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Thank you for the info. I will do another "drive by" in Northern Irvine as well as Tustin Ranch in a couple of weeks when we are house hunting as well as dig into the schools in those areas before we make our final decision.
The why people do it, other than more affordable housing?
I agree with the "less is more" lifestyle. You are confirming all my feelings. Thank you! I just wanted to explore my husbands idea of Tustin thoroughly, but I think he is just struggling with the idea of the huge downsize in home size. I think in the long term he will appreciate the lower maintenance a smaller home requires. In a blink of an eye our kids will be in College and our small home and neighborhood will fit us perfectly
I agree with your husband. I definitely prefer Tustin over Laguna Beach for a home purchase.
1)House size is very important for long term comfort. It is especially important for people who work out of their home and need a decent office space.
2)Tustin has better a much better location. With Laguna Beach you are subject to weekend traffic on Highway 1 & 133,the only available roads out of Laguna Beach. Tustin has a very convenient location for commuting plus it puts one in a great position to explore the rest of the LA metro area on the weekends. There is so much to do in Southern CA I would not want to be trapped in Laguna Beach dealing with beach traffic every summer weekend. I prefer to explore all of the LA/OC metro area. On weekends I would be going to the Norton Simon museum, Huntington Gardens, Little Tokyo, Redondo Beach, Venice Beach, Santa Monica ,Beverly Hills, Universal Studios, Griffith Park, the Exposition Park museums & countless other places. If I am stuck in weekend beach traffic just getting back to my residence it would be extremely annoying.
Also I prefer the diverse restaurants of central Orange County. For example I prefer authentic Mexican in Santa Ana,Vietnamese food in Little Saigon and Korean food on Garden Grove Blvd. to overpriced beach restaurants.
3) If I had kids who were beginning drivers in High school there is no way I would want them driving Laguna Canyon Rd.(133) at night to get home. Tustin has safer brightly lit roads like Newport Blvd.
4)To avoid freeway traffic, Tustin has plenty of local road alternatives. It is a very easy drive to your husband's office in Santa Ana.
I love Laguna, great little town with a vibe all it's own. I am not all that sure I would want to raise kids there, however, as it has always seemed much more of an adult destination place rather than home. If you are looking for a small HS, they don't come much smaller than LBHS, I think it's less than 1000 kids, (Foothill and Beckman are both about 2200 to 2500).
You will als find the folks who live in Laguna Beach are quite a bit older on average than those in the Tustin area. For folks new to the area that would seem to mean more folks with common interests and lifestyles as well as a greater pool of prospective new friends for the kids (good and bad there). Just something to think about.
I grew up in Laguna Niguel and Dana Point area (which is bordering Laguna Beach). I would go Laguna Beach hands down. If anything its better for the kids too. From my experience, growing up at the beach was an amazing experience. In the summer we went every day. Its free! The Laguna Beach environment can be a little snobby at times, but there is really not much to do in Tustin, just like any other suburb surrounding the Orange County beaches. I would try to stick with cities that touch the coast. They tend to have better demographics and lower crime, more intelligent people (this sometimes also brings in matierialism but you will get that everywhere in socal.), and a more laid back beach vibe. Who needs a bigger house to buy more things to put in anyways? Laguna Beach enables a more simplified lifestyle, and most are able to walk to the beach. Best beaches in socal hands down (besides La Jolla). The only problems are the tourist season makes driving anywhere in Laguna a hassle, but the town also doesnt require much driving around for the locals and you get to know the side streets/neighborhoods.
Have you looked into surrounding areas? I personally went to Dana Hills High School, which I thought was an incredible level of education comparatively speaking. I was very involved in the AP classes/advanced courses and I was one of only two students in those circles who did not start off at a very prestigious four year school after graduation (and only because my parents had me start out at community college... Saddleback College which is also a very high caliber of education).
Laguna Niguel is a pretty boring suburb for teenagers but the beach is close and the sports are well organized when it is not summer so theres enough to do to keep busy (on top of school work). The area is GREAT for families, and there are a lot of safe, great, social, friendly neighborhoods. Now is a good time to buy in the area and prices low.
But if your choices are narrowed down to Tustin and LB, for everyones sake do not go with Tustin... you will just be driving to the beach anyways, you might as well walk to the best secret local beaches and enjoy the local scene. Locals are not incredibly welcoming of inlanders anyways
I have to say, I am forever jealous of kids that grew up in Laguna Beach (or really most CA beach towns).
I grew up in a nice little (middle class) neighborhood where I could walk to the beach, but the beach was a silty muddy lake not the ocean. Trust me it had its charms and I used the heck out of it and became an excellent swimmer despite the water being more...umm...natural... but I was so jealous of kids that got to do things like surfing, etc.
That is partly why I moved here, still trying to placate my inner child!
We are ready to find our new home in OC before school starts! We may rent, we may buy, but the main driving force is the school district. We hope to not have to move school districts once we settle in. Like many, I fell in love with Laguna Beach. We live on the water in Miami and being coastal felt more like home for me, but my husband keeps gravitating towards Tustin. We know for the same money we can buy a much bigger house in Tustin, but it's all about school and environment at this stage for us.
Both Laguna Beach (Laguna Beach High) and Tustin (Arnold Beckman and Foothill) have great schools, but the difference is the size and the demographics. Miami is is big and extremely diverse and we are used to that, just as long as it's safe we enjoy it. We actually live near a "village", Miami Shores, that has a very small feel but we are 10 min away from the beach, midtown, airport and have all the restaurants, pubs, and bars one could want nearby. I think we would adjust better if we are not too far from these things in California.
I understand the bigger schools have more to offer as far as extra curricular activities but I think smaller is better. Both my girls go to very small schools here in Miami, but I am open to whatever is better for my girls.
How is the environment for kids and families in
Laguna Beach?
Tustin?
Any feedback or experiences (good or bad) with
Laguna Beach High?
Foothill High?
Arnold Beckman High?
Any opinions, experiences, and feedback is greatly appreciated. I find it extremely helpful.
No contest. Id live in Laguna Beach. Its one of my favorite cities in the entire country. But I don't have a family or kids living with me.
We loved the homes and easy beach access of Laguna Niguel area bordering Dana Point but both Dana Point High and Aliso Niguel High have 3000 students! I went to a huge school like that here in Miami and I don't want that for my kids. We are loosing the waterfront home and the boating in Miami for this move. I would hate to loose the beach too! We don't live inland here, which is also way cheaper, why would we want to move inland there?
This is the question I was trying to explore. The why people do it, other than more affordable housing?
I agree with the "less is more" lifestyle. You are confirming all my feelings. Thank you! I just wanted to explore my husbands idea of Tustin thoroughly, but I think he is just struggling with the idea of the huge downsize in home size. I think in the long term he will appreciate the lower maintenance a smaller home requires. In a blink of an eye our kids will be in College and our small home and neighborhood will fit us perfectly
From my experience the populations in the school was not really an issue except having to share a tiny locker and some traffic getting to school in the mornings. Not worse than anywhere else.
Dana Hills actually has a lot of unique programs that are not incredibly publicized but I would highly recommend. SOCSA is an art "school" within the school that gives students interested in fine arts and theater more focus. They have a large performing arts center that is becoming well recognized. They also have HMO for pre med and health occupations where the students are focusing on medical fields, including interning at local hospitals. There are great science programs (I went on a 9 day field study/camping trip with my marine ecology class... I havent had a comparable class even in college). Every AP teacher I had was incredible, especially in the English department. The sports have at least state recognition every year, especially track/cross country. The school's yearbook and journalism has received national recognition annually as well (specializing in photography and computer editing/graphic design).
For me the 3000 kids at school wasnt an issue. The hallways are a bit crowded during passing periods, but the class sizes, although larger than a tiny school, were well commanded by the teachers, and infrequently disrupted by bad students (at least in the classes I had). The largeness really just meant there was a place for everyone and not so many 'cliques' as I would imagine smaller schools would have.
I cant say much for any of the programs at LBHS, but, from working in the downtown area after my graduation, they seemed to act a little entitled and were scantily clothed. Thats as much as I know.
I would definitely stress the location of your future home. I am sure Tustin is not a bad place. But from my perspective, I am grateful my parents chose Laguna, by far. The proximity to the beach made all the difference, even if it was just the ocean view from english class
I am making a strong vote for Laguna Beach. A couple of points:
1. Laguna Beach is, hands down, a more interesting, vibrant and unique place. Growing up in a place like Laguna Beach is priceless and your kids will thank you later for giving them that experience. That is something that will always be with them -- even if it means missing a few extracurricular activities. Growing up in an amazing place where most people can only dream of living, is a special thing. YOUR KIDS WILL THANK YOU LATER.
2. Laguna Beach is small town at heart and has much more of a close-knit feel to it. That's hard to find in Southern California. Tustin mostly just feels like another suburb.
3. Passing up a chance to live in Laguna Beach is something that would make many people feel regret down the line. The same cannot be said about Tustin. I can guarantee you will always feel something in the back of your mind that you should have chosen Laguna. You won't be able to go there without daydreaming about "what if." It's hard to imagine feeling the same about Tustin, if you choose Laguna Beach. You only live once, go with your heart.
I really think that when it comes to this type of decision, it's not the time to play it conservative and guarded. Any marginal benefits your kids will get from the schools in Tustin (remember, LB schools a great, so the difference is small) are BLOWN AWAY by the lifestyle benefits of living in LB. That's my take on it.
I have to say, I am forever jealous of kids that grew up in Laguna Beach (or really most CA beach towns).
I grew up in a nice little (middle class) neighborhood where I could walk to the beach, but the beach was a silty muddy lake not the ocean. Trust me it had its charms and I used the heck out of it and became an excellent swimmer despite the water being more...umm...natural... but I was so jealous of kids that got to do things like surfing, etc.
That is partly why I moved here, still trying to placate my inner child!
Indeed. I took my nephew to Aliso Creek beach yesterday to boogie board. Talk about being sheletered and living in near paradise, eh? These beach kids are so lucky and often do not realize it until they are much older. And that in itself is upsetting: the fact that it is very expensive to live here and sacrifices must be made, but kids who are raised here seem to have little appreciation for those sacrifices. They just thnk about their next beach outing, the next cheeseburger or ice cream cone, etc. Perpetual summer...Moreover, the kids often start believing that Southern California beaches are the norm in the U.S. and that this way of life is what others experience around the nation. They need a reality check!
Regarding the inner child, being a male and being at that infamous mid life point, I realize that the inner child is right here, alive and well, and he's never going away. He keeps telling me he wants what he sees others have around me, like a fancy convertible. Someday I will stop fighting him and relent and give my inner child what he wants and thereby slowly become the very person that I loved to mock as a kid.
Quote:
Originally Posted by daneonethebeach
Dana Hills actually has a lot of unique programs that are not incredibly publicized but I would highly recommend.
Marcella, if you buy in Laguna Niguel, your daughter(s) can go to Dana Hills High, just sayin'
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move school districts once we settle in. Like many, I fell in love with Laguna Beach. We live on the water in Miami and being coastal felt more like home for me, but my husband keeps gravitating towards Tustin. We know for the same money we can buy a much bigger house in Tustin, but it's all about school and environment at this stage for us.
