What can you tell me about Corona? (Ontario, Irvine: big house, unemployment)

[LLJ from NE]

We are moving to CA for a job in Costa Mesa and are considering living a little further inland to get a bigger house.

Corona looks affordable. What are the good and bad areas? Our daughter is an infant so school districts are not important at this point.

Anything else you can tell me about living there?

Thanks!

[Fontucky]

Brutal commute to and from OC.

[BRinSM]

i spent quite a few years growing up in corona, however this was 10+ years ago. having said that, i don't think much has changed. corona became built out while i was in high school and has not stretched much further south in this amount of time. corona suffered pretty badly during the housing bust, but regular homes shouldn't have ever sold for over $500k around there to begin with. anyways, the southern portion of the city isn't really any different than the southern OC inland cities, the commute is just much worse. the northern parts of the city are hit or miss. having gone back once or twice a year for the past 10 years i've noticed that there is definitely more of a hispanic influence in the central parts of the city. i don't think there's really anywhere in corona that is unsafe though. for the most part, corona is a typical socal suburb with mostly newer housing and all the major national chains and big box retailers.

[pacific2]

You might want to question your need for a big house in Corona for several reasons. One, the rush hour commute from Corona to OC is rough; and two, projections are for large SFRs to become dinosaurs in the near future. Three, unemployment is stubborn, so there may be fewer buyers available when it comes time to sale.

Future demand for housing is expected to be weak for the SFR, but strong for multifamily units:

Why the ‘coming housing calamity’ shouldn’t have to be calamitous | Grist

[Fontucky]

Originally Posted by Fontucky

Brutal commute to and from OC.

Especially from the new So. Corona developments.

[Dunbar42]

Originally Posted by Fontucky

Especially from the new So. Corona developments.

Hey, you can't respond to your own post

Might not be that bad if they use the 91 Fast Lane and 241/261 Toll Roads. I've heard a Corona to Irvine commuter claim they could do it in 30 minutes using the toll roads but they lived pretty close to the 91. I agree about avoiding the southern part or Corona though. IMO the consistently nice areas of Corona are south of Ontario Ave or west of Paseo Grande.

[crunchman]

The new area which is referred to as east vale is nice, to make commuting less than unbearable I think fast lane is mandatory, houses are huge at $400k, 3800 sq/ft would be great if job was east instead.

[Ponypenny]

My spouse commutes daily from Norco to Costa Mesa. The only way that drive is tolerable is that he owns a CNG Honda Civic. He can drive in the carpool lane solo (white sticker) and he gets to use the 91 Toll Lane free. Without that car the tolls add up pretty quickly.

[Dunbar42]

Originally Posted by Ponypenny

My spouse commutes daily from Norco to Costa Mesa.

Does your spouse take the 241/261 toll roads? I can see it being slow if you take the 55 but the few times I've used the toll roads they make quick work of that drive.

[Count David]

Corona native here.

Please, please, please test-drive the commute for a week before you decide to live in Corona. You'll thank me later. There's a reason why you can get bigger houses for cheaper, and that is it.

The best areas of Corona (for most people) IMO are anywhere not called Home Gardens (an unincorporated area, where I grew up), and a small area east of 6th St/Main. It gets more nouveau ultra-suburban the more south and east you go in Corona, with the commute to OC getting longer going that direction.

The Corona-Norco Unified School District (which covers 95% of anything called Corona) has been grossly overcrowded since the mid 1990s. The schools are generally better than average, however.

Corona has all of the creature comforts of any suburb in the country. If you're down with that, you'll be down with Corona.