help nervous family moving to anahiem (San Diego, San Jose: transplants, real estate, to rent)
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Not all of Anaheim is horrible. I would suggest staying east. Zip code 92805 and perhaps some of -06 (mostly industrial) are not bad . Especially north of Ball and east of State College you'll find nicer tracts of homes. 92807-08 is Anaheim Hills which will command higher prices.
As posted before I would suggest parts of Fullerton (although Fullerton adjacent to Anaheim is just like Anaheim), Placentia, and Yorba Linda. Also, City of Orange just south of the 91 and north of Lincoln has several nice tracts and is close to Anaheim.
Wow!!. I'm amazed at the responses you received. I will also be moving to Anaheim from K.C not a small town but a much smaller city. I guess I will have to get used to the Ca attitude .
Myself and 3 kids will be moving in late Feb (temporarily) to meet up with my husband who has been working there since Oct.
I grew up in KC (left at age 18 for good) and moved to Denver two years ago after spending 10 years in Orange County (City of Orange near Anaheim).
There are some (a few) decent areas of Anaheim, like the area bordering Orange, but no matter where you are, you're near not so nice neighborhoods. You'll find it very crowded compared to KC, not much open space at all, and housing prices are through the roof, although they're coming back down, so it's probably not a good time to buy just yet.
We left partially to start a family because there's no way I'd raise kids there, even though our neighborhood appeared to be nice enough. Drugs are horrible out there. If your kids get through high school with only a pot addiction, you're lucky. Meth addiction seems to be everywhere. We had a couple alcoholic (like drinking vodka for breakfast and passing out half dead in the street alcoholic) neighbors, a couple middle-aged meth addicts on our block who bothered neighbors all night because they don't sleep (which then attracted seedy characters to the neighborhood, the occassional SWAT bust, etc.), a woman with drug addicted teen daughters who went on screaming/death threat rampages the whole neighborhood could see/hear, and the people who weren't on drugs probably needed to be on drugs for their psychological problems. Then you have the houses/condos with 25 illegal immigrants living in them, causing overcrowding. We had good neighbors here and there, but overall, my years in OC were a nightmare dealing with neighbor issues. And this was in a neighborhood with nice looking houses that averaged over $600K. If you just drove through the area, you'd think it was a good place to live. Looks can be deceiving.
And I hope you like the interior of your car, because unless you work from home or just down the street, you'll spend a lot of time in it. It takes an hour to drive 10 miles in rush hour (which is really all day) and you'll find yourself rarely venturing out to do anything outside of your own city. But hey, the weather's great!
Yeah, I think I would return to Charlotte. A friend of mine from Irvine recently married and moved there. He loves it, says the job opportunities are terrific, and he very much likes the social and cultural aspects of the area.
I think if you and your husband are romanticizing about Anaheim, you will be sadly disappointed. It would be a stretch to live in Anaheim and expect to live much of what you are after. What do you envision as the "hectic life," and what about it is so desireable?
If you have lots of resources, excellent income producing jobs, and can buy in the right area, you can enjoy a terrific life style...if you don't have resources and funding, life will be tough. It is very expensive, and if you end up in the wrong parts of Anaheim, raising a teenager will be tough. It isn't exactly a white picket fence kind of American City.
Because Disneyland and the Angels are there is no guarantee it is the "happiest place on earth." Lots of illegals and lots of gangs have adopted Anaheim as home turf.
I agree, Charlotte would be better that Anaheim for more reasons that I have time to expound on. We just moved from Irvine to Keller Texas and it is beyond me why anyone would want to have to deal with the housing market in SoCal now. If it keeps dropping like it has been most people are going to have houses worth less than their current mortgages.
I grew up in KC (left at age 18 for good) and moved to Denver two years ago after spending 10 years in Orange County (City of Orange near Anaheim).
There are some (a few) decent areas of Anaheim, like the area bordering Orange, but no matter where you are, you're near not so nice neighborhoods. You'll find it very crowded compared to KC, not much open space at all, and housing prices are through the roof, although they're coming back down, so it's probably not a good time to buy just yet.
We left partially to start a family because there's no way I'd raise kids there, even though our neighborhood appeared to be nice enough. Drugs are horrible out there. If your kids get through high school with only a pot addiction, you're lucky. Meth addiction seems to be everywhere. We had a couple alcoholic (like drinking vodka for breakfast and passing out half dead in the street alcoholic) neighbors, a couple middle-aged meth addicts on our block who bothered neighbors all night because they don't sleep (which then attracted seedy characters to the neighborhood, the occassional SWAT bust, etc.), a woman with drug addicted teen daughters who went on screaming/death threat rampages the whole neighborhood could see/hear, and the people who weren't on drugs probably needed to be on drugs for their psychological problems. Then you have the houses/condos with 25 illegal immigrants living in them, causing overcrowding. We had good neighbors here and there, but overall, my years in OC were a nightmare dealing with neighbor issues. And this was in a neighborhood with nice looking houses that averaged over $600K. If you just drove through the area, you'd think it was a good place to live. Looks can be deceiving.
And I hope you like the interior of your car, because unless you work from home or just down the street, you'll spend a lot of time in it. It takes an hour to drive 10 miles in rush hour (which is really all day) and you'll find yourself rarely venturing out to do anything outside of your own city. But hey, the weather's great!
Although your post is pretty negative you are right on the money. I lived in Irvine CA one of the safer and more affluent cities in SoCal and we still decided to move. The traffic, waits at restaurants, escalating housing market, crowded schools, drugs, just to name a few were finally enough for us to take our equity and run. We moved to a small town in Texas (Keller) and are happy with our new life.
Although your post is pretty negative you are right on the money. I lived in Irvine CA one of the safer and more affluent cities in SoCal and we still decided to move. The traffic, waits at restaurants, escalating housing market, crowded schools, drugs, just to name a few were finally enough for us to take our equity and run. We moved to a small town in Texas (Keller) and are happy with our new life.
I try not to be so negative - I have a love/hate relationship with SoCal - but over the years, the negatives outweighed the positives. We sold our condo in '05 at the top of the market (still have the record sales price for a 2 bdr. unit), moved to Denver and still gained some equity in the new house before things went flat. But more importantly, we have a great house in a wonderful neighborhood and so many neighbors who've become like family to us. 2.5 years here and I have yet to have any issues with any neighbor. And I don't have to worry everyday if the tweeker next door blew up the building with his meth lab!
I Thank each and everyone of you for your candid responses and feel blessed that we are in a world where all opinions are allowed and support each other. I believe we have settled on the South Carolina area and have planned a trip their over Christmas I Thank each an everyone of you and have a blessed Holiday
I Thank each and everyone of you for your candid responses and feel blessed that we are in a world where all opinions are allowed and support each other. I believe we have settled on the South Carolina area and have planned a trip their over Christmas I Thank each an everyone of you and have a blessed Holiday
Good luck! Sorry we scared you off OC, but it sounds like you made a good decision.
I try not to be so negative - I have a love/hate relationship with SoCal - but over the years, the negatives outweighed the positives. We sold our condo in '05 at the top of the market (still have the record sales price for a 2 bdr. unit), moved to Denver and still gained some equity in the new house before things went flat. But more importantly, we have a great house in a wonderful neighborhood and so many neighbors who've become like family to us. 2.5 years here and I have yet to have any issues with any neighbor. And I don't have to worry everyday if the tweeker next door blew up the building with his meth lab!
I don't disagree with you it is just that you sounded like you really held a grudge which appears as sour grapes. I lived all my life in SoCal and moved to Texas to find a better lifestyle for my children with the hope they will stay here and raise their families. California is just too darn expensive to raise a family. I was fortunate to bring substantial equity and bought a new home cash. My income requirements have gone down drastically and my wife will not have to work anymore. I don't hate CA I just could not afford it and Texas was a better option for us.
Location: Grosse Ile Michigan and Sometimes Orange County CA
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Coming from a small town in Michigan and having lived in Orange County for 18 years before returning we have a pretty good idea of what you want and what you will face.
First, I suggest that you look at Silverado Canyon if it is still there (part of it burned up in the recent fires). It has a small town feel and the houses back up to the Cleveland National forest. You will have about half an hour commute to most places in Anaheim. I think that it is in the Orange school district (see below).
Anaheim Hills/Lemon heights and Tustin are pretty nice. You probably want to be in the Foothill High School district.
There are some nice places in Anaheim. Stay as far away from Disneyland as possible. It will drive you crazy with the crowds, lost tourists and nightly fireworks. If you choose Anaheim, you want to make certain that your son has the grades to get into oxford Academey, or the talent to get into OHSA (Arts high school in Santa Ana).
There is a good high school in Fullerton too (Troy). Fullerton is neat, but the nice areas are very high end.
You will probably prefer Orange to Anaheim. Orange has an old fashioned downtown that is often featured in movies. There is a generally friendly atmosphere,most of the schools are decent (not great, but if you son is well grounded, he will do fine there)
Surprisingly, there are some very nice parts of Santa Ana (Floral Park especially), but your son had better go to OCHSA or private school.
There are not too many other places that are likely to be very comfortable for you.
If you have faith, get involved with a small local church as soon as possible. Stay away from the mega churches at least until you have a base of friends.
Expect to pay $600,000 for the house you describe, maybe more. If you wait, prices may drop a little bit. If you buy when the market is low, you will make a killing when you move away.
rent is high and always goes up (unlike a fixed mortgage). If you buy, you can deduct most of the interest from your taxes. Since most of your mortgage payment is interest, buying is actually cheaper.
Cost of living is high. You will want to earn at least $100,000 to $150,000 for your family of three. More would be better.
We know the Anaheim, Orange, Santa Ana area pretty well. we also know a lot about the differences that you will find between the Midwest and OC. If you want further information send a private message and I will call you.
I moved back to OC from michigan 4 years ago and have regreted it ever since....Very crowded and overpriced....If you are moving to anaheim brush up on your spanish because it is becoming the predominant language in so-cal
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