Deciding between Orange and Lake Forest (Irvine, Fountain Valley: apartments, to rent, houses)

[kudos030]

I'm 29, male and new to the area and I found two places to rent with roommates for similar prices, one in Orange and one in Lake forest. I'm looking to work in Irvine and I think both are close. Just wondering if anyone can help sway my decision from one town to the other. Thanks

[bhcompy]

Lake Forest will be closer but in itself isn't great for nightlife or activities, though Irvine Spectrum is closeby for that.

Orange is straight suburbia with a little bit of old fashioned small town urbanness, but is further away.

[bob-jenkins]

Orange is pretty cool. I enjoy it down there. Lake Forest is, ehh, boring. Not much excitement going on there.

[Coldjensens]

Orange has a nice but small downtown. The college adds some young hipness. The block is a pretty cool hangout. Mostly younger but still fun for people watching and stuff to do.

Lake Forest has . . . well. . . houses and apartments and strip malls that look exactly like everywhere else.

[kudos030]

How about fountain valley near mile square park. whats the perception for this area.

[Unkllars]

Originally Posted by Coldjensens

Orange has a nice but small downtown. The college adds some young hipness. The block is a pretty cool hangout. Mostly younger but still fun for people watching and stuff to do.

Lake Forest has . . . well. . . houses and apartments and strip malls that look exactly like everywhere else.

That's the truth right there!

[bhcompy]

the area around mile square park is a nice suburban area. south and/or west are probably the best parts, but there are apts east and north that arent too bad.

the problem is that its a long travel to irvine. pretty much anything that puts you up the 405 will make commuting hell.

[bob-jenkins]

Umm, no Fountain Valley. Its old and boring (the two bad qualities of Lake Forest and Orange, Orange being old and Lake Forest being boring). Definately more of a family locale. Stick with Orange.

[bhcompy]

The upside of FV is that its right down the road from Huntington for "nightlife" and the beach. Proximity to The Block adds some as well. Otherwise, there are plenty of bars, pizza places, a bowling alley, mini-golf/gokarts, etc to hang out in and Mile Square Park has a golf course and other facilities for fun. Good pickup basketball games as well.

Fountain Valley isn't very large(only 1 zipcode, compared to 5 for santa ana and 4 i think for Huntington), so the fact that it's "old and boring" doesn't necessarily mean anything because of it's proximity to other areas that have other activities. It's 10-15minutes to get to the beach from the heart of FV to give you a measure.