Considering a move to OC from Cleveland (Long Beach, Huntington Beach: rent, colleges)

[petraman]

Let me just point out that this is very hypothetical... I have been recommended for a position with a company I have a good, long relationship with, but the only problem is that it's located in City of Industry. Right now, I'm just trying to figure out how feasible it is to move there.

I LOVE the idea of moving to the LA area... From the culture, to the beach, to the weather... it just seems like such a breath of fresh air (maybe not literally, lol) compared to Cleveland, which I'm not exactly a fan of. After researching some areas around the CoI area, I'm totally lost...

Bit about myself... I'm 26, single and an engineer. I've never lived west of Ohio and I've always lived in rural/suburban areas. I have no idea if I'll like urban life so I'd like a more suburban area, but living around people my age would be nice, too. I've basically come to the conclusion that I'm in for a pretty long commute because I'm not really interested in the areas around where I'd work. I went into things looking at Irvine and the surrounding areas because I've heard it was clean and safe, but looking around these forums it seems like it's pretty boring. Which sucks, because having Cars and Coffee so close would make for some awesome Saturday mornings, haha. My mornings will start pretty early (probably around 6am...) and my days will end early as well (probably around 3pm?) so I doubt traffic will be much of an issue (for my commute at least).

Here are some areas I've looked at (online... have only actually been to LA twice, mainly north LA):
Fullerton (Like the community atmosphere and the short-ish commute, but worried about crime)
Pasadena (Again, great community and culture, but not sure about the commute as it'll be mostly side-streets. Also, I've heard that it gets a lot hotter up there compared to OC)
Irvine/Tustin (Long commute, expensive, boring (from what I've heard) but mostly new, very safe and close to the beach.)

Have I missed anywhere? This post turned out a lot longer than I expected, haha.

TL;DR:

Criteria:
$2500/mo rent max
Relatively younger crowd
45 minute commute to City of Industry
30 minute drive to the beach
Some amount of nightlife/culture
Nearby bike trails/parks would be nice.

[psr13]

If you think starting your day at 6 and ending it at 3 means you'll avoid traffic, you're in a world full of hurt.

[petraman]

Yeah, that was just based on threads I've read on here... Most said that the worst was between 7am-11am and 4pm-7pm. I've never had the pleasure of experiencing LA traffic first hand so maybe that was a bad assumption to make, haha.

[Japanfan1986]

I lived in the OC for three years. Only move there if you're rich and know for a matter of fact you'll continue to be rich for all of the time you plan to live there. It can really be a nightmare if you make below a certain amount.

[thelopez2]

Some of those places are far from the beach. I'd throw in Culver City and Torrance although both are in the LA area. Leaving beforer 6AM you won't hit any traffic, leaving at 3pm, it will start to slow down but not yet stop and go.

[nightlysparrow]

Go for Pasadena. It's younger, a combo of urban/suburban, and funner.

[expatCA]

Originally Posted by petraman

Let me just point out that this is very hypothetical... I have been recommended for a position with a company I have a good, long relationship with, but the only problem is that it's located in City of Industry. Right now, I'm just trying to figure out how feasible it is to move there.

I LOVE the idea of moving to the LA area... From the culture, to the beach, to the weather... it just seems like such a breath of fresh air (maybe not literally, lol) compared to Cleveland, which I'm not exactly a fan of. After researching some areas around the CoI area, I'm totally lost...

Bit about myself... I'm 26, single and an engineer. I've never lived west of Ohio and I've always lived in rural/suburban areas. I have no idea if I'll like urban life so I'd like a more suburban area, but living around people my age would be nice, too. I've basically come to the conclusion that I'm in for a pretty long commute because I'm not really interested in the areas around where I'd work. I went into things looking at Irvine and the surrounding areas because I've heard it was clean and safe, but looking around these forums it seems like it's pretty boring. Which sucks, because having Cars and Coffee so close would make for some awesome Saturday mornings, haha. My mornings will start pretty early (probably around 6am...) and my days will end early as well (probably around 3pm?) so I doubt traffic will be much of an issue (for my commute at least).

Here are some areas I've looked at (online... have only actually been to LA twice, mainly north LA):
Fullerton (Like the community atmosphere and the short-ish commute, but worried about crime)
Pasadena (Again, great community and culture, but not sure about the commute as it'll be mostly side-streets. Also, I've heard that it gets a lot hotter up there compared to OC)
Irvine/Tustin (Long commute, expensive, boring (from what I've heard) but mostly new, very safe and close to the beach.)

Have I missed anywhere? This post turned out a lot longer than I expected, haha.

TL;DR:

Criteria:
$2500/mo rent max
Relatively younger crowd
45 minute commute to City of Industry
30 minute drive to the beach
Some amount of nightlife/culture
Nearby bike trails/parks would be nice.

I would recommend Fullerton. Lived there for many years and have visited as often as I can. Does it have everything you list no, as the beach will be more than 30 minutes away except maybe in winter, due to traffic. I also lived in Pasadena and would not recommend it due to its location. LOng drive to the beach for sure. Night life I am not sure about, but I would lean towards Fullerton and OC.

[Joe Van Fossen]

I'd second Fullerton for the same reasons as above. Keep it north of Commonwealth or even Chapman, near downtown, and your daily commute should be pretty easy. You can take Harbor all the way to CoI.

[HBsteve]

Fullerton would be a good choice. As Joe said, you could commute over the hills to CoI on Harbor Blvd and avoid freeways altogether. Downtown Fullerton has character, lots of restaurants and bars, and with two colleges nearby it's pretty lively on the weekends. Joe is right that you want to stay north of Commonwealth, it gets pretty seedy to the south.

If you wanted to live at the beach, you could consider the Belmont Shore area of Long Beach. Nice hip area, the beach, lots to do, better weather, and depending on your work you could have a commute involving a single freeway (the 605) which is a plus. But it would be a significant commute. Check sigalert.com or google maps at times you would be commuting for a few days to see how bad.

[DinsdalePirahna]

I used to work in the City of Industry while living in Downtown Huntington Beach, the commute took about 45minutes there and about an hour to get home.