What is Orange County like?

Answer 1

It's a pretty wealthy county overall, but it's definately not evenly spread around. There are some bad areas near the LA County border like Santa Ana and parts of Costa Mesa are not great. But there are plenty of wealthy areas along the coast and inland like Irvine, Santa Margarita, Forest Hills, ect...

It's is VERY suburban, although recently development is becoming more urban b/c there is no undeveloped land left to build on. So over the next twenty years the county will become more crowded. It's pretty much nothing but cookie-cutter houses in sprawling subdivisions and tons of strip malls that all look the same. There are also a lot of indoor and outdoor regional malls in Orange County.

Very little public transit in Orange County and tons of freeways. The freeways are about 20 lanes wide too and there is still tons of traffic.

It's also a very conservative county, the most conservative coastal county in CA. It's both socially and fiscally conservative, residents there let there county go bankrupt about 15 years ago b/c they didn't want to raise taxes. There is a big WASP-type culture there. Very wealthy and very conservative and very white.

The coast along Orange County is very beautiful and there are some nice communities and great natural scenery. But overall Orange County is extremely overrated b/c it is so dull and bland. It's nothing but tract homes and strip malls filled with chain stores. If you are a family it is a good place to live b/c it's safe and conservative. But if you are young it is dull and boring as hell. It's nothing special and the people there are kind of vain and pretentious. The stereotypes about fake breasted blondes is not all that far from the truth in Orange County. So many people there are blond and many teenagers get fake breasts for their birthday or high school graduation.

Also people in Orange County like to believe they are not part of LA even though they are a suburb of it. They act like Orange County is like its own state or something and detached from urban LA.

Answer 2

Shaun and Boboluv paint a pretty good picture of OC, but there are some inaccuracies (mostly from shaun):

"It's VERY suburban"- Used to be, but not as much any more. Some parts still are, but more parts are urbanized. Anaheim is a perfect example.

"The freeways are about 20 lanes wide." Eh, not quite.

"Residents there let there county go bankrupt about 15 years ago b/c they didn't want to raise taxes." NOT True. The man in charge of the county funds was investing in some very risky investments which went south. It was not because the residents did not want to pay more taxes. The gentleman in question served some jail time.


"There is a big WASP-type culture there. Very wealthy and very conservative and very white." Only partially true. There is quite a bit more diversity than stated here, but there are some rather WASPish areas. Just look at Santa Ana, Costa Mesa, Anaheim, Garden Grove, Westminster, Fountain Valley, and La Habra and tell say that the OC is very white. To be honest, there isn't a large population of blacks, but every other group is here in abundance.

"But overall Orange County is extremely overrated b/c it is so dull and bland. It's nothing but tract homes and strip malls filled with chain stores." Huh? Watchoo talkin' about Willis? We moved here because there is a ton of stuff to do! Besides Disneyland (where we have annual passes), there's Knott's, Wild Rivers, the Block at Orange, Downtown Disney, the Brea Mall, the Irvine Spectrum (and other regional malls), thousands of parks and rec programs (some of the most competitive sports programs in the nation come from OC), the beach, the beach, the beach, and the beach! Did I mention the beach? How can people survive in summer more than 30 minutes from the beach? If you can't find something fun to do here, you must be doin' some serious drugs and are out of touch with reality.

"If you are a family it is a good place to live b/c it's safe and conservative. But if you are young it is dull and boring as hell. It's nothing special" (See above comments)

"and the people there are kind of vain and pretentious. The stereotypes about fake breasted blondes is not all that far from the truth in Orange County." Yes, you can find more than a few superficial people here in OC. But if you look for just a moment, you'll find LOTS more people who are "real". Good, honest, regular folks.

"many teenagers get fake breasts for their birthday or high school graduation". I didn't get fake breasts. Mine are real. (LOL)

"Also people in Orange County like to believe they are not part of LA even though they are a suburb of it." We're not part of LA. Believe me, I lived in LA, and OC is NOT LA.

Overall, it's a great place. Excellent weather, lots to do, you're close to the beach and a short drive to the mountains. There's plenty of diversity, and something for everyone. On the down side, there's the traffic on the freeways. It stinks. But it's a small price to pay for all the benefits. If you are lucky enough to work close to your home, you're golden!

Hope this helps

Answer 3

Stereotypically, us living in Orange County are known to be all rich, drive SUVs, and mostly white people (no offense).

Here in Orange County, it is very diverse. I live in Westminster, home to the largest overseas Vietnamese community in America (and yes, I am Vietnamese). In these parts of Orange County (around Santa Ana and north towards Los Angeles), it is mostly Vietnamese and Hispanic. Here you can indulge yourself in Asian and Hispanic culture with authentic cultural food, celebrations (Chinese New Years, or Tet in Vietnamese, is coming up), and people. This area isn't all rich. It is mostly middle class and has some dangerous parts, such as Santa Ana with it's many Hispanic gangs. Head towards San Diego, you end up in the stereotype Orange County you see in shows like Laguna Beach on MTV. Over there, the population is mostly white (Laguna Beach is more than 90%). In these parts, I wouldn't find it a good representation of what Orange County is like. If you are vistiting here, there are lots of things to see. The best places would be the beach, Disneyland, shopping malls, and eat at authentic Vietnamese or Mexican resturaunts.

Answer 4

whats Orange County?

Answer 5

definite, South Orange County is wealthier. force by potential of OC cities like Stanton, Westminster, halfway city, backyard Grove, etc and also you may see why. Even Huntington coastline has a huge variety of trailer parks and run-down neighborhoods.

Answer 6

Orange County is great. if you plan on living in southern california it is where i would tell you to live. You are not far from all the great places like disneyland, knott's berry farm, universal studios, the beach, etc. It is quite calm, not too much violence (violence is everywhere), very friendly neighborhoods. if you have any specific questions email me or yahoo message me at [e-mail]

www.christians4worship.com

Answer 7

Very warm in the Summer, Spring-time weather in the winter. It has bad drivers and a lot of traffic. It has Disneyland there in anaheim and has a number of beaches. Like all places, it has its nice parts and its not-so great parts.

Not sure what else you're looking for here.

Answer 8

Whatever you make of it. I just moved from the O.C. to Texas and the most memorable things about o.c. is the weather and the traffic. from a girls perpective it is very competitive. lots of fake tans, fake hair, fake nails and designer everything!

Answer 9

One Gigantic Strip Mall.

Answer 10

CA or FL

CA has Disneyland, FL has Disney World