Need town / neighborhood / school advice for Orange County!

[sigurroster]

Hi ladies

I am most likely taking a job that requires traveling between Anaheim, Santa Ana and Fountain Valley. We are looking for advice on where to live nearby that's relatively safe, where we can afford to rent a bigger space and has good schools. I think the schooling aspect is the most important. My DS is entering kindergarten this fall, and we really want to make the right decision in the right school district and not end up moving in a year or two to get him in a different district. From what I can gather Irvine has the best schools, but it seems like people here don't like how "showy" it is. We are not showy people at all, looking for a more low key experience, and a house rental with a yard (doesn't seem to exist in Irvine)... I am curious about Fountain Valley, Cypress, Tustin, Huntington Beach etc. My DS has been at a public montessori school and we are looking for a place where he isn't just going to be sitting at a desk being taught for the sake of test scores. I am not sure we can afford private school unless that is the only route to go there. 

We have a 5 yr old, an almost 2 yr old and a baby to be born this spring before we move. Where are the free places that people go besides parks? I live in a city now with lots of community programs, but it seems like everything mentioned here involves natural living stores that offer pay classes. 

Advice please?? Thanks!! 

[SkylarVT]

Hi from OC! We live in Costa Mesa, which borders Huntington Beach. Out of the cities you are looking at, I like Huntington Beach and Fountain Valley the best. I don't like the planned community aspect of Irvine. They have a lot of restrictions on what you can do and not do, (can't park on the street, leave your garage door open, have a basketball hoop outside, etc.). The schools are good, but there are a lot of other cities with good schools that are more laid back. Cypress and Tustin are nice, but we like the beach cities better.

As far as schools go, Fountain Valley school district has very good elementary schools, (API score wise at least). FV school district also covers two elementary schools in South Huntington Beach, both of which are also very good. Huntington Beach school district's elementary schools are all good in South HB, (meaning south of Newland St.). The rest of the elementary schools in HB are hit and miss depending on the neighborhood. You will find the rent for a 3 to 4 bedroom house in FV and HB to be between $2,700 and $3,000 per month. The yards will probably not be huge. Most lots are between 6,000 and 7,000 square feet. Costa Mesa has a lot of nice neighborhoods as well. The Newport-Mesa school district has great schools on the East Side, and a few good schools in central Costa Mesa. We also have a science and technology magnet school that everyone raves about, (Davis Elementary), although they admit based on a lottery system and the waiting list for K is long. You can check realtor.com and zillow.com for rental listings. 

The beach is the best free thing here! The weather is beautiful most of the time and we have a lot of different beaches. Newport Bay and Huntington Harbor have no waves so they are great for kids. There is also Back Bay in Newport Beach which has a long hiking and bike trail. We also have great tide pools. There are farmer's markets several times per week, and community events, (festivals, fairs, events at kid's museums), on the weekends. As far as free classes, Pretend City in Irvine has free mommy and me classes related to development, and the Environmental Nature Center in Newport Beach has a program that offers free family nature walks where they do a craft, study animals or have music time. There are probably other things that I don't know about as well. It does seem like there's always something to do here. Let me know if you have any other questions!