long beach or oc? new to gay scene, please help, relocating (San Diego: to rent, neighborhoods)

[woo423]

So I will be relocating to Irvine for work within a month, looking for places now in both long beach and orange county. I am relocating from chicago, so I do not mind some traffic but I have heard stories about the commutes around LA. I want to spend less than 1750 a month, I'm going to rent in the area for now. I also want to be close to the water and close to a local gay scene. It doesn't have to be long beach, but I am not seeing that much around orange county for places to hang out. I like going out from time to time but more so on the weekends. I also want to live in a place that is safe. Thanks so much for any info you can provide, can't wait to be in cali!

[disgruntled la native]

If you want a decent gay scene by the water that's affordable, it pretty much has to be Long Beach.

[tcmtcm]

If you mean you'll be living in Irvine, Laguna and Long Beach will be close enough for your weekends. I'm not sure you'll find a place to live for 1750 in Irvine though.

[woo423]

Thanks so much, is long beach in general pretty safe or are there areas to stay clear from?

[boi2socal]

I've lived in OC, LA, WeHo, and now Long Beach.

Orange County has over three million people, yet has two, maybe three dedicated gay bars. There are night clubs that have gay nights though. The OC crowd all knows each other, or at the very least knows of each other. It is also a fairly young scene as many people move onto LA, San Diego, or San Francisco. They try to replicate the WeHo vibe - "pretty" and slim or muscley with fancy cars (many of them continue to live at home).

Long Beach is very LGBT friendly. You will definitely want to look in Alamitos Beach and Belmont Areas and your budget will get you a decent place there. You'll be close to the "gay ghetto". I'm not even sure if they call it that now days - I don't go out a lot in Long Beach. The scene here is much more laid back than Orange County or WeHo. Much more about "average" dudes. For the most part Long Beach is a little rough around the edges, especially compared to OC. If you look in the neighborhoods I mentioned they're a bit nicer. Your commute will be pretty rough though from Long Beach to Irvine. Really anything into Irvine is nowadays.

[TrueDat]

Check out the Belmont Shore area of Long Beach. Close to the water (though the better beaches start across the OC county line at Seal Beach next door), close to both the gay bar scene along streets like Broadway in Belmont Heights and the more touristy/Cal State Long Beach student hangout vibe along 2nd Street in the Shore itself. It's fairly dense and walkable. Naples, next to Belmont Shore, is also along the water and it is pretty but quieter and farther away from where things are happening.

[Chowhound]

LB has a pretty large gay population, I'd really look into that area.

[LuvSouthOC]

You said you wanted safety. That is a key word. LBC is very nice in some spots and has what you are looking for, but those spots are not all over LBC. Safety is more or less assured in OC. Trade offs.

[LBNative]

Redondo and Broadway is a good starting point. The thing about the areas you want to be in is that there are no fast ways to get to a freeway. You're looking at pretty much driving 15 mins before you hit the 405S. That can be either a good thing or a bad thing.