San Juan Capistrano is Scary and ghetto (Santa Ana, Orange: rent, condos)

[Two4damoney]

Originally Posted by Lennonn14

Hi everyone i recently moved to south OC from the chicago area and i was driving on Camino Capistrano and i took a shortcut so i went through this neighborhood on a street called "La Zanja Street" And that Neighborhood is honestly scary! I Saw Several kids tagging up walls and tagging graffiti on the walls, Kids walking around on the street holding Guns up in the air and acting like they own the place people on corners making drug deals, GRAFFITI And gang taggings EVERYWHERE, Shady people giving me shady looks, For the first time in awhile i was honestly scared driving through there I was AMAZED THAT A PLACE EXISTED LIKE THIS IN SOUTH OC! My God I had NO IDEA A NEIGHBORHOOD EXISTED LIKE THIS IN SOUTH OC. This place is a GHETTO. I don't know if anyone knows what im talking about but as soon as i entered it i was in fear even in a car. And No i wasn't scared about the fact that the neighborhood was about 99 percent hispanic, or so how it looked. The the Pure ghettoness of it. I haven't seen neighborhoods this bad untill i went into the deep inner parts of Chicago. Does anyone know about this neighborhood and why its so dangerous? Was i there at the wrong time or what. This La Zanja Neighborhood is awful. its by far the worst neighborhood iv ever been thru in south OC. What is wrong with this neighborhood and why don't they clean it up because when you enter that neighborhood you go into a another world. its literally Tijuana. I was scared driving through there during the day. God I could never imagine WALKING thru there at night. Can someone enlighten me on this neighborhood and why its so bad. Because i was so glad to get outta that neighborhood. And iv been to Newark, Chicago, and Gary So iv seen my fair share of bad neighborhoods. And if you live in San Juan don't take this wrong most of san juan is semi- safe and alright It's just this one Neighborhood which is something else, I swear its like your in Tijuana......

Lol. I lived in SJC for 32yrs. and never saw anything even remotely like that day or night. And the OC Sheriffs and their gang unit are all over that town. Something like that wouldn't last 5 minutes before the Sheriffs would be swarming all over it.

[Vary]

Daaaang, this is the thread that just doesn't die!

When I'm in the La Zanja Street area, I see....

...people on bikes. Lots of people on bikes.

And women with strollers. Lots of women with strollers. Shocking!

And more shocking...the other day I saw....a MAN with a stroller!

[jerzaygirl30]

Hi! What are your thoughts on Dana Point? Is it a good place to live?

[Vary]

Dana Point is a great place to live. It's really a great little city, with a lot to do. The community is very active, particularly in the arts and historical activities. They have several great rock concert series at the harbor and Doheny beach, and for a more classical taste, the Dana Point Symphony just concluded its second season (I had the good fortune to sing the Beethoven's 9th with them this spring). There's lots of great little locals places, like Hennessy's Tavern and Harbor House. Let me know if you have any specific questions, I'd be happy to try to answer them for you!

[South_OC_housewife]

Originally Posted by jerzaygirl30

Hi! What are your thoughts on Dana Point? Is it a good place to live?

Dana Point- , and San Juan Capistrano- . Both are tourist destinations. SJC in the spring and DP in the summer. (I agree with Vary that this thread just won't die! LOL!!!) Lived here in the 80's, and 90's til now, and used to go fishing here as a kid in the 60's & 70's.

Dana Point PROS & CONS (you decide)
Perfect weather...in the morning there might be fog at the top of the hills, burns off by noon; Small, sleepy beach town in the off-season, with developing character/identity; Historical Site- read Two Years Before the Mast by Henry Dana; Marina operated by the county with reasonable slip fees; Tall Ships Festival; Blues Festival; Festival of the Whales;Dolphins play with the boats that venture out of the harbor; Sailing; Grunion Hunting!!!!!; Excellent 4th of July fireworks displays and family-fun get-togethers; Great restaurants; Expensive spas like St. Regis & Excellent budget spas like Dana Point BodyCentre; Waves, fog horns & train sounds, Bonfire smells; Low Federal Index Crime Rates; Dana Hills HS needs renovation, lots of old modular buildings; Christmas Ships parade; Nightlife limited; Excellent childhood memories made here; Only big store is Costco, but malls & major chain stores in Laguna Niguel, San Clemente, Mission Viejo, or Aliso Viejo; Catalina Island a short boat ride away; Bike/walking trail along the San Juan Creek from SJC Mission to the Pacific Ocean; One way streets (scary in tourist season); Close to world-class hospitals; Equestrian activities 4 miles from the beach in SJC; Movie theaters in SJC, San Clemente, Laguna Niguel; Excellent & well maintained public parks; Spiritual churches; Mission San Juan Capistrano is just inland 4 miles and the swallows return every year from Argentina; happy residents in South OC; Sports Park in SJC and all park activities shared with Dana Point & San Clemente; Golf; Farmers Market; Historic/Organic Kinosh()ta Farm in SJC; 16 lane I-5 freeway links up with toll roads for a quick drive to Orange County Airport; Clean Air; National Forest 10 miles inland for hiking & camping; Camping at Doheny State Beach with advance reservations; some properties on slopes may be ancient landslide areas and mudslides happen here, so be aware of those conditions; Tsunami Evacuation Zone; Fault line in the ocean; Liquifaction zone; Last significant earthquake I felt was a 4.6 over a year ago...no damage; Close to Shea Therapeutic Riding Center off La Zanja in SJC; I have heard about drug and gang activity, but have never seen any personally; There have been bank robberies because of the easy access to the freeway; Any threat of a Major Federal Index Crime will bring out the OC Sheriff's Dept. with FLIR on the helicopter; Camp Pendleton does bombing practice sometimes shakes the house; San Onofre Nuclear Power Plant scheduled to be mothballed and contained; San Diego Gas & Electric provides our electricity; Skunks, rattlesnakes, lizards, coyotes, and bobcats on rare occasion; 5-10 degrees cooler than SJC.

[Jud567]

Haha seeing these post are pretty funny, considering that I myself live here. I'll tell you what, as common as the saying goes, no one seems to understand it. "Do not judge a book by its cover". Do you know what's happening in the minds of these people when they look or stare at you? Or do you automatically assume we're all in a gang and want to harm you? Have you ever considered that a neighborhood, full of Mexicans, are just surprised to see white people come through a low income neighborhood?

Don't get me wrong, there are gangs here, but gang activity have been an all time low, and you can meet the friendliest folks here. I also understand that not everyone will be friendly, but that's no reason to assume that the whole neighborhood is dangerous!

And the whole "try walking at night and see if you live" type of ****, if you had the capacity to think clearly and logically that WHEREVER YOU GO AT NIGHT IS ALWAYS DANGEROUS. Not just here.

Please, before you assume that we are all bad people, try speaking to the locals. Before you make a statement that is not even true. We would greatly appreciate it.

[cotocatmom]

I don't spend a lot of time in SJC personally, but we did get accosted by a girl having a breakdown when visiting the petting zoo once. I went for a nice day with a friend and her niece, and this girl was clearly either on drugs, or having a mental breakdown in the parking lot. Of course we didn't see this until we'd already gotten out of the car and were walking towards the zoo area. And of course she spotted us and came running at us, and grabbed my arm. We tried to calm her down but she was just going nuts and waving her arms and yelling about how someone was after her, it scared my friend's niece. She took off across the parking lot and we called the police because we were worried (what if someone was really after her?). My friend took her niece into the zoo and I hung back about 15-20 mins and last I saw she was yelling at the cop who showed up and pacing back and forth. I hope she's okay, whoever she was. It was kind of disturbing and left me not really wanting to visit the area again! (Although I'm pretty sure it was probably an isolated incident and could have happened anywhere, because previous petting zoo trips had been totally fine).

[Podo944]

Originally Posted by cotocatmom

I don't spend a lot of time in SJC personally, but we did get accosted by a girl having a breakdown when visiting the petting zoo once. I went for a nice day with a friend and her niece, and this girl was clearly either on drugs, or having a mental breakdown in the parking lot. Of course we didn't see this until we'd already gotten out of the car and were walking towards the zoo area. And of course she spotted us and came running at us, and grabbed my arm. We tried to calm her down but she was just going nuts and waving her arms and yelling about how someone was after her, it scared my friend's niece. She took off across the parking lot and we called the police because we were worried (what if someone was really after her?). My friend took her niece into the zoo and I hung back about 15-20 mins and last I saw she was yelling at the cop who showed up and pacing back and forth. I hope she's okay, whoever she was. It was kind of disturbing and left me not really wanting to visit the area again! (Although I'm pretty sure it was probably an isolated incident and could have happened anywhere, because previous petting zoo trips had been totally fine).

A mentally disturbed person can show up anywhere, anytime. Mental breakdowns can happen to anyone from any walk of life. I'm sure it was scary, but I think it's time to go back to SJC and make some new memories. It's a lovely area... one of me and hubby's favorite places in Orange County!

[SoOC1]

SJC is just fine for us locals. We all get along one way or the other.

[expatCA]

Dana Point and SJC have always been in my top 5 favorite cities in So Cal.If I ever moved back that is where I would likely look first. Then SD County.