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Old 03-29-2007, 02:06 PM
 
77 posts, read 631,124 times
Reputation: 67

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Kimbree,

While I agree with you and everyone else who said that it's way too expensive here in OC to afford a good lifestyle ,I beg to differ about the D-land and Vegas issue;no matter where I live I still want to take my kid one day to D-land/Sea world/Lego land/other famous theme parks ,so it is way cheaper to buy the annual pass(or the $60/person 2days pass) while living here than having to pay for airline tickets and hotel plus the the ticket(without the discount offered to those who live in sCalifornia).I've just bought the annual pass for California Science Center in LA ($50 for a family up to 6 persons/2 cars),and it allows me entry to many other centers like discovery in Santa Ana ,or the Children museum in Alhambra ..as well as to many others in north California and some other state .This is the good thing about here ,if u cannot afford the expensive place there is always somewhere else to go that fits in ur budget (assuming that u either can afford the current RE market ,or that you have bought ur house when prices were not that high(my case)).Beaches are free ...I walk to the beaches here ,while when I used to live in Az ..we had to spend $$$$ on hotels and restaurants just to come and spend few days on the beach.
Vegas is within driving distance (be it 3hrs,or 6hrs)I still can go there without paying airline tickets .The public parks are well maintained and each has a good playing area ,this is free .The cost of the restaurants/bars/nightlife/bowling/kid's chain restaurants like chuckee cheese is the same everywhere .
Roads ..well I dont know ,I have been to Seattle,spent 2 months in Portland ,went to Chicago,NYC,Nashville(Tn),Tx,lived 2yrs in Az ,and during the rush hour it was way worse than here in OC (I am talking mainly south OC as I live in Laguna beach and work in Dana Point ).Inside the cities the streets are almost empty most of the day !! When my sis visits from Bay area (SF) ,she always says this city is dead referring to how the streets are empty.I always plan my trips to AL ,SD trying to avoid the rush hour.

My kid is in Kindergarten now and there are only 18 kids in her class ,so I think it all boils down to where does one live in OC ,and when did he/she buy his/er house ,and how much h/she makes ..

I know many middle class ppl living here comfortably bcoz they had bought their houses in 70s,80s,90s and didnt pull money out of the equity to do some riduclous renovating ,or to buy other houses here for investment .

We sold our house in LB recently and we are moving in the spring break to Laguna Niguel ,we are paying the house cash bcoz we had a lot of equity from the house in LB ,not that bcoz we are rich .
Where else could I have bought a house with $400k and after 5yrs I sell it and with the equity I can buy another bigger/newer/and still within 3 miles from the ocean home and pay it cash ?!!!

I have read many ppl here who make $250k/year and say we cannot afford it in OC ,I dont know what they do with the money but if someone with $250k salary cannot make it here ,then no one can make .

Other places are not that much less expensive now ,I lived in Tucson,Az ..where it is hot like an oven for 6 months and there is nothing to do .Median homes now in the only good parts of the city (N,NE,parts of the NW)are selling in the $400-$500k.Same story is in the good areas of Seattle,Portalnd .I have checked houses in Nashville ,Tn (actually in the suburbs of Nashville) and they were asking $500k for a 3k sq ft home .Yes there is cheaper RE in these cities ,but when I think about an area with good schools/safe/nice house ,I always ended up with lists of houses starting from the high $400k .

About crimes ,you can go here :http://www.moving.com/Find_a_Place/Compare2Cities/ ,or to any other similar sites and compare the crimes rates ,you will find that cities in OC especially in the south and central have the lowest crime rate in the whole nation .

I have only one question ,I hope it wont bother you or you find it inappopriate.I am asking bcoz this really puzzles me sometimes :Why ppl who have been here for more than 10yrs didn't buy when the RE prices were low ?
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Old 03-29-2007, 11:43 PM
 
12 posts, read 185,438 times
Reputation: 31
Default Your answer

I did not buy because I am a single mom of four children whose father skipped and because I never accepted welfare the state did not do anything. So I worked two jobs just to make ends meet, let alone get together enough for a down payment. In the earlier days, the state did not help you unless you were getting government assistance. I did not work except part time during my marriage and it took many years (and two jobs was the norm) to work my way up and acquire marketable skills to support us while working one job. Now that I make decent money ($60k), I cannot afford to save as after taxes (roughly 35% of my pay) and my out of sight rent, I have little if anything left over. I also have a granddaughter I am putting through school.
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Old 03-30-2007, 02:16 PM
 
21 posts, read 202,096 times
Reputation: 28
Default Hello All

Wow, I am amazed this thread is still being posted to! Thanks to everyone for your information, both bad and good.

In response to some of the posts I have seen, I saw a lot of superficial-looking people out there but on the whole, people were very nice and accepting. I am from Texas and when people would ask me where my cowboy hat was I would just play along and told them I left it on my horse that I rode in on.... On the whole, I had a good experience for the few days I was out there... I guess it depends on what part of town you are in...

If I could maintain the same standard of living out there as I can here in Texas I would move out there in a heartbeat. I am originally from Houston (I live in San Antonio now) so the traffic out there did not shock me all that much. Houston traffic sucks but I am sure it is worse in SoCal day in and day out. So it wasn't a huge deal to me. The decision I made was primarily based on the cost of living and seeing what some people say about moving away, I feel I made the right choice. I know a couple of guys who moved out there and in less than a year they moved back. One of them lived very close to Hollywood. California just has this draw. I don't know if its the movie stars, the "unattainable" way of life, or what we see in movies.... Maybe one day, who knows.... For the mean time, I can just vacation out there and enjoy it and not put up with all the negative things people have been posting!
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Old 04-01-2007, 02:22 PM
 
77 posts, read 631,124 times
Reputation: 67
Quote:
Originally Posted by kimbree View Post
I did not buy because I am a single mom of four children whose father skipped and because I never accepted welfare the state did not do anything. So I worked two jobs just to make ends meet, let alone get together enough for a down payment. In the earlier days, the state did not help you unless you were getting government assistance. I did not work except part time during my marriage and it took many years (and two jobs was the norm) to work my way up and acquire marketable skills to support us while working one job. Now that I make decent money ($60k), I cannot afford to save as after taxes (roughly 35% of my pay) and my out of sight rent, I have little if anything left over. I also have a granddaughter I am putting through school.
I'm sorry Kimbree that u had to go through all this ;raising a kid is not easy,it's really a hard work ,so I can imagine how hard to raise 4 kids in OC by urself . I admire you greatly for ur courage and ur commitment in raising your children on your own

I apologize again for asking such a question,I didnt ask to blame anyone ,rather that I was feeling sad that many native Californians had to leave their state bcoz they've been priced out of the RE market.
Good luck in ur new place ,and all the best to you , ur kids and grand kids.
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Old 09-02-2007, 07:47 PM
 
1 posts, read 3,615 times
Reputation: 10
Hi, I just moved to anaheim city dose any one can tell about nice club i meet some nice girles
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Old 09-02-2007, 07:57 PM
 
5 posts, read 14,756 times
Reputation: 14
Quote:
Originally Posted by newportbeachsmostwanted View Post
I agree with all of your points. Just want to point out one thing. Did you expect to find people in O.C. to be unconcerned with their image? I mean, it's kinda a given. Good looking environments generally attract good looking people.
LOL, one of the things I noticed recently in OC is that NO ONE will admit to being overly concerned about their image or materialistic. Perhaps that's because they can always point to someone who is more so. They're easy to find.
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Old 09-02-2007, 08:07 PM
 
5 posts, read 14,756 times
Reputation: 14
Default South OC people

I could not agree more. When I first moved here (Mission Viejo) 11 years ago, I made a genuine effort to make friends. People here are are shallow, materialistic, and self-absorbed to the point of making me nauseous. I gave up finally after five years of trying. I have a couple of relatively close friends from work (that also did not grow up here) and that's about it.

The traffic is awful seven days a week as you mentioned, but not as bad as the San Gabriel Valley where I grew up. Anything looks good next to that. There's lots to do in SoCal, but getting to it and finding parking is often prohibitive. That's why we talking about going places using time units instead of distance units

I have two young kids and just hope I can find a job elsewhere before they get much older. I dread what intermediate and high school will be like here for them.

I drive an Accord, so I'm invisible...just the way I like it

Quote:
Originally Posted by isoucie View Post
The weather is great. However, the beach is super crowded on the weekend in the summer due to parking (imagine looking for a space for 30-45 minutes). Don't even try going to Newport Beach on 4th of July. You'll never find a place to park.

The people here have little to no substance. I have two masters degrees and I can't find two people to have intelligent conversation with. Most people seem to just want to go out to party and get drunk on expensive cocktails.

Work in Irvine, live in Lake Forest (cheapest, safe neighborhood you'll find near Irvine).

Laguna Beach has a great artist community. Very open minded, spiritual, and "gay-friendly".

Air quality often feels icky to me unless you are right at the beach. Horizon often looks dirty, smoggy.

Most people who move here mention that everyone is "plastic".... not a lot of substance, not a lot of interesting people. We're starting to see a lot more of the rich, trashy type out here. Kids out here are ridiculously out of control; have no respect, no manners, no class. Heavy, heavy drug use in beach cities.

I moved here as a kid and it was a major cultural shock to me. This isn't the kind of place you bring kids to who aren't extremely savvy, street smart and 10 years beyond their actual age.

If you want to fit in, you'll want to hit up a Mercedes dealership and South Coast Plaza as soon as you get here. God help you if anyone sees you in Levi's.
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Old 09-03-2007, 03:36 PM
 
Location: San Clemente
11 posts, read 30,330 times
Reputation: 17
Quote:
Originally Posted by keyboardkitten View Post
I have been in Irvine since 1975 and can no longer handle the traffic and congestion. My nerves simply can't take it any more. I find myself a prisoner in my house or very immediate neighborhood.

Yet I have friends who get in their SUVs, feel perfectly safe on the freeway and thrive on pollution. It is all a question of tolerance and I for one would like to find a place in CA away from freeways with enough infrastructure for the daily needs in life (hospital, good school system, decent shopping, etc.). I am 64 and do not need to live with 110,000 other people. I do not need redundancy. Our nearest shopping center has TWO tofu restaurants! Less is best.

If any of you out there know of a place in CA with 30 to 40 thousand people away from congestion, please write in!

Keyboardkitten
It's called San Clemente!......We have ~40K people...the downtown is small and we are very isolated. We have the Pacific Ocean to the West, the Cleveland national forest to the East and Camp Pendleton to the south.....not to mention the best weather anywhere in the world!

Is it crowded here?...sometimes but usually not. Is there traffic?....if you have to commute to Irvine as I do....it usually takes me ~35 minutes to make the 23 mile commute to the office and it's exactly 30 minutes from my house to the SNA airport if I take the toll road....and there is almost NEVER traffic on the toll road.

Is it perfect?....of course not....what is, but compared to living in the middle of it San Clemente is way better. The property values are lower than Irvine, the weather is better. When it's 90- 95 at the office it is typically 78-80 by the time I get home 35 minutes later.....oh yeah it's actually warmer in the winter too!

So to answer your question there actually is a place in CA with great weather, a small town feel with access to pretty much anything you would want within 30 minutes to an hour.....YES and it's right under our noses!

Cheers
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Old 09-03-2007, 05:16 PM
 
Location: Mission Viejo, CA
2,498 posts, read 11,399,629 times
Reputation: 1619
Paul,
I second you. San Clemente is the true hidden paradise of Orange County beach communities. We live in Mission Viejo, but we go to Calafia Beach often and it is so much more uncrowded down in SC than in the northern beaches. We went to church at Pacific Coast Church for seven years too, before we went with Compass Bible Church up in Aliso Viejo. When we were shopping for homes in 94' it was between Cypress Shores in San Clemente and the Lake in Mission Viejo. We ultimately choose the lake because we thought it was better for young kids, and we are very happy here. But if I was to live anywhere else in this county, I would definitely live in San Clemente. It seems like everyone forgets about you guys because your right at the border and so far from the majority of the population up north, but you have a great small town feel (you can actually find a parking spot in downtown within five minutes. We want to go in on a shared beach house (those oceanfront mobile homes by Pico and PCH) down there with about five friends.
Cheers to your beautiful city Paul!
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Old 09-03-2007, 08:15 PM
 
17 posts, read 78,830 times
Reputation: 30
"I want to make an educated and wise decision before I decide to move out to "paradise." "

Tell me where you're moving FROM and I'll tell you if you'll like it or not. Tell me your approximate age group and I'll fine-tune my comments even more.
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