Value of Guard Gated Communities? (Orange, Coto de Caza: transplants, HOA fees, crime)

[CAVA1990]

Why are there so many guard gated neighborhoods in South Orange County compared to other areas of the country that are just as affluent but have even more crime (like the nicer suburbs of DC). They used to be mainly in beach neighborhoods (Monarch Bay, Three Arch, etc.) to keep the public off the private beaches. Please explain why they exist elsewhere. Are they worth it?

[Charles]

Originally Posted by CAVA1990

Why are there so many guard gated neighborhoods in South Orange County compared to other areas of the country that are just as affluent but have even more crime (like the nicer suburbs of DC). They used to be mainly in beach neighborhoods (Monarch Bay, Three Arch, etc.) to keep the public off the private beaches. Please explain why they exist elsewhere. Are they worth it?

One thing that comes to mind is "guard gated" versus "gated" only; the latter is cheaper (I presume) as it is pretty much a one time cost and it is continuously advertised as such. Dove Canyon is guard gated but others are just gated. I guess it ultimately is a selling point and it does add another level of protection against crime. All things being equal (which they never are), I supposed a gated community is preferable due to the added security.

Could also play on non-natives' impression of Southern California as being totally crime infested. (Too much TV will do that to people.) I would think a significant percentage of people moving to OC are from out of state (like our Boston poster a few minutes ago).

[CAVA1990]

Missed that subtlety on guarded vs. just gated.

[Mach50]

Most of the time these are joke anyways, nothing but a facade.

We had some friends in Turtle Ridge at Newport Coast. They have huge gates like you are entering a castle or something, they move real slow and dramatic too. The guard or should I say "the guard" was a teenage girl in uniform who was studying for class the next day. She posed no stopping power and probably wouldn't care if you were lying about visiting somebody or not.

Do homes in Newport on top of a mountain overlooking the water for 1.6 mill really need a gate and guard to feel safe? It won't keep wolves or bobcats out...seems like nothing but adding to ones image of themselves in an Ivory Tower.

Homes up here in Atherton are up to 20million and they have nothing...they must be really paranoid or have high esteem.

[BRinSM]

i grew up in a guard gated community for much of my young life, what a waste of money. besides a false sense of security, the only thing the gate did was protect the public areas (b-ball courts, pools, weight room, etc.) from random outsiders. a simple key card would suffice nowadays. anyways, my home was broken into while i lived in the gated community and random vandalism still occured. the strangest thing to me is that gated communities tend to be located in neighborhoods that are already extremely safe (ie S. OC), go figure. i think it's a total waste of HOA fees that could be used in a much more productive manner. unless you're trying to keep the papparazi out of your neighborhood, i see no real reason to live in a gated community unless you like being inconvenieced when you are having guests over.

[CAVA1990]

Originally Posted by BRinSM

the strangest thing to me is that gated communities tend to be located in neighborhoods that are already extremely safe (ie S. OC), go figure.

Exactly. Usually newer neighborhoods far from urban areas. I'm thinking it has less to do with crime and more about the neighborhood's image.

[bhcompy]

I think the people that move there are transplants, and they hear all about how LA is a dangerous place and they eat it up. True locals prefer the less flashy areas

[Fontucky]

Pretentiousness. False sense of security.

We have relatives in Coto de Caza (or, as I like to call it, Kotex de Caca) who host a Christmas supper
every year. I hate the ordeal of getting through the gate. It's a moronic hassle.

[Twinkle Toes]

Here's something you all may not even have considered bcause you're all yapping about the "false sense of security". Sure, you still need to keep your doors locked and practice your own safety measures. But what a gated community does (guard gated or just gated) is keep traffic to a minimum. We've always lived in a gated community - some guarded, some not. Currently we don't live in a gated community and we have people using our street as a shortcut who literally haul ass up and down the street at 60 mph or better. When we lived in gated, we NEVER had that. When the economy improves we plan to move back into a gated community primarily for this reason.

[CAVA1990]

Originally Posted by Twinkle Toes

Here's something you all may not even have considered bcause you're all yapping about the "false sense of security". Sure, you still need to keep your doors locked and practice your own safety measures. But what a gated community does (guard gated or just gated) is keep traffic to a minimum. We've always lived in a gated community - some guarded, some not. Currently we don't live in a gated community and we have people using our street as a shortcut who literally haul ass up and down the street at 60 mph or better. When we lived in gated, we NEVER had that. When the economy improves we plan to move back into a gated community primarily for this reason.

Yeah but most of the gated communities in South OC are in the hills with a single entrance/exit. I don't think that's the real reason for them.