Potential relocation, looking for safe areas to live for young family (Huntington Beach: for rent, hotel)

[pjnugget]

My potential employer will be near the Bella Terra area in Huntington Beach. Looking to rent a 3br for my wife and 3yo and 3mo. Our budget will be around 2500-3000 to rent. Don't want to be too far from work within 30 mins.

Looking at Irvine, Aliso Viejo or Mission Viejo. Even though our kids are still young for school, we would want to rent in an area that we would potential buy in a couple of years when our kids start school.

Any suggestions areas from those towns would be greatly appreciated. Like to be close to green trails, beach, shopping and maybe a couple breweries

[Electrician4you]

Originally Posted by pjnugget

My potential employer will be near the Bella Terra area in Huntington Beach. Looking to rent a 3br for my wife and 3yo and 3mo. Our budget will be around 2500-3000 to rent. Don't want to be too far from work within 30 mins.

Looking at Irvine, Aliso Viejo or Mission Viejo. Even though our kids are still young for school, we would want to rent in an area that we would potential buy in a couple of years when our kids start school.

Any suggestions areas from those towns would be greatly appreciated. Like to be close to green trails, beach, shopping and maybe a couple breweries

Irvine is your best bet. Aliso and Mission are too far imo for commuting . Traffic is going to get to you if you're driving that far. Look into Newport Beach, Cista Mesa the furthest and the closest in Huntington, Fountain Valley, Westminster because you're not getting any closer to the beach than those cities.

Don't worry about buying a house now. Where you live isn't going to make a difference when it comes to buying. If you're in Orange County there aren't many green trails around here. The closest hiking is Laguna Canyon or go out to Orange/Silverado Canyon. HB Main Street by the pier has breweries.
Mist of the stuff you want is going to be driving to and from.
Your 2500-3000 range for rent is on target for a 2-3 bedroom

[pacific2]

Actually, there are a lot of parks and hiking trails throughout South County. People are heavily into the outdoors and sports in Aliso Viejo, and the city alone has 21 parks:
Aliso Viejo Community Association

There's also Aliso and Wood Canyons Wilderness Park (County Owned) which cuts through Aliso:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iHG7EMXkxQ

The beach is about 10-15 minutes away. The city is safe and family-oriented.

You won't find many breweries in AV. Regarding a commute from AV to HB, I think it would be a pain.

[Electrician4you]

When I worked in MV it took 30 minutes to get there from HB at 5am. When I stayed late and left at4-5pm it could be in to two hours to get home in HB.
At best you're looking at a 45 min drive. Remember you're going with LA traffic. And there will be MAJOR work on the 405 freeway widening project soon.

[pjnugget]

When I look at an app like Sigalert it always looks like traffic is going the opposite way when I go from AV to HB in morning and reverse in the afternoon.

Also would taking 73 help with the traffic?

[pacific2]

Originally Posted by pjnugget

When I look at an app like Sigalert it always looks like traffic is going the opposite way when I go from AV to HB in morning and reverse in the afternoon.

Also would taking 73 help with the traffic?

I live in Aliso Viejo, but no longer commute north of AV for work. Still, I do recall that morning traffic was much worse going south from LA and North OC; at least on the 5. My impression is that the pattern holds to about the Central OC area. NB5 traffic seems to be heavier south of Irvine down to North SD County.

So, that fits. The 73 would definitely be a big help.

[Electrician4you]

Originally Posted by pjnugget

When I look at an app like Sigalert it always looks like traffic is going the opposite way when I go from AV to HB in morning and reverse in the afternoon.

Also would taking 73 help with the traffic?

Yeah but it adds to your costs since it's a toll road. As long as you don't mind paying for tolls it's a little faster route but it's not going to magically give you a 30 min commute. The thing is that you're still going to be subject to the traffic for a good portion of the commute. The 30 minute drive is only in optimal traffic conditions. I'm betting your drive will be upwards of 45 minutes minimum. City traffic around Bella Terra can be horrendous. Remember that the city of HB allowed about 12 multi use buildings in the city. They did no widening it additional infrastructure to accommodate the thousands of people who moved there. Around BT there are 3-4 of those things not to mention a Costco along with a new hotel built right by the Arby's on the corner. And it's a very commercial area. And BT is a popular mall for people to go to especially around the holidays but it's busy pretty much year round.

You could bypass a lot of that traffic but I don't know where your work is located so I can't tell you what side streets to take. HB is a very busy town

[pjnugget]

Thanks all! If living in HB is the way to go. What are good areas in HB to live for us.

[pacific2]

I would suggest that you fly out here and look at HB, as well as the other cities that were mentioned, and also do a few rush hour test drives, if possible. Driving around HB, itself, can be a royal pain.

[pjnugget]

I plan to explore when I go out there in a couple weeks. Would just like to know if there are any areas to avoid. And my employer would be right on the Bella Terra, in the office complex.