Fullerton/Placentia (Santa Ana, Anaheim, Irvine: apartment, high crime, house)

[bluethegreatest]

I just got a job offer in Fullerton and currently looking for an accomodation in the area. I did some research and found that Fullerton is not very safe. Is that true?

I was wondering if Placentia is safe. I found out that Irvine is the safetest city in OC but if I have an option, I would prefer shorter distance.

I would appreciate if anyone can give me some advice or suggestion on the housing.

[HomeSeeker28]

In my opinion, Fullerton is a very safe area in comparison to other cities in OC, such as Santa Ana or Anaheim. It's not as nice and new like Irvine, but it's still a safe area and is centrally located to a lot of restaurants and close to the Brea mall. It's a bit of a college crowd because of CalSTate Fullerton and there's a line of bars in Downtown Fullerton if you want the nightlife. If you want a city more family oriented, the city of Brea is also nice, clean, and quiet. Placentia and Yorba Linda are also good choices.

Hope that helps.

[bluethegreatest]

Thank you for your advice. It is helpful.

[Coldjensens]

Orange is also very nice and close to Fullerton. As are Brea and Buena Park.

Generalized crime statistics are not very useful. Parts of Fullerton may be bad while the rest of it is nice. The homes in the hills are beautiful (and expensive) and I do not think that they have a substantial crime problem there. The bad parts skew the average and make the city look bad. The statistics also jump around. In 1996 and at least one other year, Santa Ana was listed as the safest city in its size category in the U.S (cities with populations of 300,000 to 500,000). Irvine is not always at the top as the safest city in their category. They have crime and gangs in Irvine just like almost anywhere else. If you want to be real safe, go to Catalina Island, that is about the only place where you can go with no gangs whatsoever. (although the gang bangers probably go out there for vacation just like everyone else.) Of course Catalina would be a bear of a commute.

Just find a place that you like and then ask at least ten neighbors about the crime/safety in the area. Better yet, get information from the local police. they do not like to give it out, but they will if you push. That way you can get very localized information. However, even that may be too broad.

We lived in a nice neighborhood in Santa Ana. Just to the north, was a terrible neighborhood with a lot of crime. Thus, our area reported high crime although our neighborhood was considerably lower and comparable to nice areas in most major cities. if neighbors watch our for each other and report anything suspicious, you will have lower crime, but that can vary from one street to another and from one year to another. there is no way to measure how safe you will be. You could move to Irvine and be one of the three people who get murdered that year, or you could move to Santa Ana and be one of the 342,648 people who never even see a serious crime that year.

Sorry, that probably does not help much with your decision. But unless you live in a really heinous neighborhood, statistics are not going to help you much.

Personally i like Fullerton better than Placentia. I think that the City has more character. I do know that Placentia has some bad areas and some good areas. I do not remember where each is located. I like Santa Ana better than either one, and Orange even better still. You could not pay me to live in most of Irvine. I could not stand that lifestyle.

[docmommaCA]

Depends on where in Fullerton your job is -- it's a big city and you can probably find something in town that suits you. If you are way north then Brea or north Placentia are an easy commute and very safe. Generally, further south in both Placentia and Fullerton is less safe, though it is getting better and there are some nice areas. Yorba Linda is farther east and most expensive, but overall the safest. West Fullerton is more variable, you'd have to specifically look around and find the area you'd like.

It also depends on whether you want a home or an apartment, whether you are young and want nightlife or a family neighborhood. Give more details and we can give better advice.

[bluethegreatest]

Thank you for replying my post. The company is located in West Fullerton. I prefer an apartment especially gated community, but a house works for me as well. I am in my mid 20's, single, but I am not really a party person.

If I am not mistaken, to commute from Placentia to Fullerton, I have to take 91FWY. How bad is the traffic?

[Coldjensens]

Bad. Worse than you can imagine. Can you travel on off hours?

[bluethegreatest]

It is typical working hour 8-5 or 9-6.

[Donn2390]

Originally Posted by bluethegreatest

If I am not mistaken, to commute from Placentia to Fullerton, I have to take 91FWY. How bad is the traffic?

Fullerton boarders Placentia, so you don't need to get on the freeway. If you live on one end of Placentia, and work on the opposite end of Fullerton, you could take the freeway, but not neccessary, there are several large surface streets that will keep you off the freeway.
I lived in Fullerton and worked in Placentia for over 20 years, and never took the freeway, it was only a 10 minute commute.....

[Wallflower]

Originally Posted by Coldjensens

Orange is also very nice and close to Fullerton. As are Brea and Buena Park.

Generalized crime statistics are not very useful. Parts of Fullerton may be bad while the rest of it is nice. The homes in the hills are beautiful (and expensive) and I do not think that they have a substantial crime problem there. The bad parts skew the average and make the city look bad. The statistics also jump around. In 1996 and at least one other year, Santa Ana was listed as the safest city in its size category in the U.S (cities with populations of 300,000 to 500,000). Irvine is not always at the top as the safest city in their category. They have crime and gangs in Irvine just like almost anywhere else. If you want to be real safe, go to Catalina Island, that is about the only place where you can go with no gangs whatsoever. (although the gang bangers probably go out there for vacation just like everyone else.) Of course Catalina would be a bear of a commute.

Just find a place that you like and then ask at least ten neighbors about the crime/safety in the area. Better yet, get information from the local police. they do not like to give it out, but they will if you push. That way you can get very localized information. However, even that may be too broad.

We lived in a nice neighborhood in Santa Ana. Just to the north, was a terrible neighborhood with a lot of crime. Thus, our area reported high crime although our neighborhood was considerably lower and comparable to nice areas in most major cities. if neighbors watch our for each other and report anything suspicious, you will have lower crime, but that can vary from one street to another and from one year to another. there is no way to measure how safe you will be. You could move to Irvine and be one of the three people who get murdered that year, or you could move to Santa Ana and be one of the 342,648 people who never even see a serious crime that year.

Sorry, that probably does not help much with your decision. But unless you live in a really heinous neighborhood, statistics are not going to help you much.

Personally i like Fullerton better than Placentia. I think that the City has more character. I do know that Placentia has some bad areas and some good areas. I do not remember where each is located. I like Santa Ana better than either one, and Orange even better still. You could not pay me to live in most of Irvine. I could not stand that lifestyle.

Hmm, this post irked me a little, mostly in it`s sour grapes stance. I live IN Irvine, so I think I can talk about it, being as I have almost lived two decades here.

Santa Ana is, from what is stereotyped, full of Mexican people. Irvine tends to be very Asian and white, the university here is known as "UCI," uni of chinese immigrants. There is racial preference involved.

1. Irvine is the safest city, according to the FBI.

2. There are no gangs in Irvine. This is a fact. I have a brother still in the school system here. There simply are no gangs... many kids who dress and pose, but no gangs. I`m sure gangsters from other cities
Asian Gangs in Santa Ana
stop by, but there are none actually located here. I`ve been here for two decades... and I`ve never seen graffiti before.

3. There`s crime in Irvine, of course, but as a teen over the curfew I can walk around at 3am, by myself, on the streets, and be safe. My little brother, who is in the special education program, can walk anywhere he wants and we know he`ll be fine. There is very few serious crime.. in fact, living here for about 20 years, I`ve never witnessed crime. Of any sort. Unless, of course, you count someone copying answers on a test, or trading homework. That tends to be quite popular in the competitive, academically rigorous school system we have.

4. There are no homeless people here. If the police see a homeless person, they are driven to the city limits, to Tustin, Santa Ana, etc, and dropped off. I`ve never seen a homeless person in Irvine; the first time I ever saw a homeless person was when I went off to college in another city.

If your main priority is "safety," then Irvine is the best place, pretty much anywhere in Northwood, University, Harvard Court... anywhere near the four high schools here.

&honestly, Irvine is so expensive, most people who want to live here can`t. Unless you have support or a spouse or have an extremely well paying job (salary of at least six figures), it`s very unlikely you`ll be able to find housing here, even with the new developments.

However, if you plan to raise a family, be sure to settle in Irvine. We have some of the top ranked high schools, and most of the graduates go onto a four year university. In my own circle of friends I`ve seen people get into Harvard, Stanford, Yale, Princeton, Dartmouth, etc.