Where do tree hugging, vegetarian liberals belong in OC? (San Diego: house, school district)

[jaynetarzana]

Originally Posted by nmnita

we have many friends who live near and in Mission Viejo, it is considered very conservative.

Nita

Thanks Nita. That is what I thought. I appreciate you verifying it.

[antibes]

Originally Posted by jaynetarzana

DH and I are tree hugging, liberal, ethical vegetarians and parents of two little girls in our mid 30's. We grew up in Detroit, moved to San Diego where we lived for 10 years and then moved to Santa Cruz for 3 years. This past summer we moved to Chicago and we're completely miserable. We miss California something terrible. We are moving back in 3 weeks. DH prefers southern to northern California so to be fair to him I am researching Orange County (I'm not a fan of San Diego or LA due to the air quality issues). But I hear that it is conservative and that would not be a good fit for us. Are there liberal parts of OC? I hear Laguna Beach is liberal, but is it relative? People say that Austin TX is liberal too and I'd say it is for TX, but not compared to actual liberal towns (Berkeley, Santa Cruz for example).

Our priorities in order:
1. Very safe, clean neighborhoods (read: no gang or drug activity)
2. Clean air
3. Great public schools
4. Like minded people
5. Close proximity to health food stores (Trader Joes, Whole Foods type)
6. We'd like to be able to afford to buy a modest home at some point in the $600K-$650K range.

I was hoping to get some direction and input from the locals as well. Thanks in advance!

Hmmm... all of Cal would have a place for tree hugging veggies (!). Its such a California "thing". But your budget is probably better for Dana Point and south (San Juan Capistrano, San Clemente) or a bit inland in Mission Viejo, Irvine. And no, there are really not much crimes or gangs in these regions - only more towards Santa Ana, Westminster and Long Beach.

By the way, what disappointed you with Chicago? Its such a beautiful city. I know the weather is not to be desired half of the year, but otherwise it seems to be a lovely city; a more mellow NYC.

[antibes]

Originally Posted by jaynetarzana

So everyone thinks Laguna would be best? We are up in Santa Cruz right now and we're concerned about the state of the education system in this area. When I look at the California school performance map, it shows Orange county to have consistent highly rated public schools. Perhaps we need to consider Laguna again. The air quality isn't too bad. Also, the weather is significantly better than up here. It is cold and damp right now.

Laguna is like the Santa Cruz of SoCal. Very beautiful. The paradise of California; the riviera. However, the budget you mentioned is too low for Laguna. You have to tripple or quadruple it for something decent...
Laguna is a former gay community, art colony, bohemian pictoresque little California gem - now reformed mainly as a rich and old people's playground. Its become too expensive for the artists and locals who really created Laguna and gave it the personality it has. Many have moved. Laguna is very congested with traffic nowadays (weekends, bumper to bumper), and my friends complained of the distance to shop anything that is not local. You spend a lot of time driving unless you have work, and what you need locally.

Laguna has a few whole food stores, and a Hare Krishna Center centrally that serves really nice, truly pure to the core veg food (they don't even add spices) cheap. There is no Trader Joe's in Laguna but you have Wild Oats which is sort of like Trader Joe's but expensive. There are always all options in driving proximity in other areas you can get anything you want. California is magical that way; it really has everything anyone would need as far as supplies go, no matter where in the country or world you're from.

But I agree 100% with some of the other posts: Santa Cruz fits the description of what you are looking for much more than anything in OC.

[antibes]

Originally Posted by jaynetarzana

I think it is a very normal thing to want to raise your children around people who share your same core values. It isn't anything to get offended over. If teaching our children the values of compassion for all living creatures, caring for others, taking care of the planet, doing what you can to make the world a better place, having priorities in the right places etc... is controlling, then so be it!

Of course! What's wrong wanting to be with people you have something in common with? Doesn't mean one is rejecting the whole world or not accepting other people.
Her comment was rather odd.

[antibes]

Originally Posted by jaynetarzana

If we were in southern California, DH would work out of Pomona.

Hmmm... he'll spend 3 hours in traffic every day.

[antibes]

Originally Posted by Mach50

We met a few people like this in OC, who claim to be "tree hugging vegetarian liberals"....However come to find out, they aren't really being "tree hugging vegetarian liberals" to help others, they are basically just trying to limit how many times they eat junk food and want to shop at the latest store with "Green" or "Environmental" in the title...

Nothing like NorCal can be found down in SoCal...trust me it's 2 completely different souls.

Lol! So true!

[jaynetarzana]

Originally Posted by antibes

By the way, what disappointed you with Chicago? Its such a beautiful city. I know the weather is not to be desired half of the year, but otherwise it seems to be a lovely city; a more mellow NYC.

Weather is a BIG factor for many people and it certainly was for us. Also, after living in California for 14 years, the scenery anywhere else doesn't compare (for us anyway). California is where we belong and that is just the way it is.

[La Socialista Romantica]

I don't know if people have mentioned it, but have you thought about Fullerton? The area around the down town is very nice, and the downtown has a vibrant liberal-arts college like atmosphere.

Old quaint neighborhood, but not sure about pricing range.

There's a Henry's nearby, similar to Trader Joe's but bigger.

There's also a lot of nature parks in the area, such as the Fullerton Loop (Great for bicycling).

I personally don't live there, but I am going to Fullerton City College, which is a top notch community college, the oldest in Southern California, too. The highschools are also good quality and the city itself is known as "Book City" .

I live in near by Anaheim, which is also a nice city. A bit boring ... okay, it's boring. But the neighbors in the Anaheim Island (Where i live) really don't care what you do. That area is basically "do whatever you want" , which has some positive and negative qualities. I also live near the Little Gaza Strip, which means a lot of falafel and halal markets!woo hoo! Arab stores also have cheap and good quality produce.

[dldavis]

If you are a true liberal tree hugger then south orange county is not for you. we are the last of the strong hold south orange co up thru san diego. I am very involved in polictics and no you will not be with like minded. We here are mostly moderate democrats (yuk) but better than far left and the others are severe far right. we currently for aliso viejo, dana point, san juan, san clemente, laguna niguel and mission viejo are putting together a tea party for the 15th so no big disagreement with prior posts. Not true, you want liberals go to Irvine and keep on going until you hit LA. All your kind will be there.

HOW PROUD YOU MUST BE.

DI

Originally Posted by antibes

Hmmm... all of Cal would have a place for tree hugging veggies (!). Its such a California "thing". But your budget is probably better for Dana Point and south (San Juan Capistrano, San Clemente) or a bit inland in Mission Viejo, Irvine. And no, there are really not much crimes or gangs in these regions - only more towards Santa Ana, Westminster and Long Beach.

By the way, what disappointed you with Chicago? Its such a beautiful city. I know the weather is not to be desired half of the year, but otherwise it seems to be a lovely city; a more mellow NYC.

[EnglishTraveller]

From my holiday travels Seal sounds like the kind of place you'd like.... however I'm a 'conservative' but have loads of hippy/vegetarian very liberal friends and we get on like a house on fire so don't count yourself out of areas just on that basis... I've a friend who lives in Pasadena who thinks it's a fantastically liberal place but I've only been for a few days so I can't say with much authority!

Good luck!