Suburbs Of LA (Huntington Beach, Irvine, Rancho Cucamonga: low crime, house, safe area)

[curioustouristaussie]

What are the pros and cons of the following suburbs:
Temecula-Corona-Murrieta
Rancho Cucamonga
Huntington Beach
Irvine-Coto de Caza-Mission Viejo-South OC
Calabasas-Agoura-TO-Newbury-Westlake
Valencia

[1200RT]

Can you be more specific? The pros/cons in related to what criteria?

Your previous post indicated you were an Australian tourist - would you be visiting these places? Staying there?

Also - I wouldn't necessarily consider many of those "suburbs" of LA, especially Rancho, Irvine, Coto (just a development in Trubuco Canyon), HB, MB, etc.

[jm1982]

Yeah not really suburbs.

I guess the pro would be they are all going to be less populated/dense than most of 'metro la'

Also probably cleaner overall. Costs are probably cheaper per square foot for housing than the city. Also none of them are probably really 'cheap' , but you can probably buy a nice house in a safe area for less than you could in the metro area. Schools probably considerably better than LAUSD schools.

Cons : you won't have the diversity that you can find in the city/metro area in terms of people , food, etc. For some people they don't care about this .

[hollaathenry]

Temecula-Corona-Murrieta
Pros: Cheap, new, good quality housing, fairly safe middle class areas
Cons: Far from LA, traffic is horrible commuting to OC(apparently you can commute to SD from Temecula/Murrieta though), gets extremely hot in summer

Rancho Cucamonga
Pros: See above
Cons: See above

Huntington Beach
Pros: Decent weather, surprisingly affordable housing, convenient location between LA/OC attractions
Cons: No extreme ones actually, vibe may be more downscale than what you expect from your typical SoCal suburb

Irvine-Coto de Caza-Mission Viejo-South OC
Pros: Suburban paradise(brand new housing, very low crime, good schools(esp Irvine), big-box chains, well-maintained roads), close to job center in Irvine and beaches, great shopping nearby with South Coast/Fashion Island/Spectrum etc
Cons: Housing $$$, not within commuting distance of LA

Calabasas-Agoura-TO-Newbury-Westlake
Pros: Same suburban pros as Irvine etal, commutable to LA
Cons: Housing even more $$$$ than South OC(I think), 101 rush hour traffic(only way in and out so can't get around it)

Valencia
Pros: Same suburban pros as above, Six Flags Magic Mountain
Cons: sort of isolated location, can get windy, gets hot in summer

[nightlysparrow]

Originally Posted by hollaathenry

Calabasas-Agoura-TO-Newbury-Westlake
101 rush hour traffic(only way in and out so can't get around it)

Not true. All are also accessible by PCH going over Topanga, Kanan or Decker; or by the 23 to the 118; or by Mulholland Hwy.

[Cream1]

Originally Posted by nightlysparrow

Not true. All are also accessible by PCH going over Topanga, Kanan or Decker; or by the 23 to the 118; or by Mulholland Hwy.

Driving the canyon roads to PCH every day will kill you (not literally, but maybe).

[DinsdalePirahna]

I'll give you what I know best:

Huntington Beach Pros:

1. 10+ miles of Beach (including a dog beach)
2. The Harbor Area
3. Good Dining Establishments
4. Downtown (during off season)
5. Weather
6. Still relatively affordable
7. Good Creative community

Huntington Beach Cons:

1. Downtown is full of Dbags and "notice-me-dammits" during the summer season - especially during the US Open of Surfing and 4th of July
2. There are a lot of 40-somethings around here with severe cases of arrested development and no visible means of support
3. May Gray and June Gloom (cool and hazy until about 2 or 3 in the afternoon during the months of May and June)
4. Horrible freeway access from downtown and southern part of the city