Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > California > Orange County
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 12-16-2011, 06:04 AM
 
Location: West Hollywood, CA
1,365 posts, read 2,246,150 times
Reputation: 1859

Advertisements

I'm from Michigan and I've been trying to move to southern california for awhile.

The interviews I've been having with a place in Santa Ana are looking pretty good. I'm more than qualified for the job and they are aware I don't need relocation assistance.

I'm single, no kids, no house, no debt, etc etc. ready to go.

My question is:

what would be some good areas to look at if I wanted to live as close to the job as possible but at the same time as close to the beach as possible?

I was thinking some place in Fountain Valley or Huntington Beach.

Would you guys recommend any other places?

ps. I'm looking to rent for 6-12 months then I plan on buying a one bedroom condo.

Any help/tips would be greatly appreciated! thanks!



EDIT: salary wise: 80k/yr

one more thing: how bad would the commute be from Long Beach to Santa Ana?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 12-16-2011, 09:30 AM
 
Location: Grosse Ile Michigan
30,708 posts, read 79,764,742 times
Reputation: 39453
If you can afford it Balboa Villiage in Newport Beach or Laguna Beach. You can always get a roommate or rent a room. It is temporary after all.

Old Town Orange is very close to Santa Ana (Depending on which part of Santa Ana). Again depending on where you will work there are some pretty neat parts of Santa Ana.

If you like hiking more than haning at the beach, then look at Silverado Canyon.

If you want bland soulless suburbia take Tustin, Irvine or any south county non-beach city. (Picture Rochester HIlls on Steroids).

Fullerton is decent as are some parts of Anaheim. Huntington beach may offer some neat places for you as well, however I always felt that if you cannto be walk or bike close to the beach, why bother?

If I were you, or you were exactly like me, my list in order of preference would be
Balboa
Silverado Canyon
Old Town Orange
Huntington Beach (Near the beach)
Costa MEsa
Santa Ana
Fullerton
Anaheim near the stadium/block area.
San Celemente (neat place but a long commute - take the train).
Long Beach (Again a fun place to live, but too far away).


In Orange County, the shorter yur commute, the better your liefe will be. If you can walk to work, that is best of all, but it is very rare.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-16-2011, 09:55 AM
 
Location: Huntington Beach, CA
5,888 posts, read 13,001,177 times
Reputation: 3974
Newport Beach if you can afford it. Rents are not cheap (but the adjacent East Side of Costa Mesa offers many of the same amenities are a lower cost. West Side of Costa Mesa near the River trail are also nice (and bikeble to the beach)

Huntington Beach, near the beach (within 1.5 miles of PCH) the Northern Part of the City (Huntington Harrbour has the easiest access to freeways)
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-16-2011, 12:28 PM
 
Location: West Hollywood, CA
1,365 posts, read 2,246,150 times
Reputation: 1859
thanks for the replies brahs!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-16-2011, 12:46 PM
 
Location: West Hollywood, CA
1,365 posts, read 2,246,150 times
Reputation: 1859
beach wise, which one is the cleanest? best sand? when i say best sand im talking fluffy sand...not that **** that looks and feels like dirt lol...
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-16-2011, 02:45 PM
 
Location: Arizona
1,034 posts, read 4,391,410 times
Reputation: 1382
Quote:
Originally Posted by YoungTraveler2011 View Post
I'm from Michigan and I've been trying to move to southern california for awhile.

The interviews I've been having with a place in Santa Ana are looking pretty good. I'm more than qualified for the job and they are aware I don't need relocation assistance.

I'm single, no kids, no house, no debt, etc etc. ready to go.

My question is:

what would be some good areas to look at if I wanted to live as close to the job as possible but at the same time as close to the beach as possible?

I was thinking some place in Fountain Valley or Huntington Beach.

Would you guys recommend any other places?

ps. I'm looking to rent for 6-12 months then I plan on buying a one bedroom condo.

Any help/tips would be greatly appreciated! thanks!



EDIT: salary wise: 80k/yr

one more thing: how bad would the commute be from Long Beach to Santa Ana?
The sand of HB and NB is no different in my opinion. I spent most of my time in NB and found the sand clean and soft (I stuck mostly to the river jetty area).

Long Beach to Santa Ana is 20+ miles depending on where in each town you are.

If I were forced to return to So Cal (NO THANKS!!), and had to work in Santa Ana, I'd probably choose to live in Fullerton or Orange. If I wanted to be closer to the beach, I'd choose Costa Mesa. I've never wanted to be any closer than 15-20 miles from the beach. I hate gloom and fog.

I am not a fan of Fountain Valley but that is just my opinion.

I've lived in Anaheim, Yorba Linda, Fullerton and Placentia. They were great places many years ago, but I've been gone 10 years now so I can't speak to how they are now. All I know is the traffic is insane and when I visit, it takes me 30 minutes to get from YL to Anaheim Hills and that is if I'm lucky enough to avoid getting stuck at a train.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-16-2011, 03:31 PM
 
Location: MO->MI->CA->TX->MA
7,034 posts, read 14,474,847 times
Reputation: 5580
Quote:
Originally Posted by YoungTraveler2011 View Post

My question is:

what would be some good areas to look at if I wanted to live as close to the job as possible but at the same time as close to the beach as possible?



one more thing: how bad would the commute be from Long Beach to Santa Ana?
Btw, I'm also from Michigan (but lived in CA ever since finishing HS.)

Santa Ana's a big place; where exactly is the workplace located?

If it's downtown, you might want to live in the South Coast Plaza neighborhood (near the mall with the same name.) This neighborhood encompasses parts of Santa Ana, Costa Mesa, Newport Beach, Tustin, and Irvine. It's approximately halfway from the beach and downtown Santa Ana and right along the freeway (CA-55 near the MacArthur exit).

You will not want to live in Fullerton; the traffic on CA-55 or CA-57 north in the afternoons will not be fun. Ditto to Huntington Beach; it's too far from the freeway for a smooth commute.

The east part of Long Beach is also the best part of town and might be doable, especially after early 2012. The part of I-405 between where it meets CA-22 and I-605 will be HEAVILY congested until construction is complete. Otherwise, CA-22 is a relatively stress-free route to and from Santa Ana to Long Beach.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-16-2011, 06:25 PM
 
Location: Grosse Ile Michigan
30,708 posts, read 79,764,742 times
Reputation: 39453
Yes. It really depends on where in santa Ana you will be working. Very true about the commute thig. I worked in Santa Ana and eventually move to santa ana. I lived 1 mile from work. It was great. BUt if you are single/alone, that is less important than if you have a spouse, SO or a family.

Funny, I am from Michigan too. Moved to OC for 18 ears and then came back to MI, but I still work in CA some of the time so I spend about 15 weeks a year living in Ca. We lived in a lot of differnet places in OC and I love to explore so I know the areas fairly well, but we cannto narrow down suggestions unless we know more abotu where you are working and also what are you preferences/hobbies. (i.e. do you surf? mountain bike? ski? hike? sailboard? What is important to oyu in a plcae to live? Is safety more critical than excitment? etc.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-16-2011, 07:45 PM
 
Location: Southern California
38,865 posts, read 22,849,388 times
Reputation: 60051
Quote:
Originally Posted by YoungTraveler2011 View Post
<snipped>

one more thing: how bad would the commute be from Long Beach to Santa Ana?
I live near Long Beach and used to work many years ago in the city of Orange, adjacent to the MainPlace Mall, which is in Santa Ana. I don't know about now, but when I took the 22 Freeway going east in the morning, it slowed around Magnolia and didn't clear up until past the Orange crush (where the 22, 5 and 57 freeways meet). The commute typically took me anywhere between 45 minutes to an hour, coming or going.

I'm going along with others' suggestions to try and find a place to live in
Newport Beach, if you can afford it, or Costa Mesa.

Welcome to California!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-17-2011, 03:07 AM
 
50 posts, read 165,866 times
Reputation: 37
Huntington Beach to Santa Ana is not a bad commute. The commute would take between 10-40 minutes (average 25) at rush hour depending on the exact location at each end. There are many alternate routes to the freeways, if traffic is bad. I did this commute for 15 years. Two other things about HB: traffic in HB is not bad at all, probably some of the lightest in OC, even during the summer. Also, it is not as foggy/gloomy in HB as many people say.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > California > Orange County
Similar Threads

All times are GMT -6. The time now is 09:09 PM.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top