Traffic in Orange County

[DixieInOC]

I'm not from OC originally, have only lived here two years. How often do they fix/repair the freeways here? The 405 is getting so crappy, especially toward south OC.

[Amavel]

I currently reside in Huntington Beach and I commute to downtown Santa Ana. Like someone previously mentioned, its about 25-30 minutes on both surface streets and the freeway. But, the commute to GG is likely a straighter shot than to SA, so you may be able to shed a few more minutes.

I would recommend searching in the downtown Huntington area. It's easy to get to the nightlife around Main St. and, of course, it's a short walk to the beach. The downside is that downtown residents close to the beach must buy annual parking permits because of the parking meters everywhere. Personally, I think the weather and the view is worth the cost.

If you're willing to live a bit further from the beach, I would also recommend searching beyond downtown but still in South HB. You can find nice sized homes for rent in the 1600-2000 range, minimal street traffic, and still only a bike ride to the beach (you can save on a parking permit and probably on beach parking in summer).

As for your commute, I would absolutely never use Beach Blvd (or Brookhurst for that matter) all the way through to Garden Grove. You'll have to pass the 405 traffic any way you go, but I personally rely on Newland and Bushard because neither have 405onramps/offramps and have much less traffic.

Good luck with everything... I'm sure you'll be happy living near the coast.

[dusesean1986]

Originally Posted by DixieInOC

I'm not from OC originally, have only lived here two years. How often do they fix/repair the freeways here? The 405 is getting so crappy, especially toward south OC.

Many times they attempt to put an extra car pool on every freeway to minimize traffic or they try to improve a freeway interchange from one to the other. They fixed the 22 freeway, by extending the sides, and it has dramatically improved the flow of traffic. There's no real time table for when certain freeways are fixed. Go to Google, type in CalTrans 12 for Orange County and CalTrans 11 for San Diego, and it will give you information on every freeway project fo the next few years.

[OCCASparky]

Originally Posted by BambiTurner

rivkadr.....thanks for the info. It doesn't sound like the commute is going to be an issue. I hope you won't mind one more question.

I've been searching for apartments on Craigslist and other places, and it looks like I'll be able to find something reasonable, but its so hard to tell when you're not actually there. I need a 2 BR in a SAFE neighborhood (I'm coming from Baltimore and I am just fed up with living near drugs and crime). I'd like to be within, say a 20 minute walk to the beach. I can afford to spend between $2000 and $2400 (with a roommate) and I want to be able to walk to the beach and to restaurants and bars.

Does this sound realistic or am I dreaming?

20 min walk = 1 to 1-1/2 miles. $2K a month? You're dreaming.

I lived in an apartment complex in HB near Magnolia/Warner several years ago (2001). A 2 BR then was $1500. Now the same complex wants upwards of $1900 ($2450 for upstairs unit) for the same thing. That place is 7 miles from the ocean. Closer? Start looking for ONE-bedrooms in the 2K range and it isn't unusual to have to shell out close to 3K a month for a 2-BR in the beach area.

[naners22]

Emilyy - Don't expect to walk to the beach in that price range. Maybe for a dumpy 1 bedroom. However, go a little farther inland and still be in a beach town and drive to the beach (or bike) and you can get a decent place. I rent out a really nice 3 bedroom condo in Laguna Niguel, which is about a 5-10 minute drive to downtown Laguna Beach for $2500.

[Sage of Sagle]

Look at Fountain Valley. If you live in the neighborhoods off Magnolia or Bushard or Brookhurst down around Ellis or Talbert, it's a very decent place. I have family there and spent a lot of time there. From Magnolia/Ellis, you can ride a bicycle to the beach in about 20'ish minutes, or drive there in under 5 minutes. And it's not too far from much of GG.

If you go HB, look at Bushard or Magnolia down off Yorktown, Adams, etc. Only a 5-10 min bike ride to the beach. If you go go west over to the Beach Blvd area, it gets really crowded and crime's a lot higher due to the high density of apartments jammed in together. If you find you can find a place over toward Huntington Harbor (Warner) that's nice, but a longer drive from work.

Once nice thing about the Huntington/FV area is that it can't get more built up, so traffic only changes based on local construction closures. My relatives live off Magnolia/Ellis and commute to Santa Ana (55 fwy @ MacArthur) in under 30 minutes in traffic if I recall correctly.