School me on Orange County!

sunburned

I miss my torque
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My fiance and I had been talking about moving to CA to change things up and her job gave her the opportunity to work from out there, so we're uprooting from DC and heading west. I work for the Navy and I've pretty much secured a job at the base in Corona (was hoping for Seal Beach...) and my fiance will probably be working between downtown LA and Irvine, but mostly from home.

We're hoping to sell our place here and rent for 1-2 years until we either decide to stay or come back east and have a kid. I'm searching for rental houses that kinda split the difference between Corona, LA and Irvine, and that puts me around the Anaheim area. I'd like to stay less than 30 minutes from Corona since my commute here sucks and she'll be working from home most of the time.

Any suggestions on areas in that general vicinity to look at or avoid? We're looking to rent a 2-3 bedroom house, hopefully in an area with some stuff going on, so not out in the desert. Coming from the city, my fiance is used to walking or taking metro everywhere and hardly driving anywhere. I know we won't find that, but some place with a nice downtown type area would be nice. We were hoping for Huntington Beach with it's great walkability, but the Seal Beach job didn't pan out.

Thanks!



PS: What's with people renting houses that don't have a refrigerator or washer/dryer???
 

SVT Edgar

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Fullerton is great, they have a nice downtown area with bars and entertainment and cool historic buildings. If you want something with a little more "ranch" feel, I would suggest yorba linda, they are big on horse riding and stuff like that. Irvine is very nice but a bit boring in my opinion. Good luck.
 

ZIMxxZUM

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What are you guys planning spending on rent because that will play a big role on a place you guys choose?
The north side Santa Ana is a pretty nice place. It leaves you in the middle to Huntington Beach Fullerton Newport Beach etc. Of course it has its bad areas, but almost every city does.
 

applecarguy

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Anaheim Hills or part of Yorba Linda is the closest you will get to Corona. I live in Anaheim Hills and it is very nice. But it is more of a suburb. There is really no like "downtown" to go hang out at. There are many shopping centers and everything you need such as restaurants, groceries, home improvement, movie theaters, etc. are all very close. But Anaheim Hills is a fairly expensive place to live. Same with Yorba Linda, but they are in my opinion the safest/nicest places to live in Orange County that is relatively close to Corona. Irvine is very nice as well but is a little ways away from Corona. The fastest way to get from Corona to Irvine and vice versa is the Toll Road which is expensive if you don't have Fast Track.
 

m4tic

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The area between LA and irvine is pretty much OC proper and a huge commute. I live in Buena Park and work in Irvine..my gf used to live in culver city.. I have a 2007 Mazdaspeed6 with 150000 miles on it as a result (I bought the car in 08 with 13k miles).

But it doesn't have to be all bad as you can take the metrolink train
Train Stations | Metrolink
 

sunburned

I miss my torque
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Thanks for the comments guys.

Our rent budget will probably be around $3500/mo at this point. I've been looking in Anaheim, Anaheim Hills, Placentia, Orange, etc. Seen some nice places, just thought I'd get an opinion from the locals as to what places are nice or bad to live in. We're definitely used to a high cost of living since we're in a condo in the middle of DC. Not going to be a shock there.

As for commuting, I'm definitely used to a crappy commute. I drive around 35 miles each way, out and back in DC every day. I rack up a shit ton of miles here, I'm just hoping to reduce my commute a bit out there. Might end up getting a motorcycle to help the process.
 

8gtoklr

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LA and Irvine then Corona...would be yorba linda, anaheim (stadium apts and condos 1800-2500), fullerton is to north traffic wise, the 91 will eat you up as is going to Corona (get a fast track pass). those cities have the metro trains closer to help her get to LA.
 
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roy_1031

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I think traffic is too bad to commute on a bike here honestly. I report to Yorba Linda and work all over Orange County. Only bad parts I've seen in OC are Santa Ana, Stanton and parts of Anaheim. Some parts of Buena Park can be sketchy, as well as really nice too. I personally like the Yorba Linda area. Have you looked into the Chino Hills area, it's in the border of Orange County.
 

m4tic

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Well that's house money to pick where ever you want. But brea, Yorba linda, diamond bar could be a good center spot. Take me with you...
 

sunburned

I miss my torque
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Is 91 or any part of it a toll road? Tried to read some about it. A bike would get me into the HOV lane, which I'd hope would be helpful, but is it worth it?

Say, for instance, that I'm driving from Anaheim to Corona in the AM, then back. Isn't that kind of against all the traffic going into LA? Or is it bad no matter what?
 

8gtoklr

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Its a paid program called http://www.91expresslanes.com/ and i believe it starts from the 91 & 55 and ends just before corona...at peak times its 7 bucks. Weird it used to be called fastrak oh well. Also during dry season which is most of summer there can be huge fires in the hills along that strectch of freeway and can cause huge delays. The 91 alone is one of the worst freeways to be on. Its bad no matter what
 
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P49Y-CY

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Say, for instance, that I'm driving from Anaheim to Corona in the AM, then back. Isn't that kind of against all the traffic going into LA? Or is it bad no matter what?

that is opposite of the normal majority commute, so it wouldn't be quite as bad. but as others have said the 91 is one of the worst freeways in socal, can be packed for hours

best of luck with it! if you like nice weather pretty much year round this is the place to be :beer:
 

OCSnk

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MrCaliKrome

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PS: What's with people renting houses that don't have a refrigerator or washer/dryer???

Tell me about it! :kaboom:

I think someone started a conspiracy to sell more appliances way back in the day and the scam has continued and will probably never stop. :bs:

My suggestion is to utilize Craigslist to find good deals on appliances.
 

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