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This is yet another "moving to OC" question... I am contemplating a potential move for a job in Irvine. The company and job are attractive, as is the SoCal weather. I've done enough research to know that I will be able to find opportunities to do the arts/cultural things I love. I am now at the point of figuring out whether my fiance and I can find a place we want to live. Mostly, I am concerned about him. He would be moving only for me, not for a job (he works from home) and the environment is very important.
We are currently in Manhattan NYC. We both love the "energy" of the city, and would like to investigate potential towns in OC that offer at least a little bit of the pedestrian-friendly, town-center destination environment. Where we live now, we can just go outside and walk a block to get brunch from a choice of restaurants, or walk a block the other way and we're in a large and gorgeous park. Everything in OC near to where I would work seems so suburban: highways, huge non-highway thoroughfares, office parks, housing developments, shopping malls, mini-malls, parking lots and multistory garages.
We would love a beach-town vibe, but not a frat-party vibe. Are there specific towns/locations I should visit ? I am hoping to find a 3 bedroom townhouse for $500-600K. A commute into Irvine (near the airport) no more than 30 minutes would be great. All the above plus easy access to Los Angeles would be ideal.
Most cities have no downtown at all. Santa Ana is the biggest real city and it has a downtown. I liked living there and found it very walkable although a lot of the stores only sell Hispanic oriented goods and I was once told "No Gringos" when I walked into a store. There is a neat artist area and some decent resturaunts and even one place that kinda sorta qualifies as a club, plus some small theater venues. People who have never lived there, and some who never even visit the city other than to drive through it or to work there behind closed doors, will tell you that is is unsafe and all kinds of crazy horror stories. We lived there with 5 young children and very much enjoyed it. I still stay in Santa Ana when visiting for work. However it is probably not what you are looking for.
Old Town Orange has a very walkable downtown but it is small town, not urban. Rent the movie That thing you do. It was filmed in old town.
Laguna Beach has a bit of of a downtown. It is heavily art galleries and shops. It is very expensive and somewhat touristy.
Fullerton has a small downtown area. (like one street).
If you are looking for an urban setting and a impoverished hispanic urban setting (Santa Ana) bothers you, then you may want to try Long Beach or L.A. San Diego is a better city than either, but it is too far from Irvine for you (90 minutes at least). Long Beach is 30 - 50 minutes from Irvine (rarely will you make it in 30 minutes). LA is 42 minutes to 4 hours, but usually an hour and a half.
Realistically, you are not going to find what you are looking for in orange County. Sorry.
This is yet another "moving to OC" question... I am contemplating a potential move for a job in Irvine. The company and job are attractive, as is the SoCal weather. I've done enough research to know that I will be able to find opportunities to do the arts/cultural things I love. I am now at the point of figuring out whether my fiance and I can find a place we want to live. Mostly, I am concerned about him. He would be moving only for me, not for a job (he works from home) and the environment is very important.
We are currently in Manhattan NYC. We both love the "energy" of the city, and would like to investigate potential towns in OC that offer at least a little bit of the pedestrian-friendly, town-center destination environment. Where we live now, we can just go outside and walk a block to get brunch from a choice of restaurants, or walk a block the other way and we're in a large and gorgeous park. Everything in OC near to where I would work seems so suburban: highways, huge non-highway thoroughfares, office parks, housing developments, shopping malls, mini-malls, parking lots and multistory garages.
We would love a beach-town vibe, but not a frat-party vibe. Are there specific towns/locations I should visit ? I am hoping to find a 3 bedroom townhouse for $500-600K. A commute into Irvine (near the airport) no more than 30 minutes would be great. All the above plus easy access to Los Angeles would be ideal.
Thank you!
Laguna Beach is extremely walkable and seems to fit your criteria, but it seems to be out of your price range....You could try East Side Costa Mesa, which has some walkable neighborhoods as well and would fit into your price range.
Most cities have no downtown at all. Santa Ana is the biggest real city and it has a downtown. I liked living there and found it very walkable although a lot of the stores only sell Hispanic oriented goods and I was once told "No Gringos" when I walked into a store. There is a neat artist area and some decent resturaunts and even one place that kinda sorta qualifies as a club, plus some small theater venues. People who have never lived there, and some who never even visit the city other than to drive through it or to work there behind closed doors, will tell you that is is unsafe and all kinds of crazy horror stories. We lived there with 5 young children and very much enjoyed it. I still stay in Santa Ana when visiting for work. However it is probably not what you are looking for.
Old Town Orange has a very walkable downtown but it is small town, not urban. Rent the movie That thing you do. It was filmed in old town.
Laguna Beach has a bit of of a downtown. It is heavily art galleries and shops. It is very expensive and somewhat touristy.
Fullerton has a small downtown area. (like one street).
If you are looking for an urban setting and a impoverished hispanic urban setting (Santa Ana) bothers you, then you may want to try Long Beach or L.A. San Diego is a better city than either, but it is too far from Irvine for you (90 minutes at least). Long Beach is 30 - 50 minutes from Irvine (rarely will you make it in 30 minutes). LA is 42 minutes to 4 hours, but usually an hour and a half.
Realistically, you are not going to find what you are looking for in orange County. Sorry.
You are so negative there are a lot of walkable neighborhoods in Orange County, I think you should explore some of these areas. I am not sure if you are in Michigan now or Orange County but head down to East Side Costa Mesa and check out the area, I think you will be pleasantly surprised by what you see. Contrary to popular belief Orange County is not "one huge suburb" there are a lot of older more mature areas that were designed to be walkable. I live in Laguna and maybe use my car 2-3 times a week.
This is yet another "moving to OC" question... I am contemplating a potential move for a job in Irvine. The company and job are attractive, as is the SoCal weather. I've done enough research to know that I will be able to find opportunities to do the arts/cultural things I love. I am now at the point of figuring out whether my fiance and I can find a place we want to live. Mostly, I am concerned about him. He would be moving only for me, not for a job (he works from home) and the environment is very important.
We are currently in Manhattan NYC. We both love the "energy" of the city, and would like to investigate potential towns in OC that offer at least a little bit of the pedestrian-friendly, town-center destination environment. Where we live now, we can just go outside and walk a block to get brunch from a choice of restaurants, or walk a block the other way and we're in a large and gorgeous park. Everything in OC near to where I would work seems so suburban: highways, huge non-highway thoroughfares, office parks, housing developments, shopping malls, mini-malls, parking lots and multistory garages.
We would love a beach-town vibe, but not a frat-party vibe. Are there specific towns/locations I should visit ? I am hoping to find a 3 bedroom townhouse for $500-600K. A commute into Irvine (near the airport) no more than 30 minutes would be great. All the above plus easy access to Los Angeles would be ideal.
Thank you!
Jayti,
My wife and I did that move 6 years ago. We used to live UWS and then Forrest Hills before moving to Orange County for my job. We love it here, but you won't find that NYC vibe and walkability in grand scale anywhere around here that I am aware of (we used to walk from UWS all the way down to Wall Street on some Saturdays). True, there are many neighborhoods that have things within walking distance (i.e. we are about 5 minutes walking from "our" town center with about 10 restaurants, a bunch of shops, etc), but you will mostly be restricted to that one area within easy walking). If you are familiar with Queens, think Austin Street (71st & Continental) for about the size of many town centers around here.
You can of course take your car and drive to other areas with restaurants, shops, etc, but unless they are in a beach community, many of them will look very similiar. Of course you then have some malls that are much better than what we had in NYC, but most of them are indoors. The ones that are outside (Irvine Spectrum, Fashion Island) are a lot of fun to walk around and eat a bite, but you will need the car to get there.
I find that there are plenty of parks to walk to in most areas, but most of them will be baseball fields, etc. Perfect for me and my little boy, not quite as romantic as a stroll in Central Park or Washington Square.
I know this is a bit much and there is so much more I could type, but let me just summarize our experience for what it is worth:
We knew we wanted to start a family soon and for that, Orange County is so much better suited than NYC imho. Therefore it was an improvement in quality of life for what we were looking for. OC is a great place to raise our little boy. Weather and area are generally beautiful and being close to nice beaches (no Coney Island type beach) is wonderful. We met great people here and not everybody is the sterotype so many people like to paint on these forums. You can find almost everything you have in NYC somewhere here, but it can well involve an hour plus drive to get there.
Overall, it was the right move for us at the right time in our lives and we have no regrets. At the same time, there is only one Manhattan and we love to go back for visits. You have to go into this with eyes wide open or the changes might disapoint you.
My wife and I did that move 6 years ago. We used to live UWS and then Forrest Hills before moving to Orange County for my job. We love it here, but you won't find that NYC vibe and walkability in grand scale anywhere around here that I am aware of (we used to walk from UWS all the way down to Wall Street on some Saturdays). True, there are many neighborhoods that have things within walking distance (i.e. we are about 5 minutes walking from "our" town center with about 10 restaurants, a bunch of shops, etc), but you will mostly be restricted to that one area within easy walking). If you are familiar with Queens, think Austin Street (71st & Continental) for about the size of many town centers around here.
You can of course take your car and drive to other areas with restaurants, shops, etc, but unless they are in a beach community, many of them will look very similiar. Of course you then have some malls that are much better than what we had in NYC, but most of them are indoors. The ones that are outside (Irvine Spectrum, Fashion Island) are a lot of fun to walk around and eat a bite, but you will need the car to get there.
I find that there are plenty of parks to walk to in most areas, but most of them will be baseball fields, etc. Perfect for me and my little boy, not quite as romantic as a stroll in Central Park or Washington Square.
I know this is a bit much and there is so much more I could type, but let me just summarize our experience for what it is worth:
We knew we wanted to start a family soon and for that, Orange County is so much better suited than NYC imho. Therefore it was an improvement in quality of life for what we were looking for. OC is a great place to raise our little boy. Weather and area are generally beautiful and being close to nice beaches (no Coney Island type beach) is wonderful. We met great people here and not everybody is the sterotype so many people like to paint on these forums. You can find almost everything you have in NYC somewhere here, but it can well involve an hour plus drive to get there.
Overall, it was the right move for us at the right time in our lives and we have no regrets. At the same time, there is only one Manhattan and we love to go back for visits. You have to go into this with eyes wide open or the changes might disapoint you.
You are so negative there are a lot of walkable neighborhoods in Orange County, I think you should explore some of these areas. I am not sure if you are in Michigan now or Orange County but head down to East Side Costa Mesa and check out the area, I think you will be pleasantly surprised by what you see. Contrary to popular belief Orange County is not "one huge suburb" there are a lot of older more mature areas that were designed to be walkable. I live in Laguna and maybe use my car 2-3 times a week.
East Side Costa Mesa is a mall, with hotels and corporate offices. OC IS one huge suburb, sorry but it is.
To the OP, prepare yourself accordingly there is nothing like NYC in OC. I did this same move 5 years ago. If I were you I would look at Long Beach Belmont Shores or just acclimate to the suburban car and strip mall culture that is OC. Maybe you will like it, but don't even pretend to make it something urban.
Hi Jayti,
I moved from the Upper West Side to Orange County, so I may have something to add. First, I agree with Mach50, you have to prepare yourself because there is nothing in SoCal, especially not in Orange County, that even comes close to the Manhattan experience. So, if you, myself, or anyone else wants Manhattan, then it is best to stay in, or move to Manhattan.
That said, SoCal does have much to offer, but you will go through an extended period of shock while you seriously doubt your decision to move here. No more walking to the deli, bakery, coffee shops, or to restaurants to meet friends. No more walking past green groceries with their produce stands on the sidewalk. No more strolls to the bookstore. No more quick cab rides to your pick of museums or Broadway shows. Street fairs, a NYC staple, seem to be unheard of here. Gone. The car is king is SoCal.
The weather is nice despite the fact that many bash it. The ocean is easily accessible and you can be in the mountains within a few hours. There are lots of parks and hiking trails. Coming from Manhattan, you will be very pleasantly surprised at just how much square footage you can get for $500K to $600K. As you know, it is impossible to buy a townhouse in NYC for that price. You may even be able to get a small backyard as part of the package. Add to that a two car attached garage, and “you ain’t in Kansas,” uh Manhattan, anymore. Forget alternate side of the street parking and pleading with early morning tow truck drivers to let your car go ( I actually did this, and successfully, a few times while my car was hoisted).
Laguna Beach, Dana Point and San Clemente are all beach towns without a “frat town” feel. Laguna Beach is very expensive. Dana Point is nice, but sleepy. Parts of San Clemente are more vibrant than Dana Point, but it would take you more than 30 minutes to commute to Irvine during rush hour traffic. Also, other sections of San Clemente seem to be extremely sleepy and indistinguishable from much of the rest of South Orange County, “beach town” or not.
In short, if you are looking for “energy,” do not move here, because compared to Manhattan, the place will seem like a scenic and warm semi-retirement community. If you can accept that Orange County is a totally different animal than NYC, then you should be fine.
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