Costa Mesa...good location gone wrong!

hs_teacher_IHB

hs_teacher_IHB

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I just don't understand Costa Mesa. On the surface, its location makes it comparable to Huntington Beach and Newport Beach - it's close to the coast and situated between those two cities. In addition, it's also between Fountain Valley and Irvine - two cities with superior schools. Yet, Costa Mesa has underperforming schools and unimpressive home values. Personally, had I not known much about Costa Mesa, I would definitely want to live there for its central location - I think it's great to have easy access to Fountain Valley, Huntington Beach, Newport Beach, and Irvine. But in reality, with its poor schools, I see it as an extension of Santa Ana. I think it's a convenient location for someone in his 20's, but it's not a highly suitable place to raise a family. Would anyone care to correct me?
 
[quote author="hs_teacher" date=1243988647]I just don't understand Costa Mesa. On the surface, its location makes it comparable to Huntington Beach and Newport Beach - it's close to the coast and situated between those two cities. In addition, it's also between Fountain Valley and Irvine - two cities with superior schools. Yet, Costa Mesa has underperforming schools and unimpressive home values. Personally, had I not known much about Costa Mesa, I would definitely want to live there for its central location - I think it's great to have easy access to Fountain Valley, Huntington Beach, Newport Beach, and Irvine. But in reality, with its poor schools, I see it as an extension of Santa Ana. I think it's a convenient location for someone in his 20's, but it's not a highly suitable place to raise a family. Would anyone care to correct me?</blockquote>


Santa Ana (sorry) is the cancer that is slowly spreading. The Fountain Valley part bordering on Santa Ana around Newhope/Edinger is starting to get run down. Mile Square Park ...still nice...attracts the lesser peeps on the weekends.
 
[quote author="hs_teacher" date=1243988647]I just don't understand Costa Mesa. On the surface, its location makes it comparable to Huntington Beach and Newport Beach - it's close to the coast and situated between those two cities. In addition, it's also between Fountain Valley and Irvine - two cities with superior schools. Yet, Costa Mesa has underperforming schools and unimpressive home values. Personally, had I not known much about Costa Mesa, I would definitely want to live there for its central location - I think it's great to have easy access to Fountain Valley, Huntington Beach, Newport Beach, and Irvine. But in reality, with its poor schools, I see it as an extension of Santa Ana. I think it's a convenient location for someone in his 20's, but it's not a highly suitable place to raise a family. Would anyone care to correct me?</blockquote>


The only correction is lumping Huntington in with Newport Beach. Nice try.
 
One of the problems of Costa Mesa is also its housing stock is old, small and run down. There isn't much they will be able to do about some of those problems.
 
Isn't it obvious that the reason why Costa Mesa is not a desirable location is because they chose to keep the spanish name? I suggest they change the name of the city to Table Coast and property values and test scores will rise. Just look what happened to the former El Toro when they changed the name to Lake Forest. All of sudden it became more attractive than Mission Viejo and Rancho Santa Margarita.
 
Hey, some homes in Huntington Beach are ultra nice - just think Seacliff and the Bluffs. As for old homes, there's plenty of them surrounding Costa Mesa (minus Irvine of course).



I can see why Santa Ana would affect northern CM, but why isn't the southern part on par with Huntington or Newport?
 
[quote author="hs_teacher" date=1243992341]Hey, some homes in Huntington Beach are ultra nice - just think Seacliff and the Bluffs. As for old homes, there's plenty of them surrounding Costa Mesa (minus Irvine of course).



I can see why Santa Ana would affect northern CM, but why isn't the southern part on par with Huntington or Newport?</blockquote>


The working class areas of Costa Mesa are in the southern parts of Costa Mesa, bordering Newport Beach. This is just where the smaller, less desirable homes were originally built. The Northern parts of Costa Mesa (Mesa Verde and areas near the Fairgrounds) have bigger homes that were initially purchased by wealthier people. The southern parts of Costa Mesa also have many older, run down apartments which attract lower income people. Although some might want to blame Santa Ana for this, in fact, quite the opposite is true.
 
I agree..it's unfortunate that Costa Mesa isn't a better area to raise a family, because the location is so convenient. I initially even thought of buying a house there but was repeatedly warned that the schools weren't very good.



I think that for most areas, they basically go downhill without some special factor to prop up the property values, such as proximity to the beach (Newport, Huntington), school reputation (Irvine), or proximity to lots of big, fancy houses (Bev Hills). Convenient location alone isn't enough. Just my 2 cents.
 
I guess that eventually, I would like to settle somewhere close to the coast. My options are Seal Beach, Huntington Beach, Fountain Valley, Costa Mesa, and Newport Beach.

Seal Beach seems a little dead, Huntington Beach is cool, Fountain Valley is nice, Costa Mesa is just not too good, while Newport is just too much. If only the schools in Costa Mesa were

a little better, I wouldn't mind living there at all.



I don't get it, Costa Mesa is close to the beach. If I was a developer, I would definitely redevelop in Costa Mesa.
 
[quote author="hs_teacher" date=1243995703]I guess that eventually, I would like to settle somewhere close to the coast. My options are Seal Beach, Huntington Beach, Fountain Valley, Costa Mesa, and Newport Beach.

Seal Beach seems a little dead, Huntington Beach is cool, Fountain Valley is nice, Costa Mesa is just not too good, while Newport is just too much. If only the schools in Costa Mesa were

a little better, I wouldn't mind living there at all.



I don't get it, Costa Mesa is close to the beach. If I was a developer, I would definitely redevelop in Costa Mesa.</blockquote>


why not belmont shore? livelier than seal. very good schools. fun area. less expensive than newport.
 
not familiar with the area. i'm beginning to notice that most people on this blog always favor areas that they are familiar with. some prefer the north such as fullerton, brea, orange, and anaheim; others prefer the south such as san clemente, mission viejo, lake forest, and laguna niguel; but for me, i prefer the central areas of huntington, fountain valley, costa mesa, irvine, and newport. i'm sure belmont shore is a great place to live, but i already have roots around central orange county.
 
[quote author="hs_teacher" date=1244000283]not familiar with the area. i'm beginning to notice that most people on this blog always favor areas that they are familiar with. some prefer the north such as fullerton, brea, orange, and anaheim; others prefer the south such as san clemente, mission viejo, lake forest, and laguna niguel; but for me, i prefer the central areas of huntington, fountain valley, costa mesa, irvine, and newport. i'm sure belmont shore is a great place to live, but i already have roots around central orange county.</blockquote>


not trying to convince you, but you mentioned seal. belmont is adjacent (next town to the north). You can bike from belmont shore to seal in less than 5 minutes.



I think you're right though. many people on this board have a bias that typically is driven by where they live.
 
i actually had dinner at "open sesame" in belmont shore on sunday. i do like 2nd street. but honestly, main street in huntington is a lot cooler. :)

for some reason, i think people in la county are too stylish. i think people in orange county care more about their physique than their clothes when it comes to their appearance.

i like the active mentality of orange county residents.
 
[quote author="hs_teacher" date=1244002166]i actually had dinner at "open sesame" in belmont shore on sunday. i do like 2nd street. but honestly, main street in huntington is a lot cooler. :)

for some reason, i think people in la county are too stylish. i think people in orange county care more about their physique than their clothes when it comes to their appearance.

i like the active mentality of orange county residents.</blockquote>


I think there really isn't a difference between LA county or Orange county. The county line is irrelevant. OC is the only place in the world that defines their area by the county line. It doesn't make sense. Is Santa Ana even remotely like Laguna? no. the better cut is to break socal out by coastal vs. inland. Belmont Shore and Seal (la and oc respectively) have a lot in common for example. neither are similar to Torrance or Mission Viejo (which are both inland LA and OC respectively). Torrance and MV are similar to each other though.



just my 2 cents...
 
in a month there's going to be a 1% difference between LA and OC.

there's also a big difference between the quality of the freeways.
 
[quote author="ABC123" date=1244003917]in a month there's going to be a 1% difference between LA and OC.

there's also a big difference between the quality of the freeways.</blockquote>


Ha! This is true!
 
[quote author="hs_teacher" date=1243988647]I just don't understand Costa Mesa. On the surface, its location makes it comparable to Huntington Beach and Newport Beach - it's close to the coast and situated between those two cities. In addition, it's also between Fountain Valley and Irvine - two cities with superior schools. Yet, Costa Mesa has underperforming schools and unimpressive home values. Personally, had I not known much about Costa Mesa, I would definitely want to live there for its central location - I think it's great to have easy access to Fountain Valley, Huntington Beach, Newport Beach, and Irvine. But in reality, with its poor schools, I see it as an extension of Santa Ana. I think it's a convenient location for someone in his 20's, but it's not a highly suitable place to raise a family. Would anyone care to correct me?</blockquote>




Thanks for avoiding CM. I'm sure you will be happier in beige-ville.
 
I actually prefer CM to Irvine. As I have said before on other forums the schools on the east side of costa mesa are rated very well.
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[quote author="freedomCM" date=1244005763][quote author="hs_teacher" date=1243988647]I just don't understand Costa Mesa. On the surface, its location makes it comparable to Huntington Beach and Newport Beach - it's close to the coast and situated between those two cities. In addition, it's also between Fountain Valley and Irvine - two cities with superior schools. Yet, Costa Mesa has underperforming schools and unimpressive home values. Personally, had I not known much about Costa Mesa, I would definitely want to live there for its central location - I think it's great to have easy access to Fountain Valley, Huntington Beach, Newport Beach, and Irvine. But in reality, with its poor schools, I see it as an extension of Santa Ana. I think it's a convenient location for someone in his 20's, but it's not a highly suitable place to raise a family. Would anyone care to correct me?</blockquote>




Thanks for avoiding CM. I'm sure you will be happier in beige-ville.</blockquote>


Hey Freedom, Is that your home in your avatar? Is it in Costa Mesa. Not trying to figure out where you live, I'm just a fan of MCM. I know where some of the Cliff May's are in Orange and Tustin and Eichler's in Orange. Are there some decent MCM's in Costa Mesa?
 
HS-



Costa Mesa is very diverse with some very good schools and yes, some bad schools. You are indeed correct that due to it's location it should be a much better city than it is. The city council and mayor have always been dominated by extremely conservative people that continually profess that low taxes and letting businesses do it will lead to this beautiful redevlopment. They fight the idea of getting rid of the light industrial from a legislative and tax/investment stand point. That whole swath of the border of NB on the West Side is a waste land that if brought to its highest and best use would transform the rest of the SW.



And BTW, only the SW would be considered somewhat bad and even that has it's borders. If you look at south of victoria and west of placentia, that part of SW is quite nice. But anyway, I firmly believe that crappy city government has a considerable amount to do with the failure to redevelop this area into its full potential.
 
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