OC is so great I can't wait to move out (Long Beach: fit in, condos)

[solo_rider]

Attention everyone moving to Orange County, there will be a new parking space available in Irvine soon.

I live in Irvine, Orange County, a wonderful, safe place.

Why, just last week my girlfriend was pumping gas at our local chevron off of Barranca & Jeffrey and saw two black guys beat the bloody pulp out of a middle eastern guy for asking for her mother's purse back after they stole it. The mother yelled and begged them to STOP STOP STOP, to stop pummeling her son, now bent over a trash can, by these two grown men. Instead of stopping, they shoved her to the ground. My girlfriend ran to her car and locked her doors in horror, calling 911, only to be hung up on by the 911 operator.

Then yesterday my 26 year old newlywed friend, with a college degree from UCSB, certified public accounting license, and 3 years of professional accounting experience at a highly regarded local accounting firm expressed his dream to me while mountain bike riding. He hopes to be able to buy a small 2 bedroom condo in Orange County for under $450,000. His wife also works at the same company he does, so they have dual income and they can afford it. As my friend and I finish our bike ride in the Saddleback Mountains we enter the Whiting Ranch State Park land reserve, whereby we passed the memorials of 5 cyclists killed on Santiago Canyon Road by multudinous OC drivers talking on their cell phones and typing on their blackberries instead of paying attention and driving.

Then this morning I take a trip to Staples to take back some shelving and almost whitness a beautiful 4 year old girl and her mother get bulldozed by an all-too-common OC prick with a tight vintage t-shirt and $200 pair of genes in his bright white chevy tahoe doing 40mph in a shopping center parking lot. So I drive after this guy and persue him to his final critical destination of Home Depot, so he can buy a toilet paper holder. He parks and starts walking to the store with his girlfriend and her giant bug-eye sunglasses and sports pajamas. I yell out my window "Did you see that woman and her child back there?" The prick looks at me, then looks straight ahead and continues walking as if I don't exist. His girlfriend, embarrased by his lack of blatant consideration, replies "It's ok, I already told him" and then takes his hand and walks away. This prick almost killed someone, and he doesn't give it another thought. If the mother wasn't holding her daughter's hand as hard as she was they both might not be alive right now.

What a wonderful, safe place Orange County is.

Until you're dead.

Sorry but I really had to get this off my chest. This area is just really starting to break me down inside.

[dakicka]

i can relate to this post. there are so many people here who are self-absorbed that pay no attention to the world outside their own. they are so self-consumed and disinterested with anything going on outside of their "personal space." it is really weird. i moved from nj 6 months ago for the weather and i certainly got the amazing weather but i also am now in a zone where people only care about themselves and are unconcerned for their surroundings. i have had several conversations with girls out here that make no sense. i would ask a question or discuss a topic and i would get a response from them completely irrelevent to what i just discussed or asked them. it is strange. i don't know if the people are just that dumb, socially retarded, or all about themselves, or maybe just a combo of all these negative attributes. it drives me crazy also. it would be nice to think it is anomolies but unfortunately it occurs more than i would like.

[smellythongs]

Well, you can't really believe that just because Orange County is one of the safest counties to live in that it has 100% no crime. Things happen. What you experienced not everyone goes through with that everyday here in this county. Wherever you go it doesn't matter if it's safer or not safer it will never be 100% safe. Don't try to make it out that Irvine is like the bad parts of Long Beach or Compton because it's not.

[Victorian4Us]

Originally Posted by solo_rider

Attention everyone moving to Orange County, there will be a new parking space available in Irvine soon.

I live in Irvine, Orange County, a wonderful, safe place.

Then this morning I take a trip to Staples to take back some shelving and almost whitness a beautiful 4 year old girl and her mother get bulldozed by an all-too-common OC prick with a tight vintage t-shirt and $200 pair of genes in his bright white chevy tahoe doing 40mph in a shopping center parking lot. So I drive after this guy and persue him to his final critical destination of Home Depot, so he can buy a toilet paper holder. He parks and starts walking to the store with his girlfriend and her giant bug-eye sunglasses and sports pajamas. I yell out my window "Did you see that woman and her child back there?" The prick looks at me, then looks straight ahead and continues walking as if I don't exist. His girlfriend, embarrased by his lack of blatant consideration, replies "It's ok, I already told him" and then takes his hand and walks away. This prick almost killed someone, and he doesn't give it another thought. If the mother wasn't holding her daughter's hand as hard as she was they both might not be alive right now.

What a wonderful, safe place Orange County is.

Until you're dead.

Sorry but I really had to get this off my chest. This area is just really starting to break me down inside.

I know what you are talking about and I know which shopping center you are referring to. It's a new one, right? And I agree that the people drive like maniacs there. I have to herd my two kids, who are 15 and 12, safely across the street when they go to Game Stop. It's madness. It's arrogance and ignorance. Crazy drivers abound all over, I know. But we have lots of wealthy people here with big, fast cars and small, fast cars, coupled with not-so-small egos!

Having lived in Irvine almost exclusively since 1979 (moved to HI for 4 years and NC for one year with Marine Corps husband), I can easily say that I don't like it here that much myself anymore. It's crowded, loud, people are obnoxious...every little field is being bulldozed to fit in yet another group of condos or office buildings. I know things change, but it's too many people, too many buildings, in too little space! Our master-planned city isn't fun anymore (bring the Marines back...at least they were polite).

So...I understand your frustration about Irvine and about OC in general. I am ultimately looking to moving back to the South, and I'm going to find a large, older home with land.

[Mel2882]

From what I've seen, Irvine is ranked #7 for being one of the safest cities in the US. It is a shame that these things can happen anywhere...but you cannot realistically filter out everyone who does these things. If Irvine is starting to break you down, I can't imagine you will find many cities that won't.

[VeronikaW]

Wow, I used to go to that Chevron all the time (in the parking lot where Donut Star is, right?). That's too bad.

Also, I was across the street in the Gelson's parking lot one day, and a woman in a bulk packer (SUV) came tearing through the parking lot, honking at pedestrians in the cross walk. Her big hurry? She had to get to the El Pollo Loco drive thru.

I grew up in Irvine, went to elementary and high school there. It has a reputation for being extraordinarily safe, but it's partially because crime is underreported there. I remember once when I was about 16, I was out at a park by myself at about 1am. I had had a fight with my mom and went for a walk. A couple cops came by and told me they needed to drive me home. I told them they were crazy, I was perfectly safe. They told me there was a serial rapist on the loose. I told them I hadn't heard anything about it, and they told me that that was because the city didn't like negative press, so they never let the newspaper get a hold of information like that. And that was 15 years ago, so I can only imagine how bad it is now.

I will always have a nostalgic place in my heart for Irvine having grown up there, and having played in the orange groves along Jeffery (which are now a parking lot for IVC), and having had many a great breakfast at Miss Lucy's, which is long ago turned into some Asian buffet. But I don't think I'd ever move back there, though I keep moving to places that remind me of it in its heyday.

V. =)

[losercore]

I think it's more just the point. Of course crime happens everywhere but why pay 3 times as much for it?

Anyway, nice post. I was complaining about Orange County for years until I moved.

[Victorian4Us]

Originally Posted by VeronikaW

I will always have a nostalgic place in my heart for Irvine having grown up there, and having played in the orange groves along Jeffery (which are now a parking lot for IVC), and having had many a great breakfast at Miss Lucy's, which is long ago turned into some Asian buffet. But I don't think I'd ever move back there, though I keep moving to places that remind me of it in its heyday.

V. =)

Wow, Veronika, now I'm really depressed. Forgot about Miss Lucy's, but can never forget Baxter's which had the best Sunday brunches!

First home we bought in Irvine was in Orangetree by IVC. We used to let our dog run through the orange groves. It was a really nice, out-of-the-way area. Now there's a golf course across the street and three churches nearby, not to mention the expanding college. At least they have some sports fields located there for the kids to play soccer and lacrosse.

The day the Marine bases closed was probably one of the saddest days of my life. The winds of change were definitely brewing. Now there's some silly orange balloon type thing with a gondola that takes people up to look at the congested freeways - it's located somewhere on the old base. You can see it when approaching the "Y." It looks like a 76 Union ball without the logo.

[BigCheeze]

I can agree that stories like this are in the MILLIONS in OC/LA area. I have several dozen myself. This is why in 98 I moved to Sacramento Area, and they decided to chuck the whole state and in 04 moved to Colorado. Born and raised in California, it was a sad day when I realized it was time to go.

There is intelligent life still left on this planet, just very little of it still resides in California. Good luck! You've made the first step toward recovery

[EscapeCalifornia]

Originally Posted by Victorian4Us

Now there's some silly orange balloon type thing with a gondola that takes people up to look at the congested freeways - it's located somewhere on the old base. You can see it when approaching the "Y." It looks like a 76 Union ball without the logo.

I've been wondering what the heck that thing was. It looks like a hot air balloon, but it doesn't look open on the bottom with a burner.