LA or OC?

I'm in Bel Air and have lived in Newport Beach. It really depends on what you want. OC is very suburban and can be sleepy in comparison to LA. OC has more suburban Yahoos. LA has more *******s. One thing I like about LA is that there is always a new place to go. In OC, you're going to get tired of going to the same old places. Another thing I like about LA is the anonymity. You can pretty much do anything you want and nobody knows who you are. Also, LA is practically speeding ticket proof. LAPD just doesn't have the manpower to deal with speeders. So go as fast as you can with no worries (when you can because the traffic is pretty much constant other than early Sunday mornings). Feel free to ask any questions.

PS: You're going to get tired of going beaches. I haven't been in years. So don't make that a deciding factor unless you really love it then go live in Manhattan or Hermosa Beach.

 

Off topic but I’m vacationing over the weekend in LA/OC until we leave for Maui on Monday. Is your Testarossa red and were you driving it last night (Friday) on either the 5 or the 405? Can’t remember as we were on the way back to Santa Ana from visiting friends in Dana Point.


Sent from my iPhone using FerrariChat

 

So I started my California experience in Marina Del Rey, then moved to the Belmont Shore in Long Beach, then moved to an island in the harbor in Huntington Beach, then moved to Corona Del Mar in Newport Beach and then moved to Crystal Cove in Newport Beach.

The consistent theme is that I keep on moving further and further south. Not a fan of the crazies and traffic in LA. Yes OC is more suburban (and newer) than LA but you can always find restaurants every bit as good as LA (Laguna Beach has a number for example). Also, I can drive my car at 90 every day all day on the city streets (PCH, Newport Coast, McCarthur Blvd.—where in LA do the city streets have 60 mph speed limits?). I have done much more than that on the 73, 133 and the 241 (toll roads with a radar detector/jammer are the only way to go). Also, lots of fun to drive down the coast on PCH.

So if you want to really drive your car on a daily basis, OC is the place to be.

 

Malibu is another place to consider. It’s also a nice drive. 20 minutes and your in LA.

 

TSRH

LA has later options, more to do culturally, more museums, better drives, more services. I personally live just south of Sherman Oaks in BH in the canyons. It is close striking distance to a lot of what I want/like to do but isolated enough to have real privacy. TrojanFan is just north of me in Sherman Oaks he is pretty correct in his descriptions. Ventura blvd is a row of so many restaurants, you can find something for everyone, and also get to the beaches, west side or Hollywood pretty easily.

OC is boring, predictable, clean and nice for family if that is all you want your life to be. The coast is lovely.

The Calabasas suggestion works if you like driving to everything, and ignoring your children until you have to send them to Passages. Also the fires and mudslides, but that is also where all the celebrities live.

 

With all due respect, but that doesn't look very exiting. More like commuting on conveyor belts.

Well, that looks LITTLE less boring, although video appears to be exaggerating (fast forwarding ?) the speed a bit.

 

Yuup sped it up a bit was too boring to watch at normal speed, driving is much better then video

 

Ron, I'm waiting for my house to appreciate to $5 million before I can move laterally down to the Crystal Cove. It is my end goal though!

 

Like others have pointed out, OC is mostly made of master planned bedroom/family oriented communities and other than Ortega Hwy or more specifically its sections east of OC proper, does not seem to offer any cool/interesting roads worthy of real driving pleasures.
Access to those, i.e. (Northern/Eastern of) San Diego Co., Riverside Co., San Bernardino Co. & (Northern/Western) L.A. Co., depending on traffic, is at least 1-2 hours away.

 

John, for a car enthusiast, it is a really great goal IMHO.

As a point of reference, the OP said:

To answer the OP’s question, I do go balls out as soon as I leave my garage and every day I strive to set new land speed records!

Specifically, I have a 2 mile private road drive to access PCH. It is really twisty and max attainable speed is about 65–just to get the juices flowing. Then you can go north or south on PCH with the ocean as your backdrop and speed is pretty much unlimited—whatever you can handle. You can go north to the village of CDM if you want to slow down to 30 and get to some nice restaurants. Same is true if you want to go south to the restaurants in Laguna Beach. Also you can pick up speed after Laguna and essentially cruise down the coast all the way to San Diego if you want. A very scenic drive.

Somebody mentioned the Ortega Highway and driving challenges. That is about 30 minutes away and if you go inland via Newport Coast Drive and the 73, again speed is pretty much unlimited from my doorstep to Ortega.

Also, if you are just boulevard cruising, you can have a lot of fun since the major city street speed limits in the area are 55 to 60 mph and there is rarely any significant traffic. Lastly, at the end of a day of play I get to finish it all off on the 2 mile private road twisties back to the garage.

I know there are OC haters but if you are looking at it from an exotic ownership perspective and the ability to enjoy your car in your actual surroundings on a daily basis, IMHO it is a great base of operations.

 

I’ll have to second the above. I too live in Agoura. Westlake, 1000 Oaks, Agoura are all in the middle of some of So Cal’s greatest roads and very nice areas to live in.

20 years ago I used to live In Calabasas when it was barely on the map. I can’t stand that town now although the people who live in the under 2 mill homes are still cool and don’t have the typical Calabasas attitude.

 

I lived in the Basin. Koreatown. It wasn't Koreatown when my grandparents moved there in the 1930s, but it is now.

The problem with CA in general is that our beaches kind of suck. The water is cold and the marine layer makes living on the coast gloomy half the day. I'm a sun worshiper, man. I can't do the doom and gloom of Newport or Manhattan Beach. So if the coast is out, the answer is Hollywood or the canyons. I'm personally shooting for a pad in Hollywood. Something in a condo. I'm a bachelor for life, don't need much space.

Easy access to literally everything. From West Hollywood it's 9 miles to Downtown and 9 miles to the beach. And you're right next to the valley, and the canyons. If that wasn't enough, you've got great drives north if you want to take a lady up to Santa Barbra for a weekend or shoot across the valley to Angeles Crest Highway for some spectacular driving.

For a single cat, Hollywood is the way to go. If we had Miami or Honolulu's warm beaches, I'd do Hermosa or Redondo. But since my politics are aligned against the clouds and the cold, I gotta stay inland.

 

I certainly respect the bachelor lifestyle and agree re the marine layer on the west side of LA. That is why I moved from Marina Del Rey to the Belmont Shore in Long Beach. No marine layer there. Great place to hang out on the beach and it is typically 10 degrees warmer than the west side of LA. Shotgun Styles, you should check it out. It is also a great place for a bachelor.

In terms of distance to things, that is not what most people talk about in LA. You talk about “time”. It can often take you an hour to get from West Hollywood to Downtown. I worked in Downtown LA for 17 years. It was never about distance. You have to get outside of LA (the city) if you really want to be able to drive your car.

 

I lived in OC/Irvine for 5-6 years. I lived in old town Pasadena for 2 years. I now live in Belmont Shore.

When it comes to driving, it’s hard to beat the OC. I find LA roads to be conjested, small, and beat. OC has wide and smooth roads with the most scenic drives in Socal.

For night life, LA is the place to be. For weekends, outdoor activities, fresh air, beach life, OC is the place to be. Feels more like a vacation/getaway.

 

Agree, I live in the Southwest OC, have for 16 years, LA is fun to visit once in a while, but no place to live. Simple test, take 405 N/S or I5 N/S, you know immediately when you enter LA county or come into Orange County...the roads are vasty superior in the PC and if you want to keep your wheels in tact, stay/live in the OC.

As other have said, Ortega is fun, Santiago Canyon, PCH are fun roads as well. Head south down the I5 to Rt.76 to Palomar Mountain, very fun road to the summit. Perhaps the ride of a lifetime, if you have 6 hours and willing to do about 250 miles, is "Palms to Pines, Scenic hHighway. Basically OC to Palm Springs and back. I did it back in October on my S1000RR with my son in-law, a real blast and a driver challenge, around Alpine, you need to keep the speed down, both other than that, no worries. And of course, this is not a year round drive, April to November, in my opinion.

MB

 

OC to San Diego is a fun drive as well. Did a few of those for the HRE meets during the summer. One of the best long drives I've ever had with a bunch of exotic cars.

 

I tell people about the palms to pines run, I love the paradise valley cafe for a quick bite and a brew.

 

I live in Venice and agree it can be weird at times. No shootings ever though..Great air quality and so close to everything in LA..Everyone has a fun car to drive here also. So many car guys..
Every area has issues really..
Spend a little time in all the areas you are considering..
PM me if you want to send the afternoon in Venice with another F-Car..

 

I enjoy “Palms to Pines to Palms” from Riverside-to-Idyllwild-to-Palm Desert & back via 243 (from Banning) and/or 74 (from Hemet) every couple of months and often stop for a breakfast/lunch either at one of several establishments in Idyllwild or lunch at Cuistot in P.D. before heading back same way, although sometimes I pack/carry refreshments & snacks for an old fashioned field/roadside pick-nick.
Great way to spend a day enjoying any car worthy of spending a day in just for pleasures of driving.

As a consummate, lifelong (vintage) car guy, I feel fortunate having easy, 30-45 minute access to several other similarly exiting routes, including 2, 18, 38, 138, 330, etc. to alternately enjoy in a fashion described above at least 2-3 times a month, year round.

 

Kobe Bryant lives in Newport Beach. Just sayin’ .

 

Grew up in PV and almost never went to the beach...now live in Claremont, Mt. Baldy going to GMR is in my backyard for some quick canyon runs.
My question in OC, is anybody getting hit with the exhaust tickets?


Sent from my 16M

 

I live next to Laguna Beach, which kind of started the whole noise ordinance thing. I go through it all the time and I have not had any issues. My exhaust valves are permanently open thanks to Taz’s guidance (though it is still not the nosiest Ferrari around).

 

I can't see "noise ordinance" being an issue, even with open exhaust, unless the car is being driven (or exhibited) idiotically in the areas where others are bothered by that idiotic behavior.