Would you rather live in Honolulu or Ladera Ranch/Laguna Niguel area? (Orange: best city, home)

[chunter6]

Originally Posted by binkybarnes

Hi,

We are dreaming of moving to a warm climate, with laid-back people, and overall a more simple life. If you have been to both places, which would you choose? Here are some things that are important to us:

Schools - in Hawaii, we'd have to send our daughter to private; in CA I think public in that area is very good?

Weather/scenery/beauty - which is better?

Cost of living - both are expensive, but I think HI is more costly

Traffic - bad in Honolulu, not sure about Ladera Ranch/Laguna Niguel - I'd be working in Laguna Niguel

People - have heard HI is very laid back, probably more so than CA?

Things to do - we enjoy outdoor activities, beach, hiking, etc. Also like to have good restauarants and stuff to do with a family

We currentlly live in the Washington DC area and are ready for a change! Thanks!

I have a four bedroom two bath (plus office). Considering leasing furnished or unfurnished.
Cornel
949.249.6721
chunter6@cox.net

[dctooc]

My two cents: I currently live in South OC, lived all over Hawaii for years in the 90's. I LOVED Hawaii as a single young woman. I would not choose it as one of my top places to raise my kids (unless I had milllions and could afford a private jet so we could travel at whim). BTW, I was born and raised in the DC area so I have a full perspective. You're comparing apples and oranges. Honolulu is a straight up city! Don't let the island thing fool you. The areas you mention in OC are hardcore suburbs, for real. No real city within an hour. Belmont Shore, Naples would be more appropriate if you want beach and a city vibe on the mainland. Otherwise, if I had to pick one from your list, I would say Laguna Niguel (not Ladera Ranch). Admittedly, I'm not a great fan of Orange County, but Laguna Niguel is a nice, established community with a relatively easygoing population next to the beach and near toll roads and not far from the freeways. Honolulu has many factors to consider. I'd be happy to elaborate if you'd like.

[mazzyb]

In Hawaii there can be a certain level of racism present if you are a haole (not born there), and you won't have that happen in OC, if you are willing to walk through that, you could eventually feel like you are home in Hawaii, OC does not have such extreme heat as in Hawaii, more 60's than 80's

[Hawaii4evr]

OC is very bland, smoggy and boring. Nothing to do except go to the beach, but even then the water is cold for most of the year! It's pretty, yes, but also very fake and materialistic. Honolulu has its problems, but the weather is much better, its more beautiful and has much better beaches (warm water year-round, with swaying tropical trees adn trade winds!). OC is nice during summer and fall, but cool, rainy, windy and foggy the rest of the time. Also, the humidity is not bad in Hawaii.

[Joe Van Fossen]

If you're considering Orange County, you might also want to consider Aliso Viejo. I've lived in both AV and Ladera Ranch, both are nice places, have good schools and shops, parks, etc. Most of these areas are very similar to each other in terms of the suburban lifestyle, but what I preferred about Aliso was its proximity to Laguna Beach.

[CAVA1990]

I've lived in Hawaii, grew up in what once was part of Laguna Niguel and now live in NoVA. The weather in Niguel is a lot better than Hawaii which can often feel like July or August here in NoVA due to the humidity. It's nice and dry in LN most of the time. I'd definitely choose it over Honolulu which can often be culturally frustrating and is very expensive. You'd likely be as close to the beach in Niguel as anywhere in Honolulu unless you're extremely wealthy or don't mind living in a condo. Your kids will also do much better in Niguel than Hawaii where a lot of the young people can be pretty sketchy. Sending them to private school will not likely keep them away from a pretty bad element. They'll think the local public school kids are cool and before you know it be sucked into their lifestyle.

[LordOfTheCars]

I liked Olongapo... Unless Pinatubo is having a fit.

[jacobwilliam77]

Ladera Ranch/Laguna Niguel are some of the best areas in OC.

[LuvSouthOC]

Originally Posted by Hawaii4evr

OC is very bland, smoggy and boring. Nothing to do except go to the beach, but even then the water is cold for most of the year! It's pretty, yes, but also very fake and materialistic. Honolulu has its problems, but the weather is much better, its more beautiful and has much better beaches (warm water year-round, with swaying tropical trees adn trade winds!). OC is nice during summer and fall, but cool, rainy, windy and foggy the rest of the time. Also, the humidity is not bad in Hawaii.

This is, admittedly, an old thread that I stumbled upon. Here are some reasons that give the clear edge to Laguna Niguel over HI.

Fake factor
I am not sure what fake means. If you are referring to breast enhancements and other cosmetic surgery, Orange County is no different from any other desirable destination. If fake to you is financially overstretched pretending to be rich on-the-verge-of-default, yes, you will find plenty of that here. If fake means nouveau rich, yes, you’ll find here in plenty. In Hawaii, however, at least with respect to the Caucasians transplants there, I don’t see much difference between the two places. Are all those blond women in Honolulu real blondes?

Weather
Hands down Laguna Niguel! It usually hovers in the lower/middle 80s in the dead of summer. Oh and that’s with very little humidity! Ladera is hotter, but not by too much. I rarely need AC here whereas I need AC frequently in HI due to the humidity.

Boring v safe
The commenter above posted that Laguna Niguel is boring. What you call boring, I call über safe. Honolulu is a rather large city whereas LN and LR are burbs. Wouldn’t it make more sense to compare Orange County to a suburb of a city?

The outdoors
You’ve acknowledged that we have stunning beaches in Orange County. But what about the heaps of places to hike, bike, kayak and walk to enjoy the highly varied and gorgeous scenery here. In winter, we can drive to snow from our beach-close abodes to very tall snowy mountains, in an hour (e.g. Mt. Baldy). Can you go from Desert sun to snow in 30 minutes ala Palm Springs? Didn’t think so. You mentioned our beaches have cold water. Well many of us have pools and are not troubled by that fact. And we have many lakes here.

Gastronomically speaking
Not the out-door type? Well we have great restaurants to go here or within a relatively short drive away. Oh and let's just clear this up right here, right now: We have the best Mexican Food. And with LA nearby, we also have more selection foodwise than HI due to the myriad cultures here, e.g. Jons market in Glendale or West Hollywood where I can purchase tons of Central/East European and Middle Eastern goodies for cheap. Have that in HI? Didn't think so. I know you are thinking you have better Asian food but I won't give you that either. We have amazing Korean, Chinese (of every type), Japanese, Vietnamese etc., you name it. Thank you Irvine, Westminster and Garden Grove! Ok, so you have better Hawaiian BBQ. But we even have THAT here, and close by. And oh yeah, I'm big on Persian, Moroccan and Armenian food. Have a lot of that there? A Google search reveals Honolulu is not blessed with any Persian or Armenian restaurant. Have inexpensive soup/salad bars in HI? Believe me that was something I missed when I left California. I won’t make that mistake again! And guys you don’t even have Trader Joes in HI.

Culture
We have so many nationalities here and I am proud of that fact. Los Angeles, close by, is a truly international city. Admittedly, LN and LR are not LA, but – BUT, at least in LN, we have numerous nationalities here. Go to any large box store in LN and you’ll hear a great deal of Mandarin, Russian, French, Persian, Spanish etc. spoken widely. We also have great museums in Orange County, or a drive away. And in Laguna Beach, we have the Festival of the Arts/Pageant of the Masters.

Excitement
If I want excitement, which I sometimes yearn for, I go to LA and get it out of my system. In winter, I have been known to head to Palm Springs. Moreover, if I get the gambling/buffet/show itch, which I do from time to time, I hop on the road and head to Vegas. Vegas is only 5 hours away. LA is an hour away. San Diego, a place that has its own respectable number of things to do, is an hour away too. San Francisco, Tahoo/Reno are both about an hour flight hop away. Is it cheap to fly between the islands or to the continental US from HI?

[goozer]

FWIW, the OP moved to Hawaii three years ago and apparently loves it. At least per the last post made in 2012.