HELP!Thoughts on RSM,LAdera Ranch,Mission Viejo,& Irvine (Lake Forest: environment, hoa)

[rainorshine11]

Hi! I have two toddlers and we want to move to OC area. My husband and I both work in the OC. We've looked at homes with a realtor in Irvine, RSM, & Ladera Ranch. School system is very important to us. I know Irvine has top rated schools in the county but it's a little more expensive than other places. Any opinions on the cities above will be very helpful. We also really like RSM, though it's more inland, it has bigger lots and homes compared to other cities. Thank you all so much!!! Please give your pros and cons....

[EscapeCalifornia]

I believe anything in RSM or Ladera Ranch is going to have mello roos and a HOA which will add to your monthly costs. I don't think Irvine has mello roos (or at least not all of it) and I know that PARTS of Irvine don't even have a HOA. Irvine's also closer to a lot of stuff since the foothill communities make you drive 5-6 miles just to get to the freeway.

[missionhome]

Mission Viejo and Irvine are both the most central cities and I think the two most affordable since they don't have mello roos (in as many neighborhoods) and as high a tax as RSM or Ladera. RSM is nice, but the drive is much farther to everything. They have limited restaurants and major shopping and have to drive a good ten-fifteen minutes farther to the freeway than Mission Viejo residents.

School wise, Irvine is a very very good school district, especially if your kids are academic. Academic success is sure to be found in at Irvine Unified for bright students, but there is more intense pressure on students here than neighboring school districts. If your kids like sports, Irvine's teams are weaker in that area. One problem is that students that aren't thinking they want to take all advanced classes or go to Princeton usually can't find a social group to fit into since so many of the students are highly academic. You will find a large Asian population (from 25-48%) at each of Irvine's High Schools, one of the reasons for the schools' good performance. All of Irvine Unified's high schools are in the top 1,300 in the nation.

Mission Viejo is served by two school districts, Capistrano Unified (CUSD) and Saddleback Valley Unified (SVUSD). Both are award winning districts and the cities three high schools are very good. (Note- CUSD has had problems at the superintendent level and with funding not being properly distributed to the schools, but the schools themselves are still excellent, unfortunately the district leadership is just going through a bad time.) All three high schools ranked in Newsweek's prestigious list of the top 1,300 schools in the country. Mission Viejo High School (SVUSD) ranked 409 and is an academic and sport powerhouse in the county. Capistrano Valley High School (CUSD) ranked 536 and has the district's strongest academic program. Trabuco Hills High (SVUSD) ranked 1,144. The majority of the students here aren't from Mission Viejo, but rather neighbors Lake Forest and RSM. The schools in Mission Viejo have all the academic programs of Irvine, but there is also a more welcoming environment for students that aren't going to Harvard or Yale to find their place.

Rancho Santa Margarita students either go to Mission Viejo High School (mentioned above) or Trabuco Hills (above) or CUSD's Tesoro High School. Tesoro is ranked number 550 in the country and is a very young school opening only in 2001. It doesn't have IB like the Mission Viejo schools, so advanced students are limited only to AP. RSM students sometimes feel like they don't fit in with the richer students from Coto de Caza that make up the majority of the school. The school is a little snotty and Coto kids are known to put down RSM kids for things like "not having a BMW given to them on their sixteenth birthday."

Ladera students are all in CUSD and go to either Tesoro (above) or the new San Juan Hills High School in San Juan Capistrano (opens this fall). The school doesn't have a reputation yet since it hasn't opened so there's no comment.

Good luck in your search, but there are big lots in Mission Viejo and Irvine too. I live only five minutes from the border to Rancho, and I will say it is a very nice place and if you find a home there, go for it. I would try to buy a home in the SVUSD part of Rancho though, because unless your kid is definitely getting a car on his birthday and doesn't mind being called someone from outside the "Coto gates." Ladera is expensive, but there are some deals to be found and the inventory is huge right now there so the seller will negotiate.
I am from Mission Viejo and think its great, but I want you to know that all the communities you are looking at are excellent choices. For more in depth on MV, you can look at this post I made: Orange County City by City
Good luck!

[threeputtfromanywhere]

I live in Mission Viejo and grew up in Irvine. Both are great. Mello roos are killers in RSM, Ladera and newer parts of Irvine. Schools in all the area's mentioned are excellent. Irvine scores higher consistantly in testing, very demanding parents in Irvine but if you are that way too your children will do well in each place. I would suggest driving area's. Determine which you feel most at home in and then consider the economics. I like the more mature feel in Mission Viejo with all the trees but you may like something else. Good luck, you won't go wrong with that list any way you go.

[The Dish]

If you like the RSM and Ladera Ranch areas, you might want to look into the Wagon Wheel neighborhood. It's unincorporated (like Coto de Caza) and outside of Coto but not behind "the gates". It starts at Oso and Altura and you have the convenience of the 241 toll road right there (they are also widening and improving Oso right at the toll road too -- it's almost finished!). The 5 freeway is about 15 minutes down Oso.

It's a great neighborhood and an excellent school system (Capistrano District -- Wagon Wheel Elementary, not sure of the middle school and the high school is Tesoro).

Very family friendly neighborhood and everyone goes all out to decorate for Halloween and Christmas (last year the Homestead and Clementine Streets put up lights between the houses and it looked like an old fashioned down town Christmas). There's a nice park right in the neighborhood. We started a neighborhood watch last year -- everyone is real nice and looks out for each other and each other's kids.

The monthly association fees are only $45 (I know RSM and Ladera's are higher because you get more -- pools, parks, etc. but we go to RSM's dog park, RSM's New Year's Eve party and to Ladera's 4th of July celebration every year for FREE and if you need a pool, you can join the Y in Mission Viejo for WAY less than you'd pay in associaton fees in RSM or Ladera).

There are mellos roos in Wagon Wheel but very low compared to Ladera and the low association fee makes up for it by a long shot.

I live in Wagon Wheel and work near the Irvine Spectrum. It's a 20 minute commute in the summer and a 30 minute commute when's school's in session, not bad AT ALL for "The OC".

Good luck -- you'll find the right place for you and your family!

[kturbe]

I would also consider Portola Hills and Foothill Ranch, both part of Lake Forest but newer communities. Both part of Saddleback School district and both elem. schools are distinguised schools not as far out as RSM but has the same feel.