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Old 11-04-2011, 09:31 AM
 
Location: Duvall, WA
1,677 posts, read 6,841,405 times
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All of South Orange County is relatively expensive. We currently rent a 3 bedroom apartment in Aliso Viejo and it's $2105/month. My brother is in a 2 bedroom in the same complex and it's $1700/month. Irvine is even more expensive. Aliso is really family friendly.

As to water, I think we get a lot of it from the Colorado River.

Good luck with your move!

V. =)
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Old 11-13-2011, 07:10 PM
 
5 posts, read 8,478 times
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Default Possibly relocating from So Cali to Round Rock/Austin

Quote:
Originally Posted by TXTrnsplant View Post
Also looking at a similar relo - Round Rock, TX to Lake Forest. The comments here have been helpful. What is the "water" situation in Orange County? Of course, TX is in the middle of a historic drought, but it's got me thinking about long-term water planning, and I was just wondering how Orange County is doing in this area.
I'm doing the reverse . I'm planning to move to Round Rock, TX from So Cali. To answer your question, Lake Forest is a good choice to live in and I would definitely move there or Irvine from Los Angeles County if I could afford it. As of now, we dont have a severe water shortage compared to previous years.

If you dont mind, I'd like to ask you what your thoughts are on living in Round Rock/Austin? I'm planning to move there because I am unhappy about the quality of living here in SCAL. I live in Los Angeles county and I would like to get away from the high cost of living, rude, materialistic, greedy people, broke school systems. It seems the places I want to live in , are too expensive, which I cant afford so thats why I'm looking into Texas. I am looking for a place where I can raise a family without fear of violence, gangs, genuine friendly people and job security, lower cost of living. A list of Pros/Cons would help me. Thanks

Last edited by l2relo; 11-13-2011 at 07:15 PM.. Reason: typo
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Old 11-13-2011, 07:25 PM
 
156 posts, read 403,645 times
Reputation: 62
Quote:
Originally Posted by l2relo View Post
I'm doing the reverse . I'm planning to move to Round Rock, TX from So Cali. To answer your question, Lake Forest is a good choice to live in and I would definitely move there or Irvine from Los Angeles County if I could afford it. As of now, we dont have a severe water shortage compared to previous years.

If you dont mind, I'd like to ask you what your thoughts are on living in Round Rock/Austin? I'm planning to move there because I am unhappy about the quality of living here in SCAL. I live in Los Angeles county and I would like to get away from the high cost of living, rude, materialistic, greedy people, broke school systems. It seems the places I want to live in , are too expensive, which I cant afford so thats why I'm looking into Texas. I am looking for a place where I can raise a family without fear of violence, gangs, genuine friendly people and job security, lower cost of living. A list of Pros/Cons would help me. Thanks
you will like austin.i did the 10 months i was there.
the only setback is wages could be lower and the hot hot weather,besides that i loved it.
im trying to relo back myself but the wife doesnt want to leave this beautiful state cause of family and the weather.

pros cost of living,friendly people
cons weather,grocery shopping.we have 10-15 chains or so compared to 3-4 in austin
not too many outdoor activities compared to cali.we have lakes,mountains,amusement parks etc...
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Old 11-14-2011, 09:16 PM
 
129 posts, read 226,689 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by l2relo View Post
I'm doing the reverse . I'm planning to move to Round Rock, TX from So Cali. To answer your question, Lake Forest is a good choice to live in and I would definitely move there or Irvine from Los Angeles County if I could afford it. As of now, we dont have a severe water shortage compared to previous years.

If you dont mind, I'd like to ask you what your thoughts are on living in Round Rock/Austin? I'm planning to move there because I am unhappy about the quality of living here in SCAL. I live in Los Angeles county and I would like to get away from the high cost of living, rude, materialistic, greedy people, broke school systems. It seems the places I want to live in , are too expensive, which I cant afford so thats why I'm looking into Texas. I am looking for a place where I can raise a family without fear of violence, gangs, genuine friendly people and job security, lower cost of living. A list of Pros/Cons would help me. Thanks
Not sure how long you've lived in California but, living in an area that's less than ideal, far from your job or social circles that weren't friendly will skew your perception of a place.

I've lived in SoCal and the Bay Area for over 20 years and moved to Austin with my wife 5 years ago to raise a family and to expand my skill-set with a privately owned start-up company in Information Technology.

It's a good town but, that's also what it feels like to me, a town.

Round Rock is a different vibe than Austin..much different. It's considered a northern suburb..nothing special. The people in Austin are friendly but, the pace is slower. Jobs pay less unless you're in the IT industry with a great company and I'm not talking Dell which is considered by some/most of my colleagues as a "sweatshop".

Austin Pros:

- Friendly laid-back people/culture
- Great Tex-Mex/Barbecue
- quaint clubs/bars/live music
- South By Southwest music conference
- Afford a relatively inexpensive home

Cons:

- Blistering hot/humid weather (bordering on oppressive 2nd only to Phoenix, AZ but, it's still not Houston)
- High property taxes (depending on the appraisal value add $400-$600 to your monthly payment)
- Not a lot of diversity or culture IMO (subjective)
- UT burnt-orange overkill (subjective) move here and you'll get the picture

These are broad strokes and at-a-glance the Pros outweigh the Cons but, the Cons hold a lot of weight. Comfortable weather and an abundance of activities to do year-round are priceless, Oh, let's not forget the beaches

Coming from a Californian, hope this helps a bit.
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Old 11-15-2011, 09:00 AM
 
Location: Grosse Ile Michigan
30,707 posts, read 79,581,771 times
Reputation: 39445
Quote:
Originally Posted by bhcompy View Post
Water situation is fine. Aqueducts bring water in from various river sources and the water rights are secure. The local aquifer is replenished through water reclamation. There's also a desalination project in the works
Actually it is not fine. They are just not making a lot of noise about it. The aqueduct system cannot meet the current needs. Many places where the water is taken from are starting to raise a stink. Things are not as bad as they are for Los Angeles, but there are plenty of problems. OC is sitting right on top of the largest underground lake in the area. However that lake is being depleted fairly quickly. OC is on the verge of severe shortages, but so far, they are holding the crisis at bay. The reclamation project was initiated becuase we were beginning to draw down the water table so far that it was getting infiltrated by salt water. the idea is to slow the draw down so that the fresh water will provide sufficient hydrostatic loads to keep the salt water out.

The reclaimed water replenishing the aquafer is actually funny. They R.O. the sewer water. It is cleaner than our drinking water, but they cannot put it directly back into the water system becasue that would be "icky" (drinking sewer water). So, they pump it to the settling ponds and dump it in there. It mixes with the polluted water and carries the pollutants down into the aquifer. However contrary to the popular myth there is no little green man living under the ground telling the former sewer water to go to the left and the non sewer water from the mountains to go to the right and keeping them segregated. It is all mixed together and yes, you are drinking sewer water. The aquifer is replenished by all sources of water together, then it is pumped out, processed and put into service.

The Orange County water department (not their official name) does not know what they are going to do. They are aware that water is running out fast. They have plans to help slow the shortage but no plan to avert a crisis, they just hope that something will come up to solve the problem. That hope is not unfounded, usually something does. The recession was very good for them. The out of control growth was part of the problem. Desalinization is only a band aid solution right now. It is too expensive to operate and cannot meet the growing demand. Maybe technology will eventually make desalinization more practical.


Is the county going to run out and everyone die of dehydration? No. Are people going to have to do away with over-saturated swampy lush green lawns, giant fountains, water falls, etcetera? Probably. You may even have to golf on brown grass eventually. The giant evaporation ponds otherwise known as back yard pools may also become a thing for the very well to do only. People may eventually have to share a pool, and will probably have to keep them covered to prevent evaporation.

Water prices will continue to rise. In case no one noticed, water has already become very expensive.
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Old 11-20-2011, 10:36 PM
 
Location: Pasadena CA
2 posts, read 10,602 times
Reputation: 10
Default Agree with l2relo

Quote:
Originally Posted by l2relo View Post
I'm doing the reverse . I'm planning to move to Round Rock, TX from So Cali. To answer your question, Lake Forest is a good choice to live in and I would definitely move there or Irvine from Los Angeles County if I could afford it. As of now, we dont have a severe water shortage compared to previous years.

If you dont mind, I'd like to ask you what your thoughts are on living in Round Rock/Austin? I'm planning to move there because I am unhappy about the quality of living here in SCAL. I live in Los Angeles county and I would like to get away from the high cost of living, rude, materialistic, greedy people, broke school systems. It seems the places I want to live in , are too expensive, which I cant afford so thats why I'm looking into Texas. I am looking for a place where I can raise a family without fear of violence, gangs, genuine friendly people and job security, lower cost of living. A list of Pros/Cons would help me. Thanks
We are also doing the same for the same reasons; Texas seems to be everything that CA is not.Irvine is nice enough but it is in CA and this state is in economic and social decline.Most of So. CA either looks like a country club resort with prices that reflect that or an impoverished third world country with trash, graffiti, blight and overcrowding and horrible public schools.The borders of both are smashed up against one another.
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Old 11-22-2011, 03:08 AM
 
370 posts, read 997,823 times
Reputation: 242
100k doesn't go too far in Irvine
For starters you are now going to pay State Income Tax, so that 100k gets knocked down to about 90k

Do you really want to live check to check in an apartment and have no equity to show for it ?
I did, for a while, I lived in OC for years, waste of time an money.
Now have a Really Nice house in Austin, I own it, and it's cheaper
then the apartment I was renting

Like Austin better than Irvine myself.



Quote:
Originally Posted by KidEgo View Post
Hi all,

My family (wife, 3 1/2 year old daughter, and myself) are considering a job opportunity in Irvine Ca. I am currently employed in Austin Tx and make around 80k a year total compensation.

I have a few questions.

1. What are family / good school neighborhoods in or near Irvine?
2. How much does rent cost to live in the areas mentioned in #1? Depending on current rent cost, we would be interested in renting a 2 or 3 bedroom house or apartment.
3. How much more would I need to earn to rent a 2 or 3 bedroom house or apartment in those areas?

Basically, I'm trying to assess if the job move is feasible based on the desired parameters above? In other words, would 100k be sufficient?

Thanks,
- Kid
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Old 11-22-2011, 10:50 PM
 
129 posts, read 226,689 times
Reputation: 122
I respectfully disagree, you can do fine on 100K in Irvine with a small family as the OP and myself have with reasonable budget/overhead. My wife is from Irvine and I've been a Californian 2/3 of my life. Owning sounds like a preference at this time in your life but may not be a priority for everybody. I also own a pretty home in a well developed area in Austin and in my humble opinion "owning" a home is a bit overrated. Add owner's insurance, maintenance, high electrical costs (constant AC) can also get expensive here in Austin then you add the property tax on top and suddenly it's getting up there. I've also arrived at a time in my life where better climate is a priority. Austin is clean, friendly and a nice place to raise a family but, I found that the extreme heat although not quite like Houston is oppressive which a big trade-off for owning home here and doesn't have quite the same amenities or access to other recreational activities that SoCal has which of course you will pay for so renting is fine for some of us.
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Old 11-22-2011, 11:01 PM
 
129 posts, read 226,689 times
Reputation: 122
Quote:
Originally Posted by Christine Blair View Post
We are also doing the same for the same reasons; Texas seems to be everything that CA is not.Irvine is nice enough but it is in CA and this state is in economic and social decline.Most of So. CA either looks like a country club resort with prices that reflect that or an impoverished third world country with trash, graffiti, blight and overcrowding and horrible public schools.The borders of both are smashed up against one another.
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