Live where you work or live where you play? (Irvine: rent, condos)

[Podo944]

Hi!

Well, we've been exploring neighborhoods within a "reasonable" commute (Coronoa is out in spite of the tempting prices) to my husband's work in Irvine near Sand Canyon.
and there's something we realized...
Lake Forest/Laguna Hills/Mission Viejo would probably be the most "practical" place to live for the day to day, (Irvine's too expensive and we only go to the Spectrum on occasion) but on the weekends we're almost always in the Dana Point/San Juan Cap/ San Clemente area.

We just really love these areas and we need to ask ourselves if we're willing to drive the extra distance? (We're actually going to go for a test run in traffic)

So I'm just curious what you prefer? Thanks! :-)

[BRinSM]

live where you work, you make that commute 5 days a week. traffic usually isn't as bad on the weekends either, so getting to where you play shouldn't take as long.

[pacific2]

This reminds me of the old question, “Do you work to live, or live to work?” If you work to live and the commute is reasonable, why not go with your heart and live in the Dana Point/San Juan Capistrano/San Clemente area? After all, you do want to enjoy your evenings and weekends.

I would rent for about a year, see how it works out, and then come to a final decision.

(Signed) A Reformed Workaholic

[DinsdalePirahna]

if you play in Dana Point / SJC and work in Irvine Laguna Hills, Mission Viejo, Aliso Viejo, Lake Forest and LAguna Niguel would all be good places to live,

[robbybee]

There is a train station not too far from the work location and there is a train station in San Clemente and one in San Juan Cap.

Live there!! It's fabulous!

[Podo944]

Probably a fluke, but we did a test run last night and the traffic was relatively light. It bunched up once we were in the "Y", but started thining out after Crown Valley. From there, it was only 10 minutes to where San Juan Boarders Dana Point, so it only took 30 minutes! However, I warned hubs it would probably take an hour on Fridays, he said he'd go down Moulton. My hubby is much more laid back about traffic than I am. He's the one who'd be doing most of the commute. He said it's his chance to listen to his soundtracks.

We're taking a second look at the condos in San Juan... (off ramp Junipero Serra) I had read about some gang stuff in the La Zanja neighborhood, but after talking to some more real live residents, it sounds like more internal mischief than hard core stuff. City-Data's stats still show SJC as pretty low crime comparitively.
My hubby pointed out that he didn't see any graffiti, so when if and when it goes up, someone's cleaning it up quick!
We had an amazing hamberger at Molly's (also our fave breakfast spot) and I realized our very favorite Mexican restaurant in Lake Forest (La Cocina De Ricardo) has another place right in San Juan! (Ricardo's Place)
Gotta do some more research, but the thought of walking to town is very appealing.
BTW, one of the big draws for us in that area is also the cooler air.
We saw an open house weekend before last in the Mariners Village neighborhood, and went for a bike ride from the trail right out of the neighborhood to Doheney Beach. We liked that alot!
Okay, I'm rambling your ears off enough!

Thanks again!

[Podo944]

Originally Posted by robbybee

There is a train station not too far from the work location and there is a train station in San Clemente and one in San Juan Cap.

Live there!! It's fabulous!

That's a good point...
His office is about a mile from the hub on Ada.
I think there're shuttles that take folks around? I'll have to look into that. We love trains! Hubs is from England and he used to take the train into London for his work. He didn't even own a car till he came to the U.S.!

[pacific2]

Originally Posted by Podo944

Probably a fluke, but we did a test run last night and the traffic was relatively light. It bunched up once we were in the "Y", but started thining out after Crown Valley. From there, it was only 10 minutes to where San Juan Boarders Dana Point, so it only took 30 minutes! However, I warned hubs it would probably take an hour on Fridays, he said he'd go down Moulton. My hubby is much more laid back about traffic than I am. He's the one who'd be doing most of the commute. He said it's his chance to listen to his soundtracks.

We're taking a second look at the condos in San Juan... (off ramp Junipero Serra) I had read about some gang stuff in the La Zanja neighborhood, but after talking to some more real live residents, it sounds like more internal mischief than hard core stuff. City-Data's stats still show SJC as pretty low crime comparitively.
My hubby pointed out that he didn't see any graffiti, so when if and when it goes up, someone's cleaning it up quick!
We had an amazing hamberger at Molly's (also our fave breakfast spot) and I realized our very favorite Mexican restaurant in Lake Forest (La Cocina De Ricardo) has another place right in San Juan! (Ricardo's Place)
Gotta do some more research, but the thought of walking to town is very appealing.
BTW, one of the big draws for us in that area is also the cooler air.
We saw an open house weekend before last in the Mariners Village neighborhood, and went for a bike ride from the trail right out of the neighborhood to Doheney Beach. We liked that alot!
Okay, I'm rambling your ears off enough!

Thanks again!

Sounds good! I like San Juan Capistrano and I think it's under-appreciated. Be sure to visit the Old Barn Antique Mall.

[Coldjensens]

Commute time/distance is directly tied to overall quality of life in OC. Shorten your commute all that you can. Driving is awful and leaves you drained and exhausted. It is not just about the distance and time in the car, it is stressful, frustrating, and draining. When I was able to cut my commute down to one mile, my life was hugely improved. Even if you normally enjoy driving (I do), this is not driving. It is sitting in a car, constantly getting stopped, cut off, glared or yelled at etc. It does nto remain pleasnat or even tolerable for long.

If you live near work, you may even be able to meet once in a while for lumch. This can substantially increase the amount of tiem that yu have together.

THs is not a live to work/work to live quesiton. This is do you want to feel exhausted, frustrated and completely drained every morning and evening? If you have a long commute, when the weekend arrives, the last thing that you will want to do is go anywhere. If you have a short commute, when the weekend arrives you are ready and raring to go and you do not mind so much if you have a bit of a drive. Even on the weekdays, with a short commute, you may feel like going out and doing something. With a long commute, you feel like eating dinner and going to bed (or soemtimes jsut going to bed).

Keep in mind that you will have to leave extra time to address problems (traffic, accidents, weather construciton etc) in order to make sure you arrive on time. For this commute, you will probably need a 20 minute buffer. The further you commute, the higher the odd of you running into a delay, so you need a bigger buffer. If you commute 3 miles, there is almost no liklihood that you will be delayed 15 minutes. IF you commute 24 miles, there is a good liklihood. Also if you live close to work and you ever forget something, you can dart back home at lunch, on a break etc and retrieve or take care of whatever you forgot.


If you have a one hour commute each way (which is more realistic), you will spend 10 hours a week in your car miserable and frustrated. You will not be enjoying the place that you live during the week.

However if you can take the train, you can sleep, eat, read, or even post on CD while riding the train. It is less stressful and it might be worth it. Personally, I would prefer to live closer to work, I can tolerate taking the train. Driving that distance is intolerable.