We are current Philly residents (couple in our mid thirties with no kids) who spent many years living in (and loving) NYC. My husband's job has presented an opportunity for us to move to the Newport Beach area, where a division of his company is located. I love the CA vibe and am excited about the prospect, with some reservations. First, we are pretty liberal minded and have heard the OC is very conservative. I am open minded enough to accept others' views, however, if they dominate the culture and discussions that may be a problem (I have conservative friends, and we simply don't discuss politics, which is fine). Next, although I seriously doubt we will buy anything, what are rents like? We currently pay $2500/month and would like to stay in this range. Is there an area we could live in, within a 40 minute drive of Newport beach that could fit this bill? It would be ideal to live in a community where you can walk to local restaurants and shops, instead of being smack in the middle of suburbia. Also, is it easy to meet people and make new friends in the area? In NYC I found it very easy to meet people, in Philly, the opposite. Thanks for any advice!

sorry I think this is a duplicate thread, I did not realize the first one went through, please disregard!!

I think you will be very happy living in Newport Beach. It's a beautiful area and I'd live there in a NY minute. As far as being too conservative, this shouldn't be a problem. OC may be conservative by CA standards but conservative in CA is considered liberal most everywhere else. It's all relative. When I've visited there I find the people warm and friendly.

kikihack,

what did you decide to do about your move? And what did you learn about the Newport Beach area? The reason I ask is that I am now finding myself in a similar situation. I'm the number one candidate for a position based in Newport Beach.

Any information you can provide on what you've learned about the area (I currently reside in Boston), I would appreciate hearing.

LouC: It is pretty likely kikihack won't see your thread. She hasn't been on the forum since April.

Maybe you will want to start a new thread w/ your own specific questions.

I'd visit the LA Times website, and go from there.
Also checkout the Orange County Register's website and do some looking.

Do a Google search on 'newport beach real estate' (do an advanced search - all the words).

Lots of websites let you search for propery (to buy, or rent) within X miles of a zip code, so try that.

Here's my view, for what it's worth. I've lived in SoCal for 30 years. Philly to Newport...that's a no-brainer esp if you like great weather (which is hands down the reason most people are still here) but then I'm a Californian West Coast vs East Coast, they are total opposites in every way, from dress to food to humor to sports, to you name it. OC is conservative but not by looking at it, that's for sure. You will find extreme wealth and illegal aliens all living in proximity. If you drive 40 minutes, you won't be in Newport Beach any more. Everybody here drives, nobody walks anywhere..it is not like a traditional city and the "cities" here definitely don't have the energy of NYC, Boston, etc. Definitely a beach community, with shopping centers, etc. all around. Not as "laid back" as you would think because it is very competitive here (due to very high cost of living). Californians are generally friendly but in basically a superficial way, everybody is very PC, hard to get an opinion out of anybody. If you move across town, you probably will never hear from anyone you knew in the old neighborhood again. I think you should be able to find a rental for $2400 but you might want to check out apartments.com to get a better idea. Good luck with your decision...most people either really love or really hate Cali, so if you've been here to visit you will probably already know the answer. Good luck!