Orange County: where to live and what to expect?

[Ted Striker]

^^^ keep going north(west) up 101. Have they wrecked SB yet?

[Hugh Conway]

are you a deci-millionaire or better? answers the question on SB.

the immigrant communities in SoCal are of the kind and variety you only get in a Megapolis. Want Thai food - go to Thaitown (not that this will be the best thai food - but there'll be dies cooking, serving and eating there). Or Korean food and korean town; chilean marketplaces, most anything under the sun. Of course, with all the people, if you don't plan, it will be apain in the ass to get there. Which goes to #2 rule behind expectations - planning. If you want to ski, regularly, in SoCal you'll be commuting many hours each way every weekend. A car to Mammoth, a plane to wherever, not much choice.

every bro and their brother has taken up surfing. unless you can heavily sacrifice work, want to hang out with douchesticks, or just lie about good things are to yourself and others working a real job and surfing is a recipe for pain. this quintuples if you don't live at the beach.

[Meadow Skipper]

every bro and their brother has taken up skiing. unless you can heavily sacrifice work, want to hang out with douchesticks, or just lie about good things are to yourself and others working a real job and skiing is a recipe for pain. this quintuples if you don't live at the mountains.

Heh, I like how that reads with a few changes.

[Hugh Conway]

except, on any given day at a given mountain, there are proportionally far more competent* skiers than most decent surf breaks near people in the US where there's 1-2 superstars, a few or more good guys, a bunch of beater schmucks (me) , and then all of the goobers from inland. Or it's just a posse of aggro with a couple god guys, and a bunch of aggros. unless of course you are a surfer here and are always finding head high, barreling, with 1-2 guys out.

* which is why inbounds skiing is a gong show.

<shrug > believe what you want, just ime much more difficult to be a commuter surfing than skiing. this has been argued before, now that I'm a douche I'm sure I'll be in the minority. Or I'm out of touch and the cool skier kids are now doing 1-2 hr ski checks on all the cool BC spots before they take their skis out of the quiver and shred. Maybe they are.

[Meadow Skipper]

Shit, I don't know - I've been out of the surf scene for a really long time. So I believe you, but if you hang around lower mountain lifts on a weekend I bet you'll see a lot more shmucks and goobers than you want to.

Edit to add: I have to admit that the lack of snow locally over the last few years has had me thinking about moving to a north-central California coast town and taking up mid-week surfing again. I guess I'd need to check it out first.

[Hugh Conway]

sure. but they are sliding down the hill on snow. the schmucks and goobers at, say, some coast shitshow like Rincon might get to share one wave in a session with 3 other dudes. which leaves you stuck a schmuck/goober unless you've freetime to invest or you can sit and stare at the waves. yes, when it's good, it's really good...

[Ted Striker]

Sadly, I think this is all true. I've been out of it for a long time as well. Too many people.

Speaking of north central, one of my other brothers lived in Carmel for a while, and what I remember from the beaches up there was that there seemed to be a lot of jellyfish. Gotta wonder what it's like now with the massive increase in their numbers.

[splitinbend]

After growing up in San Clemente/OC, living in HB, Costa Mesa, Newport and glorious Santa Ana, I will agree with the unspoken theme of this thread that the majority of people in Orange County suck. The surfers are dicks (me included) and all own their breaks except for SanO. It's not easy to find unpopulated surf breaks anywhere in SoCal anymore. Driving on the freeway in the mornings/afternoons (with the exception of the toll road) absolutely blows, especially at the 405/5 Y. Every mom/cougar/woman/chick is now a soccer mom/OC Diva in their big suburban/Mercedes/BMW/Lexus, fake tits, plastic face and obnoxious jewelry. Its a shit show where all anybody really cares about is whether or not they impress the person next to them. After realizing that my meager 80k combined income with my newly married wife was never going to get me shit, I had to escape. I will always love SC, but I would never go back. If I truly had to go back it would be N. San Diego. At least the vibe hasn't been ruined by excessive over building of 4.5br homes for $1.3million that have no yard or personality. Any attempt to temporarily escape to find mother nature requires a soul ripping drive of at least 2.5 hours through IE/Riverside, LA or SD. On a friday before moving, driving to a show at the Santa Barbara bowl (the earliest I could leave was 2p) it took me 6 hours to complete a 120 mile drive. I lost it. If you do move, stay close to the Toll Road, and closer to the beach. Best beaches in OC are in San Clemente, at least during the summer, most people from IE typically go to Newport and HB mucking up the parking there and not so much down south. Cheers.

[Ted Striker]

At least the water is warm at san o.

[Bobcat Sig]

Upwardly mobile? Sure.
Single? No. The ladyfriend is coming with.
Settling down? Not with kids, at least not any time soon, so that helps. Though the pup certainly makes finding a place a little more interesting since we wouldn't buy.

Hutash, you present an interesting twist with Ventura County. I know we discussed it briefly when you were up here skiing, but I hadn't considered it until now. It can work just the same, I suppose, as I'll be working from home, but have the weekly visits in and around LA, Orange County, etc.

Santa Barbara is definitely an option, though even farther than where I'd need to be for work when required to travel. I do have cousins that live there and have spent some time in SB and it is really nice and laid back.

[iceman]

If you're willing to go to Ventura then also look the other way to Oceanside and Carlsbad. Pretty nice down there and you don't have all of LA between you and OC.

[gh444]

Upwardly mobile? Sure.
Single? No. The ladyfriend is coming with.
Settling down? Not with kids, at least not any time soon, so that helps. Though the pup certainly makes finding a place a little more interesting since we wouldn't buy.
.

As per my earlier post, I live here and will miss certain things when I'm gone. Given what you've written above, I absolutely WOULDN'T do Orange County. Your only real option south of LA is N.County SD or SD proper. The dog kills it.

[406]

If you're willing to go to Ventura then also look the other way to Oceanside and Carlsbad. Pretty nice down there and you don't have all of LA between you and OC.

What he said, north county coastal San Diego is nice.

Santa Barbara is really nice, but really really expensive...and further from the snow. Driving through West LA north of LAX is typically horrific.

[Viva]

...N. San Diego. At least the vibe hasn't been ruined by excessive over building of 4.5br homes for $1.3million that have no yard or personality.

Wanna bet?

[hutash]

I wouldn't do Santa Barbara. Nice place, but a lot if the same issues as OC. Goleta, which is a little further north is more relaxed, but just adds to the getting to work when you have to go. Carpenteria is a nice laid back California beach town, but probably too laid back for your stage of life. Ventura may be a really good option if you don't mind the weekly commute. The good news is the is a reasonably good metro rail that leaves Ventura week days. How close to work in OC it gets you is another issue.

It is about the same distance to Mammoth as OC, but immensely easier. Definitely more affordable, but still shocking compared to MT. When my wife and left vet school we could live pretty much anywhere in CA, but chose Ventura for a lot of reasons, a major one being a good place to raise a family. We have not regretted or choice, although my daughter is now in Boseman...go figure.

PM me some digits if you want to talk about it.

[splitinbend]

Wanna bet?

If that's the case then that is too bad. I always loved Leucadia and Carlsbad, but that was always coastal as I only went that way to surf.

[Viva]

It fucking sucks. I moved to Encinitas in 06 after being away for about seven years. The amount of inland development that occurred in by absence was staggering! Look up San Elijo Hills. Before 2000, it was ranch/farmland. The San Marcos/Carlsbad border area also experiences a shit-ton of development. The worst part is that the folks living in these new communities rely heavily on La Costa, Leucadia and Encinitas Blvds. to reach the freeway. They all seem to shop along El Camino Real, too, so that street's now a shit show as well.

[Meadow Skipper]

^That's what gets me. Last time I was in north county, everything east of the freeway seemed like it was an endless dusty smoggy tract. Along the beach is still a lot like I remembered it, as long as you keep facing west.

[liv2ski]

As a guy that loves to surf and ski Mammoth, a few thoughts I have had over the years, on where to live.

1) North Oceanside: close to Trestles, San O and the good North County breaks of SD County. Get on the 76 early morning and be to Mammoth in 5.5 hours. From my experience, San Diego county has much better surf spots than OC and LA counties.

2)Sherman Oaks/Hollywood Hills: My old stomping grounds. You can be at Santa Monica in 30 minutes or less and to Mammoth in 4.5 hours. As much as I hate LA, if you can afford the Hollywood Hills, it is a great spot. Not to mention all of the entertainment options LA offers that SD misses out on.

[hutash]

It fucking sucks. I moved to Encinitas in 06 after being away for about seven years. The amount of inland development that occurred in by absence was staggering! Look up San Elijo Hills. Before 2000, it was ranch/farmland. The San Marcos/Carlsbad border area also experiences a shit-ton of development. The worst part is that the folks living in these new communities rely heavily on La Costa, Leucadia and Encinitas Blvds. to reach the freeway. They all seem to shop along El Camino Real, too, so that street's now a shit show as well.

All true, but the point is it is all relative. Sure north county isn't as nice as it was in the 70's, and OC isn't as nice as it was in the 50's, but if you are going to live in the area north county is still one of the nicer areas, just not as nice as it once was. The problem with nearly all of California is that it is home to 30 million people.

[iceman]

I say join the Marines. Lots of open space and miles of empty beach at Camp Pendleton. Plus you could drive around in a tank.

[hutash]

I say join the Marines. Lots of open space and miles of empty beach at Camp Pendleton. Plus you could drive around Syria or Iraq in a tank.

FIFY

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[gh444]

It fucking sucks. I moved to Encinitas in 06 after being away for about seven years. The amount of inland development that occurred in by absence was staggering! Look up San Elijo Hills. Before 2000, it was ranch/farmland. The San Marcos/Carlsbad border area also experiences a shit-ton of development. The worst part is that the folks living in these new communities rely heavily on La Costa, Leucadia and Encinitas Blvds. to reach the freeway. They all seem to shop along El Camino Real, too, so that street's now a shit show as well.

Fuck you. You've been living blocks from me for the last four years and not a goddamn peep. You don't drink, surf, bike or ski anymore so we'd have nothing in common or what?

[atomicboy]

As per my earlier post, I live here and will miss certain things when I'm gone. Given what you've written above, I absolutely WOULDN'T do Orange County. Your only real option south of LA is N.County SD or SD proper. The dog kills it.

Agreed. I have lived here my entire life outside of college and OC is a shit show. The only reason we stay here now is the wifes job, and our house will be paid off in 5 years. We also live against the hills by Irvine park so it is quite and we see tons of wildlife. Based on what you wrote attached, dog, not looking to settle down etc I would not move here. Yes the weather beach things to do are great but it is honestly a shit show. It takes 1/2 hour to go anywhere now as there are lights literally every couple of hundred yards in Irvine. The cost of living is high and people for the most part are fucking morons that do not know how to drive. God forbid your pooch is used to a yard and having free reign to roam he/she will probably die arriving in OC. However, if you are looking to learn a second or third language Spanish, Korean, Chinese, Farsi etc then this is your place.

[Viva]

Fuck you. You've been living blocks from me for the last four years and not a goddamn peep. You don't drink, surf, bike or ski anymore so we'd have nothing in common or what?

Love you, too. When did you move there? I left almost three years ago.