Considering move: San Diego or Orange County? (Oceanside, Irvine: real estate, crime)

[NPMALK]

Greetings,

My wife and I are considering a move to California from Utah. We both work in medical laboratory science (me research, she technician) and should be able to finds jobs nearly anywhere.

We are considering either San Diego County or Orange County and I'd like to get any thoughts on which is "better". We want to own a home, preferably under $400,000, in a reasonable neighborhood. We don't have kids, but would prefer somewhere with shorted commutes.

We've looked into Escondido, Vista, Temecula, & Oceanside in the south and homes seem a bit more affordable there than say, Irvine, lake Forest, Mission Viejo, etc.

We want to get away from the cold winters and scorcing summers of Utah and move to a place more culturally-diverse (my wife is Persian & Bahai). I realize that the cost of living is higher, but it looks like that is mainly confined to real estate relative to Salt Lake City, and less so for transportation, food, healthcare, etc.

Please provide me any thoughts (specific or random) on the subject. All input is greatly appreciated!!!

[jasmine22]

I would look at Orange County. There is a large Persian presence in Irvine. The firther inland you get in orange county, like mission viejo and ladera ranch, the hotter your summers will be. there isnt much of a marine layer there. san diego is cool but there are alot of crime issues near the border. vista is kind of far from everything, and youll either have to commute into san diego or orange county.

[sav858]

OC and Northern San Diego County seem fairly suburban and white bread to me, I like Central San Diego County the most. If clean, quite, and bland suburbia is your thing then South OC and North County SD are the place for that. Also both those areas are fairly conservative if that is what you prefer. If you want a little more variety, diversity, more liberal/moderate politics, and less cookie cutter suburbia feel then I'd look closer towards Central San Diego. OC is more crowded and developed and traffic seems worse there.

[mini_cute]

Originally Posted by sav858

OC and Northern San Diego County seem fairly suburban and white bread to me, I like Central San Diego County the most. If clean, quite, and bland suburbia is your thing then South OC and North County SD are the place for that. Also both those areas are fairly conservative if that is what you prefer. If you want a little more variety, diversity, more liberal/moderate politics, and less cookie cutter suburbia feel then I'd look closer towards Central San Diego. OC is more crowded and developed and traffic seems worse there.

I second that traffic is worse in Orange County. I used to live in Irvine and the 405 and 5 freeways were nightmares during rush hour and sometimes even when it wasn't rush hour. That is one of the aspects where OC is becoming more like LA. If you live in OC and commute to work in OC, you may be able to deal with it... but commuting from OC to LA for work is insane.

[NPMALK]

Thanks for your comments! Your help is tremendously valuable and greatly appreciated. One question? Thoughts on Oceanside for residence?

[j760]

Originally Posted by NPMALK

Thanks for your comments! Your help is tremendously valuable and greatly appreciated. One question? Thoughts on Oceanside for residence?

Your going to hear some negativity about it, but the bottom line is it depends on the area. There are still some good areas in Oceanside, best thing though is to check it out for yourself. One person's opinion might be very different from your own, so if you have the ability to check it out that would be wonderful.

I was born and raised there, and I really enjoyed living there.

[mini_cute]

NPMALK, I think you should consider where the biotech jobs are centered in either SD or OC and then decide what city/neighborhood you could realistically live in for both- and then make a major decision from that. For either one, I think the ideal situation is to live close enough to work to take surface streets so you can avoid any sort of freeway traffic (although SD traffic is better than OC traffic). From what I gather, most of biotech in SD is located in La Jolla and Sorrento Valley, near UCSD and around Salk Institute, etc. Oceanside may be quite a commute using the freeway. Biotech seems to be centered in Irvine, but real estate in and near there is very expensive as your research has already shown you.

[1AngryTaxPayer]

OC is both nice and junk. Illegal Aliens are bringing a lot of it down. Sorry, u need the truth if you are thinkin about it. Lot's of it are ghetto now. Take a look before you decide.
Good luck.

[EricJess123]

OC! or Nrth. SD