Is Living in Orange County really worth the hype? (San Diego: HOA, crime rate)

[Charles]

Originally Posted by mam92

I find this thread very interesting but very negative and one sided

I feel like people on this thread are expecting something unobtaineable. Orange County in general is expensive, but you get what you pay for. You can move to the midwest and get a cheap home in a cheaper community with all the "perks" you are looking for. But in the midwest, even though global warming is happening, in your lifetime it will not stop snowing in the winter. It will never have the california beaches, or the same great geographical landscape. Orange County is expensive for a reason, because it has what people want. I feel like people on this thread expect orange county to be cheap, even though it can be a near perfect place to live. And personally boring is what you make of it. If you are sitting around all day on your butt and not getting out into the community and doing something, then yes i find that orange county will be extremely boring.

The traffic issue that everyone seems to have is truly with the freeways. Oh well you are going to have traffic, there are a lot of people. It really shouldnt make you a prisoner in your home. I have been raised in southern california, and live with the traffic. You just live with what you are given, and honestly the freeway traffic has never truly been a problem. Learn to deal with the commute. I can tell you that freeways are clear sometimes, and they are horrible a lot of times. But if you know this, then leave earlier, once you get used to it, it is just part of life.

The "snobby" and "materialistic" thing that everyone is talking about is not exclusive to orange county. I find it interesting that people have such a problem with this. I would guess that most people if they had the same amount of money as the people who are wearing those clothes or driving those cars would not still live the way they do and complain about materialstic people. And yes there are some that are "snobby" but i have actually found this more in other states amoung the elite and wealthy, I suppose this might be true because there are less people in their tax bracket where they live. But there are good and bad people wherever you live.

Orange County is full of people who make good income, that is why they live in orange county. There are always going to be expensive places where wealthier people flock to. People with money are going to want to live in places where they can buy more expensive housing. So for people who dont make a whole lot of money to complain about how expensive things are, it is just how it goes. You will be able to find exclusive, wealthy, parts of any state, and a lot of major cities. You will find these to be similar to the parts of orange county that you are complaining about. If you are not able to make a salary that would support the life that you want in an area then dont live in that place. If money is your gripe then move to another city, and dont complain. Do not discriminate and complain about people who may make more money and are able to afford it.

People want to live in Orange County
Places where people want to live, cost more money

end of story

oh, and I am born and raised in so cal, my mother is from los angeles, and my dad is a "transplant" from Minnesota. But i have lived in other states, and honestly there are flaws everywhere. Not every place is right for everyone, but it isnt necessary to bag on a place soo much, espcially when a lot of people want to live here. If a lot of people wish to live in orange county, then how horrible can it really be?

sorry if it is kinda long, i cant sleep and it is pretty early in the morning

Pretty much agree with what you wrote, though I think you sugar coated the traffic description. Most people just can't "learn to live with it"; It is a big problem; it is very, very unhealthy. I was lucky, when I lived there my employers permitted me to start at 6AM and leave around 3 or 330 (with a 1.5 hour lunch break to work out). That allowed me to beat most traffic.

But yes, the thing with the "plastic, materialistic" people; I see that everywhere in any wealthy community in the US - even here in Huntsville. I saw it in Buffalo and Columbus Ohio too.

Most people agree housing prices are still too expensive when compared to metrics such as median income. Sure, California housing prices in urban areas will be higher but still not this high. We bought our home in Thousand Oaks in 1997 for $150/sqft in the highly desirable Lang Ranch community. That was a little more representative of "normal" demand. Housing wasn't 1/2 as in demand then as it is now; so housing prices probably have further to fall.

[yo vanilla]

Originally Posted by mam92

I find this thread very interesting but very negative and one sided

I feel like people on this thread are expecting something unobtaineable. Orange County in general is expensive, but you get what you pay for. You can move to the midwest and get a cheap home in a cheaper community with all the "perks" you are looking for. But in the midwest, even though global warming is happening, in your lifetime it will not stop snowing in the winter. It will never have the california beaches, or the same great geographical landscape. Orange County is expensive for a reason, because it has what people want. I feel like people on this thread expect orange county to be cheap, even though it can be a near perfect place to live. And personally boring is what you make of it. If you are sitting around all day on your butt and not getting out into the community and doing something, then yes i find that orange county will be extremely boring.

Here in Appleton, WI we had a record snowfall last year, and we're on track to whack that one off the books this year. Global warming my rear (let's not change the subject though!)

You can look in the WI forum and you'll also see people post "oh there's nothing to do here, people are this and that, life sucks". Usually the negative Nancy's are the ones who speak up and that makes it hard for an outside to make a sound judgement.

I've been thinking about moving out there too, for the better part of a decade. It may not be feasable but it's a dream. I know it's not the perfect picture tv paints it at. And I'm not sure exactly where I would go (but the place I want to work is in Santa Monica). It's warm and people still like cars out there. Maybe not the wacky gov't bodies but real people do

My question now, since this thread is a few years old now, how have things changed since then i.e. the job and housing markets? For instance I just read an article in GQ about "Forclosude Alley" out in the inland empire, 500 foreclosures a week in the last part of '08 I think it said? And that values, at least in those parts, have dropped by 50% in the last year.

[BRinSM]

housing and job markets are miserable here right now, not a good time to move anywhere in CA unless you have a job lined up and you plan on renting for a while until housing stabilizes.

[Mach50]

Originally Posted by BRinSM

housing and job markets are miserable here right now, not a good time to move anywhere in CA unless you have a job lined up and you plan on renting for a while until housing stabilizes.

Couldn't agree more, my wife is a Wall St CPA and is having a hard time finding a job in the LA/OC area. The only thing she even has hits on is up and Silicon Valley and we just moved from there a year ago lol...oh man...

[John23]

Originally Posted by mam92

I find this thread very interesting but very negative and one sided

I feel like people on this thread are expecting something unobtaineable. Orange County in general is expensive, but you get what you pay for. You can move to the midwest and get a cheap home in a cheaper community with all the "perks" you are looking for. But in the midwest, even though global warming is happening, in your lifetime it will not stop snowing in the winter. It will never have the california beaches, or the same great geographical landscape. Orange County is expensive for a reason, because it has what people want. I feel like people on this thread expect orange county to be cheap, even though it can be a near perfect place to live. And personally boring is what you make of it. If you are sitting around all day on your butt and not getting out into the community and doing something, then yes i find that orange county will be extremely boring.

The traffic issue that everyone seems to have is truly with the freeways. Oh well you are going to have traffic, there are a lot of people. It really shouldnt make you a prisoner in your home. I have been raised in southern california, and live with the traffic. You just live with what you are given, and honestly the freeway traffic has never truly been a problem. Learn to deal with the commute. I can tell you that freeways are clear sometimes, and they are horrible a lot of times. But if you know this, then leave earlier, once you get used to it, it is just part of life.

The "snobby" and "materialistic" thing that everyone is talking about is not exclusive to orange county. I find it interesting that people have such a problem with this. I would guess that most people if they had the same amount of money as the people who are wearing those clothes or driving those cars would not still live the way they do and complain about materialstic people. And yes there are some that are "snobby" but i have actually found this more in other states amoung the elite and wealthy, I suppose this might be true because there are less people in their tax bracket where they live. But there are good and bad people wherever you live.

Orange County is full of people who make good income, that is why they live in orange county. There are always going to be expensive places where wealthier people flock to. People with money are going to want to live in places where they can buy more expensive housing. So for people who dont make a whole lot of money to complain about how expensive things are, it is just how it goes. You will be able to find exclusive, wealthy, parts of any state, and a lot of major cities. You will find these to be similar to the parts of orange county that you are complaining about. If you are not able to make a salary that would support the life that you want in an area then dont live in that place. If money is your gripe then move to another city, and dont complain. Do not discriminate and complain about people who may make more money and are able to afford it.

People want to live in Orange County
Places where people want to live, cost more money

end of story

oh, and I am born and raised in so cal, my mother is from los angeles, and my dad is a "transplant" from Minnesota. But i have lived in other states, and honestly there are flaws everywhere. Not every place is right for everyone, but it isnt necessary to bag on a place soo much, espcially when a lot of people want to live here. If a lot of people wish to live in orange county, then how horrible can it really be?

sorry if it is kinda long, i cant sleep and it is pretty early in the morning

Excellent post. I think it's a really weird combination of factors that made oc/so cal so terrible for some in the last 5-10 years.

-A once in a lifetime housing boom that pushed affordability out. If you graphed housing in the last 40 years in so cal, it was pretty much in line with income (save for the 1990 bubble). Then you had the mother of all real estate bubbles.

-Infrastructure didn't keep up with the increase in traffic, and more people.

-And other issues like schools.

Absolutely agree, you'll be able to find wealthy, exclusive parts in any city.

And a lot of it is what you make of it. But it's a free country, you can move where ever you want.

[mading6]

It's a lot cheaper than the nice areas of Los Angeles, for sure.

[tebbitia]

our real estate oc tour will start at 8 am with gary hsu, yvonne dai, truc lee, tran pham, gloria jose, gladys gonzales, victor olinda and maureen bazan. we will start in irvine ca.

[k374]

Southern California is definitely one of the nicest places to live in the USA in my opinion. However the appeal starts to fade at a certain cost of living price point. While it is true that This area commands a premium, housing has become so astronomically expensive that it has drastically reduced theoverall quality of life compared to other areas of the country.

[akpc_714]

i grew up in the OC and i love it so i would recommend it. if you have kids it's probably one of the best places to be in all of california.

[NaplesRes]

Originally Posted by akpc_714

i grew up in the OC and i love it so i would recommend it. if you have kids it's probably one of the best places to be in all of california.

I think the pressure to show you have money and emphasis on material items makes it not a great place to raise a family. I think a place where middle class people are comfortable being middle class or a wealthy place without a lot of "new rich" is a better option.