Orange County where to live for young (Long Beach, Santa Ana: apartments, rent)

[naturequesting]

Hello, I'm a young single 20 something year old considering moving to Orange County to work at the children's hospital from Georgia. Would orange county/ area around the hospital be a good place to live? Or what would be another good option? Ideally it would be wonderful to have coffee shops/restaurants/bars to walk to- as well as places outdoors to run. And it would be great to have young professionals living around the area to make friends with. I adore outdoors, which is one of the reasons Cali sounds like such a great place, plus the weather is unbeatable.
Thank you for any input.

[TimTheEnchanter]

Do you understand that Orange County is one of the populous counties in the U.S.?

There are many outdoors areas to enjoy, but not necessarily a lot that are convenient to Children's Hospital. Around the hospital it is very urbanized. You'd either have to get to the coast or the OC backcountry for open spaces.

As to "coffee shops/restaurants/bars to walk to", there are cities and areas that have that, but you'd have to visit them to see if it is what you are looking for. Downtown Anaheim is a hotspot right now, and that is easy for Children's Hospital. Laguna Beach is another area that fits in and there are many other areas too, but without knowing the exact vibe you are looking for, it is hard to give advice.

[NickofDiamonds]

Huntington Beach is probably the hottest place for 20 year olds to live as it's a wild and crazy city with a strong surf vibe.
Fullerton has a university so it's another youth themed area.
Both places are great to spend your 20's in until you mature at the old age of 30. !

[RudyOD]

Originally Posted by NickofDiamonds

Huntington Beach is probably the hottest place for 20 year olds to live as it's a wild and crazy city with a strong surf vibe.
Fullerton has a university so it's another youth themed area.
Both places are great to spend your 20's in until you mature at the old age of 30. !

Yeah, if you're white surfer brah and/or a fan of that demographic. Also, if your definition of 'wild and crazy' means the occasional riot caused by middle class punks too bored with their lives to do anything productive.

[dexter14]

Originally Posted by naturequesting

Hello, I'm a young single 20 something year old considering moving to Orange County to work at the children's hospital from Georgia. Would orange county/ area around the hospital be a good place to live? Or what would be another good option? Ideally it would be wonderful to have coffee shops/restaurants/bars to walk to- as well as places outdoors to run. And it would be great to have young professionals living around the area to make friends with. I adore outdoors, which is one of the reasons Cali sounds like such a great place, plus the weather is unbeatable.
Thank you for any input.

The million dollar question....whats your budget? That will determine a lot.

[Urban Planner]

I'm a millenial so we probably like the same stuff. Walkable, historic, shops, restaurants, etc... You should definitely check out Downtown Santa Ana. The best restaurants and cafes are down there including an awesome new market. It's essentially the hipster central of OC.

FOOD IN DTSA


4th St Market

Brewery in Downtown!

Tons of more stuff too. Living in and around here ain't to expensive either.

Don't let the few haters on this forum sway you. If you're cool, you're hanging out in Downtown. Most of the other peeps in this forum are pretty old so they're all grumpy and stuff.

[RudyOD]

Originally Posted by mbell75

The million dollar question....whats your budget? That will determine a lot.

If they have the money...South Coast (Costa Mesa/Newport/Santa Ana), has plenty of restaurants, bars, clubs and trendy places for any 20 something. My second vote goes to DTSA, as it is walkable, but still small yet growing. Both of these have lots of young professionals that frequent it as well. Also, they are both near the hospital.

For cheaper alternatives, I would live near the Anaheim/Fullerton border, not too far from DTF. The commute from these areas can get bad though (I do a commute from BP to Santa Ana for work, so it is similar). Also, the party scene in DTF gets old fast...but since they are knew to the area and didn't grow up around it like I did, then they might like it.

In terms of affordability and somewhat proximity to hiking/wilderness, I think the city of Orange is a great option. Within minutes you can be in the backwoods, Silverado, Blackstar...take the country road to whiting ranch. You also have Peters Canyon and Santiago Canyon parks, and not too far off a drive down the 55 to the 5 south to the 133, you have Laguna Canyon Wilderness and Aliso Wilderness. Major bonus: near work.

Alternatively, they could live in Long Beach, which is cheap and has plenty of cafes, bars etc with a relatively young population. Though I wouldn't care for the commute on the 22 (could be worse?). Also, I find Long Beach to far from lots of my favorite spots for hiking/local wilderness.

So to summarize:

Nightlife - Santa Ana/Costa Mesa/Newport (southcoast)
Affordability (relative) and proximity to wilderness/hiking - Orange
Cheap and full of young people - Long Beach

[TimTheEnchanter]

Originally Posted by Urban Planner

Tons of more stuff too. Living in and around here ain't to expensive either.

Don't let the few haters on this forum sway you. If you're cool, you're hanging out in Downtown. Most of the other peeps in this forum are pretty old so they're all grumpy and stuff.

Apparently millennials never took economics in school.

Places to live are priced by the marketplace according to desirability and availability. If you can't rent a place for X you have to drop the price until you can rent it. If you are at another location and at a rent of Y and you are 100% full with a waiting list, you can raise the price without decreasing occupancy.

That Santa Ana "ain't to (sic) expensive" should tell you something.

[Urban Planner]

Originally Posted by TimTheEnchanter

That Santa Ana "ain't to (sic) expensive" should tell you something.

Wherever you live, it's cheaper than another place. So that should tell you something about your place. That's literally your argument.

[dexter14]

I can't believe Im going to recommend Anaheim again but anyways....If you can afford the Platinum Triangle area in Anaheim near Angel Stadium (Katella and State College) its a great area. I was just over there for dinner again tonight at The Catch. The apartments that sit on top of it (Avalon) are full of nothing but 20 something year olds, as is 1818 and Park Viridian apartments. Because its also down the street from Disneyland and its a tourist spot, you have literally everything you could want within walking distance or a 2 minute drive in any direction. Pro sporting events (Angels and Ducks), concerts, Disneyland, tons of restaurants/bars/coffee shops, shopping (Outlets at Orange and GardenWalk) grocery stores, movie theaters, bowling...there is literally everything. Its only about a 10 minute drive to the Children's Hospital too. Only thing you won't find are places to run if you are wanting like hiking trails as its a pretty built up area. You need to travel south for that.