Moving to San Clemente/Oceanside area, looking for advice ASAP (San Diego: lawyers, new home)

[dexter14]

Originally Posted by thisplacesucks

I take exception to your blatant & uninformed comment regarding O'side. I lived there for many years & I am not a hooker, drug dealer, gang member or Marine, nor are my family members. O'side has gangs & drugs & other crime in some areas, but not disproportionate to any othet SoCal metro area. To imply that OC is so squeaky-clean...utter bs. And Anaheim...please!

Oceanside has half the population of Anaheim yet higher violent crime rates . Do some research...

//www.city-data.com/crime/crime...alifornia.html
//www.city-data.com/crime/crime...alifornia.html

[HyperionGap]

Originally Posted by mbell75

Oceanside has half the population of Anaheim yet higher violent crime rates . Do some research...

//www.city-data.com/crime/crime...alifornia.html
//www.city-data.com/crime/crime...alifornia.html

I know you have trouble with numbers, but maybe you should read your own data.

Oceanside: 262
Anaheim: 259
US Average: 301

This is all per capita so your retarded comment about population is dumb.

[pacific2]

Originally Posted by LuvSouthOC

I am fairly familiar with the area being discussed. People are getting carried away. It is just a cluster of older single story garage apartment buildings that look to have been converted into condos. I would not prefer to live there myself, but know someone who owns a unit there. It is indeed heavily immigrant (Hispanic). It is not bad there, with no visible crime (grafitti); it is just apparently low income. It is not a dangerous place from my observation and certainly does not appear gang infested. It is indeed right by Laguna Woods/Laguna Hills.

There is good news about that area. Aliso Viejo has just completed some pretty extensive work at Iglesia Park, as soccer and baseball fields were refurbished. Area residents were also provided with information about the Aliso Viejo Family Resource Center and the Aliso Viejo Aquatic Center.

Aliso Viejo celebrates park refurbishments - The Orange County Register

I honestly don't know why they ever allowed that park to lapse into "uneven, patchy fields," instead of maintaining it at the same high standards set for the city's other 22 parks. Hopefully, this signals that it will never again be neglected.

[Podo944]

Originally Posted by LuvSouthOC

I am fairly familiar with that area being discussed. People are getting carried away. It is just a cluster of older single story garage apartment buildings that look to have been converted into condos. I would not prefer to live there myself, but know someone who owns a unit there. It is indeed heavily immigrant (Hispanic). It is not bad there, with no visible crime (grafitti); it is just apparently low income. It is not a dangerous place from my observation and certainly does not appear gang infested. It is indeed right by Laguna Woods/Laguna Hills.

Yeah, when we looked it didn't appear to be dangerous, it was mostly the thought of being surrounded by excessive noise, hoards of kids and a huge culture gap that was the deciding factor for us.

Btw, a real estate agent told us the original residents were primarily tied to Leisure World as various caretakers and employees.

[jamsifoes]

Originally Posted by pacific2

There is good news about that area. Aliso Viejo has just completed some pretty extensive work at Iglesia Park, as soccer and baseball fields were refurbished. Area residents were also provided with information about the Aliso Viejo Family Resource Center and the Aliso Viejo Aquatic Center.

Aliso Viejo celebrates park refurbishments - The Orange County Register

I honestly don't know why they ever allowed that park to lapse into "uneven, patchy fields," instead of maintaining it at the same high standards set for the city's other 22 parks. Hopefully, this signals that it will never again be neglected.

I am glad to see the city spend some money on Iglesia Park. This park gets more use than any other parks in Aliso Viejo. I used to run on trails behind that park and you see hordes of kids playing on the field and having a good time.

[pacific2]

Originally Posted by Podo944

Yeah, when we looked it didn't appear to be dangerous, it was mostly the thought of being surrounded by excessive noise, hoards of kids and a huge culture gap that was the deciding factor for us.

Btw, a real estate agent told us the original residents were primarily tied to Leisure World as various caretakers and employees.

I agree. It's not a dangerous area, but the QOL would keep many from living there. There are too many people per unit and parking is inadequate.

Apparently, that area, Iglesia, was not included in Aliso Viejo's master plan, but was annexed in 2001 when AV achieved cityhood.

So, it doesn't belong to the Aliso Viejo HOA. Consequently, it doesn't receive routine slope, tree, grounds and parks maintenance/beautification services provided by that entity. Instead, it must rely upon the City of Aliso Viejo, a different body.

I read that, at least in the past, some of that area's residents had complained of feeling neglected. They wanted rest rooms at Iglesia Park and improved park maintenance. It seems that a big problem was one of gopher holes that made walking difficult and falls possible.

Still, although they had legitimate complaints, they didn't know how to work with a bureaucracy, even a small one like AV's. An AV official said they should have voiced their concerns at a council meeting. Some who live in Iglesia countered that they thought those meetings were only open to homeowners.

Fast forward to 2015 and Iglesia Park has undergone extensive renovation. What's more, AV seems to be engaging in outreach, and some are calling Iglesia Park, "A hidden gem."
Iglesia Park in Aliso Viejo | OC Mom Blog | OC Mom Blog

[tstwahine]

OP. Since your hubby will be commuting to San Clemente 2-3 times a week have you considered Costa Mesa as a possibility? There is a 3 bed/2 bath apartment for $2000K. You can also take the toll road if traffic is an issue down to san clemente.

There are also some nice neighborhoods in old santa ana. near the south coast metro.

Orange County is a very expensive place for a family but I don't think impossible to live on with $105K - the one thing that you have mentioned is being deeply in debt. What type of debt are we talking here? $50K? 100K?

[LagunaMom]

Per Oceanside,
Some of the nicest and safest places are between the 76 and the 78.

[AnnieB85]

Thanks everyone for the info! Update: we decided to pass on Orange County. It isn't worth it to me to move backwards standard-of-living-wise. We do ok now and we've worked hard to achieve a comfortable situation. Moving there would negate all that hard work, and honestly we just didn't like the vibe. No point in struggling to live by then ocean when everything we can afford isn't by the ocean (lol). We are moving somewhere else, which will actually be a nice compromise with work. Anyway, thanks for the input!

[AnnieB85]

Oh and tstwahine: with student loans it's closer to 30k. Without the loans, we really only have around 5k now, everything else was just paid off. Honestly, we could live on 105 but it's not worth it to me to downgrade to a shabby little apartment that won't take my pets or piano. We looked at Costa Mesa and the condos are tiny! I don't get the appeal of Orange County at all. It's just not for us I guess. To each their own though!