Relo help...OC coast towns (Huntington Beach, Santa Barbara: real estate, house, neighborhoods)

[LittleFishInABigPond]

We're planning to relo to SoCal in the near future and we're looking for advice from locals to help us identify the best choices.

We're a very active couple in our 50's with a high functioning special needs son and a big dog. We live in Colorado and our business allows us to work from home. We plan to live in CO during the summer and spend the rest of the year in CA. We've been fortunate to travel a fair amount and have a few potential cities on our list, but realize living in a place is very different than vacation visits. Here's our list of priorities:

1. Our house location needs to be a 1 - 2.5 mile walk to a "main street" type downtown area. It doesn't need to be big, but large enough that we wouldn't get bored and our son could ride his scooter to a job, etc.
2. We could have a house with an ocean view and be able to walk (1 - 2.5 miles) to the beach...with good access to bike trails, parks, etc.
3. Within 1.5 to 2 hours of LAX.
4. Commute time doesn't matter to us, but we'd prefer to be a 10 - 20 minute drive to grocery, hardware store, vet for the dog, Costco, etc. so it's not a total pain when we need something...but we'd concede this being a bit further because the first two points are much more important to us.

Also, our CO house is in a ski town so we're very used to crazy tourism peaks, seasonality, etc.

Cities that seem initially interesting are Laguna Beach, Pacific Palisades and Santa Barbara. (SB is as far north as we'd go). We've stayed in Dana Point a couple times, but it was over 10 years ago and don't remember the area very well. Never been to San Clemente. We don't want to go any further south than that.

We've been to Huntington Beach and it seemed congested and remember the ocean wasn't as nice as Laguna or Dana, but we might have been in the wrong area.

What cities seem to be the best match? Any advice - and any specific neighborhoods - would be great. Thanks!

[saibot]

Laguna Beach would certainly fill the bill, but do you have a budget in mind? Buy or rent?

[LittleFishInABigPond]

Saibot... Our intent would be to buy a home. Our budget is flexible and would depend on the home. One of our businesses is real estate development (recognizing we wouldn't have trades or connections initially in CA), so we're comfortable with anything from tear downs to move-in-ready. We're used to crazy prices in CO and our priority is to find the right town/neighborhood. We plan to be there for the long haul.

Can you (and anyone else) give us the feel for Laguna and any of the others we should consider.

Thanks so much.

[saibot]

San Clemente is also fairly walkable, but the downtown doesn't compare to Laguna Beach. You could also consider Newport Beach. The beaches farther north in OC (Huntington and Seal Beach) are not as scenic, in my opinion. Beyond that, you're in LA County and would want to ask in that forum.

All beach towns will be congested during the summer months. Laguna is actually one of the worst in this regard, as roads in/out are limited to PCH and Laguna Canyon Road.

Maybe someone who lives in one of these towns could chime in with suggestions for neighborhoods.

[DinsdalePirahna]

I would agree that the beached in Seal Beach and Huntington Beach are not as scenic, but both cities are still great places to live..

Of the two, I would choose old town Seal Beach, it still has a very quint vibe, and doesn't attract the rowdy crowds that downtown HB attracts.

As mentioned, the downside of Laguna is the traffic since there really are only two ways in and out of the village.

[LittleFishInABigPond]

Thanks very much for the added info. Travel in/out of town is not a big concern as long as most stores/services are local. We work from home so most time will be spent in town. Hoping someone can give more perspective on the actual size and feel of "downtown" Laguna Beach and whether any others nearby are large enough...such as Dana Point, San Clemente or others. Thanks again!

[SportyandMisty]

La Jolla?

[LittleFishInABigPond]

We want to be within 1.5 - 2 hours of LAX because of easy/direct flights to our CO area, so La Jolla is not something we've considered.

[pacific2]

Originally Posted by LittleFishInABigPond

Thanks very much for the added info. Travel in/out of town is not a big concern as long as most stores/services are local. We work from home so most time will be spent in town. Hoping someone can give more perspective on the actual size and feel of "downtown" Laguna Beach and whether any others nearby are large enough...such as Dana Point, San Clemente or others. Thanks again!

I'm a little bit confused. Are you looking for an OC beach town with a downtown section which hosts large corporate offices? Laguna Beach is more of a "getaway village" with small shops.

Dana Point is a small beach town undergoing redevelopment, but it doesn't have a large corporate center.

San Clemente is bigger than either Laguna Beach or Dana Point but, to the best of my knowledge, it doesn't have a large corporate campus either.

I wonder if Newport Beach would be more to your liking?

[LuvSouthOC]

Originally Posted by pacific2

I'm a little bit confused. Are you looking for an OC beach town with a downtown section which hosts large corporate offices? Laguna Beach is more of a "getaway village" with small shops.

Dana Point is a small beach town undergoing redevelopment, but it doesn't have a large corporate center.

San Clemente is bigger than either Laguna Beach or Dana Point but, to the best of my knowledge, it doesn't have a large corporate campus either.

I wonder if Newport Beach would be more to your liking?

I think the confusion comes from the son riding his scooter to a job. Unless the son is working in an art gallery or is a server, I don't really see it in Laguna Beach.