newport beach (Santa Ana, Anaheim, Irvine: real estate, credit card, house)

[gkgeisness]

I'm trying to find a place to settle down and start a family. Newport Beach is one of my top picks but I have some questions:
1. is there marine layer every morning, just worse in M/J...or is there marine layer ONLY in M/June...
2. and can a person avoid the marine layer by living higher up in the hills?
3. how are the schools. I know that they are rated high, but I've heard that they are crowded and outdated, and I'm fearful that the amount of wealth in that area might make the kids that go to the public schools feel "lesser" than all of the private school students.
4. is there danger of fire and landslides there. I would like to live somewhere with ocean view...is that possible without then subjecting ourselves to possible landslide?
5. are the people friendly, or is it very competitive and materialistic.
6. is it family friendly, with lots of things to do with young children?

thank you!!!!

[Reivax]

Homes with ocean view will be starting at around 1.5 million.
Plenty to do there, it's where I grew up and raised my children until a year ago.
I don't remember being bored or there being any lack of clubs and activities.
I attended private school most of my life (Catholic) school. Honestly, I always felt I had "less" than the public schools that had pools, nice sports fields, new classrooms, etc.

Avoid homes on cliffs or in valleys, and you avoid landslides. Easy to find homes on flat ground there.

marine layer can be all the time, less likely in Sept and Oct, which are fairly hot and dry. The traditional "june gloom" isn't limited to June, but I remember spending many 4th of July evenings in a sweatshirt and blanket wrapped around my legs watching fireworks.
Avoid the marine layer by avoiding the ocean, the heavy moist air sinks, so lower areas will have it, but I can't say that living on the cliffs in Newport would be high enough to avoid it.
People are competitive, but you can meet all types of people and be friends with the ones that suit you best. No need to let that scare you off.
Good luck with your choice!

[Coldjensens]

1. is there marine layer every morning, just worse in M/J...or is there marine layer ONLY in M/June...

Pretty much on and off. Not in the winter though. June is the worst.
2. and can a person avoid the marine layer by living higher up in the hills?
I am not sure that you can get up that high. Maybe soem days you will be above it. You still have to drive through it or look through it to see the water.

If you are concerned about landslides and fires stay out of the hills.

3. how are the schools. I know that they are rated high, but I've heard that they are crowded and outdated, and I'm fearful that the amount of wealth in that area might make the kids that go to the public schools feel "lesser" than all of the private school students.

Newport Beach is not the best schools. Irvine and Mission Viejo have better schools. Loads of spoiled children with bad morals and priorities. Other top high schools are Oxford Academy (Anaheim) Troy (Fullerton), Orange County High School of the Arts (Santa Ana). You can get statistics from several different sites on the web, but you have to go there and spend as much time as possible at the schools to really get a feel. Schools change from good to bad or bad to good in less than two years, so it is hard to plan that way.

4. is there danger of fire and landslides there. I would like to live somewhere with ocean view...is that possible without then subjecting ourselves to possible landslide?
Yes and yes. If you are very rich, you can live close to the ocean and have a view. If you live in the hills you are in danger of landslides and fires. With five or six million, you can live on the bluffs in Laguna or in Corona Del Mar. I do not think that you will find much with na ocean view for under a million to two million.

5. are the people friendly, or is it very competitive and materialistic.
If you want to generalize, it is very competitive and materialistic. However you can find all kinds of people just like anywhere else. Lots of people with plastic body parts and plastic credit cards supporting their excessive lifestyles. However there are a lot of down to earth nice people in Newport Beach, they are just not as common nor as visible as the pretentious people.

6. is it family friendly, with lots of things to do with young children?

Not really family friendly. Crowded and rushed. The moral atmosphere is generally not good. Many many kids have really messed up priorities (Prada more important than honor, or empathy). All of OC is that way, but again this is a generalization and generalizations are dumb. There are a lot of terrific people. It is not a place where family values are high prioirty lie much of the Midwest tends to be if that is what you are asking. Do people love their families? Yes. However the family concept is rarely the top priority for many (most).

Newport Beach is an extremely wealthy community and carries everything that goes with extreme wealth good and bad. You will not run out of things to do at any age. If you do, something is wrong with you. the beach and the fun zone will hold their attention through at least seventh grade. You can go on little hikes in the back bay. Sail, kayak, dive, swim, surf, skim, fly kites, rollerblade, bike, etc etc along the beach. Corona Del Mar beach is more young kid friendly. Keep small children away from the wedge (not even on the shore near the water - very dangerous). There is plenty of shopping, museums nearby in Santa Ana, loads of commercial id play places all over (not so much in Newport - real estate is too valuable).

[gkgeisness]

thank you both for all of your help. I think that NB is not what I'm looking for. I want the beauty and near by nature but top priority right now is where is the best place to raise my kids and although I'm sure many great kids grow up there, I think that it might be too hard for me.

[Coldjensens]

Are you looking country wide? Franklin Tennessee sounds really good right now, although I have never been there.

[gkgeisness]

no, I'm not. my husband has too much business in LA to live very far away. Plus I really love southern cali. But my search for a good place to raise my kids, be safe, and enjoy life, keeps coming to dead ends, making me think that if the opportunity arises, maybe I will leave...in which case, I will keep Franklin Tennessee in mind! thanks.

[missionhome]

Laguna Niguel, San Clemente, and Dana Point are nice coastal communities in Southern Orange County where there is a less pretentious feel and people aren't so materialistic. There is still lots of money, but it isn't like Newport Beach money or culture. The school are good and the area is a lot more family friendly. I would say 9/10 of the families in South Orange County have the family as the TOP priority in my experience, while Newport (my brother in law lives there, his family is a disaster, divorced, kids hate him, etc...) feels more like 5 or 6/10 on family being a priority. All the attractions of Newport are just a thirty minute drive away from Dana, San Clemente, and Laguna Niguel also. Mission Viejo is also very family friendly, but is not ocean front, is is about twenty minutes from it. 1.5 million would buy you a nice house in any of these cities too.

[outofoc]

There's not marine layer every morning mostly just in June "June gloom". Many mornings it is very brief (gone by 8). If you have enough money to live in the hills of Newport beach with an ocean view than you should be sending your kids to private school. They will not be able to escape the materialistic competitiveness no matter where they go. The public schools (because of the geographical boundries) have many wealthy as well as many poor kids. It would suck to be poor.

Laguna, while it shares many of the same qualities, has a more diverse (although wealthy) population.

[cobmw]

Coldjensens:

You can't get into Oxford Academy unless you come from an Anaheim school and you can successfully compete academically against lots of smart Asians for the limited space. Go to their website and look for yourself.

[Coldjensens]

Yes I know that. That is true of Troy (Fullerton schools). And the competitive admissions are true of OCHSA, but it is arts based. Just happens to have outstanding academics. I am not sure about Irvine's University high they may have competitive admissions too. Mission Veijo is just a regular public school with good results. Those are the top high school choices. Kids may as well start getting used to competing with smart Asians. Compete with them or work for them one or the other.