Trapped in OC, need to escape (Anaheim, Fullerton: sale, rent, condos)

[scorpionleather]

I've been living in OC (Fullerton) since 1975 and up until the early 1990s we still had some orange groves and it was nice, but ever since then the TRAFFIC is miserable.

People talk about all the things to do in OC and LA, but what use is it when you can't even go anywhere on a Saturday afternoon because you're stuck staring at someone's license plate and sucking in the exhaust of a big rig going 2mph?

Any other long-time OC residents feel the same way or is it just me? I mean, I am dying. I'm trapped in the house unless I pick some unusual time to "go out."

I can understand traffic jams at 8am and 5pm. But getting stuck on every freeway on a Saturday afternoon? It's time to escape to another state.

[BreaOC]

Aren't you considering a move to Colorado? I'm sorry you don't like the area you live in and wish you well with your move, but since this is a relocation forum and not a chat room, are there relocation questions you have?

[scorpionleather]

BreaOC, I wasn't aware of restrictions on what we could talk about. I've been here since 1975 so maybe there are some people who are interested to hear from a long-time resident.

p.s. I live right near Brea; in fact I go to Downtown Brea anytime I want to catch a movie.

Life here has to be planned around traffic schedules. It wasn't always like that. Reality is that OC has turned into an urban mega-city. I miss the orange groves.

[BreaOC]

My thing is always just that this is a relocation forum, and if someone was already getting ready to move here, would this thread assist them with that move? All it would do is reiterate the fact that we have traffic here, and I doubt that people moving here in 2008 would be oblivious to the fact that we have traffic. There are Terms of Service that you agreed to when you signed up for the forum that do explain what is the proper use of the site. There are areas of the site that you can go to make idle chat. Brea is a great community, as is Fullerton north of Commonwealth IMO, even though I'm an Anaheim Hills resident now

[scorpionleather]

Yes of course it would help someone with a move. I mean if you're coming from Kansas and you think "The OC" is all about the luxury life, you might miss the fact that traffic plays a big role in daily decisions here. No matter how rich you are, you will still be stuck in traffic. The late legendary Hal Fishman of KTLA Channel 5 news used to complain about his drive to work during his commentaries. I loved to hear his viewpoints about it. BreaOC I think you need to have an open mind about hearing others opinions too.

[BreaOC]

My point is that there are other threads already existing that are dealing with the traffic situation in OC. Believe me I know there is traffic here, and I'm hardly a fan of it. The correct thing to do is do a search of the OC forum under "traffic" and post a comment there, instead of adding another thread about it. I'm not trying to be rude and nothing anybody can do can hide the fact that we have traffic here, I'm simply informing a new member.
http://www.city-data.com/forum/orang...ge-county.html
http://www.city-data.com/forum/orang...-make-out.html

[kturbe]

Stuck in O.C. don't get it there are plenty of places to live in the county that are not traffic restricted. I live in South County and rarely even need to get on the fwy, I go to the beach, dinner, movies, meet up with friends. Also with the toll roads, etc their is always an opening.

Yes, it can be frustrating when you are stuck on the fwy, but even in other major cities you will have the some problems.

[scorpionleather]

It's North OC that is primarily affected. When we first moved out here we were almost in a rural area, not much except oil fields. The homes here were horse properties, many of them with an acre of more of land. It felt like wild west country with rolling hills in the background.

Now, traffic backs up on our little street and all the surrounding freeways. LA has swallowed up North OC.

Don't let this happen to South OC. My message to everyone is that even though South OC is still nice, don't think that it can't happen in your neighborhood too. Let's keep our elected officials accountable and prevent the building of ultra dense condos and cookie cutter homes that pack in more people than can be supported by the local transportation infrastructure. OC is not NYC so we should not be building super dense. The only reason for that is developer profits. The housing crash will help reverse this trend a little bit, at least for a few years, but after that South OC will be in danger again of being affected by residential overbuilding and traffic nightmares just like North OC.

[EscapeCalifornia]

Well in a futile attempt to steer this toward something productive.....the OP might want to check out Denver or Colorado Springs if they don't mind a little weather. (Its not as bad as many would think without researching it.) I'm checking out Denver because I need a bigger metro area but COS is nice too. Both are way less crowded than OC even at their busiest. I've lived in OC all my life and seen it get more crowded too. And even with the housing crash, I don't think it'll ever be affordable again. Not when a fire sale price on a 3 bedroom house in a nice neighborhood is still north of $500k.

[Donn2390]

I moved to Fullerton in 1961. I lived there, and loved every minute of it, until I retired in 2005. At that time, I relocated to Apple Valley for several reasons. We wanted a little slower pace, a little less traffic, and much cheaper housing prices. We wanted to be close enough to be able to return in an hour or so, to visit our many remaining friends.
We purchased our home here in 2004, and moved in full time in January, 2006. We don't regret our decision one bit. We accomplished all of our goals. We purchased a bigger newer home for half what our OC home cost. The traffic is minimal, life moves slower, and we have made the hour trip to OC on many occasions.
We own a home in Oregon, which we had planned to retire in, but wife can't take 360 days a year of rain, and it's too far to visit friends in OC, so we rent that home and moved here.
Come on out and visit, you'll like it here...!