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I'd like to put in some positive comments about downtown Huntington Beach (H.B.) after 6 months of living here, for those who may be considering this area. Last summer, we bought a short-sale home well under market value, in downtown near Goldenwest - more than 15 blocks from Main Street, as recommended on this forum. (I did have my heart set on Seal Beach for a long time, but for the price we paid (under 800K), we were able to find a 2100 sq foot single-family home 3 blocks from the beach, and there was nothing even remotely comparable in Seal.)
I have been pleasantly surprised with:
- very friendly neighbors, most of whom hang out on their front porches enough that I met 17 of my neighbors within 3 days of moving in. And what's more, we actually socialize with each other, including an annual Labor Day block party!
- a few children do live on our street
- generally no issue with guest parking except for during the US Open of Surfing, which is expected due to the crowds downtown
- the joys of the HB strand, which leads to the wonderful decision of whether to jog south to the pier or north toward Bolsa when I want to exercise
- an incredible pod of dolphins just offshore when I went jogging the morning of my birthday
- a wonderfully fun Halloween celebration - tons of kids, most of the neighbors participated, and the downtown street party was well-attended by costumed folks of all ages in a safe and family friendly environment.
- the great community activities and classes for children through the HB Recreation Program and the Library
- a neighborhood safe enough that no one stole the Christmas packages left on our doorstep while we were away during the holidays
- more sunshine (aka "less marine layer") than I expected living so close to the beach, which is wonderful
- the convenience of Seacliff shopping center without the HOA's
- not being as far from destinations as I thought - 7 minutes to the 405 (and therefore about 40 min to most desired destinations in LA), 22 minutes to my job, 15-20 min to John Wayne, South Coast Plaza and Fashion Island
- fun local restaurants with cheap, yummy food and employees that remember me (Chronic Tacos, Sugar Shack, Cucina Alessa, etc...)
- the general, laid-back attitude. It pretty much equates to, "You're living at the beach! What's not to like?"
To address the naysayers who may want to accuse me of living in a bubble...
1) I can't comment on the schools because my lil one is too young.
2) Yes, it is true that the weekend crowd can be a lil rough around the edges, but we hang out in LA for fun, not downtown HB, so it's not an issue. During the week and the weekend days, there are more locals around and the people are generally very happy to be near the beach. We're African-American and were warned to watch out for skinheads, but we have been warmly welcomed to this neighborhood and have had no problems thus far. And there are all kinds of people of every background around the beach.
3) While it's true that this place isn't the height of sophistication, and I'd love for some more upscale dining and shopping in the area (anything that caters to people over 18-21 would be great!), those things ares readily available in Newport and LA, and there is MUCH LESS attitude and overt materialism here.
In other words, I'm living in a beautiful beach house in a safe area (and a supposedly good school district), with an actual sense of community, for less than $1 million. I never thought it was possible!
Location: Grosse Ile Michigan and Sometimes Orange County CA
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Glad to hear that you are pleased.
You can somttimes go out and swim with the Dolphins if you are a good swimmer. It happened to my wife and her father once. They did not try to swim with them, but we saw a pod ebfore they went swimming and then suddenly the dolphins popped up all around them and swam with them. It was incredible. Unfortuantely, my wife did not notice them. (I am not a good enough swimmer to swim out that far, she was a jr.high/high school champion swimmer).
You are lucky to find a place where they have usable froont porches. Must be older homes. That is nice and makes a great neighborhood atmosphere.
I'd like to put in some positive comments about downtown Huntington Beach (H.B.) after 6 months of living here, for those who may be considering this area. Last summer, we bought a short-sale home well under market value, in downtown near Goldenwest - more than 15 blocks from Main Street, as recommended on this forum. (I did have my heart set on Seal Beach for a long time, but for the price we paid (under 800K), we were able to find a 2100 sq foot single-family home 3 blocks from the beach, and there was nothing even remotely comparable in Seal.)
I have been pleasantly surprised with:
- very friendly neighbors, most of whom hang out on their front porches enough that I met 17 of my neighbors within 3 days of moving in. And what's more, we actually socialize with each other, including an annual Labor Day block party!
- a few children do live on our street
- generally no issue with guest parking except for during the US Open of Surfing, which is expected due to the crowds downtown
- the joys of the HB strand, which leads to the wonderful decision of whether to jog south to the pier or north toward Bolsa when I want to exercise
- an incredible pod of dolphins just offshore when I went jogging the morning of my birthday
- a wonderfully fun Halloween celebration - tons of kids, most of the neighbors participated, and the downtown street party was well-attended by costumed folks of all ages in a safe and family friendly environment.
- the great community activities and classes for children through the HB Recreation Program and the Library
- a neighborhood safe enough that no one stole the Christmas packages left on our doorstep while we were away during the holidays
- more sunshine (aka "less marine layer") than I expected living so close to the beach, which is wonderful
- the convenience of Seacliff shopping center without the HOA's
- not being as far from destinations as I thought - 7 minutes to the 405 (and therefore about 40 min to most desired destinations in LA), 22 minutes to my job, 15-20 min to John Wayne, South Coast Plaza and Fashion Island
- fun local restaurants with cheap, yummy food and employees that remember me (Chronic Tacos, Sugar Shack, Cucina Alessa, etc...)
- the general, laid-back attitude. It pretty much equates to, "You're living at the beach! What's not to like?"
To address the naysayers who may want to accuse me of living in a bubble...
1) I can't comment on the schools because my lil one is too young.
2) Yes, it is true that the weekend crowd can be a lil rough around the edges, but we hang out in LA for fun, not downtown HB, so it's not an issue. During the week and the weekend days, there are more locals around and the people are generally very happy to be near the beach. We're African-American and were warned to watch out for skinheads, but we have been warmly welcomed to this neighborhood and have had no problems thus far. And there are all kinds of people of every background around the beach.
3) While it's true that this place isn't the height of sophistication, and I'd love for some more upscale dining and shopping in the area (anything that caters to people over 18-21 would be great!), those things ares readily available in Newport and LA, and there is MUCH LESS attitude and overt materialism here.
In other words, I'm living in a beautiful beach house in a safe area (and a supposedly good school district), with an actual sense of community, for less than $1 million. I never thought it was possible!
~G.
Well put! Glad you're loving it!
HB was my absolute favorite CA town that I lived in. I loved the central location to all the amenities both north and south of me, and the friendly, laid back, less materialistic attitude of my neighbors. You're also close to Mile Square Park in Fountain Valley and the HB Dog Beach! Talk about heaven.
Goldeneyes, glad to hear you're so happy there! Where did you move from? I lived in HB for two years (99-01)...relocated from the East Coast...it was quite a culture shock. I had lived in the Philly area all my life and did not realize how different SoCal would be. Not in a bad way....just different. I didn't give it enough time, and moved back after two years. Always wished I had tried harder to assimilate. I've gone back a few times to visit, and I always want to move back!
Funny, I'm also an East Coaster and I found Orange County to be remarkably like Long Island (with nicer weather and no Guidos) and had no problem adapting.
I've been here for over twenty years and love it.
I had a two year break to the midwest. Hated living there so much that I moved back to Huntington Beach.
It took us about 3 years for the warm & fuzzy HB feeling to wear off and reality to set in about the quality of living vs. the price tag. We move to a better town with much better schools. The HB home is now a rental.
Last edited by Oldwestgambler; 01-23-2012 at 10:54 PM..
It took us about 3 years for the warm & fuzzy HB feeling to wear off and reality to set in about the quality of living vs. the price tag. We move to a better town with much better schools. The HB home is now a rental.
Not every city is for everyone. Every city on the planet has people that love it, and people that hate it. The OP is happy is HB, just as you are happy not in HB, and that's all that matters. I'm just happy everyone is happy (and if you're not, as I always say - and do, probably too much - move ).
Funny, I'm also an East Coaster and I found Orange County to be remarkably like Long Island (with nicer weather and no Guidos) and had no problem adapting.
I've been here for over twenty years and love it.
I had a two year break to the midwest. Hated living there so much that I moved back to Huntington Beach.
I know, I've seen your posts (or someone similar) saying that OC is like Long Island. I was very surprised, since one of the major differences I found was the friendly, easygoing, laid-back SoCal style v. my horn-honking, finger-flippin', occasionally rude Philly homies. I figured that that difference would be even more glaring with New Yorkers.
My one example is the time I was holding up a big line at the return desk in Linens 'n Things. I was fumbling around for receipts in my purse. I looked back and saw at least a half-dozen people in line behind me. I apologized to them, and not ONE person looked annoyed; in fact, they all said "take your time, don't worry about it". I can guarantee you that wouldn't happen in Philly! You mean to tell me Long Islanders would be that patient? Other examples are no one honking horns, and supermarket cashiers actually being friendly...
I've mentioned before, that when I was being interviewed out there, one of the managers said "Oh, Philly people don't do well here". I was shocked, and asked why. He said, "They have a sense of community there that we don't have here". After living there awhile, I knew exactly what he meant. Hard to explain, but I get it. Anyway, glad to see you like it out there, too.
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