Thinking of relocating to Irvine from Santa Cruz,CA (San Francisco: rental, condo)

[TC Santa Cruz]

Hello,
I am 25 years old and getting married next year. I have been living in Santa Cruz (coastal northern California) for approximately 7 years, but grew up in Irvine. I recently visited Irvine, and fell in love with the place again. I'm feeling very frustrated up here by the lack of available jobs, insane cost of housing (averaging over $750k for a tiny 2 bedroom in poor shape)and HORRENDOUS traffic. The roads and schools are in terrible shape.Both of us are college grads and neither of us can find jobs in the same community, so one of us has been commuting about 2 hours for the past 2 1/2 years.

I am thinking of relocating back down to Irvine once we get married where there seems to be many more opportunities (also with an eye towards starting a family in 5-ish years). What are your thoughts on costs of housing (both renting and buying), job opportunities, and overall quality of life for a young couple there? We're not really into 'night life' typically, but would be interested in meeting other young professionals. My fiance is a native northern Californian, so this is a bit of a tough sell!
Thanks for any help!!

[jessemh431]

well you realize that the OC will have even worse traffic right?

what would be your price range and where would you be working. if you want to have children, i would suggest laguna hills, laguna niguel, laguna beach, mission viejo, or san juan capistrano. those are the most family orientated neighborhoods. but, it depends on where you will be working and your price range.

[YLresident]

Yorba Linda's also family oriented... but homes are generally pretty expensive. I love it here. Lots of families w/ kids on my street! ^_^

[investtt]

You do realize that you're moving from one of the most liberal cities in CA to one of the most conservative cities in CA. It's definitly not going to be an easy move in the mind-politically, but I'm sure that you already know that.Best of luck in your move.

[TC Santa Cruz]

Hi there, thanks for everyone's responses so far! I think our rental range would be $1,200-$1,600. And if we continue saving the rate we have, we should be able to afford a condo in a few years. What are the job opportunities like down that way? Part of our problem here is that there are literally no jobs, and no way to increase your income. I do know O.C. is very conservative, and that will be a tough adjustment. That being said, S.C. is actually too liberal for me sometimes!

Is the job market strong down there? Also, what is the average commute time for folks that work in the surrounding area?

Thanks so much!

[Mach50]

Rent is actually cheaper in Santa Cruz, more things to do there if you ask me.
Yes housing is more up there, but for good reason, close proximity to a major urban city (San Francisco) also Silicon Valley.

I think it is much younger, diverse and cool up there.

investtt, has a great point, politics and people are like polar opposites in each area. It is very conservative in OC.

I prefer Santa Cruz by a landslide, but everyone is different.