Costa Mesa...good location gone wrong!

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Whenever I drive in Huntington Beach, I always see tattoed white guy posers wearing flat-rimmed baseball caps and riding a bicycle, nowhere near the sand. I guess they must have lost their driver's licenses and are in rehab or something.



HB has a lot more hate crimes than Costa Mesa too.



It is not really the old tract housing that creates eyesore in parts of Costa Mesa; it is the old multi-unit housing, the old apartment complexes intermingled with light industrial. Costa Mesa developed early on with lax zoning and no master planning; those who could not afford Newport Beach before 1950 lived in Costa Mesa.
 
[quote author="Goofy" date=1244164197]This is the Irvine housing blog, and more correctly the "Quailhill Woodbury Housing Blog Forums". Talk about any other neighborhood or any other city and you'll get a lot of "I heard x" and "my friend said y" and plenty of ignorance and rhetoric. As BK has said, TIC is the master brand machine and certain people have fear of buying anything else. Look at all of the sheep on the freeway driving Honda Accords that they really don't like, but they're afraid that anything else is unreliable. Those same people love Irvine. Its a phenomenon unique to Irvine and this blog.



Somehow, the Inland Empire and South County housing blogs can have perfectly civil conversations about all kinds of neighborhoods and their target prices. There seems to be much less emotion than that tied to Irvine housing, and more respect of different opinions. The range of acceptance is very narrow on this blog and tells you a lot about the Irvine demographic.</blockquote>
Whoah whoah whoah here... let's be fair now. This is the 2nd time I've seen someone say that IHB is a bunch of Irvinites who bash on non-Irvine cities (well... that's hyperbolic but I like to wake graph up).



Is there really that many people insulting non-Irvine cities compared to almost no one insulting Irvine on this forum?



I must be hanging around the wrong threads (although you can probably confirm with BK that I'm in every thread).



I also wish there was more civil discussion... but I don't see a high level of negativity in this thread... did I miss something?



So what neighborhoods in Irvine do you want to talk about... I'm game because I've lived in almost all of them.
 
[quote author="hs_teacher" date=1244102766]

Huntington Beach versus Costa Mesa, huh?



Let me see, Huntington Beach has good schools... Marina, Edison, and Huntington Beach. Costa Mesa has mediocre schools... Costa Mesa and Estancia.</blockquote> Why do you keep ignoring that living in certain parts of Costa Mesa you also go to Newport Harbor High School? Which is rated very good.[quote author="hs_teacher" date=1244102766]

Huntington Beach has million dollar homes along the coast, the bluffs, and the bay. Costa Mesa has....???</blockquote> What about back bay? I know its technically in NB but parts of CM do have a view.
 
The El Camino... the true first crossover vehicle... was it a car or a truck?



Although I agree that there has been some degree of trashing on the IE... in the threads where geoptf talks about it... I don't see much snark. And as with all criticism... there is some merit.



Personally I don't like the IE because:



1. Too far.

2. Too hot.



I don't think that's untrue. A majority of my relatives on my father's side live in the IE... so I've been there quite a few times... but every time I'm there... I always come to the conclusiong that I can't live there... no matter how many 3+ car garages they have.



There are a few good things I like about the IE:



1. Inexpensive.

2. Closer to Vegas.

3. I liked visiting UC Riverside

4. Decent shopping malls



I think IE was a good value during the bubble but skyrocketing gas prices killed that. You spend more on gas than the price premiums, HOAs and Mello Roos in the OC.



And I actually don't think there are that many Irvinites on this forum... it's usually me vs. graph and bk (they need to tag team).
 
[quote author="Goofy" date=1244164384][quote author="traceimage" date=1244123875]If it's HB vs. CM, HB wins hands-down. Obviously it's cooler, no real need for debate.



Anyone know if that stinky water treatment plant (or whatever it is) that you can smell on the 405 near Euclid is in Costa Mesa? Or maybe Fountain Valley?</blockquote>


CM has the goat hill junction for some pretty kick @#$ kids train parties. HB doesn't. Check and mate.</blockquote>


I have no idea what this means.



Why all the general HB hate? I grew up there and no, I never thought it was white trash. But then, I lived in the Harbour. Maybe these tattooed dirt people didn't hang out there.
 
[quote author="xoneinax" date=1244181082][quote author="halfnote19" date=1244177894]Why do you keep ignoring that living in certain parts of Costa Mesa you also go to Newport Harbor High School? Which is rated very good</blockquote>


Newport Harbor is not rated good at all. 36th out of the 64 public high schools in Orange County

<a href="http://'http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/news/education/datacenter/article_2050373.php'">http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/news/education/datacenter/article_2050373.php</a></blockquote>


That may be but its still higher than Huntington Beach High (40) and right there with Marina High (32). Which is the schools I was comparing it too since hs_teacher brought those up.
 
[quote author="halfnote19" date=1244181687]That may be but its still higher than Huntington Beach High (40) and right there with Marina High (32). Which is the schools I was comparing it too since hs_teacher brought those up.</blockquote>hs_teacher mentioned Edison. You even mentioned Edison in your post above. Now you leave it out; it is ranked 22.
 
Just generally about these high school rankings. I don't know how trustworthy they are. Check out the methodology. If I'm reading correctly, 25% of the score is based on "culture and school environment," which includes stupid things like sports successes, results of the state physical fitness tests, and diversity.
 
[quote author="traceimage" date=1244183640]Just generally about these high school rankings. I don't know how trustworthy they are. Check out the methodology. If I'm reading correctly, 25% of the score is based on "culture and school environment," which includes stupid things like sports successes, results of the state physical fitness tests, and diversity.</blockquote>


Before I proceed, Newport Harbor is in Newport Beach, not Costa Mesa. And I know that this may sound rude, but Newport Harbor used to be higher ranked when most of its students came from Newport. But since the boundary change, the new kids from Costa Mesa is bringing down the academic average of the high school.



In my opionion, Costa Mesa has the potential to be better, rather than comparable, to Garden Grove, Westminster, Santa Ana, and Tustin because of its location.

I think if it reaches its potential, it should be on par with Huntington, Fountain Valley, and Irvine.



Newport will always be the King of the Hill though.
 
[quote author="hs_teacher" date=1244186021][quote author="traceimage" date=1244183640]Just generally about these high school rankings. I don't know how trustworthy they are. Check out the methodology. If I'm reading correctly, 25% of the score is based on "culture and school environment," which includes stupid things like sports successes, results of the state physical fitness tests, and diversity.</blockquote>


Before I proceed, Newport Harbor is in Newport Beach, not Costa Mesa. And I know that this may sound rude, but Newport Harbor used to be higher ranked when most of its students came from Newport. But since the boundary change, the new kids from Costa Mesa is bringing down the academic average of the high school.



In my opionion, Costa Mesa has the potential to be better, rather than comparable, to Garden Grove, Westminster, Santa Ana, and Tustin because of its location.

I think if it reaches its potential, it should be on par with Huntington, Fountain Valley, and Irvine.



Newport will always be the King of the Hill though.</blockquote>


Not to be rude, but if you are a high school teacher, you should use the verb are when the subject is kids - especially if you are criticizing them for bringing down the academic average.



I'll forgive your misspelling of opinion just because my spelling sucks.
 
[quote author="ABC123" date=1244187501][quote author="hs_teacher" date=1244186021][quote author="traceimage" date=1244183640]Just generally about these high school rankings. I don't know how trustworthy they are. Check out the methodology. If I'm reading correctly, 25% of the score is based on "culture and school environment," which includes stupid things like sports successes, results of the state physical fitness tests, and diversity.</blockquote>


Before I proceed, Newport Harbor is in Newport Beach, not Costa Mesa. And I know that this may sound rude, but Newport Harbor used to be higher ranked when most of its students came from Newport. But since the boundary change, the new kids from Costa Mesa is bringing down the academic average of the high school.



In my opionion, Costa Mesa has the potential to be better, rather than comparable, to Garden Grove, Westminster, Santa Ana, and Tustin because of its location.

I think if it reaches its potential, it should be on par with Huntington, Fountain Valley, and Irvine.



Newport will always be the King of the Hill though.</blockquote>


Not to be rude, but if you are a high school teacher, you should use the verb are when the subject is kids - especially if you are criticizing them for bringing down the academic average.



I'll forgive your misspelling of opinion just because my spelling sucks.</blockquote>


Ha! I just copied and pasted that sentence and was about to call HS out on it. I didn't go to school in CM, but I suspect that with my mom getting a degree in journalism when women didn't go to college other than to meet a pedigree husband, I would have. The parents really have a lot more influence on the child's education than the school does.



I've seen people here bash Laguna Beach High, but my hubby graduated from there and you'd be hard pressed to find someone sharper than him. His nephew graduated from there 3 years ago and went on to Columbia. His niece just graduated from there and was accepted at all 19 colleges she applied to and decided to go to UCLA. Getting into Columbia or UCLA is not easy. Good (not over the top Irvine) schools + great parents = successful kids.
 
[quote author="ABC123" date=1244187501][quote author="hs_teacher" date=1244186021][quote author="traceimage" date=1244183640]Just generally about these high school rankings. I don't know how trustworthy they are. Check out the methodology. If I'm reading correctly, 25% of the score is based on "culture and school environment," which includes stupid things like sports successes, results of the state physical fitness tests, and diversity.</blockquote>


Before I proceed, Newport Harbor is in Newport Beach, not Costa Mesa. And I know that this may sound rude, but Newport Harbor used to be higher ranked when most of its students came from Newport. But since the boundary change, the new kids from Costa Mesa is bringing down the academic average of the high school.



In my opionion, Costa Mesa has the potential to be better, rather than comparable, to Garden Grove, Westminster, Santa Ana, and Tustin because of its location.

I think if it reaches its potential, it should be on par with Huntington, Fountain Valley, and Irvine.



Newport will always be the King of the Hill though.</blockquote>


Not to be rude, but if you are a high school teacher, you should use the verb are when the subject is kids - especially if you are criticizing them for bringing down the academic average.



I'll forgive your misspelling of opinion just because my spelling sucks.</blockquote>


i admit to making multiple errors, but then agian i'm not writing an school essay. see, i typed again wrong and i don't even care to correct it. the whole nature of blogs is that they are very informal, no?
 
Yes, blogs are informal and even though my pet peeve is poor grammar, I have lots of leeway on blogs, particularly for typos. However, when someone who uses the screen name HS_Teacher is blasting schools in a city that they don't really know, then I think proper grammar is required. Also, I think as a teacher that you should be able to differentiate between a typo (opionion) and a serious grammatical error such as your subject and verb not agreeing.
 
Good Point. But as for Costa Mesa, I'm merely stating the facts.



1. Its home values are below that of Huntington and Newport, although it's comparably close to the coast.

2. Its schools, Estancia and Costa Mesa High, have much lower academic standings than Edison, Huntington, Marina, Newport Harbor, and Corona del Mar High.

3. Its ratio of renters to homeowners is much higher than Fountain Valley, HB, and so on.

4. Its household income is lower than HB, FV, NB, and Irvine as well.



I admit that I have never lived in the city; that's why I'm questioning why the published data reflect such negative things about it.
 
Just like south Tustin or East Palo Alto, Costa Mesa is a good location but has huge amounts of old and aging apartment buildings with lowish rents. Until that somehow changes, it will always lag.
 
I'm certain that Costa Mesa must have some very nice neighborhoods, but isn't unwise to live in a good area within proximity to bad ones?

If Costa Mesa was trending up, I would want to live there. I'm just wondering if it's trending down though.
 
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