PHL to OC

[rainrock]

Originally Posted by LuvSouthOC

I can see the attraction to NYC which has infinitely more culture, but Philly ugh. Philly is like a NYC without Manhattan.

Dont be daft.

Culturally Philly is juggernaut. It has the third most populous downtown in USA and improving on a daily basis. 1/4 tank of gas gets you to some amazing beach towns in South Jersey like Cape May,Stone Harbor,Wildwood Crest,Ocean City. Immediately west of the city you get into the piedmont , rolling valleys,rivers,woodlands.

There is a lot to like about Philadelphia area its not exactly all grime, and crime. Athough the weather lately has been ridiculous, still having snow squalls nearing April.

[TimTheEnchanter]

Originally Posted by Travessia

Hello everyone, I will be relocating to O.C. and have a question about areas to live.

I am in my late 40's, single and have been living in a downtown Philadelphia high rise condo for 20 years. I am used to walking to places and seeing diversity of people in the streets. I was offered over a six figure salary to relocate to O.C.

I spent 3 weekends in Irvine to look at the area and found it to be sterile but nice. I was not able to see any other areas such as Huntington Beach. My question is, is there any pedestrian-ish, urban-ish, funky-ish areas in O.C. that are within a 30 minute commute to Irvine? I would like to minimize the culture shock value as much as possible. I get the feeling that I would be isolated from people in Irvine, but maybe that is a lifestyle change that I would need to overcome. Thanks.

You'll have to help me on what you mean by "diversity of people". Are you talking about race? Economic circumstances? Diversity of what?

I know you know Orange County isn't Philadelphia, but it really isn't Philly. Los Angeles and Orange County is where people came to get away from living on top of each other. They wanted a little patch of dirt they could call their own. The economic realities of So Cal the last 30 years combined with the massive jumps in population have led to more urban living environments, but there just are not a of places that will resemble anything close to what you are used to.

As to "pedestrian-ish, urban-ish, funky-ish", those are almost three different things. There are places that are more pedestrian oriented, but they aren't urban-ish necessarily. Funky is something else again. There are different types of funky. I think most people would call Laguna Beach funky and downtown pedestrian friendly, but it isn't urban to my definition of urban.

Downtown Santa Ana is a bit more urbanish, but I don't think it is going to replicate what you are looking for from Philly, neither is the Downtown area of Anaheim. You could try living in each to see if they are what you are looking for, but I am not sure they are.

You could also look at the apartments in Newport Center. It is urbanish, it is pedestrian friendly, I just wouldn't call it funky and I don't know to what extent the apartment dwellers in Newport Center have a sense of community; if they gather for coffee in the evenings, etc.

You want pedestrian friendly and funky, look at Balboa Island, just don't hope for diversity too.

You can feel isolated anyplace you live, especially a new place. You have to work at getting involved and getting known.

Originally Posted by Avalon08

Someone (a native Californian co-worker) once told me that Philadelphians have a hard time in SoCal because they don't have a sense of "community" like we have in Philly, and I found that to be true. It's one big sprawling metropolis where one town leads into the next town.

I find it hard to believe a native Californian said there was no sense of community here. There is an incredible sense of community in so many neighborhoods and towns throughout.

If you moved to San Clemente, but chose to live in the new tracts sprawling east of the 5 Freeway, you wouldn't get the same sense of community that you get in the older neighborhoods where people have been neighbors for 40 years or more. The same holds true for San Juan Capistrano, Laguna Beach, Newport Beach, Fullerton, Brea, Orange, Santa Ana, Anaheim, Tustin, Seal Beach, Costa Mesa and more.

[rainrock]

Originally Posted by LuvSouthOC

FWIW, I found people in Philly to be very nice overall. It's just that it's, for lack of a better word, depressing there in many ways.

Not to be quarrelsome but what is so depressing about living in Philadelphia? Do you really know anything about the overall region outside of the gritty stereotype- which encompasses perhaps 1% of the overall region?

I will say I dont believe the people in Southern Cal are as obnoxious and cocoon-like then their Northern California brethren but you are not too far behind them. There is a whole world outside of California people. Get over yourselves.

[LuvSouthOC]

Originally Posted by rainrock

Not to be quarrelsome but what is so depressing about living in Philadelphia? .

Off topic. Nonetheless, here is a Taiwanese video that about sums up my thoughts. It does not show Philly's museums, which I did enjoy and are noteworthy, but other than that...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4fTLmeIIuQ

Originally Posted by rainrock

Do you really know anything about the overall region outside of the gritty stereotype- which encompasses perhaps 1% of the overall region?

Yes I do. I have been there several times (countless times if you count passing through Philly on the Accella). I have driven there. I have been both to the city itself and its most affluent suburbs. I have ridden its mass transit, SEPTA, etc. I have eaten there. I have been to the tourist places there. I have been to the bars there. Got it?

Originally Posted by rainrock

I will say I dont believe the people in Southern Cal are as obnoxious and cocoon-like then their Northern California brethren but you are not too far behind them. There is a whole world outside of California people. Get over yourselves.

Stop assuming Californians are unfamiliar with places outside of California. Some live where they do precisely because they do not want to live in a place like Philadelphia.

[Avalon08]

I know you know Orange County isn't Philadelphia, but it really
isn't Philly. Los Angeles and Orange County is where people came to get away
from living on top of each other.

I had to chuckle at this. LA and Orange County is the biggest sea of humanity I've ever seen. There is no yard space. Talk about people living on top of one another! My friend's million-dollar home in OC looks right into her neighbor's yard. People come there for the weather, not to get away from living on top of one another. And if you're comparing it to Philly, you don't know much about the city. It is not known as a "living on top of one another" city; in fact, it's known as a "city of homes" as opposed to NY with its widespread apartment living.

I find it hard to believe a native Californian said there was no sense of
community here. There is an incredible sense of community in so many
neighborhoods and towns throughout.

Did you want his name? Yes, individual OC towns may have a sense of community but I believe he was talking about a "city identity", which does not exist there and is very strong in Philadelphia. It is a large city with a small-town identity and hometown loyalty.

Look, I certainly did not mean to imply in my post above that Philadelphia is better than Southern CA or that any native Californian should want to move there. I did not mean to sound critical of Southern Californians -- in fact, I said I loved it there. I was simply addressing the OP's desire to "minimize the culture shock", which is not gonna happen. It WILL be a culture shock.

[TimTheEnchanter]

Originally Posted by Avalon08

I had to chuckle at this. LA and Orange County is the biggest sea of humanity I've ever seen. There is no yard space. Talk about people living on top of one another! My friend's million-dollar home in OC looks right into her neighbor's yard. People come there for the weather, not to get away from living on top of one another. And if you're comparing it to Philly, you don't know much about the city. It is not known as a "living on top of one another" city; in fact, it's known as a "city of homes" as opposed to NY with its widespread apartment living.

The population density in Philadelphia is over 11,000 psm, Orange County is 3,200 psm, LA County is 2,100 psm with the city of LA at 8,200, but I was referring to COLA in 1950 when the density was only around 4,000 because people were populating areas like the San Fernando Valley. A lot of the population had moved to the west during or immediately after the war from back east and were not looking to replicate those cities.

[Eagles2013]

Originally Posted by TimTheEnchanter

The population density in Philadelphia is over 11,000 psm, Orange County is 3,200 psm, LA County is 2,100 psm with the city of LA at 8,200, but I was referring to COLA in 1950 when the density was only around 4,000 because people were populating areas like the San Fernando Valley. A lot of the population had moved to the west during or immediately after the war from back east and were not looking to replicate those cities.

As someone who presently lives in the Philadelphia area here are my points:

I think the population density sort of lies with these figures. The truth is the majority of Philadelphia lives in the suburbs. I believe 1.5 million live in the city while another 5 million live outside the county in Philadelphia Metro (surrounding counties in PA and New Jersey). Many of these suburbs have a low population density, the 11k per mile figures is inside the city. Just from driving around Orange County it is clear that it is far more populated in terms of the number of cars and the number of homes packed close together (our highways never exceed 4 lanes). Most of the homes in the suburbs around Philadelphia sit on lots that would contain 2+ homes in Orange County.

[katnip kid]

No Wawas? Well, that alone right there would make me rethink the entire idea of living in OC.

[Coldjensens]

Santa Ana has the only thing close to a downtown in Orange Count and it is not much, but there are some fun places. It is walk-able if you use common sense about where you go and how you act.

Orange, Fullerton and Laguna Beach have a couple of streets of shops. Orange is especially cool, quite a few movies are shot there because it is quaint. Laguna is unaffordable.

You can work out the school situation anywhere. If you do not pay the premium for top notch public schools, you will have to work at it a little more, but you can find solutions anywhere in OC.