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Thanks for all your responses. What alot of you said made sense of course. Find a job then look for housing. Very glad housing prices are dropping. I am nervous about this move but I held off as long as possible. Starting all over seems huge: job, housing, friends... When I first get there, I will be staying with family in LH and will branch out later while remaining in the OC. Last question: How does Laguna Hills compare with Laguna Niguel?
Thanks for all your responses. What alot of you said made sense of course. Find a job then look for housing. Very glad housing prices are dropping. I am nervous about this move but I held off as long as possible. Starting all over seems huge: job, housing, friends... When I first get there, I will be staying with family in LH and will branch out later while remaining in the OC. Last question: How does Laguna Hills compare with Laguna Niguel?
Pretty similar. Laguna Niguel has more new areas, the southern portion is around two miles from the beach, some neighborhoods have ocean views, etc... Laguna Hills is again more equestrian feeling in its southern portion with many lots having acres and the northern portion is a mix of 70's homes and apartments.
You'll frequently cross into both cities though, its not like you stop at the city borders. We have relatives in Nellie Gail and the closest shopping center and grocery to them is in Laguna Niguel for example.
I wouldn't be concerned about any negatives you read about Laguna Hills. I've been living here almost a year now and it's beautiful. As far as the stuck up people go, if you track back to older posts from me, I moved to CA from NJ 2 years ago and couldn't stand living in Irvine/Newport Beach area... everyone was so pompous, materialistic, and unreliable-- at least the people I was meeting. Laguna Hills is South OC, which is apparently known for more stuck-up people but I haven't noticed it much. Sometimes, but not nearly as much as by Irvine or Newport areas. What is cool is that Laguna Hills has different 'pockets' so it is more diverse. Some spots is comprised of ethnic groups such as predominately hispanic or asian and there are other spots that are the elite wealthy, even more powerful than most newport coast people- this area is called 'Nellie Gail Ranch' it is AMAZING, and then you have other 'typical' suburban crawls and a lot of various apartments and condo complexes just like you find all throughout OC. Compared to Mission Viejo or Aliso Viejo I would say it's quite similar. Aliso Viejo tends to be slightly younger and more young families, Mission Viejo is more middle aged families with young kids I think and Laguna Hills is a larger mix from the close-by Leisure World retirement ville lol, and young-middle aged families. There aren't a TON of young people in Laguna Hills, but because of the outskirt towns- aliso, mission, laguna niguel, lake forest, irvine, a lot of people come in and out of here so you meet all different types out at restaurants, shopping centers, malls, or stores. There are some decent restaurants too but the nightlife is quite lame IN laguna hills. I'm still trying to find a few decent happy hour/lounge hang-outs, but most of them are in costa mesa or newport beach or down by San Diego or up by fullerton or LA. There are some AMAZING views if you are up at a higher elevation you can see a few cities at once, when the sky is clear the saddleback mountains are impressive, and in february i even saw snow on the mountains. Laguna Hills is not the closest to the beach which is a pain because there's only 2 main roads really to get to the beach, so it takes 15 minutes with no traffic, but may take 20-25 minutes in summer traffic. Traffic wise there isn't much IN laguna hills. but the 5 exit going southbound to el toro or alicia parkway can be a PAIN from 430-630pm but fine other than that, and going north-bound not much problems. As another user posted, the High School is reknown and their sports programs are quite good considering they don't have the 'numbers' as other larger schools in the area. I believe they were voted a 'blue ribbon school' several times in the last 10 years. Safety-wise, 90% of LH is safe as mission viejo, but there are a couple spots i can think of off-hand close to the HS that are less than ideal, but not as bad as some people make it seem. A weird gauge I've been using to determine personality of an area is the friendliness/authenticity of tellers at banks and check-out people at supermarkets. It may be an anomoly, but most of the genuine areas tend to have people similar to the people in that community and I find most of the people at these grocery stores or banks in LH to be quite friendly, and helpful. When I was in Irvine I felt everyone was WAYY too rushed in the parking lots and on their cell phones running into kids with carts and impatient. I don't see it as much here. Thank God because I couldn't deal with that again like I did in Irvine/Newport! I like living here and actually am making some decent friends.
Lived in the city, chicago, most of my life but am going to try to make the move to laguna hills because of family. How would you describe laguna hills? What is the difference between LH and other oc towns- mission viejo and Laguna Niguel? I'm looking for the postives but am getting worried after reading some posts.
I won't miss the brutal winters here but will miss the the city scene- local bars, restuarants, bands, festivals. While i have seen posts about how oc is not diverse- chicago isn't that much different in ways. The city is sectioned off- each neighborhood is very insular.
I like Laguna Niguel more than the LH or MV as its newer, so the planning is better. Mission Viejo is probably my least favorite of the three, because it simply feels too old, boring, and jaded. There's nothing really there. Even the shops feel limited and outdated. Coming from the beach, Mission Viejo feels a bit like OC's Bakersfield... Crime level is really low, so nothing to worry about there. There are still green areas around so if this is important for you, you got it in all three areas. You also have quick and easy access to the freeway to reach Los Angeles or San Diego without much delays. The beach is about 30 minutes drive away.
I would say insular is a good way of describing all three of the areas. People are friendly all over California, but sometimes you get pockets of odd groups. I had a friend move to Laguna Hills from Laguna Beach. We would socialize with anything that basically passed our front door (!). But in Laguna Hills not a single neighbour will talk or socialize although there are 100's of them living next door to each other. Now how odd and boring is that? And she is very social, very sweet. She misses Laguna terribly.
So you may want to check that you're in a neighbour friendly block.
As a city person, I love the bustling life around me. None of the 3 places will offer that but you'll have plenty of chances watching the grass grow unless you try to find activities to do. But the big plus in OC is that you have activities happening in different areas within driving distance, so you have at least the options. And you need a car to go EVERYWHERE... Don't forget that! Every family member really needs a car. Its pretty hard to live in the OC without a car. Public transportation is poorly developed.
I like Laguna Niguel more than the LH or MV as its newer, so the planning is better. Mission Viejo is probably my least favorite of the three, because it simply feels too old, boring, and jaded. There's nothing really there. Even the shops feel limited and outdated. Coming from the beach, Mission Viejo feels a bit like OC's Bakersfield... Crime level is really low, so nothing to worry about there. There are still green areas around so if this is important for you, you got it in all three areas. You also have quick and easy access to the freeway to reach Los Angeles or San Diego without much delays. The beach is about 30 minutes drive away.
I would say insular is a good way of describing all three of the areas. People are friendly all over California, but sometimes you get pockets of odd groups. I had a friend move to Laguna Hills from Laguna Beach. We would socialize with anything that basically passed our front door (!). But in Laguna Hills not a single neighbour will talk or socialize although there are 100's of them living next door to each other. Now how odd and boring is that? And she is very social, very sweet. She misses Laguna terribly.
So you may want to check that you're in a neighbour friendly block.
As a city person, I love the bustling life around me. None of the 3 places will offer that but you'll have plenty of chances watching the grass grow unless you try to find activities to do. But the big plus in OC is that you have activities happening in different areas within driving distance, so you have at least the options. And you need a car to go EVERYWHERE... Don't forget that! Every family member really needs a car. Its pretty hard to live in the OC without a car. Public transportation is poorly developed.
This is the weirdest post I've read in a long time, my apologies. How can you possbily draw any sort of correlation between Bakersfield and Mission Viejo? MV has been voted one of the US's safest cities a number of times. You can't say the same for Bakersfield. Are you mistaking it for Lake Elsinore, perhaps??? There's just as much newer construction in Mission Viejo as Laguna Niguel, maybe even more. And nothing out there? How about the Shops at Mission Viejo and a world-class hospital and CHOC Children's Hospital wing?
With all due respect, it is now called the Village at Laguna Woods, and one doesn't have to be retired in California to be a bad driver.
I agree, being a young and responsible driver, my observation is the 'in a rush' soccer moms and 'corporate exec' type who are on their cell phones or 'preoccupied' with other things going on are the more troublesome drivers. I live in LH and I don't find many issues with driving around here at all. In Central OC though like Newport, Irvine, Costa Mesa... people seem to be in much more of a hurry and driving around a mall parking lot can be a disaster waiting to happen! I think the only bad driving around LH/Aliso Viejo/L niguel area is the walmart during the DAY haha, that is TRULY Laguna Woods country... but other than that, most places are safe.
Laguna Hills is very nice .. and nothing like the show
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