change of scenery (Orange, Mission Viejo, Newport Beach: hoa, work, hospital)

[Argie628]

I am a 19 yrs.old male and I just became a phlebotomist, I currently live in Ohio and want to move to orange county next year. which would be the best places for me to move with low crime rates, affordable, and close to a city.

[EscapeCalifornia]

How much do you expect to earn? How much of that do you want to spend on rent? Where will you be working?

[ShanetheMortgageMan]

All of Orange County is pretty much a city, unless you go deep into the canyons you won't find yourself less than a minute or two from a strip mall, grocery store, etc. Being a phlebotomist I imagine you want to work relatively close to a hospital. The biggest ones in Orange County would be HOAG (Newport Beach), CHOC/St Joseph/UCI Medical Center (Orange) and Saddleback & Mission Viejo (Laguna Woods & Mission Viejo respectively). Newport Beach is the most expensive, Laguna Woods & Mission Viejo are in the middle, and Orange is the least expensive. Laguna Woods & Mission Viejo would have the lowest crime rates, and are both very nice city's to live in... Newport Beach doesn't have much crime but it'd be a tad higher than Laguna Woods & Mission Viejo IMO. Orange isn't the ghetto by any means but it would definitely have more crime than LW, MV or NB due to Orange being more urban/denser population. LW & MV are in South Orange County though, which makes them a little further away from a lot of "attractions" or "things to do" than NB or Orange. Being 19, and a guy, I'd choose Orange out of those 3 areas.