Orange County
- Good for Kids: Yes
19 Reviews for Orange County
oc life is not the life for me
...but i sort of miss the beach and the fucking weirdos.
there is a reason i give so many 1 and 2 star reviews. and that is because i live in this place. variety is the spice of life and there just ain't too much spice around these parts. that's hard, especially when food is such a huge part of my life. for all the shitty restaurants, there are only a few really good ones. night life is pretty dull (for my tastes, anyway). i've never met a nice cop that's worked here. probably about 80% of my friends, at one point or another, have had drug problems. there are a lot of beautiful sights to see, and god knows there are a lot worse places to live. but i won't deny that there are better places for me to be. i feel privileged to have been born here, but that's just it, too many of the citizens here won't take their privileged noses out of the air to notice all the scummy shit that happens.
that turned out a lot more angry than i had originally intended.
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Sure, we have some great beaches.
But what happened to all the orange groves and strawberry fields turning into concreteland? :(
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Pros:
1. Side streets will actually get you quite a few places in a reasonable amount of time. Unlike LA(Hollywood specifically).
2. Beautiful beaches. I'm partial to Crystal Cove and Victoria Beach.
3. Parking. Disclaimer: this only goes for the nice neighborhoods full of homes. Huntington Beach (specifically the Sea Cliff area) and Rancho Santa Margarita (Melinda Heights, especially) are the best that I've noticed, hands down. Please see Con #3 for apartment parking.
4. Convienence. Some might consider this as a negative, but it truly is nice to have a grocery store, Starbucks, Target (most likely), shopping center and etc within a 1-2 mile radius from where you live.
Cons:
1. The BUBBLE. If you weren't born and raised in OC, good luck breaking into a circle of friends, or even creating one. Tighter than Fort Knox.
2. The BUBBLE part II. In my experience, those born and raised in OC consider driving 15 minutes to someone's house too far. Ten miles to go to a bar is shocking. And they appear to be terrified of LA.
3. Parking. As mentioned above, the parking in nice residential neighborhoods is fine. However, if you or someone you know lives in an apartment complex, good luck. Most have inadequate parking for residents, let alone guests. Note: Newport Beach has horrible parking, even in the nicer areas.
4. There is no truly excellent bar-hopping. Downtown HB strikes me as the street equivalent of a frat party, and I hear Downtown Fullerton isn't any better.
PS: I am not a fan of the north/central areas (Santa Ana, Fullerton, Tustin, Anaheim, Orange) or the cities that I forget are even part of OC (Yorba Linda, Buena Park, Brea, etc). I have to say that the coastal and/or central (HB, Newport and Costa Mesa) and the coastal and/or south (Laguna, Dana Point, San Juan) are better.
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Excerpted from Sfist (best local website ever):
"While the Bay Area struggles at keeping birds oil-free and alive, fisherman Hai Nguyen, 24, of Garden Grove tries to murder marine mammals. While fishing off the end of a Newport Beach pier, Nguyen used a steak knife to stab a sea lion who innocuously swiped his bait. According to AP, "the animal was taken to the Pacific Marine Mammal Center in Laguna Beach, where staff found the knife had pierced the sea lion's heart... [i]t was later euthanized." Nguyen faces up to one year in prison and a fine of $20,000for violating the Marine Mammal Protection Act. And for being a cruel dick."
What the fuck?! This is the most fucked up thing ever! Why would you do that? Just for that, Orange County gets one star.
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been in orange county all my life and couldnt imagine residing anywhere else, well except those few years at college, and if i move to NY...or SF...or in EUROPE, but for now - its OC. some areas have a posh likeness to some LA hot spots, while still remaining unique. you can get anywhere by side streets, and while i wont say too much about it, i will mention that i had to minus a star because they didnt implement a rating system here with their restaurants.
When I turned 18, I high-tailed out of OC and went to college in LA because I couldn't stand the place. Even though my parents still live in Villa Park (super expensive/snobby neighborhood) and the Newport Coast (even worse than Villa Park!), I will never move back. Below are a few of the reasons I dislike the place:
You will like "the OC":
If by "safe" you mean 24/7 surveillance (cameras, nosy neighbors, police offices bored out of their minds).
If you're ultra-conservative and/or an evangelical Christian. IE - Trinity Broadcasting Network makes its home here...right across the street from South Coast Plaza, the biggest mall (actually two malls!) in OC.
If you appreciate the finer things in life (read "materialistic!") and don't mind going into debt to obtain them. 99.9% of the people I know in the OC have MAJOR debt to pay for their lifestyles OR have their parents pay for everything (houses, cars, etc.) even though they're way beyond their college years.
If you don't mind sitting hours in traffic to move 5 miles on the freeway. And not just during rush hour....ALL day.
If you don't care about the rampant racism that characterizes the OC. I grew up in a biracial family here and all I can say is it sucks to be different and live in the OC.
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Almost two years ago, I moved here to get away from the chaos and madness that is LA. Now I miss that chaos and madness. Orange County is nice, but sometimes it seems so suburban. Maybe a little too quiet.
Are there a lot of fakes in OC? Maybe. Probably equal to the number of fakes, flakes, and narcissists in LA. In Southern California, you're bound to run into the plastic people. Some of my neighbors are stoners and ex-hippies, so I haven't experienced conservative values up close.
If you live near the beach, you probably love Orange County. Surf and sand...what's not to love? It's a nice place to raise a family because of the good school districts. Then again, I live in Garden Grove, so what do I know. I didn't know this place was called 'Garbage Grove' until I moved here. Why the slam on this diverse city? *ponder*
If you're a single person like me, it gets boring once in a while. I haven't made up my mind yet, but I'm not sure that OC living is for me. I can't explain why, but it is what is. Maybe the grass is greener on the other side (of the freeway).
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It's Saturday night at midnight. John Wayne is shutdown for the night. It's peaceful and quiet. My neighbors, all in their 80's, are in bed asleep.
I could drive to Long Beach and go to Pistons. Hell, I could drive up to LA. The bottom line is, I need to leave my safe little quiet life and drive an hour, hunt for parking, just so I can have a beer with other gay people.
I think I'll go to bed instead.
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Orange County was a social experiment. We should end it now. It was set up to observe what would happen if white trash were allowed to inhabit Greenwich, Connecticut. We get the point. Let's just close the gates, put the lid on it and never speak of it again. Maybe we can move the whole commune up to Utah?
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I can watch fireworks at 9:35 everyday.
I can watch V. Guerrero, who takes the meanest rip in baseball.
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Counting the days when I finally leave this place and never look back. Living here for the past two years has made me value the Bay Area even more. I won't miss the chain stores, the conservative values and the apathy and fakeness that I have experienced here.
Update 4/4/07:
A month and a half more to go and I'm outtie!!
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It's like LA but without the sincerity. It's like Alabama, but without the liberals. It's like San Diego without the culture. Hang it up, OC!
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Everybody wants to live in south OC, meaning Tustin/Irvine/Newport and south. It's rich, wealthy, the weather is moderate, the schools are great, it's Republican, it's suburban, it's safe, and you get a better housing value than anywhere in LA.
If you're worried about fakery, the sort that exists in every urbanized area today, then go move to some remote "real" Rocky Mountain town. If you miss the club scene, go move into an expensive tiny apartment on the West Side. Otherwise it's hard to complain about OC.
Best of all, our sheriff fearlessly cavorts in public with mob bosses. OC is one happy family.
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Uh huh, that's 5 stars. I dare to dabble in extremes, even if those extremes are rife with bias, exaggeration and do not represent my true feelings for all the cities that make up that famous-thanks-to-Josh-Schwartz south of LA county.
When I say I love Orange County, I am specifically referring to my hometown of Newport Beach, which has been called "the Riviera of California." I personally think it's the Riviera of the whole US of A, but I may be a tad bit impartial seeing as I spent the first 18 years of my life there, and like many "bubble" children, have not travelled far from it's precious oasis of silicon and collagen. I was quite amused with the the lips and forehead of a particularly taut Newport Beach fossel when I was waiting in line with my mother at the Regal Cinemas at Fashion Island. We Newporters are quite adept at preserving our appereances -- whether it be landscaping our homes, or landscaping our bodies. Back and other hair that is not bleached and coming out of the head is frowned upon.
Of course there are less shallow reasons to love Orange County/Newport Beach, that don't involve body mutilation. Hello? We have serious culture!! Take Fashion Island. It's like the Grove minus the crowds, frustrating parking and obnoxious trolleys! And if I'm going to mention Fashion Island, how can I not mention South Coast Plaza -- the most beautiful indoor shopping mall in my indoor shopping mall experience, and the only indoor shopping mall that I can stomach without getting cold chills from all the very pink and fluffy teeny-boppers running wild with mom's credit card. I think it's because it's full of really expensive boutiques and shops stocked with scary looking salespeople who have perfected the "you are too poor to shop in our store" stare. Must keep out the inferior masses!
Ok enough snarky biting commentary. Here are the real reasons I love Orange County and Newport Beach:
1. Disneyland - An obvious answer, but I still buy the "Happiest place on Earth" garb, and wear those over-priced Minnie Mouse ears with the reckless abandon of a small child on Ritalin.
2. Balboa Island/Peninsula/Ferry Boat Rides- There aren't many places that pack this much old school fun into one gorgeous oceanside locale. How can you not smile when eating a Dad's original chocolate-covered banana or Balboa bar? Or jump up and down just a wee little bit when you play an excellent game of Ski Ball? Yes, it gets overrun by tourists, but there is a reason for that. It's pretty gosh darn cool, especially around the holidays when everyone decorates their houses and boats for the Boat Parade! Yes, I subscribe to cheese.
3. The Back Bay - My favorite place to run in the entire world. Gorgeous views, peaceful, a great place to contemplate major life decisions (like what to wear for that hot date) while getting down and dirty with nature.
4. No traffic, and huge parking lots with gigantic-sized spaces that can fit the gas guzzling vehicles that make Al Gore and the environment cry. Who cares if the Prius can go 100 miles an hour, we like HUMMERS! Vroom vroom!!
5. Beautiful beaches (some of which aren't overcrowded)
6. The ability to make a dinner reservation the day of the dinner. I recommend Sage, 230 Forest Ave, Wildfish, Villa Nova, and the Cannery.
7. Strolling around Laguna Beach on a balmy summer evening, taking in the art galleries, image-conscious folks, and the old fogies who have lived there their entire lives.
8. My childhood home filled with my parents, my brothers, sister-in-law, and me on a Saturday evening as we drink wine, eat my mom's macadamia-nut encrusted mahi mahi, and laugh at each other. (And by "each other", I mean me, because apparantly, I "react" and it's my job as the youngest to be mocked incessantly!!!!!)
*Note: Being the youngest in MY family does not give you permission to mock me for my love of Orange County. I'm sticking to my 5 stars like a happy little sea anenome (we have those too!) to a rock! :)
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really, seriously, c'mon...are you S.E.R.I.O.U.S? is o.c. really the worst place on earth? it has disneyland, south coast plaza, free parking and laguan beach. what it doesn't have are blessing to o.c. residents - traffic, people with chip on their fake gucci bag hung shoulders (it only has authentic gucci bag snobs) and pinkberry (o how i love thee). and 7.75% tax!!!
please don't send me hate pm's. for the record, i have very liberal values and like (maybe not love) o.c. 4 years of living in l.a. was fun, but had enough of traffic and 8.25% tax.
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I agree with Stewart's review.
I am a prior resident of the county and have experienced its great diversity of ethnicity, ideology and religion. Yes, the dominant value is conservative. Does this somehow mean that other views are repressed? UCI students can protest away, the OC Weekly can spill gallons of ink supported by its near soft-core porn advertisements and the hippies in Laguna can paint until their organic brushes fall apart.
There's also a big difference between quietly enjoying life and being apathetic. A person who doesn't go out on protest after protest and complain incessantly about everything isn't apathetic. And I've found that many of those labeled as "apathetic" are only labeled so because their views are wholly different from those who think they know what passion and earnestness are all about.
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Your kidding me right? If you think OC sucks then get the hell out! I hate LA traffic, its disgusting, oc traffic is bad, but LA is just nasty. LA is fun and I love that we live near it, but I don't want to live there. You think its all culture and dandy? Live in ktown, Its fun there, but try living there, you know what the insurance company calls it? Nine double oooooooo shit. OC is awesome b/c we're centered right in the middle of the great places. SD is an hour down south LA is 30 minutes north, big bear is about 40 minutes east. Its awesome here. There is a big stereotype that OC is all fake and yes there are some places where it is, but we actually had a show about OC FILMED IN Malibu (LA) lol. I've been around to visit (NY, Chicago, SF, etc. etc.), and I seriously can't even think about leaving OC permanently. CA has the best weather and especially south OC has wide roads and a nice breeze. Sure there aren't an insane amount of small restuarants and south pasadena is a great location, west hollywood is really clean for some reason....... , however we got crazy super outdoor malls like irvine spectrum and the ghetto version which is the block. When I hear that from people I think to myself that people are just trying to hard to make themselves cultured and it just sounds like bull shit to me. I guess I'm just sick of people complaining and yet still live there. I don't have any real problems with any city, b/c every city is special in its own right. Yes yes, also there isn't much of a crazy night life here, but thats why you can easily drive to LA and I have buddies there so I can just crash there.
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i love orange county. Not because of Disneyland, chain stores or the numerous amounts of trend followers.
i love orange county because we're close to all the fakes, but the people.. the REAl PEOPLE, still manage to be most real. we're diverse, it's the only place i know of that asians, mexicans, whites, and blacks all live together pretty well. I love the people, from the fake plastic people, to the asians that speak too loud in public. Other reviews mention that people are "consevative" i wonder since when did this happen?The schools are good, especially the ones filled with asians driving up the GPA point average, but mostly because they're so darn diverse.so waht if there's no night life, if you're a true O.C kid you learn how to have fun with the most minimal.the beaches are everywhere, sealbeach, huntington,newport,laguna
i can't imagina living any place else, the weather here is just too good.
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