Orange County: where to live and what to expect?

[Hugh Conway]

come on. if you are a TGR stud who's out slaying the mountains everyday, 4 wheeling to remote peaks, pulling monster lunker trouts with #24 flies, ultramarathoning, harvesting 39 point bucks in the fall, just killing it outdoors all the time everyday... it's hell.

if you are semi-regular dude with a job, want a relationship (or people to find one), and like having outdoor fun kinda often, there's much worse places.

[gageyk]

Chasing the mighty dollar to join the rat race. Why?

Wasting time in traffic, crowded restaurants, beaches, MTB and hiking trails. Hours in traffic if you ever want to leave town and then return, why? Is this what you want? Enjoy it. I have sisters in Laguna who will not travel on 3 day weekends and most other weekends via automobiles because of the traffic. Yhey do the same thing most weekends-year round, go to the beach. Gotta get old. They do get to go to lots of concerts and sporting events though and hey what's an extra 30 minutes in tafiic looking for a parking spot worth?

Think twice about any big city before making the jump. Time is worth more than money.

[Viva]

Oh and Dana Point is really cool.

One of my favorite lays EVER lived in Dana Point, still does. One night she and I were walking on the beach across from where she lived and some jogger (he was not a fucking runner!) became scared because her chihuahua started chasing him. He grabbed a handful of sand that threatened to throw it at poor little Rusty. Other than this, I nothing to say about the place.

[BigDaddy]

Worth watching the full feature, but a taste of life in Orange County:

[splitinbend]

San Clemente all the way. You can hit the toll road to Irvine, and avoid all the Newport assholes and Huntington rebels. I spent the majority of my life there before escaping, but SC all the way. Honestly there is no better place, besides where I live now. There are no adjacent towns, municipal golf course is $18 for residents, MTB trails behind the military base, endless choices for surfing. Stay away from Newport. I'd say Costa Mesa before Huntington. Getting around HB from the 405 is awful. You don't have the influx of inlanders pouring onto the beaches during the summer either due to its southern location and lack of access. Go check it out, eat at Sonny's Pizza, walk down Del Mar to the pier and get a burrito from Cafe Del Sol. Hooked. Cheers.

[Tippster]

Ok, what about a houseboat then?

God, the mooring fees alone in OC must be astronomical.

[Tippster]

San Clemente all the way... Go check it out, eat at Sonny's Pizza, walk down Del Mar to the pier and get a burrito from Cafe Del Sol. Hooked. Cheers.

http://www.pedrostacos.com/san-clemente-south.html

Used to buy gigantic bagfuls of burritos there and bring them to our campsite at San Onofre.

[This End Up]

double my salary

That might not be enough, when moving from MT to the OC

[The AD]

My cousins grew up behind the Orange Curtain. One of them got out as soon as possible and has lived in Pacific Beach, San Diego for the past 20 years or so. I think he'd only return to OC kicking and screaming. My other cousin wouldn't dream of living anywhere else. There's definitely a certain mindset that predominates there. Not to say everywhere there is like that, or every place is like that, but you're probably either going to think it's the greatest place on Earth or the epicenter of douchebaggery.

[hutash]

Be prepared to be Christian and Republican, OC is the California hot bed of both.

...btw, anybody that calls it "The OC" is a pretentious douche. Goes for Ohio State douches as well.

[atomicboy]

sent you a pm

[frorider]

Hutash, you're a little out of date. http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012...-county-calif/

[stuckathuntermtn]

It's always been my impression/guestimation that an area like that costs more than twice the cost of living as MT (think also, the place I left), so if it's only a double in salary, then that doesn't exactly balance out.
"Little boxes,
on the hillside..."

[splitinbend]

http://www.pedrostacos.com/san-clemente-south.html

Used to buy gigantic bagfuls of burritos there and bring them to our campsite at San Onofre.

Combo burrito with cheese, fish taco and a cheese quesadilla with pink lemonade.

[pepperdawg]

full of Vietnamese (Hot looking bitches, though!).

Pics needed please (it is friday afterall)

[hutash]

Hutash, you're a little out of date. http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012...-county-calif/

Maybe, but not yet

http://www.ocalmanac.com/Government/gu03.htm#40

5 out of 6 including this nutter, Representative Dana Rohrabacher (R) (No doubt ilc mastubates to his campaign posters.)

[huckbucket]

Goes for Ohio State douches as well.

This begged for correction.


THE Ohio State (bitch)

[Tippster]

Maybe, but not yet

http://www.ocalmanac.com/Government/gu03.htm#40

5 out of 6 including this nutter, Representative Dana Rohrabacher (R) (No doubt ilc mastubates to his campaign posters.)

Don't forget 1/4 of Darrel Issa's district is in OC.

[hutash]

This begged for correction.


THE Ohio State (bitch)

See what I mean?

[Ted Striker]

I've lived in Orange co. San Bernardino too. It's pretty much the antithesis of Montana. Orange County alone has three times the population of the entire state of MT. Let that sink in for a minute.

The only way you're not going to want to blow your brains out is to completely embrace it, which means give up on the idea that you're going to do anything that you'd currently consider 'outdoorsy' by MT standards. Sure you can surf, and a road bike is not a bad idea, but mtb would involve a longish drive. As for skiing, you'll be one of those people who takes ski vacations. Forget Baldy (and Bear). After the novelty (and comedy) of skiing in So Cal wears off, you won't be going there. For a while I lived 30 mins from the parking lot, yet we'd drive all the way to Mammoth and/or June. After you do that drive a couple of times, you'll realize that flying to SLC, or Reno is a better option.

If you're renting, you can live close to the beach, but you'll have either no space or roommates. If you're buying, you'll be in cookie-cutter land with a long drive everywhere except the mall (because malls are everywhere). Get a nice car. Seriously. If you don't live near the water, you'll be driving to it. However much driving you do right now, double it.

You mentioned that you don't want to live in LA proper, but unless you actually like eating at Chotchkie's and drive-thru everything, getting into the city is one of the good things about the greater LA area. It's not a city like New York or Chicago are cities, but it still has some of the stuff that make a real city, i.e. restaurants, bars/clubs, live music, entertainment, major league sports, etc. Take advantage of that, the ocean, and the relatively easy travel to cool places, and it could be good.

I'm not trying to dissuade you from doing it, but unless you're realistic about what you're getting into, you're going to be miserable.

[gh444]

Not true, there is really great MTBing in OC. It may not be the same as MT in the style of trails but there is a reason that it's a major location for some of the top pros in the world to live in.

[Hugh Conway]

total denial

[Ted Striker]

Not true, there is really great MTBing in OC. It may not be the same as MT in the style of trails but there is a reason that it's a major location for some of the top pros in the world to live in.

I said long drive.

If you live by the trails, you're driving literally everywhere else, and if you live by the beach, you're driving to the trails. I wasn't commenting on the quality - which I'll defer to you on because it's been a while. However, there is something to be said for riding from your front door, eg. North Van, Bellingham, pretty much all of non-flat Montana, etc.

[Tippster]

Lotsa MTB trails you ride to from Santa Monica. Not sure what your point is.

[Hugh Conway]

santa monica isn't OC.

you are still stuck -unless you work form home, or pay through the nose in one way or another for a "dream" job - with commuting somehow and you pay through the ass for everything else in santa monica

I'm not going to swing dicks about skiing; there's so many swinging dicks on here. But most people - including some really good skier's - can have fun skiing at mammoth. It has the Sierra topography - steep, short, a the top, curves to the base. It's not chamonix. It's got assholes - lots of them. But it's ok enough. There's tons of other backcountry places to ski nearby. as much as there are some benefits to commuting by plane to ski most of the airplane accessible destinations have a fully manned squadron of shitheads there too.