Hi, denizens of OC. My girlfriend and I are moving to OC in the fall (I got a great job in Aliso Viejo at Soka University), and would love some advice on where to live. I can't say I'm a fan of the cookie-cutter malls and houses I saw in Aliso Viejo, but I hear there's better places for misfits like us. We want to be within close commuting distance too. What's funky in OC? Ethnically diverse? Give me the scoop! Thanks!
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Los Angeles
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Re: Moving to OC
Sat, February 3, 2007 - 2:53 PMCongrats on the new job!
Soka sounds like a really interesting uni.
Costa Mesa is ethnically diverse for now, but that's even a little tense lately.
It's also affordable and fairly pleasant, that said I'm not sure about the commute, how close are you looking for?
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Re: Moving to OC
Sun, February 4, 2007 - 8:58 AMwhat's considered "within close commuting distance"?
I live in Lake Forest and commute to Aliso Viejo... my impression of South OC is it's basically rather expensive no matter what... however, Lake Forest is the former military town for the former El Toro Marine Base and it's fairly ethnically diverse... the closer to the freeway one lives, the more so... the further away up El Toro Road & into the foothills or up by the toll road, the less so... just my opinion, however -- others may differ...
rather than live in OC, what about considering living in North San Diego County? Places like Oceanside, San Marcos, etc.? -
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Re: Moving to OC
Mon, February 5, 2007 - 9:43 AMHi, thanks for the responses... Close commuting for me is like 30 min. I have a strong aversion to car commutes after having done 1 hr 30 for a few years... yucch! 'Course everything looks close in OC, but I don't know what the traffic is like. Thanks for the tips, I will check out Lake Forest and Costa Mesa...
It's a great job, that's for sure. I'm very happy about it. -
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Re: Moving to OC
Sun, February 11, 2007 - 9:23 AMok, 30 minutes MIGHT get you into Irvine from Lake Forest using surface streets & freeway... my partner commutes from our home on El Toro & Santa Margarita to the I-5 & Jamboree and if he leaves after 7AM, it takes him an hour to go about 13 miles... somewhat less time to drive home at 5:00PM... that's with rush hour traffic... less in off peak times...
from our home, it's 45-60 mins to nearly anywhere else in OC using the toll road & freeways... 30 mins without traffic to John Wayne Airport (like at night)...
we don't like to travel anywhere between 5-7PM on the freeways, *any* of them, as it's just insane...
now then, *I* commute from Lake Forest to Aliso Viejo on surface streets every day and it's about 20-30 minutes depending on the lights & time... I leave between 9:15AM & 9:30AM and the traffic is pretty much gone... going home is also good because I leave that much later than the rush hour... 7-8AM and 5-6PM are the times to avoid driving around here... TONS of vehicles on the road either heading to work or trying to get home... and watch out for the SUVs! LOTS of those around here...
welcome to South OC! ::smile:: -
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Re: Moving to OC
Thu, February 22, 2007 - 2:14 PMThanks!
I think initially I will try to rent in Laguna or Newport Beach area - that looks reasonably close - then I can take the time to get to know the area before we try to buy or whatever is possible...
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Re: Moving to OC
Sun, April 8, 2007 - 8:53 AMLaguna Laguna Laguan is the best of South OC for funky and interesting and Non cookie cutter. Ethnically diverse... not so much. But a beautiful town, none the less
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Re: Moving to OC
Sun, April 29, 2007 - 3:32 PMThere is Metrolink in OC, 11 stops I think. If you are looking for a more urban setting, downtown LA feel, check out downtown Santa Ana. They have done a lot of interesting things in the arts district, there is a huge art scene in SA, Main and Fourth-ish area. Lotsa art galleries/buildings and cafes with live music. More mixed use buildings and there are some cool, older buildings with unique architecture in the downtown area and a nearby neighborhood called French Park, I think ? Walk or park your bike/car at the train station and skip the freeway traffic -
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Re: Moving to OC
Sun, April 29, 2007 - 8:45 PM -
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Re: Moving to OC
Mon, April 30, 2007 - 12:16 PMYeah, we originally thought that SA might be a good area - I did like the arts district, but it's really small, and everything else we saw downtown was not so interesting. We'll be back again to look around more. Gang activity doesn't totally worry me, considering that we live in Highland Park now -
I have to say, that I've found Laguna Beach disappointing - too many people with too much money and too little taste - most of the 'art' being sold in the shops downtown is really horrible - but I'm told there are remnants of the old Laguna and look forward to getting to know it better. -
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Re: Moving to OC
Sat, September 22, 2007 - 11:47 PMHi all,
I just came across this post. I am moving to OC in the next month or two and also on the look out cool places to live. How is huntington beach? I'm interested in yoga, urban art scene, and I want to get in contact with burningman folks. any suggestions? -
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Re: Moving to OC
Sun, September 23, 2007 - 9:31 AMThe OC burners meet pretty regularly for beach burns (in Huntington Beach) and other stuff; all of this is organized through the yahoo group ocburners, so you should join that - events aren't necessarily posted on tribe.
Huntington Beach is nice enough, but Orange County's population is pretty spread out, so I think you're going to end up driving around for the urban art scene etc no matter where you live.
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Re: Moving to OC
Wed, May 2, 2007 - 6:19 PMcheck out dana point as well. I just made a move from aliso and had to make this very choice. I found newport way overpriced and too plastic. Laguna is great but very crowded. Dana is not near as crowded and cheaper. san clemente is great too. Both have a small hometown feel. very charming. the zipcode for dana is 92629. It's closer to soka too than the other cities.
best of luck! where are moving from?
paula -
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Re: Moving to OC
Thu, May 3, 2007 - 11:28 AMI haven't been down there yet, and will certainly have a look at both DP and San Juan Capistrano. But I don't want to be so far from LA, since all my friends are there, and I'm still in love with the city...
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Re: Moving to OC
Mon, May 21, 2007 - 9:20 PMWell... I'm very familiar with Aliso Viejo and yes, agreed. No no on moving to the AV
but... Laguna Niguel, which is right across Crown Valley is, in my opinion, much more beautiful as it has some hidden secrets of paradise... greener and not so cookie cutter
Even better but a little further away from Soka is San Clemente where you will find the most wierd of the non-weird OC people :-)... I'm saying that in a great way. San Clemente has much more diversity and might be cheaper, but everything is so expensive down there anyways! I think Southern Orange County has some of the best small beaches. I'll be living there this summer and although I'm kind of dreading moving back, the beach is my savior!
Congrats!
Peace n love,
Danielle -
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Re: Moving to OC
Wed, May 30, 2007 - 9:54 AMThanks! We're making regular car, internet, and sattelite forays into OC... I definitely want to check out points south - San Clemente, San Juan C. Our latest plan is to start out by minimizing our commute and rent, take time to really get to know the area, before buying somewhere where we want to put down roots. Seems as if there are some great people in OC, time to turn the stereotype around! -
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Unsu...
Re: Moving to OC
Sun, June 17, 2007 - 12:42 PMDo check out south OC. I live in San Clemente and like the beach town feeling. Yes, we also have the plastic OC feeling also. As for cheaper, I dunno about that... I also like SJ Capistrano and Dana Point and agree with others' advice about looking at them. -
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Re: Moving to OC
Mon, June 18, 2007 - 3:56 PMJust had dinner and a walkabout in SJC last weekend, and definitely enjoyed a more laid-back vibe! -
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Re: Moving to OC
Tue, June 19, 2007 - 6:07 PMHi!!! I just moved out of AV....way too vanilla for me! I moved to Huntington Beach...really laid back....close to beach and rent is pretty reasonable....$1500 for a 2 bedroom. I'm lovin it. My daughter lives in Laguna Niguel and it takes me 45 miutes to get here...door to door.....so Aliso should be like 30 minutes. If you ever want to meet up for a drink in HB....drop me a line :) -
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Re: Moving to OC
Fri, June 22, 2007 - 9:44 AMThanks for the invite! Next month is apartment hunting time!
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Re: Moving to OC
Sun, July 1, 2007 - 8:01 PMCosta Mesa...it's the home of the arts....I've lived here three years, wouldn't be anywhere else!!
Short commute to everywhere else in OC, we sit right near all major highways.
Norma Jean -
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Re: Moving to OC
Tue, July 10, 2007 - 8:23 AMYeah, looking forward to getting to know Costa Mesa, too!
Just got back from a weekend in OC, we signed the lease on a beautiful apartment in Laguna Hills yesterday! Upstairs in an 8-plex that looks like a house, overlooking a tree-lined horse trail. Quiet as anything - all you can hear is the breeze in the trees and the birds. Not the most exciting part of OC, to be sure, but we will both be able to ride our bikes to work, thus saving us lots of money and commuting stress, leaving more energy to play!
We managed to get around a fair bit. I *really* like San Clemente. There's a real town center you can walk around in, funky shopping, decent eats. We stayed in San Juan C, which is cute and has a nice sleepy feeling, but not really much seems to be going on. We also had dinner in Orange, also a real town with some funk and character. My impression overall is that there are lots of nice people in OC - for example on this tribe :-) but everywhere we went people were friendly and helpful. We're looking forward to moving down in August!
Thanks everybody for tips and encouragement! -
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Re: Moving to OC
Mon, September 24, 2007 - 1:11 PMThis thread really helps! Thanks everyone. I am going to make some trips to OC soon. Good luck with new OC residents. I look forward meeting you all -
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Re: Moving to OC
Wed, October 3, 2007 - 6:31 PMI drove around in Huntington Beach and Costa Mesa, HB was a bit disappointing because it's sleepy and inconvenient. There's more stuff going on in Costa Mesa but i still want to find an area in north OC that is more earthy. does it exist? -
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Re: Moving to OC
Thu, October 11, 2007 - 7:01 PMMan, from my perspective in South OC, all of North OC is earthy... ;-)
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Re: Moving to OC
Tue, October 23, 2007 - 10:41 AMGood on ya,
I'd day either San Clemente or Huntington.
Hookarr
