Considering a job near LAX, would the OC an option to live

[bhcompy]

Your housing age demands don't fit the region. The commute will be hellish. The 405 is bad enough in off peak hours. The farthest I'd look is HB, like some said, or you can also look around the termination point of the Green Line, which gives you Cerritos and such. The newest houses you'll find are in parts of Cerritos, Cypress, and La Palma as a whole development, and those are mostly early 80s era, with Cypress having some smaller developments that are a bit younger(Sorrento comes to mind). Of course, 3000 might not be enough to rent in Sorrento and then you have the train to pay for on top of it.

[Coldjensens]

no

[JohnG72]

There are homes that meet your requirements in terms of size and price in several "safe" LA County cities within a 45 minute or less rush hour drive from LAX. The ones with ok or better schools(ie not LAUSD) are Culver City, Torrance, and Lakewood, in order of closeness to your work. You need to pay very close attention to what schools they will be attending based on where the house is as some schools in each of those cities are not so great.

[AKgirlinCA]

You really need to find something that fits your needs MUCH closer to LAX. Anywhere in OC is out of the question. I thought Torrance was a good suggestion.

[Socalpal]

Redondo is another decent option

[Calix]

I'm going to disagree, it depends on your work hours. If you are commuting in the early morning and before 3pm, you could go as far south as Newport and have about an hour commute. Long, but not impossible. However, if you are working 9-5, it would be an intolerable commute.

OC is a great place to live, but if you must be near LAX, you should consider places on the Peninsula, Torrance (maybe the most westerly portion, Palos Verdes, Rolling Hills, etc. Two simple rules, you need to live west of the 405, and Peninsula, or north of the 10/405 freeway, one exception it can be good or west of the 405 in Culver city. I wouldn't consider anything south of Montana/405 on the Westside.

Good luck to you, personally, outside of the peninsula, I would find anywhere in LA county north of the OC/605 border downright unbearable until you get north of Montana/405. Those familiar with the area understand "north of Montana" and its implications.

[OC Investor2]

Looking strictly at OC, in Huntington or Seal Beach, Rossmoor and Los Alamitos may all fit your needs. You'll need to be a little flexible on the age of house things in those areas though. One place to check out may be Seacliff, a newer development in north Huntington Beach. It would meet your wishes on "newer" and more family oriented. Not sure if it fits your budget.

I normally point poeple looking for family centered living to communities a little more in South OC, but given where your work is, you are looking at 45-60 minutes from Northwest OC as it is.

[RobE]

Torrance is a good option, I think. Cerritos would be a better option than Lakewood, imho.

In OC, going from Anaheim Hills or Yorba Linda will take, in a best case scenario, 45 minutes to LAX and that could easily double when it's bad (especially when it rains). Cypress would be an option, too, but just pay attention to what schools service the neighborhood you will be in if you have kids.

The other thing to be cognizant of is while traffic sometimes moves faster in the morning, when you get into evening rush hour (from about 3 p.m. to 7-8 p.m.), things can be pretty hellish. The 91 heading east from Long Beach, for example, is just purgatory on wheels. The 5 you can pretty much forget and the 405 is the busiest freeway in the world. I don't know about the 605. I have rarely driven it at all, let alone during a busy time of day.

[jet757f]

I have been commuting from Irvine to LAX for the past 18 yrs now. I have to be at work 4AM and get off around 2pm so usually no traffic. I can do it in usually under 45 minutes.

I used to live in Torrance before I moved down here. If I had a choice I would like to be back in Torrance some of the other beach cities in that area. Irvine has changed over the past 18 yrs for the worst in my opinion. Certainly not a place I would like to stay once I retire.