Best city in OC (and also Redondo etc) for community (Long Beach: apartment, lease)

[molly41]

Hi everyone. Sorry if this has been asked to death in here. We moved to Long Beach (from overseas) earlier in the year. We're feeling a bit lost in Long Beach, and I'm finding it hard to meet people and I was wondering what your opinion was of the best places in Orange County to live, and perhaps even Redondo Beach way.

Thanks in advance

[Charles]

Originally Posted by molly41

Hi everyone. Sorry if this has been asked to death in here. We moved to Long Beach (from overseas) earlier in the year. We're feeling a bit lost in Long Beach, and I'm finding it hard to meet people and I was wondering what your opinion was of the best places in Orange County to live, and perhaps even Redondo Beach way.

Thanks in advance

Where be is you jobs?
There are lots of people in Long Beach. How can you possibly have a hard time meeting them?

[bhcompy]

There are a few cities with a great community feel, but most of them are expensive. Examples close to Long Beach pretty much all border each other: Los Alamitos/Rossmoor, Seal Beach, Sunset Beach, Surfside.

Surfside and Sunset are very expensive, but have very active communities. Sunset is currently fighting Huntington Beach and the county because Huntington is trying to annex it. Relaxed surfer mentality, but high budget. Plenty of social gathering places in the form of local bars and restaurants. Very few chain operations(Don the Beachcomber one of the only).

Seal Beach, Los Alamitos, and Rossmoor share a variety of services, but geographically are separated and have two defined communities: Old Town Seal Beach and the area north of the 405(which has a variety of areas but one community feel for the most part). Old Town Seal Beach is a relaxed family friendly beach area with a nice downtown that has plenty of social venues(bars, restaurants, shops, winebar, movie theater, etc). The Los Alamitos portion is mostly geared towards families.

Realistically, it depends on what you're looking for as far as age group, the type of person, etc. If you're young, Belmont Shore or Downtown in Long Beach are probably your best bet. Downtown Huntington Beach is also nice, but the community there seems fairly transient. If you're looking for a more refined and laidback crowd, Seal Beach and Newport Peninsula are nice choices.

[molly41]

Maybe I'm not being social enough or going to the right places? Are there certain bars that are good to meet people at? Our work is in Carson/Rancho Domniguez so we don't want to move too far South. We lived in Seal Beach for a few months and loved it, but it was taking 45-55 minutes to drive at night, and we're from a small town and not used to that.

[molly41]

Originally Posted by bhcompy

There are a few cities with a great community feel, but most of them are expensive. Examples close to Long Beach pretty much all border each other: Los Alamitos/Rossmoor, Seal Beach, Sunset Beach, Surfside.

Surfside and Sunset are very expensive, but have very active communities. Sunset is currently fighting Huntington Beach and the county because Huntington is trying to annex it. Relaxed surfer mentality, but high budget. Plenty of social gathering places in the form of local bars and restaurants. Very few chain operations(Don the Beachcomber one of the only).

Seal Beach, Los Alamitos, and Rossmoor share a variety of services, but geographically are separated and have two defined communities: Old Town Seal Beach and the area north of the 405(which has a variety of areas but one community feel for the most part). Old Town Seal Beach is a relaxed family friendly beach area with a nice downtown that has plenty of social venues(bars, restaurants, shops, winebar, movie theater, etc). The Los Alamitos portion is mostly geared towards families.

Realistically, it depends on what you're looking for as far as age group, the type of person, etc. If you're young, Belmont Shore or Downtown in Long Beach are probably your best bet. Downtown Huntington Beach is also nice, but the community there seems fairly transient. If you're looking for a more refined and laidback crowd, Seal Beach and Newport Peninsula are nice choices.

Thank you. I was thinking of Huntington but was a bit put off by the drive from work. We did live in Seal Beach for a few months and liked it but couldn't find an apartment that suited us at that time. We're early 30s, and I'm not really into sports which is how most people seem to meet. Our lease doesn't run out until mid next year so we're stuck where we are unless we want to break it.

[molly41]

Originally Posted by Charles

Where be is you jobs?
There are lots of people in Long Beach. How can you possibly have a hard time meeting them?

Replied earlier, but using quote now as there was another reply :-)

Maybe I'm not being social enough or going to the right places? Are there certain bars that are good to meet people at? Our work is in Carson/Rancho Domniguez so we don't want to move too far South. We lived in Seal Beach for a few months and loved it, but it was taking 45-55 minutes to drive at night, and we're from a small town and not used to that.

[Vascodagama]

Originally Posted by molly41

Hi everyone. Sorry if this has been asked to death in here. We moved to Long Beach (from overseas) earlier in the year. We're feeling a bit lost in Long Beach, and I'm finding it hard to meet people and I was wondering what your opinion was of the best places in Orange County to live, and perhaps even Redondo Beach way.

Thanks in advance

There are some nice areas in the South Bay (Redondo, Torrance, PV, Hermosa) but there are also places like Long Beach (Lawndale, Gardena, Carson, Harbor City).

In the OC there are many nice areas that stretch from Seal Beach to San Clemente along the coast and inland out to cities like Yorba Linda, Irvine and Rancho Santa Margarita with many cities in-between.

That a big area!

[pacific2]

IMHO, it’s very easy to meet people in Aliso Viejo; in large part due to the density (planned) and layout of the city. You meet your neighbors and others (employees from nearby corporate offices) when you are walking your dog (if you have one), going to the mailbox, jogging, walking along Aliso Viejo Parkway on a sunny morning, at Trader Joe’s, at the gym, etc. Since the city is so small, everything is literally just minutes away.
People tend to be friendly in AV and I think the city attracts those who feel comfortable with more dense living arrangements.

AV is a small master-planned community about 9.2 sq. miles in area with 42,000 people. The city offers tons of opportunities for meeting people; especially if you are interested in sports. There is the Azarian US Gymnastics Training Center, the Ice Palace, a new Aquatics Center, a golf course, an extensive park system ( 23 parks-yep, you can meet people while strolling), exhibitions and fairs at Soka University, movies and concerts during the warm months, Founder’s Day activities at Aliso Viejo Ranch, children’s events (Snowfest, breakfast with Santa at the Renaissance, Halloween activities, etc), sports at Renaissance ClubSport, and on and on.

BTW, both adults and children make good use of the Azarian US Gymnastics Center. Notice the young, middle-aged people and seniors in this group shot:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1aVAUojjE4M

A children’s competition at Azarian US Gymnastics Training Center in Aliso Viejo:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QuP4vIZyXYw

The Ice Palace in Aliso Viejo:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aq0Fnvaj05Y

[molly41]

Originally Posted by pacific2

IMHO, it’s very easy to meet people in Aliso Viejo; in large part due to the density (planned) and layout of the city. You meet your neighbors and others (employees from nearby corporate offices) when you are walking your dog (if you have one), going to the mailbox, jogging, walking along Aliso Viejo Parkway on a sunny morning, at Trader Joe’s, at the gym, etc. Since the city is so small, everything is literally just minutes away.
People tend to be friendly in AV and I think the city attracts those who feel comfortable with more dense living arrangements.

AV is a small master-planned community about 9.2 sq. miles in area with 42,000 people. The city offers tons of opportunities for meeting people; especially if you are interested in sports. There is the Azarian US Gymnastics Training Center, the Ice Palace, a new Aquatics Center, a golf course, an extensive park system ( 23 parks-yep, you can meet people while strolling), exhibitions and fairs at Soka University, movies and concerts during the warm months, Founder’s Day activities at Aliso Viejo Ranch, children’s events (Snowfest, breakfast with Santa at the Renaissance, Halloween activities, etc), sports at Renaissance ClubSport, and on and on

Thank you, looks amazing but it's too far south for us in terms of travel distance to work in Carson.

[pacific2]

Originally Posted by molly41

Thank you, looks amazing but it's too far south for us in terms of travel distance to work in Carson.

You're welcome. Yes, it would be a horrible commute. One way to deal with the long trip, if you can’t find anything more suitable north of AV, would be to travel by vanpool. One of the other posters does it on a regular basis from South County to someplace in LA County.