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Old 04-18-2020, 08:07 AM
 
4,147 posts, read 2,905,929 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mr_california View Post
There is also a sizeable group of people in the Bay Area who may make good money, but try to act like they're poor. They dress sloppy and want to live in the ghetto so they can pretend that they're "real" people. You see that group a lot around Oakland, Berkeley and parts of San Francisco. If they own a house, they let the front yard become weeds and they paint the house purple or black or some other weird color.
That's called being hipster. I think many more people in the Bay Area are in fact very obsessed with possessions, but when your 50 year old house costs $2 million, you're broke after paying the mortgage, and the fanciest ride you can afford is a second hand Corolla.
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Old 04-18-2020, 06:33 PM
 
Location: Corona del Mar, CA - Coronado, CA
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Villa Park is a nice enough place, but I think it is geographically "challenged". Because your main freeways are the 91 Freeway and 55 Freeway you face heavy congestion trying to get anyplace, especially for work. I am also not sure they have the kind of neighborhoods you are looking for.


Best advice I can give is lease 6-12 months before buying.
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Old 04-20-2020, 05:39 PM
 
Location: So Cal - Orange County
1,462 posts, read 955,501 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mr_california View Post
Yeah, I wasn't sure if people were friendly or not there. Of all of the cities in Orange County, I like how Villa Park looks the best. It's such a nice, clean looking area. Are there a lot of kids playing in the street there? Is it pretty easy for kids to make friends there? Are the schools still okay there?
Villa Park Elementary is a good school, compared to Serrano Elementary in terms of rankings. My oldest is in 4th grade, but we moved him into Nohl Canyon Elementary since they have the GATE program. For junior high, there is Cerro Villa, but I have not heard that many good things about it. We plan to get our son into El Rancho middle school instead. Villa Park HS looks like it is an okay school. Since the VP schools are part of Orange Unified School District, you get students from lower income and some do not appear to test as well the not-low income. We still have some time, so not sure about HS for us.

As for kids making friends, I would say yes. If your kids are in sports, there will be a connection right there, but also if you are in a neighborhood that has kids around yours age, they should be fine. Also during Halloween, some neighborhoods go all at and have fun.
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Old 04-21-2020, 12:16 PM
 
Location: Declezville, CA
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I never thought I'd see Coto de Caza and "down to earth' mentioned in the same sentence.
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Old 04-21-2020, 05:46 PM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Fontucky View Post
I never thought I'd see Coto de Caza and "down to earth' mentioned in the same sentence.
I know, right? But as a matter of fact, I have known two Coto families who were extremely down to earth and not the least bit pretentious/materialistic. Their houses were big but furnished modestly, and their kids were involved with things like raising goats and rabbits for 4H.
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Old 04-22-2020, 05:53 AM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by saibot View Post
I know, right? But as a matter of fact, I have known two Coto families who were extremely down to earth and not the least bit pretentious/materialistic. Their houses were big but furnished modestly, and their kids were involved with things like raising goats and rabbits for 4H.
Well, there are exceptions everywhere--one exception doesn't prove anything.

Anyhow, the extremely high cost of living in Orange County does limit extravagance for many people. Many people are broke after paying $1 million for a 2,000 square foot house. They simply have no money left to buy any fancy furniture or a Maserati.
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Old 04-25-2020, 11:48 PM
 
Location: just NE of Tulsa, OK
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Realtors cannot (or will not) discuss with you an area's demographics, but you can get a general idea at the following website. It's at least a starting point.

https://www.schooldigger.com/

I don't think too many kids play outside and have neighborhood friends in many places in SoCal. Organized (supervised) activities are more the thing. But you may luck into something, so who knows?

Snobs (and other jackasses) can be found pretty much anyplace. But you're on the right track looking into Placentia (north of YL Blvd), parts of Yorba Linda, and Villa Park...and don't forget some pockets of Fullerton, Anaheim Hills, and Orange. Check out those school stats! None of those will be an easy commute to Irvine, though.
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Old 04-30-2020, 12:27 PM
 
Location: Corona del Mar, CA - Coronado, CA
4,477 posts, read 3,260,938 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ImmerLernen View Post
I don't think too many kids play outside and have neighborhood friends in many places in SoCal. Organized (supervised) activities are more the thing. But you may luck into something, so who knows?
I don't know where ImmerLerner lives in "SoCal" since that is a rather ambiguous term.

Kids can and do play outside in neighborhoods and have neighborhood friends in parts of Newport Beach, Irvine, Lake Forest (Baker Ranch, Foothill Ranch, Portola Hills), Ladera and I would assume the newer neighborhoods of South County as well. I just don't spend enough time in those areas to say it definitively. Many of these neighborhoods were designed as family friendly areas where exposure to auto traffic would be minimized.
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Old 04-30-2020, 07:28 PM
 
Location: California
82 posts, read 125,047 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ImmerLernen View Post
Realtors cannot (or will not) discuss with you an area's demographics, but you can get a general idea at the following website. It's at least a starting point.

https://www.schooldigger.com/

I don't think too many kids play outside and have neighborhood friends in many places in SoCal. Organized (supervised) activities are more the thing. But you may luck into something, so who knows?

Snobs (and other jackasses) can be found pretty much anyplace. But you're on the right track looking into Placentia (north of YL Blvd), parts of Yorba Linda, and Villa Park...and don't forget some pockets of Fullerton, Anaheim Hills, and Orange. Check out those school stats! None of those will be an easy commute to Irvine, though.
That's unfortunate. I own a home in the San Joaquin Valley also, and the kids there are all playing outside and riding bikes. Unfortunately there is no work for me there. I was hoping that maybe Orange County would be more like that than the Bay Area is.

I'm not too worried about the commute. I currently drive 30 miles from the East Bay to Silicon Valley and it averages out to be 2 hours each way. From what I have seen, going between Irvine and Anaheim Hills or Irvine and Mission Viejo isn't that bad. Even a 45 minute commute would be a lot easier that what I have now.
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Old 04-30-2020, 07:33 PM
 
Location: California
82 posts, read 125,047 times
Reputation: 195
Quote:
Originally Posted by MrJester View Post
Well, there are exceptions everywhere--one exception doesn't prove anything.

Anyhow, the extremely high cost of living in Orange County does limit extravagance for many people. Many people are broke after paying $1 million for a 2,000 square foot house. They simply have no money left to buy any fancy furniture or a Maserati.
I don't mind if neighbors have nice things. I don't engage in class envy. For all I know, someone earned their money and has every right to have nice things. I just want an era where neighbors are firendly and talkj to eachother. Not like where I live now, where people don't really drive fancy cars or have high end things, but you still never see your neighbors unless their opening and closing the garage door and my kids for some reason can't be friends with the kids across the street because their parents never let them out of the house.

I just want to live in a neighborhood that's safe, has good schools and my kids have a chance to make friends with the other kids on the block.
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