Places in Orange County (Is Santa Ana really that bad)? (Riverside: house, rent)

[EscapeCalifornia]

Originally Posted by cobmw

Santa Ana is run down, dirty and feels unsafe. Move there (I lived there for along time) and you'll experience lots of petty crimes (vandalism, theft) and you'll never feel safe especially at night. Is it the Mexicans who make it such an unpleasant place? I'm not alllowed to say yes as it is not PC. But I don't think those Asians from Irvine are making SA a dump. They are too busy studying to get into UC Irvine. Go to SA look around and judge for yourself.

By the way I did move to another state. But still have the old house in SA for occasioinal visits. What a shock every time I leave humanity to go there. When the Mexicans assimilate and act like Americans I have no problem with them. So sick and tired of seeing Mexican flags in SA.

I couldn't agree more. Two of my immediate neighbors are Mexican AMERICAN. They keep their houses up and don't cause any problems but we're not in Santa Ana. Santa Ana is mostly lower class Mexicans (legal and otherwise) for whom overcrowded and dirty living conditions are still better than what they came from.

[missionhome]

It is not that people are afraid of Hispanics. I most definitely am not. My kids go to a 25% Hispanic school, which is considered a large amount for south Orange County. I would send them elsewhere if I was afraid of Hispanics.

I think it is fair to acknowledge that there is a large Hispanic population in Santa Ana and that the majority of the city is Hispanic. The Hispanic culture is very very strong in Santa Ana. I think it is fair to warn someone of that because it may not be an environment they want to be in. Some people, especially people not from the Southwest where we have many Hispanics, can get really bent out of shape hearing many of the people speaking Spanish around them. The fact is some people would not be happy in Santa Ana because of the Hispanic culture. It is a fair fact and better to mention it than not, so when Joe Somebody from Oklahoma gets here he understands how important Hispanic culture is in the city.

I say the same thing about Irvine. I let people know that the schools will have many Asian students and there is a lot of emphasis put on getting very good/ perfect grades. Average students could feel like they aren't included because the important thing in the school culture is good grades.

By the way, I do not recommend Santa Ana mainly due to crime and its appearance of being run down. Santa Ana is definitely a place one would have to visit I guess if you wanted to move there, but it is not the idea most people have of Orange County when they think of it because of all the shows. Many people from out of state think the entire county is Newport Beach or Coto de Caza, which we all know it isn't.

[Sunglitz56]

It's true about the hispanic population in Santa Ana. There are pockets of nice neighborhoods such as floral park...and zipcode 92705 is better, however it is still predominately hispanic. I lived in the "ok" part of Santa Ana and there was still graffiti and vandalism on our fences and walls with gang symbols and so forth. If you have kids or plan on having kids DO NOT MOVE TO SANTA ANA! The schools are NOT good. All it takes is a day of driving around and you will see why everyone says the things they say about it. There is a reason that it's more affordable than everywhere else in Orange County. Because it's mostly low income people that live there, and low level living conditions. People who park their cars on their lawns, and trash strewn about and people loitering on street corners and on front porches. I would not move back there. Thats my 2 cents.

[Esa cholita]

I think dat Santa Ana is 4 real cholos.....Nah let me stop, it depends how U wanna live homes.

[cobmw]

Someone who could actually benefit from the California school system.

[Mach50]

I may have been too harsh on people here in my first post.

Admittedly, the prejudice side of OC, is something I am still getting used to, as an affluent Mexican-American.

I guess I find it pretty sad on some Californians part to call every low class area, "Mexican". It is often used as a convenient label to place on an entire area. I am used to the East Coast where people of all colors and ethnicities are in low class areas.

Coming from living in New York City and Miami before this, it amazes me what people in OC call a "bad area". Santa Ana is nothing, but I guess it is relative to what you are used to growing up in Mission Viejo where the biggest crime is a parking violation.

[Coldjensens]

Santa Ana is a lively city. It is crowded and noisy. There are a lot of Hispanics living in Santa Ana and many of them are very very nice people.

This may be prejudice, but in our experience Hispanics are much more fun socially than Caucasians. Not a lot of standing around with a drink in your hand moving from group to group chatting about the weather and work. They really made us feel welcome and really had fun.

We lived there for nine years and did not have many major problems. Someone once stole a toy that got left out on the front lawn. When we moved someone broke into the yard while the house was tented and took some tools. One guy tried to siphon gas from my car once, but a neighbor called the police. We have some graphitti too, about the same amount as we had when we lived in Orange. Bad things happened down the street a coupe of times. Nothing that involved us.

I walked everywhere downtown on a daily basis. I never had any problems other than an occasional proposition from a hooker late at night and occasional weirdness from a homeless person (they go away if you ignore them). I never even saw a crime more serious than an occasional drug deal. A drunk guy passed out on our porch once becuase he thought it was his home. His family eventually came and carried him home. That is about it in nine years. (we had more problems with people (and a baby) on our porch when we lived in Newport Beach).

More recently when I left my car parked in a parking lot downtown for over a month a homeless guy broke in and was living in it. He did no damage, just made a nest in the front seat.


Santa Ana is the only real city in OC. It has a lot going on and there are always people out and about. If you are looking for a quiet place where nothing ever happens, it is not for you. Stuff happens there. It is like many other cities, really an average city for crime, poverty, etc.. Gang Bangers shoot each other some times, usually in their areas (stay away from their areas). The problem is that it is surrounded by such affluent areas that it looks poor by comparison. It also got a terrible and well deserved reputation in the 1980s that people cannot seem to get over. they grew up being told "stay out of Santa Ana so they never went there to see that it got better. When people do come form other areas, they see what they are looking for and expecting. You can always identify the people who grew up in OC and are afraid to come into Santa Ana. They walk around with a deer in the headlights look and advertise themselves as prime targets.

We raised our family there for nine years. We are white and have five children. We loved it there. I still stay there about 15 weeks of the year. I enjoy walking around. I do not like the noise sometimes though. Schools are a challenge, but there are some decent options if you work at it. Or you can aways choose private schools.

The best thing about the city that we found was its walkability/bikeability. We walked or biked to almost everything. Only small grocery stores in range, but they were fine for the occasional quick stop. Some decent restaurants, terrific churches, several live theater, dance, and music venues. Nice museums.

I put about 5,000 miles a year on my car. My wife probably tripled that on hers.

[whitechocolate86]

I would probably never move there...I would think Santa Ana would be a cool place for a music rehearsal/production facility...from what I understand...Santa Ana's school system is not good...I am 21...I'm thinking about socal when I get out of school, so I think I have a while before deciding about the best places for a public education, I was making a point about the city having below average crime stats than the national average, they are still higher than my hometown here in Texas. BTW San Antonio(where I have some family) is a heavily hispanic area and it is a relatively low crime area for a city of that size...from what I have read it is safer than dallas...the big city that I have the most experience in. Dallas is actually supposed to have more crime than los angeles (and people talk about the horror of la).
Some moron (I met in a bar, a friend of a friend) told me he was from houston he talked about how he got caught up in gun crossfire (this convo came up when I told him that my aspirations were to go to houston (UH law school) or socal (to get a job, I wouldn't want to go to school there). He talked about what a wretched place the city of houston was compared to dallas...and then talked about los angeles...what a horrible place it was (and then he mentioned his experiences were around compton (there's the explanation). I go to Dallas a lot (mainly to chill at concerts and the nighlife in deep ellum) my grandmother lives in what is now a less desirable part of dallas because she has lived in a house there for nearly 70 years that her and my grandfather bought together when they were very young. There are many hispanics(probably not legally here) in a neighborhood that was probably once lillywhite, but she is determined to stay there...I have never felt scared of the surroundings in that area. My point that I am trying to make is 1. dallas is supposed to be more dangerous than houston or los angeles on a per capita basis and some morons speak of how horrible la is when national crime data says otherwise. 2. I am not scared of illegals, I would like to see them thrown out of this country and maybe if some determined americans from the oc thought to take back their land we could take santa ana (that is a far fetched statement, but I am trying to make a point). 3. I realize that oc has many asians who are also some of the most vocal conservatives in that area, mainly because some are and others descended from communist refugees 4. diversity is good, I am a moderate left of center libertarian leaning liberal, as long as diversity doesn't mean having a bunch of mexican flags all over the place in a part of america, that does anger me; however, I was more interested in the business prospects of santa ana, like getting warehouse space. I realize this post probably doesn't make much sense but I was just trying to point out that not everything might be what it seems, but I am in Texas have never been to Orange County, California...my original point follows that surely Santa Ana, California can't be that bad since many people who are probably not all mexicans must work and represent the interests of the entire county in Santa Ana, California...I would assume that a California County government is similar to one in Texas.

[EscapeCalifornia]

Originally Posted by whitechocolate86

diversity is good, I am a moderate left of center libertarian leaning liberal, as long as diversity doesn't mean having a bunch of mexican flags all over the place in a part of america, that does anger me;

You might not like Santa Ana then.

Originally Posted by whitechocolate86

however, I was more interested in the business prospects of santa ana, like getting warehouse space. I realize this post probably doesn't make much sense but I was just trying to point out that not everything might be what it seems, but I am in Texas have never been to Orange County, California...my original point follows that surely Santa Ana, California can't be that bad since many people who are probably not all mexicans must work and represent the interests of the entire county in Santa Ana, California...I would assume that a California County government is similar to one in Texas.

There's lots of warehouse/industrial areas in Santa Ana and its probably less expensive than surrounding cities. But most people who work or run a business in Santa Ana don't live there. They drive home to Irvine, Mission Viejo, Orange, Huntington Beach, etc at the end of the day. Working in Santa Ana during the day is totally different than living there.

[whitechocolate86]

but it is not the idea most people have of Orange County when they think of it because of all the shows. Many people from out of state think the entire county is Newport Beach or Coto de Caza, which we all know it isn't.[/quote]

I honestly never watched those shows (The OC and I guess that bravo tv show real housewives of orange county). Honestly, I would want to move to oc because of the musical climate and proximity to la and of course the beautiful beaches, I have better things to do than watch stupid pointless tv wishing I was somewhere, I doubt everybody in newport beach is some stuck up moron, if I could ever become wealthy in socal, I doubt I would want to live in a mcmansion which is what I have heard coto de caza is (a bunch of those). Not to mention the oc which takes place in newport beach is actually filmed in manhattan beach where the production studios are located, I read people actually visited newport beach because they thought they could match sites there with the show. My interest is Santa Ana would be about having a music space there, not living there.