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I'm currently in the Bay Area and was visiting OC area (Huntington Beach/Newport) last weekend and definitely fell in love with the beach scene which has now had me question whether I should make the move down to SoCal. It's also been several years since having visited greater LA area and liked other parts of LA metro like Manhttan/Redondo/Hermosa as well.
I figured I'd ask some here that are local to OC what they love about OC in general vs the rest of the LA metro. I know LA has it's good and bad parts and largely where you stay comes down to what type of lifestyle you're looking for. The reason I ask about LA is because I did like other parts of the metro so I'm trying to compare OC to those other nicer parts of LA such as Manhttan/Redondo/Hermosa. Personally I'm a laid back person that enjoys a quiet enough town that has amenities (a local nightlife scene), that is safe, and still close enough where I can go into places like West Hollywood or Santa Monica when I feel like it on a weekend. I'm together with my long time girlfriend and a dog, no kids. We're both pretty similar in that we love the beach, but also love the "small town" feel where there's a local farmers market and local evens going on. We both work from home so fortunately a commute is not a problem for us.
We're looking to buy a place likely if we move down - our budget is probably in the range of around 1.4.-1.6 and looking for an avg 1800-2500 sq ft house that has at least 2 bed 2 bath and is modern.
Few questions I have for you locals:
Sell me on OC - what's the best part about living in OC (especially coastal OC compared to the "nicer" parts of LA county? I don't mind inland either like in places like Irvine but I don't want it to be completely suburban either) Is the above house budget a realistic margin for some beach cities like Huntington around OC? I know Long Beach is technically LA County but is it a recommended place as well? Lastly, are there any other areas you recommend that cover some of the above and fall in that budget around OC?
You will need to determine which of your criteria is important to you. At your price range (house, 2BR 2BA, 1.4-1.6M), Newport Beach is mostly out of the question. You will find more in your price range in Huntington Beach. If you are open to a condo that will expand your options considerably. Huntington has some nightlife downtown. I see people walking their dogs down there. Both Santa Monica and West Hollywood are not easy drives even on the weekend. I might be willing to do it once a month or every other month but the traffic into LA county can be a real headache.
You say you are open to Irvine but that is totally suburban. Many places in Irvine close between 9pm and 10pm with a few exceptions. You can, however, make it down to the coast with 30-45 minute which would give you that coastal experience when you want it. Irvine is also a very safe area.
Long Beach may be a very good fit for you. There is more available pricewise but you do need to explore a lot and choose the neighborhood that suits you. Long Beach is a big city with lots of different neighborhoods. 4th street has a lot of funky places on it and the shore itself is nice.
I suggest you visit the area for a longer time and get a feel for things. I don't see how I can "sell you" on the area. You either like it or you don't.
Location: As of 2022….back to SoCal. OC this time!
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Lucky Clover
Looking to potentially move to SoCal - sell me on OC
As much as I love it here, my advice would be don’t move anywhere you have to be sold on. I would never have wanted that for my husband so I didn’t try to talk him into anything. There were many things he loved about it too tho, once we started looking seriously…especially Laguna Beach. And, he knew it was time to get out of San Francisco & settle into something different but he was still able to keep his hobbies & interests. It’s really an outdoor & active lifestyle we both love…beach, parks, trails. Most homes in our area are a 5 to 10 minute walk from one of the beaches…some of them are private or very quiet. Festivals, music, artists, shopping, surfing & lots of beautiful sunny days. A lot depends on your budget ofc. Is that what is holding you back? Because that especially…no one can “sell you on it”.
My wife and I were both born (1980), raised in, and currently live in OC. I can say it's changed a lot with greater density and greater cost of living so I understand the sentiment that OC life was easy-breezy yesteryear. I'm wondering if you've considered the San Diego area because I get much more of a smaller town vibe with more laid back people. I'm thinking San Clemente/San Juan Capistrano might also be what you're looking for. I've got friends in Belmont Shores (Long Beach) who love it and typically go weeks without needing to drive their cars despite having 2 small children. I love my city of Newport Beach, but it's been too pricy for too long now so I wouldn't recommend it. The entire lack of affordable starter homes, development restrictions, and low density (by design) makes it a great place to live but also creates a large barrier to entry.
As for the LA South Bay beach cities, those are very nice but also pricy. Manhattan/Hermosa Beach has a nice Strand with good restaurants/bars/shops and it's tough to walk around there without running into an AVP/NBA/MLB/NHL/USC/UCLA athlete. Redondo Beach and San Pedro are a little more dense and less exclusive than the prior mentioned towns and they are a lot more affordable.
Prior to COVID, prices were much more reasonable. COVID really affected the housing market down here (and probably in many places) and drove up prices significantly. Additionally, interest rates are much higher (though still reasonable by long term standards). It's made OC housing much more difficult to get into, particularly in more affluent areas. OP's price range would have been much more reasonable three years ago. Today it's a different world.
You will need to determine which of your criteria is important to you. At your price range (house, 2BR 2BA, 1.4-1.6M), Newport Beach is mostly out of the question. You will find more in your price range in Huntington Beach. If you are open to a condo that will expand your options considerably. Huntington has some nightlife downtown. I see people walking their dogs down there. Both Santa Monica and West Hollywood are not easy drives even on the weekend. I might be willing to do it once a month or every other month but the traffic into LA county can be a real headache.
You say you are open to Irvine but that is totally suburban. Many places in Irvine close between 9pm and 10pm with a few exceptions. You can, however, make it down to the coast with 30-45 minute which would give you that coastal experience when you want it. Irvine is also a very safe area.
Long Beach may be a very good fit for you. There is more available pricewise but you do need to explore a lot and choose the neighborhood that suits you. Long Beach is a big city with lots of different neighborhoods. 4th street has a lot of funky places on it and the shore itself is nice.
I suggest you visit the area for a longer time and get a feel for things. I don't see how I can "sell you" on the area. You either like it or you don't.
Huntington is likely where I was probably going to settle for but all of the beach cities are all pretty nice (the ones I visited were Long Beach, Huntington, Newport, Laguna, and Dana Point).
I actually drove to West Hollywood from Huntington right around rush hour - that was fun. Agreed that they are not easy drives.
I'm open to Irvine in the sense that if it's a nice town but not relatively far from beaches/ocean then it's doable. But I'd probably put it at a distant option after the beach cities. I'm not a big nightlife person either, I like to go out once in a while but it's not a huge deal breaker if things close early. In fact I'm used to that up here in North Bay in the Bay Area.
Long Beach was surprisingly nice around the area I was in (I didn't have any expectations of it but I feel like nobody I know that lives in LA Metro ever talks enough about it so I hadn't known much about it). I'm very open to Long Beach - it's definitely a large place - I only really spent most of my time on PCH so I didn't see very much of other neighborhoods there but I'm sure they're good in their own way.
I think the term "sell" was probably not the right word to use - I think I am sold otherwise I wouldn't really be asking and I do love it up here in North Bay but I feel like for our lifestyle and being beach people being down in OC would make our lives feel complete. We're also looking to settle down and buy a place so I feel like nows the time to do it in a place that we truly do like. What I really was after was to know if there's anything I'd be missing out on living in OC vs a city closer to LA in LA county. Or if there are any obvious things that I might not otherwise know about OC. I will be visiting again next month - really excited to be back again. I've only visited 1 other place a 2nd time in a 60 day period and that was Boston because I absolutely loved it there and I made the move a short time later after that. I get the same sort of vibe (but even more so) with having visited OC.
It's too crowded, too expensive already. Stay away
When has that ever stopped anyone?
Trust me - all places I have had a desire to live have been expensive but that has not stopped me. It actually motivates me further to grow means to allow for me to afford to live in such areas.
As much as I love it here, my advice would be don’t move anywhere you have to be sold on. I would never have wanted that for my husband so I didn’t try to talk him into anything. There were many things he loved about it too tho, once we started looking seriously…especially Laguna Beach. And, he knew it was time to get out of San Francisco & settle into something different but he was still able to keep his hobbies & interests. It’s really an outdoor & active lifestyle we both love…beach, parks, trails. Most homes in our area are a 5 to 10 minute walk from one of the beaches…some of them are private or very quiet. Festivals, music, artists, shopping, surfing & lots of beautiful sunny days. A lot depends on your budget ofc. Is that what is holding you back? Because that especially…no one can “sell you on it”.
Agreed on your first sentence - I'd say using the word "sell" was probably not the right approach for this thread. I think I'm sold on most everything I've seen thus far - I'm sure I'll have more of an opinion of the place when I visit next month again. I feel like that's me in a nutshell as well - an outdoor/active lifestyle, very outgoing. Budget is definitely not holding me back - I think in general California seems to be what it is, some areas are obviously unreasonable but those are not areas I'm looking for.
My wife and I were both born (1980), raised in, and currently live in OC. I can say it's changed a lot with greater density and greater cost of living so I understand the sentiment that OC life was easy-breezy yesteryear. I'm wondering if you've considered the San Diego area because I get much more of a smaller town vibe with more laid back people. I'm thinking San Clemente/San Juan Capistrano might also be what you're looking for. I've got friends in Belmont Shores (Long Beach) who love it and typically go weeks without needing to drive their cars despite having 2 small children. I love my city of Newport Beach, but it's been too pricy for too long now so I wouldn't recommend it. The entire lack of affordable starter homes, development restrictions, and low density (by design) makes it a great place to live but also creates a large barrier to entry.
As for the LA South Bay beach cities, those are very nice but also pricy. Manhattan/Hermosa Beach has a nice Strand with good restaurants/bars/shops and it's tough to walk around there without running into an AVP/NBA/MLB/NHL/USC/UCLA athlete. Redondo Beach and San Pedro are a little more dense and less exclusive than the prior mentioned towns and they are a lot more affordable.
Yeah the brief amount of home research I was doing - the prices from 2019 of places people have bought to what they're selling for now - they're getting a pretty penny for it. I've actually never visited San Diego extensively but have heard good things. I think where San Diego (albeit not terribly far from LA, but still far enough) would be a dealbreaker is that I do want to be near a city/metro like LA where I can go out to areas on the weekend where there are things going on. My 2 days in San Diego the vibe I got is that it's a smaller LA with a super centric Beach culture - LA offers so much more in terms of festivals, events, restaurants, and the proximity to places like SB, SLB, etc is a little closer (which I also love). San Clemente I have not been to but may go check out next month is one that seems a little more "economical" in comparison to the other beach cities in OC from my brief research. The downside of course would be that it's even further away from the rest of LA Metro and almost halfway to Carlsbad at that point.
Newport definitely seems like it is out of my price range anyway - really nice town though! I will check out Long Beach some more when I'm down there next month. I feel like I only saw a small part of it which I loved.
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