Seal Beach - Any places we need to avoid? (Los Angeles: middle school, places to live)

[zachm35]

I've heard about gang members etc. in Seal Beach, and I'm hoping for some practical input here.

We're in mid-county right now, and have really had it with the Irvine Company's influence on......EVERYTHING.

We can't stand the fact that you can't go shopping around here without walking out smelling like you just came from your 8 hour shift in a perfume factory. I am not exaggerating...every store you visit here (even grocery stores, drugstores, my god even stationery stores) has to have a constant air flow that includes chemical fragrance blowing on you, and if you're allergic, or if you're just a self-respecting guy who doesn't like to smell that way, who the hell needs it? What are they afraid of here? Ask the managers, and they'll say "Noooooo, we don't do thaaaaat!" Bull-oney. Talk about "Big Brother" running everything.

Please tell me there's somewhere in So Cal that doesn't do that? I know L.A. is about as bad, so forget it. Need someplace more friendly overall anyway, that's not looking to kill you with chemicals.

Okay, now that I've ranted long enough......how about it So Cal? Anyplace to live in maybe Seal Beach that is more safe and sane? I'm open to other suggestions too.

Thanks!

[Robsteel17]

I've never heard of any gang issues in Seal Beach. None. It's one of the most desirable places to live in OC. Expensive though.

[LuvSouthOC]

Originally Posted by zachm35

We can't stand the fact that you can't go shopping around here without walking out smelling like you just came from your 8 hour shift in a perfume factory. I am not exaggerating...every store you visit here (even grocery stores, drugstores, my god even stationery stores) has to have a constant air flow that includes chemical fragrance blowing on you, and if you're allergic, or if you're just a self-respecting guy who doesn't like to smell that way, who the hell needs it? What are they afraid of here? Ask the managers, and they'll say "Noooooo, we don't do thaaaaat!" Bull-oney. Talk about "Big Brother" running everything.

Please tell me there's somewhere in So Cal that doesn't do that? I know L.A. is about as bad, so forget it. Need someplace more friendly overall anyway, that's not looking to kill you with chemicals.

Wow, a kindred spirit. I hate perfumes and chemicals. This is also applicable to malls where those aweful candle stores and ladies' bath products stores make me gag. Add to that the industrial chemicals they use in most public restrooms. GROSS and toxic. Berkeley banned perfumes but don't expect that to come to OC.

I would say that South OC and North SD tend to be the most outdoorsy areas and both have many persons who are gladly fragrance free. However, because many immigrant communities and often women use far too much fragrance, those of us with extreme sensitivities to these chemicals must continue to suffer horribly.

[ihatedcu]

Avoid Westminster/seal beach Blvd. Those, OGs are tuff mothers.

[kwong7]

Originally Posted by ihatedcu

Avoid Westminster/seal beach Blvd. Those, OGs are tuff mothers.

Ha! Yep there's definitely a battleground between the young whipper-snapper Engineers of Boeing and their rivals The Greatest Generation at Leisure World…OG indeed.

I can't think of a single bad area of Seal Beach.

[MaxLMG]

Lol. Gang members.

[Podo944]

Originally Posted by LuvSouthOC

Wow, a kindred spirit. I hate perfumes and chemicals. This is also applicable to malls where those aweful candle stores and ladies' bath products stores make me gag. Add to that the industrial chemicals they use in most public restrooms. GROSS and toxic. Berkeley banned perfumes but don't expect that to come to OC.

I would say that South OC and North SD tend to be the most outdoorsy areas and both have many persons who are gladly fragrance free. However, because many immigrant communities and often women use far too much fragrance, those of us with extreme sensitivities to these chemicals must continue to suffer horribly.

Ha! I have to avoid a section of the mall because of the Abercrombie and fitch store! My throat just closes up trying block the heavy waft!

Most of the time I don't have too much of a problem with a light fragrance, (thank goodness because I usually work with the public) but once a few years back, I was working a shift in the slow part of an afternoon and 2 middle eastern women came in and the older one, I swear it, someone must have picked her up by the arms and completely dunked her in a vat of some gawd awful cheap perfume! The chemicals were so strong, that people who were sitting in their section had to move to the other side of the restaurant, and I immediately started wheezing and had to grab my inhaler from my purse that was in the cupboard 3 feet away from their booth, then I literally had to run out the back door to get air!

My manager who was pretty tough, had to open the front door, the back door, (which we're not supposed to do) and the side emergency door! We honestly didn't know what to do, and I was afraid they might think people were moving away from them because with the scarves and such they were pretty obviously Muslim! I'm thinking... "it's just the perfume! Don't get the wrong idea!" Talk about awkward!
Never in my life have I ever experienced being near a human who was so immersed in fragrance! I'm guessing the old woman was with her daughter who was obviously used to it. We were half joking about calling 911 because we felt like we were being poisoned! BTW, one of my first waitress jobs was in a middle eastern restaurant, belly dancers and all in Los Angeles where I grew up, so it's not like I'm oblivious to other cultures.

Okay, well, that was an extreme case, but this sure brought up that memory!
And yeah, people who aren't affected really think we're crazy... hang in there brothers and sisters!

[NickofDiamonds]

Another place to avoid in Seal Beach is the Seal Beach Naval Weapons Center.
The people there are known to carry guns !

[NoNansea]

In the early 90's when my kids were in school, there was an asian gang that waited at the park for middle school bus. When the kids got off the bus, the gang members threatened some kids, one guy flashed a gun. Parents called Seal Beach Police Dept. They were at the park in a very few minutes. Caught the gang members, who were young themselves. That gang nor any gang was not seen anywhere near Seal Beach ever again.

[kwong7]

Originally Posted by NoNansea

In the early 90's when my kids were in school, there was an asian gang that waited at the park for middle school bus. When the kids got off the bus, the gang members threatened some kids, one guy flashed a gun. Parents called Seal Beach Police Dept. They were at the park in a very few minutes. Caught the gang members, who were young themselves. That gang nor any gang was not seen anywhere near Seal Beach ever again.

The 90s were a pretty crappy time for a lot of Orange County. Huntington Beach had a massive skinhead problem, a Japanese tourist was beaten to death, there were riots, and a curfew has been in place for minors & minorities congregating in large groups. I remember asian students from Marina High School and Westminster High School getting into an all out "gang" inspired brawl around 1994.

Things cleaned up pretty much after the mid 90s, but there are still pockets in Santa Ana that folks would probably want to avoid. Aside from the Mexican gangs, Orange County gangs are pretty small time compared to Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, & Boston.