Would you rather live in Tustin or Laguna Beach? (Irvine: rental, high school)

[HSP1161]

Originally Posted by LuvSouthOC

Marcella, if you buy in Laguna Niguel, your daughter(s) can go to Dana Hills High, just sayin'

Laguna Niguel isn't Laguna Beach. The two cities couldn't be more different.

[DewDropInn]

Originally Posted by marcellamiami

Aside from feeling sterile, I honestly don't like that the schools are so big or that they are 50-80% asian. I am of a minority race. We have friends here that are like family that we love who are asian, indian, central and South American and from many other countries. We enjoy the diversity but I would hate for my children or my family to feel outcasted or not included in any way. .

It's Orange County. Not Florida.

The Asians are not going to make your kids feel like outcasts. The Asian kids are playing with (and later dating and marrying) the Mexicans and the Persians and the Caucasians and the African-Americans and.... hopefully you get the idea. Did you by any chance go to a mall while you were there and notice all the mixed kids? THEIR parents grew up in Irvine. And Laguna Beach. And Tustin. Hint, hint.

On your next "drive by" get out of the car and walk around South Coast Plaza or Fashion Island. Then go to a supermarket in the neighborhoods you're looking at. Those are the people who will be your neighbors. The Asian girls holding hands with the blonde surfers are your typical OC teenagers. Yes, that homeless guy in front of Ralphs lives in a community with million-dollar homes. He likes living at the beach. I urge you to get a feel for OC so the culture shock doesn't do you in during your first two weeks of residency in... wherever. BTW: The Cambodians selling you your morning donuts were refugees, own three rental homes in good neighborhoods, have two kids who aced the ACT's and a grandson with blue eyes. Gosh, I love Orange County.

[Jordie67]

We are in a similar situation. We are considering a move to either Laguna Beach or Newport Beach area. We have 2 children who are obsessed with the ocean. Scuba, surfing are their favorite pastime .. We are moving from New York where our kids going to a very preppy tiny typical east side prep school. We are a Jewish family, and husband is British. We don't feel all that welcome and our children are probably one of the only Jewish kids in each of their grades.
we would love to live in public school district that is not too large, is warm yet competitive but most importantly, we want our children to feel like they also have Jewish friends. Are we choosing the wrong neighborhoods? commute is not an issue.
Any advice would be so helpful! Thank you

[Teckeeee]

Originally Posted by Jordie67

We are in a similar situation. We are considering a move to either Laguna Beach or Newport Beach area. We have 2 children who are obsessed with the ocean. Scuba, surfing are their favorite pastime .. We are moving from New York where our kids going to a very preppy tiny typical east side prep school. We are a Jewish family, and husband is British. We don't feel all that welcome and our children are probably one of the only Jewish kids in each of their grades.
we would love to live in public school district that is not too large, is warm yet competitive but most importantly, we want our children to feel like they also have Jewish friends. Are we choosing the wrong neighborhoods? commute is not an issue.
Any advice would be so helpful! Thank you

Honestly you aren't being realistic. You want to move to the West Coast and have what you had on the East Coast. Good luck.

[HyperionGap]

Originally Posted by Jordie67

We are in a similar situation. We are considering a move to either Laguna Beach or Newport Beach area. We have 2 children who are obsessed with the ocean. Scuba, surfing are their favorite pastime .. We are moving from New York where our kids going to a very preppy tiny typical east side prep school. We are a Jewish family, and husband is British. We don't feel all that welcome and our children are probably one of the only Jewish kids in each of their grades.
we would love to live in public school district that is not too large, is warm yet competitive but most importantly, we want our children to feel like they also have Jewish friends. Are we choosing the wrong neighborhoods? commute is not an issue.
Any advice would be so helpful! Thank you

You probably want to read through this thread.

Jewish community

[raisingtwoboys]

We live in Tustin Ranch, with Beckman H.S. as our assigned. We are considering a new, 3,000 sf SFH in Orchard Hills or a smaller resale 2,200 sf SFH in Newport Coast.

As far as living in Tustin Ranch, it's been great with two little boys. We moved here from west side of LA to have a more family oriented lifestyle, but that's all there is in Tustin and Irvine. Newport Beach seem to offer a balance of activities for kids and adults. We always drive out to Newport for dining and the beach.

The cost of the Mello-Roos in most new homes in Tustin and Irvine (because we don't like the floor plan of older homes) can buy us about $100K more in some nice parts of Newport Coast.

The weather in Newport Coast seem to have a cooler breeze. Tustin is just hot with a warm breeze, therefore we mainly stay indoors most months.

Any down side in living in Newport Coast? My husband would have to drive to Anaheim (55/91) and 405/Sand Canyon for work. I think living in NC may add an extra 10 minutes to his commute each way. But the weather is awesome!

[Futurist110]

Originally Posted by Fran66

did you look into Irvine (another boring place to live, along with Tustin)

LOL! I myself beg to differ.

[saibot]

Originally Posted by capoeira

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.

This would be the deal breaker for me. I have been going to Laguna Beach regularly as long as I can remember (my grandmother lived there in the 1960s and 70s), and the traffic has always been horrible, especially during the summer. If you are just going to hang out at the beach all the time maybe you'll be fine, but if actually want to go anywhere else, you'll get very tired of the traffic on those two roads.

Plus Laguna is a madhouse of tourists in the summer. Kind of kills the "cozy little beach town" vibe.

Of course, I am partially embittered because my family owned a duplex in Laguna...on Glenneyre, with an ocean view...and sold it for $100K, which seemed like a lot of money at the time.

[rainmand]

my family owned a duplex in Laguna...on Glenneyre, with an ocean view...and sold it for $100K

Wow ... that must have been a long long time ago.

[saibot]

Originally Posted by rainmand

my family owned a duplex in Laguna...on Glenneyre, with an ocean view...and sold it for $100K

Wow ... that must have been a long long time ago.

Early 1970s. They bought it in the early '60s for $50K and were so happy they doubled their money.