Job relocation in Anaheim, but don't want to live there... (San Francisco: apartment complex, for rent)

[Bayouwolf]

A little about me. I'm a Floridian native (East central coast) and currently live in southern Ontario (Canada, not Cali). It's a long story about why I'm here but rather than bore you with that, I'll just get down to the business at hand...

I'm in the final stages of a permanent job relocation out to the Anaheim area (Brookhurst and La Palma would be the closest major intersection). While I'm not a total stranger to the OC, I've never "lived" there for more than a month at a time, and it was always on the company dime. If I'm going to make this home, I really don't want to stray too far from the beach (ideally less than a brisk hour or so bike ride away). Fountain Valley would be about as far inland as I'd like to go and I'm not even sure I want to do that.

As I'll be making semi-annual trips up to San Francisco, being near LAX or John Wayne would be helpful, but I don't mind grabbing the first flight out in the morning to avoid the traffic. I've done that before and IMO, it's not too bad if you get out on the 6-7am flights.

I'm not afraid of commuting and all the fun that entails, but I really don't want to spend my life behind the wheel just to save a few hundred bucks every month in rent. I'd also like to be able to walk or bike to local stuff in the evenings or weekends. I could sacrifice making a longer commute during the week if I didn't have to see the inside of my car all weekend. It'd also be nice to live where I didn't have to be overly concerned about my wife being home alone for a week or two while I'm gone.

My absolute breaking point budget for rent is $1900, including all utilities and parking for 2 vehicles but I'd seriously hate to be at the upper end of that. I've been researching Craigslist for a week now and seems to be just a bunch of advertisements for apartment complex's with a lot of bait and switch tactics to get you in the door and horrible reviews about loud neighbors and bad parking arrangements and shady deposit returns.

We're both in our mid 30's, no kids and no desire for kids or living in a kid friendly environment, and possibly a cat...(Assuming I don't take a shovel to it's head between now and then). Oh yeah, we're also NOT young professionals by any stretch. We acclimate to our surroundings and act accordingly and we'd rather live next to a house full of college kids who party on the weekend than someone with a dog that constantly barks or older folks who will complain about us coming and going at all hours of the night (My job occasionally requires me to work in facilities on 3rd shift when there are fewer employees around)

We enjoy dive bars, dancing to all kinds of music, most legal outdoor activities, and prefer an eclectic local flavor over family oriented activities. Would Huntington Beach or Seal Beach be right for us, or should I be looking in Newport, Costa Mesa or Long Beach? I'll be out in Torrence in Mid-March on another project and will only have a few days to look around and I'd like to narrow down the possibilities before I get there.

Thanks in advance for any advice, rants, or various other forms of banter that will help make this a productive move.

[Coldjensens]

Long Beach.