Good LA or Orange County neighborhoods to live in?

[Zoemakes5]

I know there are a lot of you locals on this board and was hoping for some insight as to good neighborhoods/areas. There is a possibility of us moving out there within the next few months. Hoping for San Diego area, but LA is now in the cards as well.
I'm looking for decent schools, good/safe neighborhood and not out the roof expensive.
Thanks for any feedback.

 

[MateasMom]

Hmmm. Broad area LOL. If you could narrow it down a little bit more I'm sure us locals could give you some good ideas. For the most part, you'll need to be in the suburbs to find what you are looking for. 'Expensive' is all relative. For about $600,000 you'll be able to find a small older home or nicer condo/townhouse in most L.A. suburbs w/ nice schools. They'll come with a commute of course, and you'll need to know what part of L.A./OC you're coming to before anyone could really give you an idea of a good suburb to look into.

 

[Zoemakes5]

My job would be servicing government accounts all over LA, so I really am very open. DH's job would likely be downtown. He likes public transportation if it's available.

 

[Albort]

that is one hard question. None of the areas are cheap.

posted it in the wrong forum too oh well.

considered Irvine?

 

[MateasMom]

Well, if you'll be within L.A. county then you'll definatly have some hefty commutes to deal with. L.A. county is huge. Like, would take 4 hours to drive from one side to the other in any direction without too much traffic. If it's L.A. city, you're best bet for suburbia with good public schools for everything K-12 (and beyond) is the suburbs outside of the San Fernando valley. The L.A./Venture border (Simi, Moorpark, Thousand Oaks) and up where I am, Valencia/Santa Clarita. Either way you'll have hefty commutes into downtown (and depending on where downtown, the metrolink could be an option for DH), but people do it everday.

Where I am for about $600,000 on the good side of town you can get an older 2000 sq ft house on a normal suburban lot (6-7000 sq ft), or a newer same size house on a tiny (3000 sq ft) lot, or my personal preference would be a smaller (1500ish sq ft) 1990s+ house (so not really old, or new) in a very nice neighborhood. Prices in Simi will be just higher than that, and TO will be a step up from that. All though have great schools, safe neighborhoods, and a large commitment to family (as well as a big old commute, did I mention that ).

 

[DisQueen]

I'm assuming you currently either work for a company and will be transferred or you have applied for a new job. Ask your company's HR department for a referral to a realtor who is a relocation specialist. He/she specializes in knowing all the info you need when coming from another area. We used a relocation specialist when moving from so.cal. to no. cal. Worked great! When we moved back, we knew where we wanted and found a local person.

 

[castleeto]

I live in Irvine and LOVE it! Nothing out here is inexpensive, especially if you want a nice and safe area. You can get some great homes in Huntington Beach too. I lived there before moving to Irvine and it was a really fun, relaxed place to live. So Cal isn't really a place where people use public transportation, especially in Orange County. If that's a must for you, you'd probably need to stick close to LA, but prices will be even higher if you want a good neighborhood in LA. If you're looking for more afforable, try Long Beach. Alot of it isn't the nicest place to live, but I did spend a couple of years there when I first moved to So Cal, and there are some good parts, like Belmont Shores and Belmont Heights. I'd love to offer more help if you can give me some more info about what you need!

 

[Zoemakes5]

I actually like the idea of Orange County. I had friends that lived in Irvine growing up and really liked it there. Public transportation isn't a must, not at all, just my DH likes using it. I could see him driving to a certain area and then using metro from there, too. I grew up in Redondo Beach, but it's been almost 20 years since then. And, I know better than to even think about that area. Way too spendy.