Moving to Orange County from East Coast

[alanadoodle]

Originally Posted by ElDiabloJoe

Try the apartment communities in Irvine along the Jamboree / Alton or Jamboree / Main St. corridor. Rents about where you want, near the Diamond Jamboree shopping center with a lot of restaurants and an "H" Market, and there are a pair of Jewish Temple/schools along Michelson, one at the intersection with Culver, and one at the intersection with Harvard.

Hope this helps.

Addresses to some of those include: Cosmopolitan Apartmentss at 1200 Sullivan, 2501 Alton, 17200 Millikan, 16899 Jamboree, etc. Seriously, google maps the area and you will find nearly a dozen high end apartment complexes and a couple middle-end ones (The Sofi at 2750 Kelvin and some others on Kelvin). The Metropolitan on Kelvin is high end. The nicest, IMHO, is the Cosmopolitan.

There is also the Spectrum apartments and Los Olivos apartments, both off of Irvine Center Dr. They are close to a large strip mall with a Whole Foods, and of course the outdoor Spectrum Mall with Nordtrom's, etc. It is right off the 405 Fwy, on the south end of Irvine.

You can also try The Arts (3400 Avenue of the Arts) right next to OC Performing Arts center in Costa Mesa. It is walkable to a small, low-end shopping mall called South Coast Plaza, lol.

That was the EXACT location I was envisioning when OP mentioned walkable. Great suggestion.

[alanadoodle]

OC is nothing like DC, but at least you are aware of that! I am a SoCal native currently living in SoMD and we are moving back to CA this summer (Ventura County). I've lived in the OC and you really do want to live close to work to avoid the traffic nightmare that can be the OC freeways during rush hour. The weather there is great all year IMO. I can't stand the weather in Maryland, way too crazy. I like consistency and no snow LOL.


Old town Orange is super cute and there are plenty of apartments near there - whether you want older or newer.

[ElDiabloJoe]

Originally Posted by alanadoodle

OC is nothing like DC, but at least you are aware of that! I am a SoCal native currently living in SoMD and we are moving back to CA this summer (Ventura County). I've lived in the OC and you really do want to live close to work to avoid the traffic nightmare that can be the OC freeways during rush hour. The weather there is great all year IMO. I can't stand the weather in Maryland, way too crazy. I like consistency and no snow LOL.


Old town Orange is super cute and there are plenty of apartments near there - whether you want older or newer.

Yes, but Old Town Orange is full of students living there as Chapman University is slowly and consistently buying up all the parcels. Someday they will enclose that campus.

[Chava61]

Originally Posted by msgolds89

Hi all!


We're Jewish, so it would be nice to live close to a local Jewish community with people around our age.

I know there is a Jewish community in Mission Viejo (as there is a Chabad House there) as well as in Irvine.

[ElDiabloJoe]

Originally Posted by Chava61

I know there is a Jewish community in Mission Viejo (as there is a Chabad House there) as well as in Irvine.

And Newport, by the back bay between Jamboree and MacArthur

[Avalon08]

Originally Posted by DinsdalePirahna

I work in the stadium area, and live near PCH and Warner, near the beach in Huntington Beach.
We back up to the bolsa chica wetlands nature preserve, and are less than a mile from the beach, we see the ocean every morning when walking our dogs.

We live in a nice area, with a low crime rate (although there are a lot of 40-50 year olds suffering from severe cases of arrested development)

My commute in the morning is about 25-30 minutes, evening commute is about 45 minutes.

just food for thought....

Just as an aside, I lived in Huntington Beach for two glorious years 20 years ago. I'm still friends with my former neighbor, who now lives in a development that backs up to Bolsa Chica preserve. The sunsets are absolutely fabulous. You're very lucky!

[DinsdalePirahna]

Originally Posted by Avalon08

Just as an aside, I lived in Huntington Beach for two glorious years 20 years ago. I'm still friends with my former neighbor, who now lives in a development that backs up to Bolsa Chica preserve. The sunsets are absolutely fabulous. You're very lucky!

Thats my neighborhood, and while we live in a Condo, we are less than 3/4 mile to the beach, and just a short walk to the harbor and Bolsa Chica Reserve.

The most important thing about living and working in Orange County is to be close to the things you like to do and to where you work. A 15 mile drive can easily take over an hour during the evening rush.

[EastViaWest]

Fullerton and Brea are my recommendations! Exactly what you’ve listed needing.

[Gaylord_Focker]

Originally Posted by ElDiabloJoe

Try the apartment communities in Irvine along the Jamboree / Alton or Jamboree / Main St. corridor. Rents about where you want, near the Diamond Jamboree shopping center with a lot of restaurants and an "H" Market, and there are a pair of Jewish Temple/schools along Michelson, one at the intersection with Culver, and one at the intersection with Harvard.

Hope this helps.

Addresses to some of those include: Cosmopolitan Apartmentss at 1200 Sullivan, 2501 Alton, 17200 Millikan, 16899 Jamboree, etc. Seriously, google maps the area and you will find nearly a dozen high end apartment complexes and a couple middle-end ones (The Sofi at 2750 Kelvin and some others on Kelvin). The Metropolitan on Kelvin is high end. The nicest, IMHO, is the Cosmopolitan.

There is also the Spectrum apartments and Los Olivos apartments, both off of Irvine Center Dr. They are close to a large strip mall with a Whole Foods, and of course the outdoor Spectrum Mall with Nordtrom's, etc. It is right off the 405 Fwy, on the south end of Irvine.

You can also try The Arts (3400 Avenue of the Arts) right next to OC Performing Arts center in Costa Mesa. It is walkable to a small, low-end shopping mall called South Coast Plaza, lol.

Does the Irvine apartment company own all the apts? Seems like a monopoly.

[Racer46]

Originally Posted by Gaylord_Focker

Does the Irvine apartment company own all the apts? Seems like a monopoly.

They owned most of the land at one time and still do own a lot of it.