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Where are the best places for a young person to live in Orange County, California?

I'm a 25 year old male and will be moving in the next couple of weeks to Orange County, California. I will be working at the John Wayne Airport. I don't know too much about the area and am trying to get opinions on areas to live. I currently live in New York, so I doubt I'll be surprised by the cost of living. I'm open to finding a place with roommates (probably via Craigslist), and am looking to spend hopefully not more than around $1000/mo for my share, but could go higher for the right thing. I'd also like to keep my commute to a minimum, which I realize may be like trying to have my cake and eat it too. I believe the airport is more or less around the middle of the county, which would help out. I'm looking for somewhere with a decent amount of restaurants/bars, preferable within walking distance, and a sizeable younger population. The beach would also be nice. I've been looking at Newport Beach, Huntington Beach, and the Laguna Beach/Niguel areas. Of course I'm sure there are other neat places further inland that I don't know about, so I'm open for all suggestions! Ideally, I'd like to keep it to within around 20 minutes to the airport, and I'll be working kind of odd hours, so I'll be doing my commuting either before or after rush hour(s).

Public Comments

1. Rush hour is 5 AM - 1 pm and again at 3pm - 7:30 PM so it can be hard to avoid the traffic . An average speed of 12 mph is common during these time periods so a 24 mile commute can take up to 2 hours at times . Every beach is different . Laguna Beach/Niguel areas are upscale bedroom communities and New Port and Huntington are crowded state beaches with lots of young people . You can probably make the commute from New Port to John Wayne in 15-20 minutes during off peak and 45 minutes during rush hour . If you have a motor cycle or bicycle you can cut through traffic .
2. You must not be a native born New Yorker if you actually WANT to live in Orange county (unless you have never been there). Sorry, I am a native NY'er and hate that whole region of the world and everyone who lives there after living and working there for a few years but... Honestly, anywhere but Anaheim is OK. Traffic will be bad no matter what between morning rush hour and evening. Weekends and holidays the I-5 can also get pretty clogged up (5 hours from San Diego to LA on a Friday night, usually takes 2 hours). Good luck, and once the feeling of being on vacation wears off and the glittering veil of being in "magical", "glamorous" California falls away, remember, you always have NY!