For ex-NY'ers: Gripes/Loves About Living in O.C.? (Orange: apartment, transfer)

[HarleyGuyOC]

Speaking as a Ny'er that's spent extensive time living in OC, I've developed a few loves/gripes of my own from living here in OC as compared to NYC. Now before the Lynch Mob forms, allow me to clarify right off the bat that I currently live in OC ...so obviously for me the pros outweigh the cons.

But I'd like to hear from others, particularly from NYC, who've made OC their home; What are your gripes/loves about living in OC?

[wrcousert]

I would think the biggest disappointment would be the transit system. New Yorkers can get along without a car. it's very difficult to do that in Orange County.

[HarleyGuyOC]

Originally Posted by wrcousert

I would think the biggest disappointment would be the transit system. New Yorkers can get along without a car. it's very difficult to do that in Orange County.

Lol. I remember when I first came out to OC from NYC thinking that I could rely on the bus system in order to get to work. Little did I know that unlike in NYC, the OC buses only ran a frequency of about every half hour or sometimes even every 40 minutes! ...plus they only do major avenues as routes which means you literally need to walk over a mile to get to the bus stop sometimes! And they drive those buses so annoyingly slow, making sure to make a full & complete lingering stop at each and every railroad crossing they even suspect exists. Transfers are mostly non-existant because many bus routes rarely intersect each other in a commuter-friendly way.

BTW I lost that first job because I was always either half an hour early ..or half an hour late! Turns out that the OC buses weren't only infrequent & slow ..they were also bad at keeping a tight schedule!

[wrcousert]

If you think it's bad now, you should have been here in the early 80's. I missed a route 72 bus on a Sunday morning (Harbor and Warner). The next bus didn't arrive for more than two hours! Most of the buses stopped running at about 5:00pm. The service gradually improved until a few years ago when budget cuts forced them to cut service.

[DinsdalePirahna]

The Bus system works but its nothing like NYC. (more like Nassau County)

As an exNYer, I really have no gripes about Orange County. The closest think to a gripe that I would have (and it is so minute and borderline snobby) is the lack of harbors to visit when day sailing

Pizza? ha! I am now a connoisseur of the variety of unbeatable and excellent Mexican cuisine (and I've managed to locate some pretty decent Pizza, too)

[BorisBlack]

I absolutely love Orange County. Love the people, love the weather, activities, infrastructure, schools, love everything. Even the things that people complain about aren't that bad. For example:

1) Orange County is expensive, but it's not THE most expensive area. It's not even the most expensive part of California. In Manhattan a crappy 2BR APARTMENT (not a house..an apartment) will be over a million bucks. We actually traded up by moving to Orange County from a NY suburb.

2) Traffic is bad, but it's not the WORST. OC traffic isn't as bad as NY or Boston or Chicago IMO. Don't get me wrong, the traffic is bad. But there are a lot of place that are worse.

So in short, Orange County is awesome and even the bad things aren't as bad as some people make them out to be. If I had two give you two real things:

1) The Pizza and Bagels are awful. But you know what, moving here has made me want to get in better shape so I should be eating more sushi and less Pizza and Bagels anyway.

2) It boggles my mind that most districts don't have team sports at the middle school level.

If those are the worst things you can say about a place, it's a pretty good place to live.

[bhcompy]

Part of my family hails from NY, but not NYC(hey, title says NY). They'd rather have the good weather and nice suburbs rather than ultrahigh property taxes and urban cityscapes

[Chava61]

I visit Orange from NYC (I have immediate family in OC) and I agree that the biggest drawback/disadvantage for a NYer in OC is the lack of a good public transportation system.

[Capo1213]

I'm a Jersey Shore guy who works in NYC. I love both places. Sea Girt NJ is one of the great small beach towns in the US, and NYC is, well, NYC. Commuting via train or bus allows for an hour of reading, watching video, listening to music, and generally is a pleasant experience versus the white knuckle bumper to bumper stuff I could not survive in Southern California. And qualitatively, the shore and nice suburbs around NYC are, IMHO, even nicer than those in OC....as long as you can afford it, and you can deal with the weather.

But when it's time to hang it up, we'll move out to OC, where we visit frequently. Weather, change of venue, kids in college, general ease (relative) , and no need to be around NYC, which I'm tired of after working here for 30 years.

As for taxes and cost of living, it's a real issue. But I'm willing to sacrifice some square footage and other expenses to live where i want to live versus living where the spreadsheet tells me to. And I've eaten enough pizza and bagels to last 2 lifetimes.

[piggyy]

I moved here from Staten Island when i was 8, honestly I am a little bored of living here obviously I will never go back to Staten Island because it's disgusting!!