Raising kids in south Orange County (San Diego, Irvine: 2009, houses, neighborhoods)

[socal4now]

I live in Tustin and my only warning about raising kids here would be about the schools themselves. If your child struggles with his/her gpa they become a target. If they have any disciplinary troubles and a struggling GPA they will be expelled to a continuation school.
Any child that is a drop out risk or brings down the GPA is STRONGLY encouraged to leave to prevent bringing down the schools rating.

My son ..now 22 ... was an honor student at Canyon in anaheim hills . In his sophmore year i found drugs in his room. I pulled him from school and sent him to work in my company. Not very legal i know but as soon as i signed the papers to transfer him from Canyon to a continuation school all the calls stopped. He was discharged from one and not enrolled in the other.

BTW he had his GED shortly after turning 18 and has far more money in savings then i do now and hasnt done drugs, since except for one slip up that he confessed to me.
His major frustration in HS was my parents have more money then yours! You are white trash cause your dads in construction.

All yah need to know is one little knothead that went to his school drove a 120k car with license plate of "livinxs" .... not bad idea for a 16 year old!

[Raelyn28]

I moved away from Orange County in 1999 when my oldest son was five. I did not want to raise my two boys there and I am sooo glad that I moved. I don't know what some of these people are talking about here. There are so many gangs in Orange County it is scarey. I lived in the following cities in the 20-years that I was there. Fullerton, Garden Grove, Buena Park, Tustin, Yorba Linda, La Habra and Fountain Valley. And oh yes.. Costa mesa. Everywhere I lived there were gangs. I lived in an Apartment complex that was very nice (in a so-called nice neighborhood) and there was a drive-by gang shooting down the street and someone died that night. My husband ran over to try and help and the person was already dead in the street. And the schools... I have a friend that lives down there. Her daughter is a school teacher. She has told her mom to home school her son because of the problems in the schools. Personally unless you don't have a choice don't go back there. It isn't worth it and where are you going to afford to live??? Have you checked the housing lately? I was never able to buy a home there and moved to another state bought a 3600 sq ft house in a beautiful area for dirt cheap. Run, run to the hills... far, far away.....

Hope my honesty helps... Sorry if I offended anyone but the Truth needs to be heard. I still know lots of people there and they all hate it.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by Raelyn28

There are so many gangs in Orange County it is scarey. I lived in the following cities in the 20-years that I was there. Fullerton, Garden Grove, Buena Park, Tustin, Yorba Linda, La Habra and Fountain Valley. And oh yes.. Costa mesa.

Are these considered South Orange County?

[Coldjensens]

If you want the truth, check a neutral source.

Although there are problems in Orange County (mentiuoned above) Gang problems is not one of them. Sure there are gangs in Orange County. There are Gangs virtually everywhere. IN any City with a poulation over 30,000, you will find some form of Gang presence. Irvine - safest City in the USA - has gangs. Mission Veijo - also sometimes safest city - has gangs. Every City everywhere has gangs.

The gang presence does not mean that it is such aproblekm that you need to avoid the area. It does mean that you need to use common sense about where in any given city you choose tolive, what types of things you do, how you raise your children. You may have to work a lot harder to keep your kids from falling into the traps of materism, shallowness, promiscuity, and/or recreational drug use, but Orange County is not a horrible place to raise kids, it is just more difficult to raise them the way most people want them raised. There are some schools where the gang presence is so large that it is a huge concern, but those are only in certain specific schools, all of which are in Central and north OC.

[masalamomma]

I lived in West Plano - suburb of Dallas, and people said the same thing. I lived in Sugarland - suburb of Houston, and people said the same thing. Fake, materialistic, blah blah blah.... And now South Orange County too.

I think it is silly..... and no place is perfect. If this is the worst problem I have to contend with when it comes to raising my children, well so be it. For the lifestyle, its worth it.

[CAdudeinNYC]

I grew up in SC during 70s and 80s. Materialism did not seem to be an issue with us. We all drove old VWs. I have visited south OC several times in the last 5 years and have noticed a huge change in the culture. Not as laid back, materialistic, shallow, etc, just as the others have said. Drug use was prevalent when I was growing up there and I suspect its even worse now.

I would not want to raise my kid there.

[atguru]

Materialism is clearly a issue in Mission Viejo, Aliso Viejo, Laguna Niguel... Acceptance of others "outside" of the Jones is a big problem as well. In the 4 years I'm been here I've never seen any gang activity of any kind... I am surprised by the "light" police presence however...The Schools are general are very good, Capo school district office does have some issues. My Kids enjoy the area, but it is very expensive. It is my hope that now the real estate "bubble" has popped, this will "force" reality into our area!

[mommyntheoc]

It really depends on what you want for your children (priorities).

Personally, we are moving out of OC because we want to raise our children elsewhere...they are 1 & 3 years old and we're getting out of here before they pick up any more selfish and desperate attitudes than they already have from here. Likewise, I was raised here, and when I first moved out of the state, I became a much happier person than I had ever been growing up here.

If keeping it real, promoting equality and peace, manners, and love is more of your priority, I wouldn't accept all of the money in the world to raise my children here (and not just because greed is meaningless).

If safety from guns, violence, and liberal politics is your thing, you'd love it here. You can walk anywhere, day or night, with no worries. But superficiality, buying happiness (which never works), and general self-righteousness pervert this area. So as a parent, you really would need to decide.

Some parts don't have such uppity children, I can only speak for the areas I've lived in...Mission Viejo, Lake Forest, Aliso Viejo, Foothill Ranch, Irvine, Newport Beach. Huntington beach, Tustin, and Fullerton seem more down to earth if you must live here.

Originally Posted by dawnsearlylight

There seems to be quite a bit of talk about raising kids in Orange County, specifically south Orange County, and how the area is or is not good for raising kids. I am curious to hear everyone's opinion about this (good and bad) because my husband and I are thinking of moving back to south OC in a few years. I never thought of south Orange County to be a bad place to raise kids, but continually for the past few weeks I have read MANY posts discussing how this area isn't good for families. Why is this? Care to comment? Thanks!

[mommyntheoc]

haha you happened to move to only the snob cities...LOL...I've been to all and must agree...Sugarland, West Plano, and OC are VERY similar as far as self-centered attitudes!

Originally Posted by masalamomma

I lived in West Plano - suburb of Dallas, and people said the same thing. I lived in Sugarland - suburb of Houston, and people said the same thing. Fake, materialistic, blah blah blah.... And now South Orange County too.

I think it is silly..... and no place is perfect. If this is the worst problem I have to contend with when it comes to raising my children, well so be it. For the lifestyle, its worth it.

[Raelyn28]

Be careful about what you say about OC. I have been told that I am a OC basher because I tell the truth about the area... I don't get it.. This is supposed to be a forum that helps people decide if they want to move somewhere or not. You have my respect AKGirlinCA for being honest with people.