mission viejo, laguna niguel, san clemente? relocating (San Diego, Santa Ana: for rent, house prices)

[alj626]

Hi all, We are a family of 4 (kids are 5 and 8) and are relocating from Chicago to OC or possibly San Diego. Husband works mainly out of the house but will travel at times (usually by air). Looks like Mission Viejo has good family vibe and schools are maybe more consistant than Laguna Niguel? I may be completely wrong on that, my info is coming from the computer! Our goal is to stay $3500 or under. I see some decent houses for rent online but it's hard to get an idea of the area. Thoughts? Boundary streets to stay north or south of?

[Havnfun]

Originally Posted by alj626

Hi all, We are a family of 4 (kids are 5 and 8) and are relocating from Chicago to OC or possibly San Diego. Husband works mainly out of the house but will travel at times (usually by air). Looks like Mission Viejo has good family vibe and schools are maybe more consistant than Laguna Niguel? I may be completely wrong on that, my info is coming from the computer! Our goal is to stay $3500 or under. I see some decent houses for rent online but it's hard to get an idea of the area. Thoughts? Boundary streets to stay north or south of?

We relocated to Orange County 5 years ago and moved to Mission Viejo. We also looked at Laguna Niguel but there were a couple of things about it I did not like. The biggest thing was that Laguna Niguel doesn't have a high school (our son was 16 when we moved).

We originally rented a house in the Pacific Hills area (Oso & Marguerite Parkway) of Mission Viejo and I love this area. Recently we moved up by the lake and I am not liking it! It takes a lot longer to get to the freeway from where we are now and it seems that everything we do is more in the south end of Mission Viejo. I hear that Bathgate Elementary school is really good. Currently there are a number of homes for rent just south of Oso Parkway for under $3500.

If your husband is travelling by air John Wayne airport is about 15-20 minutes from Mission Viejo.

Good luck with your move, let me know if you have any other questions.

[alj626]

Thank you! Very helpful!

[brainwashed_in_church]

San Clemente is unnecessarily far unless you really want to live on the ocean side of the 5 to live in the older beachy areas of San Clemente; Otherwise the inland side of the 5 is just like any other community in South OC - except it is farther from all the shopping and amenities that aren't in San Clemente. Mission Viejo, Ladera Ranch, Rancho Santa Margarita, Las Flores, Laguna Niguel, Lake Forest, Aliso Viejo are very similar though Irvine is a little more expensive. Closer to the ocean is a little more expensive (and cooler in summer).

Schools are pretty good everywhere Irvine schools are amongst the best in the country. Lots of Asians in Irvine. Mission Viejo and RSM Las Flores, Coto, and Ladera are a little more white; San Juan Capistrano is a little more Hispanic.

[Chava61]

My brother's family lives in Mission Viejo. He and his wife are very happy with their 3 children's schools. I know that originally his 2 older children went to Del Lago Elementary School but then switched to Del Cerro Elementary School as the younger one was put into a gifted children's class there and they wanted to keep the 2 children in the same school. This year is oldest is going Los Alisos Intermediate/Middle School which has a great reputation and the 2 younger children to Del Cerro (as the youngest has gone into the kindgarten there).

[brainwashed_in_church]

Originally Posted by Havnfun

we moved up by the lake and I am not liking it! It takes a lot longer to get to the freeway

That's the big problem living on the north side of Mission Viejo or Rancho Santa Margarita or Dove Canyon, or Robinson Ranch or Coto. You either get hammered with Toll Road fees or you're stuck driving on roads and hitting gillions (I think that's an old Cal Worthington word) of lights to reach the 5.

Alicia is pretty fast I've noticed heading north from the 5 to RSM. It seems like once you get in a pack of cars making the lights, you make most of them.

(Here's another little secret, wanna know what school your kid goes to if you live in Dove Canyon? Mission Viejo High School. Yep, that's a solid 20 minute schlep. MVHS boundaries include the logical area around it but also they include a disjointed area in Dove Canyon.)

[taraox]

Just wanted to add, if you have google maps where you can zoom into street view, look up the addresses of the homes you're interested in and explore the surrounding area Not everywhere in Socal comes up on the imagery thing, but this is what I did before I moved to RSM the first time to make sure it was a nice area and get a feel for the neighborhoods/nearby plazas etc.

[brainwashed_in_church]

Originally Posted by taraox

Just wanted to add, if you have google maps where you can zoom into street view, look up the addresses of the homes you're interested in and explore the surrounding area Not everywhere in Socal comes up on the imagery thing, but this is what I did before I moved to RSM the first time to make sure it was a nice area and get a feel for the neighborhoods/nearby plazas etc.

I do this too but in the context of this thread, it wouldn't help much simply because the towns he's asking about are virtually indiscernible. Now, if he wanted to compare RSM to Santa Ana or Irvine to Reseda, the street view would definitely help out.

A "gooder" way to discern neighborhoods is school performance.

School Performance Maps

[socalinnorcal]

I think any school within the Capistrano Unified School District is a good bet for you. This comprises much of south OC which is the area you are targeting. If you google API scores for CA schools you can enter names of Capistrano schools, one by one, and find out their API scores to get some relatives comparisons. Obviously this doesn't tell you the whole picture, but it might be a quick way to get a snapshot view of what schools are performing at the top. From there you can search for house prices within those schools' boundaries. All of the areas you are considering are great places to raise kids and I think you'd be happy anywhere in that region. If you are considering San Diego as well, I would suggest looking at the Del Mar Union school district.... lots of houses in your $ range and top-performing schools. Good luck with your move!

[dotstheocforyou]

Ladera Ranch is another very nice family-oriented area to look at.