Raising kids in south Orange County (San Diego, Irvine: HOA, crime, how much) - California (CA) - Page 4 - City-Data Forum

Raelyn28 · 05-25-2009, 10:43 PM

Not sure but I know it is OC. It isn't LA county or San Diego County. I don't know where the cut-off is but I lived there for many years and could not find an affordable place where there wasn't bad schools, neighborhoods, etc. Not only that but for one coming to the area it is expensive as ever. For some reason people think that to live by the Pacific Ocean is worth the high cost of living. They leave all the negatives out. The ocean water is cold most of the time and the sand is grey. It doesn't look anything like Hawaii, Florida or Mexico. I just think that OC is very over-rated. I don't miss it at all and wouldn't want to raise my kids there. I do want to say that all the towns South of Irvine on the Beach side are very nice but very expensive. If you can afford to live there than go for it but do your research, don't just watch an old episode of OC and think the whole place is like that because it isn't...

pinkgonegreen · 05-26-2009, 11:34 AM

Agreed.

Raelyn28 · 05-28-2009, 03:50 AM

You should attach this post to my thread on "the truth about southern california". Although I was trying to be polite in my truthfulness I was more or less saying what you just said. Everyone forgets to mention those crazy earthquakes that happen at night and scare the daylights out of kids. And also the cement and concrete everywhere. Look under the OC pic thread at my pic of Irvine for example.

Quote:

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

matzoman · 05-28-2009, 11:57 AM

People want to party,get high, and zooted in Laguna Beach that is where you find all the real hard drug use. Lots of meth arrests, grow houses in little old tiki beach shacks, large scale drug busts in South Laguna. Just google Laguna Beach high school drug problem, I think it was listed the worst in the country. Drug culture in this town goes deep and way back to the sixties with the brotherhood. Kids have to be strong with an iron will to make it out. No joke, just because there is a beach in walking distance and shiny new cars it does not make it safe family land! The small town midwest sounds like a better option for you.

pinkgonegreen · 05-28-2009, 02:58 PM

Drugs are a very large thing here...in my high school it was always because the kids were so wealthy, they were bored so they did drugs to experience new things, they already had anything else they could want for. They didn't need to work for anything, they were listless and unreliable, and all their suppliers actually lived in Coto & Dove...not Laguna...but I know it is definitely a drug culture here...and has been for at least the last 20 years that I can speak of personally. Yes, these were my friends because these are about 95% of the kids here in OC nowadays. And you can imagine when you have 2 working parents, how little supervision is given in those afterschool hours...and how many possessions are purchased to try to make up for the time the parents didn't give them...in the end, when you hit your peak at 18-21, it's all down from there.

Another consequence of this culture, the kids here hit mid-life crisis right out of college...since they are all of a sudden on their own without rules or parents or teachers to look over them and tell them what to do...they wig out and really don't know what to do...they party it up for awhile and then hit bottom...this is when most of the suicides happen, they can't have everything handed to them as they want it anymore...and it crashes down on them.

So if you decide to move here, I would strongly advise you to create a strong trust bond with your children, teach them that being themselves is always best, and do not give them whatever they ask for...in the long run, it will ruin their motivation and drive as people, it's hard to get back on that wagon once you fall off!

ritabrad · 05-29-2009, 12:04 PM

I'm going to be home schooling my daughter next year because of some of the things you're describing. Even the "good kids" seem so spoiled and selfish to me and I need to get my child away from all that.

Charles · 05-29-2009, 12:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ritabrad

Even the "good kids" seem so spoiled and selfish to me and I need to get my child away from all that.

And what dungeon are you going to lock your kids in to?

Are you seriously expecting to shield your kids away from other kids in the communty? Do actually think that kids elsewhere are significantly different in 2009 - especially in other places of affluence?

Bring them out here to Huntsville so that way they can pressure you for a cell phone - at nine years old.

Coldjensens · 05-29-2009, 12:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Charles

And what dungeon are you going to lock your kids in to?

Are you seriously expecting to shield your kids away from other kids in the communty? Do actually think that kids elsewhere are significantly different in 2009 - especially in other places of affluence?

Bring them out here to Huntsville so that way they can pressure you for a cell phone - at nine years old.

Yes. They are different. Not hugely so, but they are different. The self centeredness and materism is less prevelant in some other places. OC has developed a prevailing culture based on hedonism. It may or may not negatively impact kids. Who knows?

pinkgonegreen · 05-31-2009, 05:35 PM

I'm seeing peers having mid-life crisises in their mid-20s out of college due to being brought up in this area...no where else in this world am I aware of this happening. When you are fed with a silver spoon and given everything you could ever want from birth, you top out around your college years and then you are forced to live in reality (though no everyone) and they just slide down and hit rock bottom when they realize that the best years of their life are now behind them.

(note: this is through the OC native perspective, obviously there are many more important things in life that are better to come, but these kids who grow up here - including me, but luckily I've been able to overcome it because I went to college out of the area - just freefall when having to face reality post-college...if you can avoid affluenza, I would do it. I am moving out of OC now for the sake of my children, many of my peers have not recovered and several ppl from my high school in OC have committed suicide due to this).

Raelyn28 · 05-31-2009, 10:55 PM

Wow!! This thread should have been called "People telling the truth about OC". Good for you guys, finally speaking the truth about the area where you live/lived.. I agree with all of the posts here. Ditto...Except for Charles making the comment about the dungeon. No you can't hide your kids from reality or put them in a bubble safely away from the world but you can live in a better environment. And if you can't do that then you should home school or put them in a private school. Give them different aspects of life so they don't see one thing and think it is what life is about.