Moving to Southern California!

Orange county is probably one of the most expensive places in california to live!
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Or the world for that matter. Of course the cost depends on how close to the beach you are. I personally got sick of the traffic (as much as 45 min to go 5miles to school) and weather - yes, even 75 degree sunny days get old when EVERY day is 75 degrees and sunny ;) But coming from DC I have a feeling you'll love the weather!
 
caliginousface said:
Wow, I was born in socal, moved around, and came back to socal for high school. Make sure you lift your truck and put a Volcom stone on it yo! I'd probably like socal more if Std. Oil, GM, and Firestone didn't buy up all the rail lines and decomission them.

Then again socal is alright, I guess my feelings are based on a location by location basis.
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where did you go to high school in socal? also i must agree the raised chevy with the limo tints and a volcom sticker.
 
I can really care less about gas prices... I get 40/30 mpg so that doesn't really matter.

Is it possible to make it from Laguna Niguel to Long Beach in under an hour? I am guessing rush hour will push it? Google maps says like 40 min or so?
 
Adam2006 said:
The beauty of Socal is the variation. You can live in many different areas, from Huntington Beach to Irvine, the South Bay to the Westside. Gardena is nothing like Santa Monica. They all have their differences, even temperatures. I live in Santa Monica, where it doesn't get over 80 deg. move to south OC, and it can hit 100 easy.

You can go to the beach, mountains, desert, or skiing all with-in a few hours.

As far as gas prices and such, do you really want to waste your life worrying about such things. I don't care, if it is $10 a gallon, I will still "choose" to drive, as it is more convenient here(due to weak public transit system). Do you want to be 70 yrs old and worrying about gas @ $20 a gal. too? Sorry for the rant, just find it bothersome that soo many people cry about the gas prices, and then jump in a vehicle and drive.

Anyways, Tim, I was born and raised here in Socal, and have lived in many cities, including Irvine, so PM me if you have any questions.
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:yeahthat:
 
Timbuff10 said:
I can really care less about gas prices... I get 40/30 mpg so that doesn't really matter.

Is it possible to make it from Laguna Niguel to Long Beach in under an hour? I am guessing rush hour will push it? Google maps says like 40 min or so?
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It really all depends on the traffic. The 405 is one of, if not THE worst freeway in California. At least up by me. A 25 mile drive can take 30 minutes or 2 hours. All depends on the time of day.
 
MarkE said:
It really all depends on the traffic. The 405 is one of, if not THE worst freeway in California. At least up by me. A 25 mile drive can take 30 minutes or 2 hours. All depends on the time of day.
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the 405 from the roscoe exit to lax is always hit or miss.
 
Another So Cal native here...let me introduce you to my best friend, Sigalert.com:
http://www.sigalert.com/map.asp?Region=Greater+Los+Angeles
if you're lucky enough to be able to have several routes to/from work, checking the site out before you leave can save you some serious time.

As for getting from Laguna to Long Beach in an hour, as a few others have said, it just depends...there is no rhyme or reason to the traffic patterns here.

I have a neighbor that commutes from downtown Long Beach (about 6 miles SW of LGB) to SNA and she doesn't take the freeway at all and opts instead for Pacific Coast Hwy and then just a couple miles up Newport Blvd to SNA. Even at rush hour she can make the trip in an hour. I'm not sure how much additional time the drive up PCH from Laguna would add to your trip though. Anyway, welcome to CA!
 
Timbuff10 said:
Looks like we will be centering our housing hunt around Lake Forest since that is where the wife will be working. We are looking at places in Mission Viejo, Laguna Niguel, and Laguna Beach. I guess the closer you are to the ocean the better so we will probably aim for that.
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I think you're still gonna run into some serious sticker shock in those communities. Check out Tustin, Costa Mesa, Aliso Viejo for more reasonable housing values, all are in the immediate vicinity of the areas you mentioned, just not as "high rent".
 
MarkE said:
It really all depends on the traffic. The 405 is one of, if not THE worst freeway in California. At least up by me. A 25 mile drive can take 30 minutes or 2 hours. All depends on the time of day.
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Someone once told me that in LA, everything is 45 minutes from everything else, regardless of actual distance.
 
killbilly said:
Someone once told me that in LA, everything is 45 minutes from everything else, regardless of actual distance.
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When I first moved here I used to joke that everything was 20 minutes away. "How long does it take to get there? Eh, about 20 minutes" :)

Although NOW that seems to have turned into an hour to get anywhere!
 
Well, we got housing setup and will be living in Mission Viejo right next to "the 5" and right there by the "Shops at Mission Viejo". Looks like a cool area from what we can tell so it will be fun to try that out I think. I guess it is close enough to things but not out in the sticks either. Hopefully it will remind us of Denver a bit as the area looks to be like what we are used to. We are just doing a one bedroom so rent is not bad at all really. It is about the same as we are paying here in DC so we can deal with that.

I guess this sets me up for looking for a CFI job at SNA or maybe up to LGB or Fullerton.

Any Cessna G1000 pilots in the area want a free instructor next month for a while?
 
amorris311 said:
there is no such thing as the sticks in orange county.
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Yeah, it seems to be right to the south though. That area between OC and SanDiego looks pretty bare. Is that all military or are there alot of good hiking/biking areas in there?

Oh yeah, can anyone give a good estimate on how often can you feel earthquakes? I am really looking forward to this... Never been in one yet. Should be fun as long as stuff doesn't start falling apart.
 
yea camp pendelton is in north county it is cool when they have war games. there are a lot of neat trails in the hills to the east of oc. you can bike ride along pch nice scenery in the summer. overall you are moving to a pretty cool place. in regards to earthquakes yea they happen but nothin ever too big. its cool the first time you feel one in a long time you get this shaking and everything in your house shakes. i enjoy them.
 
Timbuff10 said:
Ehhh, we are in Washington DC right now so looking at rents, and other Cost of Living stuff it is about the same so we aren't too worried about that. We are looking forward to getting out of the highrise type living and back into a normal type of apartment.

Looks like we will be centering our housing hunt around Lake Forest since that is where the wife will be working. We are looking at places in Mission Viejo, Laguna Niguel, and Laguna Beach. I guess the closer you are to the ocean the better so we will probably aim for that.

Santa Ana looks like a cool airport to fly out of. I know they are busy so that would be neat. I know AFI up in Fullerton is a Cessna Pilot Center so I will probably look into that too.
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You'll probably find the cost of living similar to where you are now...a decent 1-2 bedroom apartment in Lake Forest is going for about 12-1300 a month. SNA is a cool airport, but kinda busy. I did a lot of my training at AFI. It's a great place, good equipment and good people...lemme know if you need any info.

the drive to long beach from laguna will probably take more than an hour in traffic, but if you hit it at the right times (i.e. early morning before 6, after 9am), you'll have no problems. Living on the beach'll cost ya around the southern orange county area. have fun, and good luck
 
The only thing thats cost more in Socal then anywhere else is housing. Gas right now is cheaper then Utah. Food is not more. Plus you have the mtns and ocean. Thats why everybody wants to live there.
 
scoobs said:
The only thing thats cost more in Socal then anywhere else is housing. Gas right now is cheaper then Utah. Food is not more. Plus you have the mtns and ocean. Thats why everybody wants to live there.
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yep..south OC is a pretty nice place to live if you can ignore some of the snootiness........you're real close to a lot of hiking and camping areas...and the beach.....
 
I remember quakes being about once every year and a half, with a fairly strong one every decade or so. That Northridge quake was sliding my closet door wide open and closed... pretty freaky!
 
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