Suburban Los Angeles (Huntington Beach, Irvine, Orange: hotels, homes, safe neighborhoods)

[woodenshoes16]

What would be the least congested, safest, overall best Los Angeles suburb to stay in if you're planning a visit to Los Angeles?

Thanks

[newportbeachsmostwanted]

You have plenty of options.

..Thousand Oaks, Calabasas, Newport Beach, Huntington Beach, Irvine, Mission Viejo, and Laguna Niguel.
However, a daily commute to the city would take 1-2 hours.

Shorter commutes:
Malibu has a few hotels/motels starting at $200/night. The commute from Malibu to Santa Monica is roughly 30 minutes.
Manhattan Beach is more congested but very safe. Rooms start at $100. The commute is about 20/30 minutes.

Good luck!

[the one]

if your coming to LA you want to be in the middle of it all so that you avoid the traffic. staying in the north country, or closer to ventura would definitely take the fun out of visiting LA. hotel fig. the standard in DT. everytime i go to a kings game at staples i am amazed at all the new living spaces. being in the middle of it all is fun. unless you have a family and want to do the disney type of thing, then definetly stay in the OC away from LA.

[saimamom]

I have a question about people who live in the suburbs of LA. Do you ever feel like you're so far away from all the action? Or is life just easy and you don't need to be in the 'middle of all the fun'? Having lived in NYC and now in LA, I fear my upcoming move out of LA. But since we have kids I think it's time to think about good schools, safe neighborhoods and no commutes.

[tanster]

well me personally no okay
L.As suburbs have action all over the place
if you live around the Hollywood area of course you have Hollywood action nigh clubs sunset strip best night clubs ever rodeo dr. best celebrity shopping for the rich and famous around Downtown you have L.A the upcoming L.a live which will open about 2010 all of L.a action will be here theatre hotels Nokia every thing possible they call it times square of the west
Here is a pic of L.As suburbs

[dakicka]

I also was wondering if living in OC such as Newport Beach, are you really "out of the action" far away from the fun nightlife and restaurants and things to do for a young professional? Is LA the "real" place to be for active nightlife or can I still get my fix on the weekends in Orange County. Living in NJ being close to NYC I am used to an active lifestyle with something to do whether it is 12pm for lunch at a fancy restaurant or 12am at some elite hangout frequented by high-profile people. Please let me know everyone's insight. Thank You.

[legend999]

los angeles is like one big sprawled out suburb. Aside from the downtown area to just south and west of downtown-pico union..the city is not urban at all. No trains, skyscrapers, multiunits..just little ****ty single family homes that cost 700k. shoot even in compton homes are 500k for little shacks. I hate LA to be honest. It's not even like a city in my opinion. I lived there for 7 years when I was an adolescent, when everything wasn't so expensive and my family hated it. took forever to go anywhere, no public trans...the weather and the ocean are the only good things

[TheRealAngelion]

Originally Posted by woodenshoes16

What would be the least congested, safest, overall best Los Angeles suburb to stay in if you're planning a visit to Los Angeles?

Are you planning to spend any time in LA during your visit or do you only want to stay in the suburbs? LA has many nice suburbs, so it depends on what you are looking for and how close you want to be to LA proper.

[Amavel]

To the poster who asked about nightlife/action in the LA metro area...

Because LA is so autocentric (unlike NYC), a lot of the entertainment, nightlife, shopping, and hangouts are more spread out. As someone mentioned, there is action in Hollywood, Sunset Strip, Downtown, etc. As for Orange County, there are multiple hot spots including Downtown Huntington, Balboa Peninsula in Newport, and the many open-air "malls" distributed throughout the county.

So to answer your question, No, living outside of the densest areas of the Southland doesn't limit the availability of entertainment. However, with the many planned developments and re-gentrification projects in downtown, we'll have to wait and see how this effects the lesser-centralized locales.

[James T]

Originally Posted by woodenshoes16

What would be the least congested, safest, overall best Los Angeles suburb to stay in if you're planning a visit to Los Angeles?

Thanks

I'd say Big Bear.
..