Young Couple Moving to Orange County...Advice? (Long Beach, Santa Ana: apartments, renting)

[wanderlustee]

Hi everyone!

My husband (28) and I (24) are planning to move to Orange County in about a month. We have been travelling in SE Asia for the past 8 months, and before that were living in Portland, Oregon.

My husband will be working near Angel Statium/The Grove of Anaheim, and I work from home. We are very nervous about how difficult it will be to find a community that is within 15 miles of his job (he'll be cycling there) and close enough (walkable or bikeable) to a grocery store/park/restaurants.

After reading this forum- I've learned that most communities are suburbs, and it will be necessary to have a car... and restaurants being walkable is kind of a joke.

When I was visiting a friend in Irvine, he lived in a sweet little neighborhood- kind of funky- walking distance to UCI, unique character, etc. Cant remember exactly where that was now...

We'll be renting- and our budget is between 1200-1800. For a 2 bedroom. We aren't really into luxury (though after 2 months in India, it will be great to be able to walk on a real sidewalk and not even think about the possibility that my next step will be in a pile of cow shi*t.) Ok- to put it plainly- We're from Portland, Oregon!! We walked everywhere, or biked, or took public transportation. We like good microbrewed beer, friendly people, live music...trees, etc. I know Orange County and Portland, Oregon are in stark contrast, but I still have hopes of finding a cool spot to spend the next few years.

Old Town Orange? Tustin? Near UCI?

Advice, please. But don't kill my dreams

[EscapeCalifornia]

The stadium is right next to the Santa Ana River trail but you don't want to be out there after dark.

[bhcompy]

There are all manner of new apartments all around Angel Stadium(look up Stadium Lofts for instance).

Also, Old Town Orange isn't too far away and may meet what you want.

Otherwise, going to be hard if you want to bike for what you want. On the bright side, there is a Metrolink rail station in the Angel Stadium parkinglot, which means that instead of biking he can take the train and you can live in other places like Fullerton which have what you want and may be more affordable.

[wanderlustee]

I see there are a lot of craftsman style bungalows in Old Town Orange- which look to be exactly what we want. He is not actually working at Angel Stadium, just in the vicinity. Looking at a map, and never having been to the area, that looked like a good landmark.

The Santa Ana River Trail would open up a lot of possibilities- his commute to work would be 15 miles if he started from huntington beach- and that would be great for him.

How is Huntington beach- in regards to walkability, community feel?

[bhcompy]

Huntington Beach is great if you like steroids, dirtbikes, and testosterone. At least the areas of Huntington Beach that meet what you're looking for.

As far as the Santa Ana River Trail, you do not want to ride that after dark. It's completely dark at 530pm this time of year. I would never suggest that to anyone for commuting 15 miles.

For what you're asking for, you're location limits you mostly to Old Town Orange.
-Santa Ana will offer similar places, but in neighborhoods that you don't want to commute on foot(or live for that matter as a transplant).
-Coastal cities that would have those types of homes(like Long Beach, which is known for it's Craftsman homes) are too far.
-Anaheim itself is mostly crappy or middle of the road suburban with some nice condos and apartments around Angel Stadium.
-Fullerton and Brea to the north support a 4 year college and a 2 year college and have a lot of options and mild walkability because of it, and may be a decent commute option since you don't have to travel through the worst areas on bike, but it's still a ways(train is an option though).

There are really not too many other options all things considered. Fullerton would be the first place I'd look.

If driving entered the picture, I'd say Seal Beach. Great community, very walkable, lots of cool things to do without the ridiculous over the top vibe of HB, decent commute to Anaheim Stadium area, lots of cool housing in Old Town Seal Beach(though not in your range for a house, but there are apts in that range), bike paths all around close-by(Coyote Creek, San Gabriel River, PCH, El Dorado Nature Park/Regional Park, Cerritos Regional Park, etc). One could theoretically bike from Seal to Anaheim through better areas than the Santa Ana River route(just take Garden Grove Blvd basically), but that would be a long ride.

[wanderlustee]

bhcompy- thank you!! truly appreciate the info. Though testosterone, dirtbikes and steroids sounds tempting.. I dont think i could handle that full time.

[Coldjensens]

There are some new apartments and/or condos right at the Grove (Behind The Catch resturaunt). I see a lot of people walking around that area at night. However I also see a lot of women who look like hookers (at least I think they are women, I am told that many of the hookers are actually men dressed as women). Maybe they are just girls out on a date. With some of today's popular styles, it is sometimes hard to tell the difference.

Old town Orange is wonderful for what you are looking for. We lived at the edge of old town for five or six years and pretty much walked or biked most places we needed. We had a Red Ryder wagon that we put our young children in and towed them along, or used for groceries or whever we needed when we did nto have kids, or when we made them walk. We also had a bike with a trailer ($25 from a garage sale), to tow groceries or kids when we needed to go far or fast. We could walk to groceries, a mall, movies, resturuants, a few bars, church, and of course, the old town circle. We needed to drive only to visit friends, go to big box stores (castco, home depot, Target, etc.), for vacation, and sometimes for work. Old town is wonderful. It is pleasant, fun and not as badly caught up in the whole materialism/selfishness/keep up with jones/snobbery thing that is so prevelant in So. Cal. It is there, just not as bad as in most places. You can also catch the train in Old Town and ride to Anaheim, or all the way to LA (or down to the beach in San Clemente). It is hard to beat old town, but it is more expensive than many parts of Anaheim or West Orange.

The Santa Ana River trail is not dangerous the instant the sun sets if you have a light to see where you are going, you are genearlly fine from 5:30 to at least 7 p.m., but in the late evening/night bad guys may come out like cockroaches in some areas. Other areas are just empty. It depends on what part of the trail you are on.

Some parts of Santa Ana are what you are looking for and are walkable, but not very accessible to the Grove area unless you take the train. I walked to work in downtwon Santa Ana (1 mile) for years with no problems. We walked to bars, resturuants, etc. and had little problem (a few homelss people asking for money and an occaisional proposition from a hooker. A couple of times when scary people watching us caused us to go down a different street or duck into a store)

Orange is a LOT safer and generally nicer, but more expensive and smaller.

Anaheim has some nicemiddle class neighborhoods filled with 1920s bungalos. You do need to be careful about which neighborhood you are in, but like all large cities, it has nice and awful areas. You cannot rationally generalize about an entire city of that size. Anaheim does not have a downtown (they tore it down), but they do have "Downtown Disney"

[sraut]

Originally Posted by wanderlustee

Hi everyone!

My husband (28) and I (24) are planning to move to Orange County in about a month. We have been travelling in SE Asia for the past 8 months, and before that were living in Portland, Oregon.

My husband will be working near Angel Statium/The Grove of Anaheim, and I work from home. We are very nervous about how difficult it will be to find a community that is within 15 miles of his job (he'll be cycling there) and close enough (walkable or bikeable) to a grocery store/park/restaurants.

After reading this forum- I've learned that most communities are suburbs, and it will be necessary to have a car... and restaurants being walkable is kind of a joke.

When I was visiting a friend in Irvine, he lived in a sweet little neighborhood- kind of funky- walking distance to UCI, unique character, etc. Cant remember exactly where that was now...

We'll be renting- and our budget is between 1200-1800. For a 2 bedroom. We aren't really into luxury (though after 2 months in India, it will be great to be able to walk on a real sidewalk and not even think about the possibility that my next step will be in a pile of cow shi*t.) Ok- to put it plainly- We're from Portland, Oregon!! We walked everywhere, or biked, or took public transportation. We like good microbrewed beer, friendly people, live music...trees, etc. I know Orange County and Portland, Oregon are in stark contrast, but I still have hopes of finding a cool spot to spend the next few years.

Old Town Orange? Tustin? Near UCI?

Advice, please. But don't kill my dreams

Hi ,

did u guys end up finding the place u wanted? I am moving to OC this month and have the same qts as u .. v are from nyc and walking to nearby areas and being in downtown is on our list. please let me know ur experience and if you have any suggestions. thnks

[scgali]

There is a metrolink train that stops near the stadium. It also stops in downtown Fullerton which is a fun area with walkable shops/restaurants and there are apartments right there since a college area.

[JadesandRoses]

I think you'd be better off dreaming elsewhere. CA is insanely expensive and the transportation system in the OC is atrocious at best. Southern CA in general public transportation system just sucks. I hate to always have to drive but it's the only way. If you and your bf are biking just know that everything is far more spacious in the OC so one block is like 3 blocks lol. I do know of some people who exclusively bike everywhere but it's all about time management.

I like Portland better but hey it's all about preference I get the rainy city gets old but living in a pricey state will get old quick too.