Folks Of Interest Irvine CA. Who should I know and what's there to do?

Month-to-month.

Edited to add: Or start with a hotel, or your buddy Dave (and look into taking a train to work).

 

Have you ever been to California?

I hope there's some follow-up to this thread.

 

Don’t look at the new ones Bob!

 

I'm definitely not interested in the long commute thing. Drive 76 miles each way (about an hour and 10 minutes) for 6 years. Often 6 and even 7 days a week. Never again!
Thanks for all the input guys. It's very helpful. Keep it coming.... I really want to build another car. It's been years (not counting my Jeep). Was planning to build an aluminum body speedster from scratch. Struggling to figure out where or how I'll do that with this move.... And yeah, someone asked. It is an automotive related job but new cars, not old. And it's not the kind of place I can steal a corner of the shop and build something.

 

I've been to the LA area several times over the years to visit my buddy Dave after he moved out there to build tons of crazy stuff for Galpin. Been to GNRS a couple times too. And I went to a party at the Playboy Mansion. But that's it. Never been outside of that general area.

 

I live in Fountain Valley, just up the 405 from Irvine. Houses were reasonable in 1971 $30,000 and we bought a 1500sg ft, single story, I can drive into the back( even tho I don’t). There are 2 for sale currently (extremely rare) of our model at $840,000. Easy-peasy. It’s all timing and a good job when your in your 20’s.
California, now Taxifornia, has more car things to do all year than you can possibly think of if you can afford the gasoline. Yes everything you can think of costs more here other than New York or San Francisco area. Those of us born here, Glendale for me and Long Beach for my wife, have a hard time leaving and we won’t.

 

Rockford's old place might be available.

 

I rented an apartment with a one-car garage in lovely Anaheim (cheaper) and worked in lovely Irvine. It was 15 miles and a minimum of 45 minutes to commute.

I'd be interested to hear where you might work, if you don't mind, of course.

 

Can't divulge that just yet but soon enough I'm sure.

 

To respond to your original question, "what should I know". One answer:

$$$$$

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

 

It's all about extremes. 909/951 Land of the Dirt People or Irvine (Stepford) HOA on steroids. Something for everybody

 

I grew up in this area and have been almost all over it (central OC to southern OC). I have worked in Irvine for the past 12yrs. and have co workers from all over So Cal. DON'T move to the I.E (Inland Empire) if you value your sanity, the drive daily WILL kill you...2 hours before the Covid days (one way). Same for Long beach (and beyond), it took a co worker about 2 hours to get to Oceanside (which is way farther then Corona).

Irvine itself isn't very friendly to a Hot Rod lifestyle, meaning no room, nosy neighbors, crappy HOAs, Irvine PD (you look odd and get pulled over), very little in industrial supplies (you'll be going to Santa Ana or online a lot), ultra trendy, ultra modern, traffic and very poor drivers. I would look in the outlying areas, Orange, Tustin, Costa Mesa, Lake Forest, Laguna Hills, Mission Viejo, San Juan Capistrano or San Clemente (might be the furthest away I would go). Look for a little bit older area WITHOUT an HOA, or even old town Orange or old town Tustin but they have a historical society. If you don't mind a little bit of a drive, look up Orange Park Acres (OPA) more room there or the Canyon area.....scenic drive.

I love this area but it's becoming super popular and crowed (compared to what it used to but not L.A). All that said, look around, all the towns here are small so you can be almost anywhere in south county in 45 mins with some traffic. Driving all year, a little hot during the peak of summer....if you want to see gas prices get the GasBuddy app and type in a city.

 

How soon is soon?

And you haven't mentioned other relevant variables (just you, your current job situation, etc)

 

Can't see them if i'm not there...lol

 

Still up in the air at this point. My guess is between 1 and 6 months.

 

First thing you'll have to get used to is direction etiquette. It's how LONG it takes to get somewhere not how many miles away.

 

I was in one band for about 5 years that had our rehearsals in Lake Forest and I live in Fullerton. It was normally a 20 minute drive from Fullerton to Lake Forest leaving about 3:30 in the afternoon. Shoot down the 57 to the 5 south to Lake Forest. 20 minutes. On occasion something would be going on and it would be 30 - 40 minutes, but that was unusual. The 5 always backs up right there, just at or before El Toro Rd. I'd usually get off at Bake Pkwy or Lake Forest Rd to avoid the jammed up fwy. Sometimes I might have to exit at Alton Pkwy. But 20 minutes was the usual.

 

The Dreaded El Toro Y!!!!

I should add that Fullerton, Yorba Linda are nice also, but your running WITH traffic around 5-7pm.......and there's a lot of traffic going to the IE.

 

Don't really know what your coworker is talking about. I grew up in Newport, rented longer than I should of, and now live in Oceanside for the last 5 years. Still a sleepy beach town, reminds me of Newport as a kid, but is getting redeveloped like all of the coast. Found a reasonably priced home here less than a mile to the beach and my daily commute to Laguna Beach is 40 minutes. Pleasant drive past Camp Pendleton with little traffic. When I lived in Newport I commuted to Santas Monica every day, 2-3 hours each way.

 

PS dont tell anyone lol

 

There I am with the red arrow above me .

 

^^ Ha! had friend like you, never did catch his face in a photo. -To OP, since it may be months before the move you need to fly out, with a mask, and look around for yourself - just like buying a car, even with pics, do not know what you are getting into until you see it for yourself - locate homes For Sale in a few different towns in a price range that you hopefully can afford - map it all out before hand and do some research - depending on what type of business that you will be working at, is there possibly someone there that can give you info on towns where employees there live at? - ya never know, might drive down a street that you really like, then stop by a real estate office and ask them to help be your eyes until the right time for you happens

 

Michigan to California. Done that. Livonia to Whittier to Hayward to Castroville.
The (House) buy in is an issue. In SoCal the other issue is the traffic.
I was there in the 90s and the only place of any culture was within 2 blocks from the ocean. This may have changed.
If members here say Irvine is not the place to live, then listen to them.
It would be best if you could come out here and visit for a few weeks and get a feel for the area.

 

Welcome to Socal. That $700,000 in Irvine would probably get you a 2/2 Townhome. Real estate has absolutely blown up here the last few years, including the hoods where in San Diego where you can get a 900 sq ft. post war starter home in the barrio complete with barred windows that'll set you back a cool half mill.+.
I'm seeing a lot of coworkers cash in their chips leave here as they can sell their home for $800,000 and buy a comp in the South or Midwest for $300,000.

Irish Mike has it right. Rent and get to know the area. (Rent prices are crazy as well). Put the car building on hold, Venture out somewhere else each weekend and enjoy yourself. Then if you can stomach the buy in cost of the game, take the leap. Property taxes will also give you a stroke. Learn the traffic patterns and build your activities around the worst of it to keep yourself sane. I've learned to know when and where to do any driving on the weekends, because some areas are worse than M-F rush hour. For errands, I'll hit Home Depot or the grocery store when they open at 6:00AM or go at 8:00PM on a weeknight. Some trips you will NOT do at certain times because it will take you 2 hours to travel 25 miles on the freeway. You'll learn the hard way to not leave after work Friday night for Vegas or San Francisco, but to instead depart between 11:00 PM and 3:00 AM.
Good luck, let us know how you do.

 

Many years ago, before the days of cell phones, I had a interview for a good job in Irvine, and was coming from Huntington Beach. Well, I got stuck in horrible gridlock on the 405 freeway. I couldn't go foreword, couldn't get off the freeway, and couldn't call the person. It is such a deflating experience to see your future slowing slipping away and not being able to do a damn thing about it. I got to the company an hour after they closed, but the person to see was still there and I explained my pathetic story. It didn't work. I was late and that was all that mattered. I didn't get the job. The moral of the story: there is none.

 

Hello,

The summer season is the time when a family moving into any school district is on the hunt for homes. In this odd time, it may not be the case. Isn't the idea of living in So Cal to be near your work? Driving on that 91 Freeway to get to the inland areas is the worst. Commuting is a fact of life in So Cal. but, the shorter the commute, the better you will feel in the end.

As far as less expensive housing, you will probably find those way out there, if you can stand the bumper to bumper traffic. We avoid that area at all costs if we have to travel that way. Or drive very early in the morning prior to the start of the 6:30 am commute. You can always take a nap at work, arriving early or hang out at a coffee shop.

In the past, we have driven to San Diego on the I-5 freeway at 4:00am. It takes less than an hour to be at the harbor with no traffic at all from the OC. Then a short trip nearby to a coffee shop and relax, prior to the day’s activities. It was not a daily commute, but traveling in So Cal at the odd hours to stay away from the heavy traffic. To San Diego, the Encinitas Beach area is well known for slowing the hour commute to SD Harbor by 30-40 minutes. The locals call it the “Encinitas Slow Down,” and slow down it does, except for the odd hours late or early in the morning. The long commute in the Irvine area might have to be that way if you live that far away from work.

There are plenty of other homes and larger condos in the same areas, but they start at 400-600k. So, the local areas in Tustin has $300-400k (600-1200sq ft) homes, but, they are all condos or townhomes...virtually the same thing. The location and amenities are what you will be paying for, just like anywhere else. Most have garages, but some only have carports.

Irvine does have condos from 300-400k, 600-800 sq ft with and without garages. Again, it is location to your work that is important, then this is the shortest drive.

In Lake Forest, a short drive South has the same plan, condos or townhomes at 300 to 400k 600-1100 sq ft with and without garages. It depends on the condo complex.

Across the freeway in Laguna Hills, has the same thing with small condos in the 300-400 k range.

The above are all 10-15 minute drive to Irvine. Behind the “furniture row” in Laguna Hills and on the other side behind the auto mall in Lake Forest, there are plenty of small office buildings with access to roll up doors in the back for supplies, storage, etc. That might be your answer to the 4 car garage. There are home with 4 car garages, but that is in the upper Irvine and Tustin Hills area in the big home complex zones.

Jnaki

Making the commute as short as possible, these are the places most common to the shortest drives. Now, if you want to rent an apartment, then there are a lot of them in and near the Myford Rd. areas, West and East of the freeway.

If you do get an apartment near the Myford Road area, there are similar small industrial offices with roll up doors in the back. You will have to check those prices and compare them to the Lake Forest and Laguna Hills areas. At least there is a solution to your 4 car garage wish list.

If a family is coming along, then schools in Irvine are pretty good. Most school districts in the OC are well equipped to handle all kinds of education. But, in this pandemic, it might be online education. It is crowded enough with one teacher and 36 students let alone having to follow the health department’s social distancing parameters. If it is a no family situation, a small condo or large apartment somewhere in Irvine area seems like the best choice. Of course, YRMV…

Even from Michigan, the internet listings are the same as we see them. Start in Irvine and move outward for mileage and commuting times. Our experience with the whole OC area is that we have been living here for over 50 years in several coastal cities with plenty of travel to inland areas.

Before the pandemic, we were making a trip weekly to central Santa Ana and back during the 1:30-2:30 p.m. relatively free, traffic times. But, it only takes one bright RED taillight to jam up any traffic on any freeway and that slows traffic back for miles. The idea is to not be in a hurry to get to any place at any time.

 

Thanks so much guys. So much great info. I was just thinking (seconds before reading Hot Rods Ta Hell's suggestion of the same) I might have to forgo building or owning another hot rod for a while, in which case maybe a condo or (gag) an apartment might be a wiser choice. It's just me and my French bulldog puppy, so that simplifies (and complicates) things a little. I'm absolutely not interested in a long commute. I did it for 6 years and was a miserable angry son of a bitch the whole time. I won't do it again.
Everything you guys have shared has been incredibly helpful, even if some of it left me feeling a little defeated. I need to hear the reality of it... At this point so many things are up in the air that I can't act just yet even if I did make a decision. But I think it's helpful to get a jump on things and educate myself. I can't wait to get out there and actually have a look around and hopefully meet some of you guys.

 

Hence my avatar .