Raising kids in south Orange County (Garden Grove, Irvine: real estate, apartment complex, house)

[AKgirlinCA]

I would also like to add - in it's defense - as a current resident of Mission Viejo, there are absolutely NO gang issues in this entire community. I would walk on any street in MV, at midnight, alone, and seriously feel fine. I can't say that about parts of SJC and certain parts of San Clemente (which I do love as it's not a cookie cutter town like much of south OC).

[hsw]

Kids and materialism culture really depend upon DNA, ethos, education levels, priorities of parents

For ex., many engineers in OC prob are highly educated, smart, middle-income and are more oriented to educational achievements of kids, not brands of clothing or cars....Irvine prob reflects that ethos

Ironically, the wealthiest suburbs of SiliconValley or NYC often have parents who are most low-key about materials; everyone who matters knows they are wealthy; they live in a nice house in an elite suburb, but not necessarily the biggest; drive some newer Mercedes, but not necessarily the most costly; and if one attends elite colleges, one often sees that kids of the wealthiest (whose parents are often alums of these colleges) are often some of lowest-key kids who would be hard to differentiate materially from any middle-income kid from Irvine or Plano TX or Naperville IL

Usually, the flashiest are not the wealthiest and/or smartest

[dawnsearlylight]

I agree that materialism is everywhere, particularly in affluent communities. Competitive parenting, flashy cars, preoccupation with labels.... all of this happens nationwide. It seems though to predominate the south county culture (I'm generalizing here and certainly know that not all south county residents are this way).

I also agree that some of the wealthiest communities in our nation are actually not like this. I grew up in an upscale Bay Area town where the residents were very well-off, highly educated, etc. While many of these families could afford the nicest cars, clothes, vacations.... most stuck with reliable, affordable items and poured their money into their child's education and savings. Their homes were not flashy, but nice. This is how my husband and I live and how we plan to bring up our children. Doesn't make us "better" than anyone else; it's just the way we choose to live and prioritize our life.

This was not the case when I lived in Ladera. Households where the husband was a roofer and mom stayed at home have 3-4 cars (two or more luxury), brand new clothes all the time, 100K yards, pricey vacations, etc. My husband and I do quite well and we don't have ANY of that. We could afford it I suppose, but we'd rather save and have the $ to send our kids to college. Not everyone was like that in Ladera, but I would say that over-the-top, unjustified lifestyle was the norm, not the exception.

I found Mission Viejo to be much less that way. Not sure about RSM. SJC seemed to be dicey in some parts and nice in others. What about Lagune Niguel?

[NaplesRes]

Originally Posted by missionhome

I don't notice the materialism to be any worse than most of Orange County. This isn't some odd place like Newport Beach where people bring their little dogs in a designer outfit sitting in a Coach purse to the grocery store. Most people here are very happy being middle class, love it, breath it, and accept it. Mission Viejo is especially very middle class and well aware of it. Lake Forest, Rancho Santa Margarita, and other areas are like this as well. The more coastal you get or the closer to Coto de Caza you get, the more you get plastic surgery women driving Cadillac Escalades with two screaming kids in the back seat that the women never talks to because she is on her Blackberry.

I would say most people aren't trying to act like millionaires on a $80k salary, but every once and a while you get that pathetic person who drives a Porshe, has $400 jeans, and then lives in the most run down apartment building in the city. These are not common IMO, at least not more than other areas of So Cal. There are snobs everywhere in the entire region. L.A., the coast, lots of hilly estate areas, etc.. have them.

Also, gangs are not an issue in Mission Viejo. Anyone who says so is just jealous of our very low crime rate and we have been named #1 for safety in the country several times. MV has seven acres on the southern border of the city included in a gang injunction designated for the city of San Juan Capistrano who MV shares a border with. SJC has gang injunctions for a gang that is Hispanic on Hispanic. MV has its southern border included simply to prevent any crime from entering MV. By having this, if any gang members try to enter at the restricted times, the police can stop them.
Mission Viejo labeled safest city in the nation | crime, city, study, mission, viejo - News - OCRegister.com

To see our low crime rate broken down, also check out city data's own ratings:
https://www.city-data.com/city/Missio...alifornia.html

rankings of safety are not that indicative because they look at cities without context. for example, santa ana may have relatively low safety rankings but you may very well be safer in the nicer part of santa ana than in a small city that is ranked higher.

that said, mission viejo is very safe. still it is not immune to gangs. I certainly don't think MV has a gang problem but it is to deny fact to say there aren't gangs. here's an article from the oc register about south county gangs and mv in particular:




Judge bars South County gangsters from hanging out
An Orange County judge approves injunction limiting the activities of 239 alleged members of rival south-county gangs.
By RACHANEE SRISAVASDI
The Orange County Register

SANTA ANA – In an effort to snuff out south-county gang activity, an Orange County judge approved preliminary civil injunctions Friday against 239 alleged members of two rival gangs in San Juan Capistrano and San Clemente who prosecutors say are responsible for crimes including murder, attempted murder, rapes and assaults.

The orders affect less than half the people authorities have identified as belonging to the Varrio Viejo gang in Mission Viejo and San Juan Capistrano and the Varrio Chico criminal street gang in San Clemente – rival gangs that date back to the 1970s.

Among the injunction's restrictions, alleged gang members can be arrested if they are seen hanging out together, loitering or wearing gang-type clothes within a 1.3 square mile zone in San Juan Capistrano and a 2.2 square-mile zone in San Clemente.

A trial, which has not yet been scheduled, will be held to determine if the injunctions should be permanent.

The injunction, though, didn’t seem to have an immediate effect at stopping crimes. Hours after appearing in court, four members of the Varrio Viejo gang were among those who got in a scuffle with sheriff’s deputies in San Clemente, authorities said. One deputy ended up with a broken hand.

Prosecutors say the two gangs – whose members face charges including murder, attempted murder and rape -- are among the most criminally active of those in Orange County. Alleged crimes include a 2004 assault on several Marines in San Juan Capistrano, one of whom was critically injured. No arrests in that case have been made, said District Attorney Tony Rackauckas

"We have to put the gang in San Clemente and the gang in San Juan Capistrano out of business,'' Rackauckas said at a news conference.

Didier held separate hearings for each gang. In the morning, more than 70 alleged Varrio Viejo gang members showed up to court.

[dawnsearlylight]

Mission Viejo is VERY safe. San Juan Capistrano has pockets of safe areas and pockets of unsafe areas (from what I remember). If I were buying in MV I would not be concerned with safety (at least any moreso than I would in general no matter where I was buying). SJC, on the other hand, requires a bit more research b/c there are definitely neighborhoods that are dicey.

[Coldjensens]

materialism
shallowness
generally poor moral atmosphere
schools are so so
crowding
stress/everyone is crazy busy and too many are self oriented as a result
lack of lakes,field,streams,forests to explore/play
schools try to indoctrinate kids rather than simply teach8ng them

generall unwholesomeness (impossible to describe, either you understand this,or you do not.If you do not see this, you never will. If you g understand this you will know exactly what I mean, but it is something that cannot be described, just understood).

Prevalent drug use and acceptability of drug use.

Concept that nothing is wrong or bad, only different (sorry folks there is such a thing as absolute right and wrong).

But then for some folks, It is an ideal place to raise kids

[dawnsearlylight]

Originally Posted by Coldjensens

materialism
shallowness
generally poor moral atmosphere
schools are so so
crowding
stress/everyone is crazy busy and too many are self oriented as a result
lack of lakes,field,streams,forests to explore/play
schools try to indoctrinate kids rather than simply teach8ng them

generall unwholesomeness (impossible to describe, either you understand this,or you do not.If you do not see this, you never will. If you g understand this you will know exactly what I mean, but it is something that cannot be described, just understood).

Prevalent drug use and acceptability of drug use.

Concept that nothing is wrong or bad, only different (sorry folks there is such a thing as absolute right and wrong).

But then for some folks, It is an ideal place to raise kids

These are my concerns. Living there a few years ago was great. We were in our late twenties, both making good money, no kids, enjoying the sunshine, care-free life, etc. We now have 2 kids and we are now wondering if south county is a good place to raise our children. I just wonder if our efforts at home to raise down to earth, sensible kids will be thwarted by their peer group and a mentality that labels and appearances are what matter most.

[dawnsearlylight]

Not to mention that the Capistrano School District is DISMALLY run. People will talk about how wonderful that district is and yet all I hear and read about is how corrupt the management is and how terrible they are at managing their funds. No question this trickles down to the teachers and creates a bad morale problem w/ staff which of course affects kids.

[k374]

Originally Posted by varnba

I believe that its because some of the areas are quite populated w/ gangsters, so it all depends on the city you are plannin on living in

gangs in South OC... are you serious? South Orange County cities like Irvine, Mission Viejo and Laguna Niguel have consistently been rated among the safest cities in the entire United States. Gangs..I think not!

South OC is a very nice place to live from many aspects - the beach, weather, mountains, job environment etc., but about raising kids I'm not sure, I don't have kids. It's extermely expensive to live here, home prices are in excess of three quarter million dollars for a reasonably nice place and there is a lot of materialism and show off which may not be good traits to teach children.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by k374

home prices are in excess of three quarter million dollars for a reasonably nice place and there is a lot of materialism and show off which may not be good traits to teach children.

I may agree with this but for different reasons. If you can afford that home, that's great. My definition of affording means maxed out 401(k), maxed out Roth IRAs, maxed out college savings accounts, no credit card balance, and mortgage payment as a percent of income in the normal 28%-34% range.

Here are the median incomes for several zips in south OC:

ZIP City Median:

92673 Talega $92,073
92679 Coto $112,998
92694 Ladera $104,306
92629 Dana $64,622
92677 LN $80,146
92653 LH $46,716
92692 MVe $82,690
92691 MVw $75,184
92688 RSM $74,173
92656 AV $74,688

With those median incomes, and median house prices where they are at, I question how many people can "afford" to live there. (Obviously this doesn't apply to people who purchased ten years ago when housing prices where in the $150/sqft range and weren't out of sight with respect to incomes.)

Now, with housing prices crashing like a lead zeppelin, the house price to income ratios are approaching those dictated by classic models.

But again, if someone is wealthy enough to afford a Porsche and a boob job for his wife, that's OK, as long as they really can afford it.