Your Thoughts on Huntington Beach for Families? (Long Beach, Fullerton: apartments, rent)

[kwong7]

Originally Posted by Finper

I live in Orange but my dad lives in HB so I keep track of the goings on. HB is very suburbia UNTILL you get to Main st. It's really going down hill. Lots of families refuse to walk there at night. There is a big homeless population there lots of drug use and lot's of bars. People used to complain they never saw cops but that's recently changed and now there's beat cops walking around there so hopefully it'll get better. There is a new area south of Main st called Pacific City that everybody is going to now and I love it there but parking is pricy. They are building like crazy up Beach and around Bella Terra. Some people like that lots don't. Oh the flying angels are performing there next Oct on the beach that'll be exciting.

I'll take the homeless population over the Skinhead days of the 90s any day. The city use to have a 10pm curfew for young folks, but I think that's long since been lifted. As for the Bella Terra resident build, I'm thinking that area is going to be traffic nightmare during rush hour and holidays. Unless they were planning on a driver-less community, I think the HB planners and developers may have created a problem.

[pwrof3]

Originally Posted by russlancea

Oh, since you do have a healthy budget, would you consider Rossmoor or Los Alamitos?

I might, but I spent a lot of time in that are as a kid. I'm kind of looking for a new experience. However, our money will go a lot farther in that area, so it is worth keeping as a backup. Nothing wrong with the area - I love it. Just looking for something new.

[pwrof3]

Originally Posted by BlueRacer

I agree with others, Seal Beach is worth considering also. "Stay south of Warner", that was my assessment too after looking carefully around Huntington Beach before moving here. I didn't want anything right along Warner either. Just didn't like that street. The neighborhoods to the East of Beach Blvd can be nice also, over to about Brookhurst St. Well worth considering.

The traffic around HB itself is a breeze generally, no issues. Beach Blvd and a couple other main streets can be busy but they're easy to bypass, plenty of alternate streets. PCH gets busy at times, especially during the Summer. I don't have kids but it seems like a nice place for them. The schools look pretty good and the kids look decent. Kind of a prevalent surf culture, skateboards, bikes, etc. Seems like a great environment. And I see plenty of parks around town.

And of course the beach, that's why I moved here, to be close to the beach. Mornings at the beach on a Summer day, absolutely beautiful. Bike rides from HB to Newport and back. I'm not really into the restaurant and bar scene too much, but there's plenty of that downtown if desired. I'm usually at the beach. The dedicated Dog beach is fun for dog owners & kids too.

All great info. Thanks! I tried looking at Seal Beach rentals, but it seems that there are none in my budget at the moment. If anyone knows of any great websites for house rentals, I'd like to know.

[pwrof3]

Originally Posted by BlueRacer

About the homeless population. I've been up & down the coastal beach communities in Orange county many times. Some in San Diego county too. They all have an element of homeless people, the mild climate must be a natural migration for them or something. I see homeless people hanging near the Newport Beach pier all the time also, around that main plaza. It does seem higher in Huntington Beach but they generally don't bother anyone unless they're drunk. Then they tend to start yelling at each other over something silly with plenty of foul language. It just becomes an annoyance.

Well, right now I live near San Francisco, which is the homeless capitol of America. I've seen it all!
As for the homeless near Main St and downtown, the latest I am out with my daughter is 9pm or very rarely around 10pm. If I knew we were going to be out late I'd probably steer clear of Main anyways. I'm not a drinker or a college kid, and my daughter is only 5, so there's nothing for her there either.
I've learned that if you just ignore the crazy homeless guy he'll go off on someone else who makes eye contact.

[mkfour]

I live in HB and have been here for almost 10 years. I've lived in different parts of California and my opinion is that HB is overrated.

From the last time I checked, HB schools ranked near Santa Ana (not very good).

HB has been getting more and more crowded. And in the next five years or so, it's going to get a whole lot worse (Beach-Edinger corridor plan plus some other projects).

The average for a detached SFR might be $800k+. So you'd think this would be an affluent area, but most homeowners I know here bought at $200K-$300k and couldn't afford the current value.

[Ponypenny]

Originally Posted by mkfour

I live in HB and have been here for almost 10 years. I've lived in different parts of California and my opinion is that HB is overrated.

From the last time I checked, HB schools ranked near Santa Ana (not very good).

HB has been getting more and more crowded. And in the next five years or so, it's going to get a whole lot worse (Beach-Edinger corridor plan plus some other projects).

The average for a detached SFR might be $800k+. So you'd think this would be an affluent area, but most homeowners I know here bought at $200K-$300k and couldn't afford the current value.

Oh please. HB has five school districts that serve it and most are ranked very high. HB City School District and Fountain Valley School District have great schools. Great Schools.com will tell you all you need to know. As for housing, homeowners who bought in the 200k-300k range stayed after their kids grew up and can have a huge next egg and really enjoy life. If you live south of Warner you are no where near the Beach-Edinger area.

You sound like someone who can't afford to live in HB and are jealous of those who can.

[Yippeekayay]

Intrigued by HB. I am work at home freelancer in midsouth. If I make a move with $60K cash as downpayment, 2 kids no wife, I wonder if I'll make it. I and my kids love the beaches and used to be Californinan until I decided to save on rent/mortgage by moving out and into midsouth. I can rent out current townhouse of which the going rate in our subdivision here is $1500/mo, Of that, $600 goes out to mortgage while $900 goes to me whcih I can use for monthly budget outside of mortgage there.

My freelance gig averages from lowest of $100K to highest of $140K per year, the past 2 years. So to be conservative $100K a year.

[pacific2]

Originally Posted by Yippeekayay

Intrigued by HB. I am work at home freelancer in midsouth. If I make a move with $60K cash as downpayment, 2 kids no wife, I wonder if I'll make it. I and my kids love the beaches and used to be Californinan until I decided to save on rent/mortgage by moving out and into midsouth. I can rent out current townhouse of which the going rate in our subdivision here is $1500/mo, Of that, $600 goes out to mortgage while $900 goes to me whcih I can use for monthly budget outside of mortgage there.

My freelance gig averages from lowest of $100K to highest of $140K per year, the past 2 years. So to be conservative $100K a year.

You might want to try Redfin.com. Once you find a place that you like, plug your numbers into the mortgage calculator to see if you would be able to handle it.

A word of caution, the HOA fees listed could be seriously out of date and much too low.

https://www.redfin.com/city/9164/CA/...min-price=300k

[Finper]

Originally Posted by Yippeekayay

Intrigued by HB. I am work at home freelancer in midsouth. If I make a move with $60K cash as downpayment, 2 kids no wife, I wonder if I'll make it. I and my kids love the beaches and used to be Californinan until I decided to save on rent/mortgage by moving out and into midsouth. I can rent out current townhouse of which the going rate in our subdivision here is $1500/mo, Of that, $600 goes out to mortgage while $900 goes to me whcih I can use for monthly budget outside of mortgage there.

My freelance gig averages from lowest of $100K to highest of $140K per year, the past 2 years. So to be conservative $100K a year.

If you don’t have to pay day care you should be ok. You would have to rent though or buy a small condo.

[kauaidooley]

I lived in huntington harbor for about 12 years, and at the same time Erica Lived in Seal Beach ( Old Town).

We liked it. Spent lots of time in Seal, and easy to make friends where ever we lived and played.

We loved kauai island, and after 12 yrs of visits, we gave it all away and moved from the mainland to Kauai.
After nearly 10 years , we loved kauai, but had to leave. Now coming on five years in Dana Point.

However, we get back to Seal Beach when ever I have to go up to the VA in long beach . We treat ourselves to lunch and drinks and roaming around main st.

We liked it seal beach and huntington harbor. No problems and fun , easy living.