San Juan Capistrano is Scary and ghetto (Los Angeles, Orange: appointed, rentals)

[Lennonn14]

Hi everyone i recently moved to south OC from the chicago area and i was driving on Camino Capistrano and i took a shortcut so i went through this neighborhood on a street called "La Zanja Street" And that Neighborhood is honestly scary! I Saw Several kids tagging up walls and tagging graffiti on the walls, Kids walking around on the street holding Guns up in the air and acting like they own the place people on corners making drug deals, GRAFFITI And gang taggings EVERYWHERE, Shady people giving me shady looks, For the first time in awhile i was honestly scared driving through there I was AMAZED THAT A PLACE EXISTED LIKE THIS IN SOUTH OC! My God I had NO IDEA A NEIGHBORHOOD EXISTED LIKE THIS IN SOUTH OC. This place is a GHETTO. I don't know if anyone knows what im talking about but as soon as i entered it i was in fear even in a car. And No i wasn't scared about the fact that the neighborhood was about 99 percent hispanic, or so how it looked. The the Pure ghettoness of it. I haven't seen neighborhoods this bad untill i went into the deep inner parts of Chicago. Does anyone know about this neighborhood and why its so dangerous? Was i there at the wrong time or what. This La Zanja Neighborhood is awful. its by far the worst neighborhood iv ever been thru in south OC. What is wrong with this neighborhood and why don't they clean it up because when you enter that neighborhood you go into a another world. its literally Tijuana. I was scared driving through there during the day. God I could never imagine WALKING thru there at night. Can someone enlighten me on this neighborhood and why its so bad. Because i was so glad to get outta that neighborhood. And iv been to Newark, Chicago, and Gary So iv seen my fair share of bad neighborhoods. And if you live in San Juan don't take this wrong most of san juan is semi- safe and alright It's just this one Neighborhood which is something else, I swear its like your in Tijuana......

[Fontucky]

That's the La Zanjas. They started out back in the early seventies as owner-occupied, one family per dwelling starter homes with a very low percentage of rentals. Since then they've degraded into absentee owner rentals with too many people living in the units and have become a magnet for illegals and Section Eighters. It's turned into a ****hole dump.

The tagging/graffiti I can believe. The "Kids walking around on the street holding Guns up in the air and acting like they own the place people on corners making drug deals" is kind of hard to swallow, mainly because the OCSO is such a strong presence in that city.

[Count David]

Dang OP, you're giving Tijuana a bad name.

[Lennonn14]

I guess thats what happens when the Sheriff isnt patrolling that area aha. and they might have been holding up BB Guns but id rather not wait and find out lol. Either way i was happy to get outta that **** hole

[bhcompy]

That's why people generally don't associate SJC with South OC. The old areas of south OC definitely can have problems, and SJC is one of those areas

[NaplesRes]

Originally Posted by bhcompy

That's why people generally don't associate SJC with South OC. The old areas of south OC definitely can have problems, and SJC is one of those areas

don't really get that as it is clearly in south oc. though I do think the term south oc is misleading. it really should be inland south oc as the coastal areas like newport and laguna have very little in common with the inland areas like laguna niguel or lake forest, etc.

[J1ndo]

Eh, a fairly feeble attempt. This poster created an account a few days ago and for a debut post immediately launched into a comic exaggeration of La Zanja neighborhood of SJC (poor certainly, but dangerous? not so much).

Even the ostensible reason for driving into the neighborhood is questionable. Take a drive down Camino Capistrano, and when you reach La Zanja street, try to imagine yourself seeing it as a potential shortcut to anywhere. I'm disappointed that anyone fell for this obvious bit of trolling.

[bhcompy]

Originally Posted by NaplesRes

don't really get that as it is clearly in south oc. though I do think the term south oc is misleading. it really should be inland south oc as the coastal areas like newport and laguna have very little in common with the inland areas like laguna niguel or lake forest, etc.

People block out that once you get past Laguna and Ladera there is still more to OC. SJC, Dana Point, and San Clemente are kind of the red headed stepchilds of South OC. It's strange

[Fontucky]

Originally Posted by bhcompy

That's why people generally don't associate SJC with South OC.

Who are these people and how many minutes have they lived here?

[Charles]

Originally Posted by J1ndo

Eh, a fairly feeble attempt. This poster created an account a few days ago and for a debut post immediately launched into a comic exaggeration of La Zanja neighborhood of SJC (poor certainly, but dangerous? not so much).

Even the ostensible reason for driving into the neighborhood is questionable. Take a drive down Camino Capistrano, and when you reach La Zanja street, try to imagine yourself seeing it as a potential shortcut to anywhere. I'm disappointed that anyone fell for this obvious bit of trolling.

I just did a google map street view and the place didn't look that bad (I've never been there). But then again, do a street view of south central Los Angeles you're likely to see pastel bungalows with trimmed lawns with palm trees as a back drop (and bars on the windows).


La Zanja St, San Juan Capistrano, Orange, California 92675 - Google Maps