation rate, Huntington Beach High sits far above the state average of 81%. And of that number, 67% are eligible to attend a university in the CSU or CU system, superior to the state average of 42%. Students also test high in math and English proficiency. A variety of sports of are offered at Huntington Beach High School, including volleyball, tennis, golf, football, field hockey, basketball, soccer, baseball, swimming, softball, track and surfing—in fact, Huntington Beach was the first school to ever have a Varsity surf team. Huntington Beach High is also the host school for the audition-only magnet art’s program, the Academy for the Performing Arts school (APA). Available programs to study at APA consist of acting, costume design, dance, dramatic production, MMET Media, MMET Popular Music, musical theatre, orchestra and technical theatre.
Pros and Cons of living in Pierhouse
The location of the Pierhouse condos is unbeatable as it just steps away from the beach, and a quick walk to downtown Main Street. However, this area is a high-traffic tourist destination and as it sits on the Pacific Coast Highway, traffic can be heard at all hours. While it is common to pay an HOA fee in homes such as these, the condos sit on leased land, which results in an additional fee.