Where should i live in ornage county, ca being in my late 20's and......

Question

i make about 120k a year and single-trying to find right area. should i maybe try inland empire area instead?

Answer 1

my friend has lived in orange county, cali his whole life so i asked him about it and he said Rancho Santa Margarita ...i hope that helps :)

Answer 2

South Orange County or Laguna Beach if you can afford it.

Answer 3

Live close to where you work.  Since you didn't mention where that is, I don't see how we can help.

OC is pretty homogeneous.  Santa Ana and Westminster/Garden Grove are really the only rough areas that you may want to avoid.

Answer 4

Live close to where you work,  But check out Brea, Placentia, Yorba Linda, La Habra, etc.

Answer 5

It would help if we knew your priorities? You said you are single and looking for the right area --- do you mean for safety? Property values? Finding cute single chicks/dudes? Close to party districts? Etc. Etc....

My recommendation is to take a 3-4 day weekend trip here with your friends and check out some local spots.  Talk to the locals in person and see what there is, what to do, and what they think about where they live.  Most people will be friendly and happy to talk to you.

Rancho Santa Margarita== is a very nice and somewhat exclusive neighborhood requiring access through gated entrances in order to see most neighborhoods. Property values can be extremely high but hold up easier in this "housing crisis" we are having. I can't tell you about the local vibe of the city though, sorry.

Huntintgon Beach - is a surf city beach town with a downtown Main Street steps from the beach. There are a lot of cool restaurants and bars there, plus the beach during the day. There are condos and apartments the next few streets over so you don't have to drive home after a night out.

Newport Beach - upscale beach town with Balboa Island close by. This is another area where properties can be more exclusive, some gated communities but not so much so. This area has been stereotyped as a preppy s****. part of Orange County by some... but it truly is the person you run into.

Laguna Beach - fabulous little beach town... but it gets super crowded during the summer because of the local art festivals and people going to the beautiful beaches.  They have awesome little restaurants and bars, great party hangouts but again, traffic is bad. Plus it takes you quite a bit of time to get to Laguna Beach off the 5 or the 405 during rush hour ... unless you take PCH and then that can be killer too.

Dana Point / Capo Beach / San Clemente- Awesome little family towns but also great for all your water sport activities and surfing... hangouts for old school beach hippy types and also younger health conscious types.... more of a laid back atmosphere compared to other places, BUT they have some great hangouts and bars too.

Fullerton/Brea/Placentia/Yorba Linda/Anaheim Hills - located in North Orange County.  These towns are nice little towns with a lot of little local hangouts and restaurants.  Some have dance clubs and comedy clubs in their downtown district.  Brea and Fullerton are famous for their downtown districts.  There is California State University in Fullerton, so a lot of college kids hang out in Fullerton on the weekends in the local clubs and bars.  It does get a lot hotter inland in North OC during the summer, like at least 10 degrees hotter with only a mild breeze... that makes a lot of difference to some people.

Irvine / Tustin - nice newly built areas, where Irvine, more specifically, has a planned community set-up.  It is a very safe area, somewhat close to the beach, close to freeways, close to restaurants and clubs.  You can find a great looking apartment here, but it will be expensive.

Inland Empire - housing seems cheaper there, and it is for a reason.  This area was where the dairy farms and some agricultural farms were found just over 25 years ago.  This area was not very desirable for most families at that time.  However, over the last couple of decades things have changed. New freeway access, the 15 freeway from the 91 freeway to the 60 freeway has helped with congestion and the massive influx of new residents moving into the area.  Upgrades on the 91 freeway with the Fast Track (toll road) that were done about 20 years ago (cant remember exact year) did help with traffic.  Plus a couple of other upgrades on Toll Roads to South County. Unfortunately, Cal Transit has not kept up with the massive influx of people moving into the area and working out of the area..... Driving out of the city in the morning and driving in to the city after work.  Traffic is crazy.  The type where you want to pull your hair out crazy if you have to drive it every day- and there are not a lot of side street options to avoid traffic.

Houses in the IE are a lot less expensive since the housing crash and you can find a super deal compared to what you can get in Orange County.  But take into consideration the time in the car for traffic and the money you put in your gas tank to fill it up 2 or 3 times a week.

Take into consideration where your job is and how many miles it is to where you want to live.... THEN TAKE A TRIP TO WORK AND BACK  HOME DURING TRAFFIC HOURS to get an idea of how long you will be in traffic.  I don't know where you are from but in Southern California we don't care how many miles it is to some place, we want to know how long it takes to get there. Then the next question we ask, is that during rush hour or not?  An example, I live 12 miles from work. It takes me anywhere from 30 min to 45 minutes to get there in the morning!!! It takes me longer if I leave 5 minutes later from my house... that is how congested it gets here.

Hope this helps you, take a quick weekend trip here or maybe two to get the vibe you want from each area.... I'm thinking you would like Irvine or Huntington --- well I do anyway!!! hahaha