If you were to move out of Irvine (and California), where would you buy a home today?

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daedalus said:
That's a pretty big generalization. SoCal is a big place, and Hawaii is an island chain with varied climates. I've lived about half my life in CA and about half in Hawaii (and visit there often; 5x this year so far), and I will certainly argue the weather where I am at in CA is much better than the weather where I grew up in HI. Most areas in HI are noticeably more humid, and hotter. I sweat just walking around outside, and usually if I'm there I'm working hard, taking care of some car or home maintenance item. Just dripping sweat. I barely break a sweat working all day in the yard here, where there's maybe 10 days a year where it's above 80, and rarely gets below 40...hard to beat. Much of Hawaii regularly sees >90*F in the summer, and again, with that wilting humidity. Sure, if I'm going to go to the beach, I would much rather it be in HI.
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Well, the summer in SoCal is hot (coastal area like Irvine [not inland like PS]), hotter (SGV/SFV) and HOTTEST (inland). Most of the 35 years I've is SoCal and NorCal had been hotter and hottest weather. Only in the past year had I lived in a nicer weather Irvine.
 
All these different opinions just goes to show that "how one feels about the weather" is subjective and arguable.

I prefer SoCal weather to Hawaii also (although I've only been there during the summer)... but I like the coolness of NorCal weather more.
 
CalBears96 said:
Well, the summer in SoCal is hot (coastal area like Irvine [not inland like PS]), hotter (SGV/SFV) and HOTTEST (inland). Most of the 35 years I've is SoCal and NorCal had been hotter and hottest weather. Only in the past year had I lived in a nicer weather Irvine.
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There are pockets of Socal that are actually fairly mild. I'm near the coast in LA county. Like I said, it rarely gets above 80 here, even in the summer. Right now it's projected to peak @ 70*F over the next 10 days. And below is a 10-day snapshot I took in mid-July one year. Agree with IHO, everyone is different, and my wife would certainly like it a little warmer on average, but for me personally this is the best year-round weather I've ever found. We keep the thermostat set to 70-72*F all year long in a 2500 sq ft house and our electric bill averaged about $145 before we got solar <2 months ago.


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@IHO Okay, I stand corrected. It is arguable. 😂 I was in Hawaii in December and it was great weather. I looked up Hawaii climate and it said high 80's in the summer, but Aug and Sept could get into the 90's. I visit Malaysia quite often, so I do know what 95F with extreme humidity is like.

@daedalus Weather this year is very cold, so I wouldn't use that. You know that 75F is the high in Riverside for the next 10 days? This time of the year, it's like 90-100F in Riverside.
 
CalBears96 said:
@daedalus Weather this year is very cold, so I wouldn't use that. You know that 75F is the high in Riverside for the next 10 days? This time of the year, it's like 90-100F in Riverside.
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Exactly my point. Cold or not, this weather is close to typical for me. That snapshot was from July of 2020. Here's one from July of 2021.

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And one from December of 2022. Like I said, mild.
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I can’t wait to leave NorCal for SoCal. The only thing keeping me here is the job market. At my level going remote would take me out of the action and away from my exec network, which I will go ahead and risk in 3 yrs and see if I can ride out the last couple years of my career working remote. The Santa Cruz mountains are a PITA - hot summers on the Valley side and driving 17 to the beach absolutely sucks, and Santa Cruz itself is a shithole albeit with good surf, and it’s usually cold and overcast all summer at the beach. Also the good country clubs are super exclusive and $250K to join. Pros are no freeway traffic on the weekends, way less crowded than OC and just about everyone you meet is in tech or some kind of professional.
 
OCtoSV said:
I can’t wait to leave NorCal for SoCal. The only thing keeping me here is the job market. At my level going remote would take me out of the action and away from my exec network, which I will go ahead and risk in 3 yrs and see if I can ride out the last couple years of my career working remote. The Santa Cruz mountains are a PITA - hot summers on the Valley side and driving 17 to the beach absolutely sucks, and Santa Cruz itself is a shithole albeit with good surf, and it’s usually cold and overcast all summer at the beach. Also the good country clubs are super exclusive and $250K to join. Pros are no freeway traffic on the weekends, way less crowded than OC and just about everyone you meet is in tech or some kind of professional.
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One more pro for SV: 4 hr drive to Tahoe. I don’t miss having to drive to Mammoth for good snow.
 
irvinehomeowner said:
@CalBears96: Where in NorCal is the best Irvine-like area... and not too expensive?
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There is no Irvine-type area except maybe parts of Danville or Pleasanton or San Ramon or Dublin but 680 traffic for the weekday commute is as bad as doing 405 from Irvine to West LA. Blackhawk CC area in Danville and Ruby Hills CC in Pleasanton are probably the nicest but more like a Coto. Dublin probably most closely resembles Irvine but has the stigma of being home to a prison.
 
^I agree about the downside of traffic, I tend to find norcal traffic much worse, and the freeways have less lanes and more potholes

Hawaii, I've only gone half a dozen times during off season spring/fall which is less crowded, weather generally nice (spots of random rain, but not super humid) and cheaper flights (flights now are crazy high!). Not sure if I'd retire there though... especially if you want to frequently see your kids/grandkids and vice versa (who knows how much flights will be then)

Def no to NY, lived there for a couple years, hot/humid in summers and winter, haha (shovel snow, scrape off ice off windshield, no thanks)
 
AW said:
^I agree about the downside of traffic, I tend to find norcal traffic much worse, and the freeways have less lanes and more potholes
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Maybe things have changed since I moved down from the Bay Area, but I found traffic in San Jose much more pleasant than SoCal. At least, there was no traffic when I was driving from south San Jose to Milpitas for lunch on weekends.
 
CalBears96 said:
Maybe things have changed since I moved down from the Bay Area, but I found traffic in San Jose much more pleasant than SoCal. At least, there was no traffic when I was driving from south San Jose to Milpitas for lunch on weekends.
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That was what I meant - the traffic here is much lighter, a pro. East Bay traffic sucks which is why I didn't look in Danville or Pleasanton.

What was your favorite place in Milpitas? That is where I work when I go to the office.
 
qwerty said:
It is not close by - it is in Irvine :)

At least the address is an Irvine address even though technically it is an unincorporated area I think
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It's at the border of Irvine and Lake Forest, but its address is Irvine. All those buildings on Irvine Blvd west of Musick are in Irvine while all those buildings on Bake southeast of Musick are in Lake Forest.
 
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