Moving to Orange County HELP find a neighborhood (Santa Ana, Fullerton: houses, employment)

[Sm84]

Hello all,

I am moving to Orange County from the Santa Monica area in August and need some help finding a city that would suit my needs. My girlfriend is going to law school in Fullerton, so I am looking to be within 25 miles of there. I was hoping to find a place that has similar characteristics as Santa Monica. Such as, great restaurants, boutique shops, and is walkable. I'd like to be able to walk most places, but a few minute drive is okay too. Preferably a dog friendly neighborhood that is both safe but also eclectic. An area that doesn't have large shopping plazas or chain restaurants. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

[woodrough]

Having lived in Santa Monica, I don't think there's a true equivalent in Orange County. You might like Laguna Beach, but the drive to Fullerton would probably be painful.

[Coldjensens]

You should probably just stick with Fullerton or Orange. It is NOT Santa Monica but they have their won brnd of charm, particularly Old town orange. In Santa Ana you cna have a Hispanic version of Santa Monica on 4th street if that appeals to you.

Orange County is mostly tract houses and stip malls, some beach towns and some norhtern OC cities are different (Like Orange and Fullerton), but there is nothing like Santa Monica (closest as mentioned is Laguna).

[AvaC]

I love Laguna and Newport. We moved to Newport 3 years ago and we love it...

[BRinSM]

the beach cities in OC will be the most similar to SM, but still not the same. having said that, stick with fullerton, OC traffic isn't much better than LA and law school will put enough stress on your GF as it is without having a rough commute. fullerton does have a charming downtown area.

[ragnarkar]

You can try Newport Beach.. the commute to Fullerton is long but won't be too bad as you're going against traffic. Look at Google Maps during rush hour.. most likely northbound 55 in the mornings and southbound 55 in the afternoons will be yellow or green while it's red or dotted-black in the other direction.

[mukatsuku]

Oh my goodness... the very first thing you need to do is convince your girlfriend NOT to go to law school. Read all of the "law school scamblogs". Understand that 40% of the recent graduates of a top ten national ranked school could not find a decent job as a lawyer.
She will NEVER find a decent job as a lawyer. Don't let her do this.
The schools' employment statistics are blatant lies. They say the average graduate's salary is 90k (this means they survey the 6 people that they knew got good jobs, and averaged those). They say that 96% are employed within 6 months (that means ANY job including dog-walker).

Finally, consider Surfside for your OC move if you still want to move.

[HarleyGuyOC]

Originally Posted by mukatsuku

Oh my goodness... the very first thing you need to do is convince your girlfriend NOT to go to law school. Read all of the "law school scamblogs". Understand that 40% of the recent graduates of a top ten national ranked school could not find a decent job as a lawyer.
She will NEVER find a decent job as a lawyer. Don't let her do this.
The schools' employment statistics are blatant lies. They say the average graduate's salary is 90k (this means they survey the 6 people that they knew got good jobs, and averaged those). They say that 96% are employed within 6 months (that means ANY job including dog-walker).

What an excellent & useful warning you just shared with everyone Mukas!

The fact is; you're absolutely right! Colleges have become nothing but solely-for-profit Diploma-Mills, suckering countless tens of thousands of young Americans into an endless & inescapable cycle of financial indebtedness. Moreover, most of the available jobs nowadays are focused primarily in fields were a HS diploma or GED is more than enough.

[JoePer]

US LAW schools sued

U.S. News - Law schools face lawsuits over job-placement claims

Regards
PerJoe

[Nagman]

You might want to look in Brea, just north of Fullerton. The downtown area is quite nice, with theatres, shopping and dining. Also, a nice place to walk a dog and pretty safe.