Mission Viejo, Irvine, Yorba Linda, or Chino hills for family with 3 kids?

[cabolissa]

Mission Viejo without a question... Less crime/drugs/better schools. Lots of parks and sports. Very peaceful and quiet. The problem about the other choices is that they're really sprawley and lots of through traffic. For the most part, you don't go to Mission Viejo unless you live there or RSM/Ladera. That makes for a more quiet community.

[superkoz]

We have four children and have been very happy with Foothill Ranch, which is part of Lake Forest. The elementary school is excellent, there are tons of kids (seems like every house has them), it is totally safe, and it has an excellent shopping area nearby. A couple drawbacks that we've experienced are that the Jr. High (RSM) is quite a distance away requiring us to pay $400 a year for the busing, and being inland is a little hotter and takes 30 to 40 minutes to get to the beach. If you have a chance you should at least check it out as many people with kids are pretty happy living here.

We are also strongly considering Aliso Viejo/Laguna Hills as an alternative to Foothill Ranch. It's 10 or 20 minutes from the beach and the proximity to schools appears to be better. Our church is also located over there as well so that's an important factor for us. Everyone has different values and desires, but as a family with four kids ages 4 to 12, that's our experience and opinion.