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Old 02-27-2010, 05:59 PM
 
2 posts, read 3,506 times
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I'm moving to Orange County from SF for work soon, and need some advice!

What OC city/town/neighborhood ranks best in your book for both affordability + safety? What streets, towns or neighborhoods should I avoid as a single female?? I'm familiar w/some areas, such as Newport Beach and Tustin, but I'd like to venture outside those areas in favor of cheaper rent...

My main concern w/finding housing there is affordability & safety, although I do realize I may have to sacrifice one for the other...

Since I telecommute from home for work 4 days a week and will only need to go into the office near Newport Beach once a week for meetings, I'm not concerned w/commuting, traffic congestion, or other neighborhood issues such as schools, income levels, diversity, proximity to shopping, etc... affordable and safe is my only requirement.

Also, if anyone has had experience living outside OC and commuting in for work, I'd love to hear about that - it's something I'd be willing to consider, I just don't know what areas to start looking in.
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Old 02-27-2010, 06:17 PM
 
916 posts, read 3,701,263 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by julzz33 View Post
I'm moving to Orange County from SF for work soon, and need some advice!

What OC city/town/neighborhood ranks best in your book for both affordability + safety? What streets, towns or neighborhoods should I avoid as a single female?? I'm familiar w/some areas, such as Newport Beach and Tustin, but I'd like to venture outside those areas in favor of cheaper rent...

My main concern w/finding housing there is affordability & safety, although I do realize I may have to sacrifice one for the other...

Since I telecommute from home for work 4 days a week and will only need to go into the office near Newport Beach once a week for meetings, I'm not concerned w/commuting, traffic congestion, or other neighborhood issues such as schools, income levels, diversity, proximity to shopping, etc... affordable and safe is my only requirement.

Also, if anyone has had experience living outside OC and commuting in for work, I'd love to hear about that - it's something I'd be willing to consider, I just don't know what areas to start looking in.
Many people commute in to OC and out of OC for work. There's nothing magical about the county line. There are plenty of options, in fact too many without some more specifics on what you're looking for. You said safe and affordable. What is affordable to you? And what type of place are you looking for? Suburban? Urban? Beachtown? Given you don't have to commute every day you're going to have a lot of options.
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Old 02-27-2010, 06:32 PM
 
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Thanks! Sorry, I realize I posted a bit too vague of a message Should have included a bit more info...
affordable rent, for me, would be around $1200 -ish (it's a stretchable figure) monthly for a studio or 1BR... my income is around 60k/year (and increasing!), but I'm trying to save as much as possible for a move to Europe within the next few years, so lowest possible is best!
Prefer suburban or beach town..
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Old 02-27-2010, 07:17 PM
 
2,654 posts, read 5,467,791 times
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In general, the further you get fro the beach the lower your housing costs will be. There are some Inland communities like Yorba Linda and Anaheim hills in north county and Foothill Ranch and Rancho Santa Margarita in south county that have lower costs then the usual singles hotspots like Costa Mesa, Hunt. Beach and Newport/Irvine. The South county places I mentioned are all very safe, but be forewarned would be pretty dull for a single. They are all soccer mom central locations - particularly the South co. locations - that are family centered,not a lot of nightlife, bars, etc. for singles. Other older north county areas like Orange, Fullerton have good and bad areas (mostly good) and are mostly pretty safe, but would offer more for a single. You'd just need to be more granular in your research before choosing a place.

If you are willing to put up with a much longer drive the one day a week you are going to newport, you could look at Corona/Riverside/Inland Empire. Housing costs are much lower, but it is cheaper for a reason.

Areas to avoid: Santa Ana, Anaheim,Garden Grove, much of Fountain Valley.

One last option, If you are single, footloose and fancy free, many homes in Newport, Particularly on Balboa Island and in Corona Del Mar, have smaller garage apartments or mother in law type quarters that they rent out. Most listings are on Craigs list or thru realtors, but if you really want to be by the beach and don't feel you "need" a full apartment w/ all the amenities, its kind of a unique way to experience Newport Beach.
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Old 02-27-2010, 07:30 PM
 
11,715 posts, read 40,461,182 times
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Originally Posted by OC Investor2 View Post
Areas to avoid: Santa Ana, Anaheim,Garden Grove, much of Fountain Valley.
What could possibly cause you to put Fountain Valley in that club?
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Old 02-27-2010, 08:32 PM
 
2,654 posts, read 5,467,791 times
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Originally Posted by EscapeCalifornia View Post
What could possibly cause you to put Fountain Valley in that club?
I've heard alot of bad things about the area around mile square park
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Old 02-27-2010, 08:52 PM
 
11,715 posts, read 40,461,182 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by OC Investor2 View Post
I've heard alot of bad things about the area around mile square park
Mile Square Park is in the northeast part of the city. Fountain Valley only extends a few hundred feet north of Edinger, the park's northern boundary. Immediately east of the park (east of Euclid) is fine until you get east of Newhope where it gets less desirable. The extreme northeast corner of the city (like Harbor and Lilac) is basically Santa Ana and I wouldn't want to live there. The rest of the city is fine.

Fountain Valley's median home price is still $565k, putting it well above the county's median of $415k. Compare that to $419k for Westminster and approx $343k for Garden Grove and $275k for Santa Ana. The schools in Fountain Valley all score 8+ out of 10 as long as you're in Fountain Valley School District. The northeastern edge of FV, east of Euclid, is in Garden Grove schools and those score worse. The old saying among locals about Los Amigos High School is that its located in Fountain Valley, its run by Garden Grove, and it pulls from Santa Ana.
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Old 02-27-2010, 10:34 PM
 
Location: RSM
5,113 posts, read 19,770,204 times
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Saw a rental sign today for a studio in Los Alamitos for 950$/mo. That's a damn good price for a very nice, safe area, and the commute to Newport isn't bad at all. The studios and 1beds around Cypress College are also safe and in that range to a degree
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Old 05-13-2010, 04:39 PM
 
11 posts, read 45,162 times
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You also might want to consider that if you're coming from SF (meg whitman called it that evil sanctuary city). you should also take into consideration whether you want a community closer to what SF is like or the exact opposite. Like, just in general Orange County is very conservative, but within the OC places like Yorba Linda are even more conservative...also there's racial diversity. Do you want to be in a city with 80% white, or more like 60% etc.... also some cities have more asians, or more hispanics...etc...
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Old 05-14-2010, 12:27 AM
 
Location: laguna beach
283 posts, read 626,367 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by NaplesRes View Post
Many people commute in to OC and out of OC for work. There's nothing magical about the county line. There are plenty of options, in fact too many without some more specifics on what you're looking for. You said safe and affordable. What is affordable to you? And what type of place are you looking for? Suburban? Urban? Beachtown? Given you don't have to commute every day you're going to have a lot of options.
There must be something special about the county line since there is a huge premium associated with living in Orange County compared to other Southern California Counties.

Los Angeles 5,971 6,747 13.0% $300,000 $329,000
Orange 2,433 2,652 9.0% $385,000 $432,000
Riverside 4,409 4,156 -5.7% $187,000 $198,000
San Bernardino 2,897 2,955 2.0% $150,000 $152,000
San Diego 3,020 3,227 6.9% $285,000 $330,000
Ventura 776 739 -4.8% $326,000 $375,000
SoCal 19,506 20,476 5.0% $250,000 $285,000

Great theory but the market proves your theory to be wrong.
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