Newport Beach, CA

Very nice but very expensive. Hope you have a good paying job.

sounds good to me . I love that whole area along the ocean south of LA. But big transition from NYC but you're of the age where it could be a relief

It's expensive but you are used to that coming from NY I supposed.

Asian population is growing. 2000: 4%, 2010: 7%, and 2020 at least 10% or higher, we will see with the census.

Great weather and shops and restaurants, beaches and bike trails. See what the restaurants and shops are like after the pandemic.

Rich white suburb. It’s ok as long as you know it’s the burbs and not a quaint beach town.

Beautiful and can be a great place to live. Most of it is very expensive but some of the areas closest to Irvine or Costa Mesa are a little lower. But be prepared for LOTS of snobby people who think the world revolves around them because they have money. If you do not fit in with them, you will be scorned. It tends to be very focused on status and materialism. Laguna Beach used to be far better, but now that's evolved into what I would call "south Newport".

Laguna Beach is next door and gay, so you might want to check that out. Bu it is also expensive.

Gay and expensive. What could go wrong?

Newport Beach is one of the most expensive cities in the country. Tons and tons of money - and everything that goes along with that. Snobbery, plastic surgery, etc.

Laguna Beach is nice - but also really pricey. Actually, any city along the coast in OC is expensive as hell. Laguna Beach is not really gay anymore - there are no gay bars there now.

There's not much of a gay scene in Orange County. I'm trying to think of a place I would like to live in the OC - nothing comes to mind. It's very pretty but boring as hell.

OC used to be a very conservative, red county but I think it has changed the last 10 years. Still lots of conservatives though. Bleach-blond wives with tons of botox, fake tits and a cross around their neck because, y'know, Jesus is the way.

It's gonna be a huge culture shock. Hopefully someone else can guide you, but there's no way I would live in the OC. May be different for you.

Thanks. Would rush hour traffic make a drive from Laguna to Newport difficult/unbearable?

R9 - no, not at all.

OP - lemme guess - is your partner an attorney?

And there are other places besides Laguna Beach, which is quaint but very touristy.

Conservative, Conservative, Conservative.

Unless you live in Laguna you’ll need to close your blinds to prevent neighbors from seeing your monitor display something other than FOX

Will add to R12’s post.

While Laguna is more liberal (has culture, tolerance for others, etc.), Newport is flashy wealthy and decent environs, but had/has the following:

1) Exceedingly conservative populous: incredibly so

2) Hordes of “tourists”; many from inland Orange County to experience the coast (again many conservative individuals, but this seems to be shifting, unlike Newport)

3) Overpriced....it’s much like purchasing polyester fashion from a highly exclusive fashion line based on “a name”

There are far (less expensive), higher quality locales, I MHO.

But if you are exceedingly conservative, love crowds, and like paying through the nose, Newport is for you.

Great and lovely, but EXPENSIVE!!!!!!!

I've lived in NYC and Newport Beach and the problem with Newport Beach is the money is completely wasted on uncultured, politically backwards, plastic surgery monsters. There is very little to do except for the beach and shopping. If that's your cup of tea, then you'll be very happy. If you want access to theatre, live musical performances, interesting people to talk to, then your soul will wither up and die if you move there.

As others have pointed out, Laguna isn't really "gay" anymore. However, the beaches and little coves there are hands down more beautiful and less polluted than Newport. Many of the beaches in Newport are disgusting now.

Thanks. If you worked in Newport and could live anywhere within a 30 or 45 min drive during rush hour, where would you live?

Newport is full of "ladies who lunch". They have lots of money because they married money, and spend it on plastic surgery and other procedures, fake hair, fake teeth, fake boobs, fake tans. They shop at South Coast Plaza and Newport Fashion Island and then go to lunch with their "friends" to show off their new stuff and drink wine in the middle of the day. Then they drunk drive home to their over priced homes because there's not much else to do.

Despite the fact that RHOC has evolved into a mostly scripted reality show, some of what you see is not far from reality for Newport and certain immediately adjacent areas.

Maybe Seal Beach R17. It's between Huntington (which has been going to shit with lots of far right extremists) and Long Beach (which I like but most Newport types would not like it here....it's too real world and diverse for them unless you stick to Naples or Belmont Shore).

I was just gonna say that - Real Housewives of Orange County is pretty fucking accurate if you want to see the natives in their natural environment.

R15 is right - the money there is wasted on vapid, plastic people. They trot out their degrees from USC like it's fucking Oxford.

Personally, I hate seeing dumb people with money. The injustice of it burns.

Is there anything worthwhile in Ventura County?

R19 - that's kind of a hike. Seal Beach is boring AF.

I think you need to know OP's budget - renting or buying, etc.

Llike most of Orange County, Newport Beach is full of rich, right-wing Republican assholes. Best to just rent a place in Newport Beach for the weekend. Not a very gay friendly city to live.

Start with renting. 2 bed, 2 bath, outdoor space and a view. Would $7500 a month be enough for something nice?

Long Beach is a much more gay-friendly city. Not quite in Orange County but a close enough commute to work.

Newport Beach is like living in a Restoration Hardware. It might look pretty on the surface, but it's really fake and faux-eclectic, and it wears thin after a while.

If you like perpetually surprised looking Botox addicts in their sixties, then this is the place for you.

[quote] Long Beach is a much more gay-friendly city.

True. But everything else between LB and San Diego is conservative. Granted, it's not always a "no gays no abortion" conservative. It's more like "No blacks, no browns, no poors" conservative.

OP, remember those protests where the conservatives were assholes about the quarantine a few weeks back? The ones that turned ugly and racist? That was Huntingdon Beach, just up Highway 1.

LOL R22 yes Seal Beach is boring AF but so is Newport. I was just throwing out an idea of an area that is also pricey but a little more low-key and beachy without being all the way in LA.

The best decision you would ever make. I love Laguna Beach too. Orange County is getting less conservative so you will be welcomed.

It's my version of heaven and the weather is ideal. I currently live in Los Angeles but if I could retire, that would be the place I would go. Or, maybe La Jolla. All are spectacular!

I'll be the girl living on a retirement budget so looking at Palm Springs and Wilton Manors - the latter having the most hideous condos on earth. But, back to you....go for it! You'll love it!!!

For size, decency and “view” with outdoor space, think it more reasonable to anticipate something between $10,000-15,000/per month, for what you describe R24.

R29 wow for 2 bdr? That’s more than NY.

Now I get to feel poor.

[quote] Orange County is getting less conservative so you will be welcomed.

No. It's gotten worse.

Yes, R30. I’ve also lived in Manhattan.

Believe it or not, there are more expensive places.

(Especially on the CA coastline. Remember, the US coastal space is limited.)

Also, reports and voting patterns say otherwise, but from what I have observed firsthand within the last year, I share your observations, R31.

It’s odd.

Yeah - $7500 a month is no problem to find a nice rental. Probably can get something really nice for $5K if you go out of Newport a bit.

Commute from Long Beach to Newport wouldn't be great.

And there's only a few nice areas in LB - and it's kinda boring.

Just checked Zillow - there are a bunch for rent with a huge variety in pricing...

Seal Beach? No way. It smells, literally.

I lived in Long Beach from '77 - '90—I graduated froom CSULB—and for five of those years worked Newport Beach, where my brother lived at the time. To get there from LB, you can take the SAndDieogo Freeway, then change to the 57 and cut down through Costa Mesa, but you can also take Pacific Coast Highway, which I did as much as I could. It'sa big lengthy—it's a 20 mile commute—but what a way to go! Talk about I'm not in NYC anymore lol. Loved that ride always, and very light in terms of traffic. Put 22,000 miles on my shiny new Hoda Civic Sedan every year.

If you end up in Laguna, aim for above Laguna Canyon Road. That'll make your commute much faster. And Laguna is gorgeous.

And maybe not so much in Newport, but in all of the beach towns mentioned above, if you seek them out, you'll find little pockets of like minded folk who take all of the cliches and kitsch of the retro suburbs and live their lives with a huge, technicolor wink to the status quo. Back when I lived there, their spirit avatars were people like John Waters and the B-52s, and they probably still are to this day.

btw OP I live in NYC now.

Check out the houses built right on the cliffs....

I grew up near there. Laguna is much more "scenic". But Newport was great swimming and surfing. For middle aged gay men? Eh. Not sure it's for you. Do Laguna.

[quote] As others have pointed out, Laguna isn't really "gay" anymore.

So what happened to all the gays that lived there?

Older gays died and weren't replaced, others cashed out when property values started to skyrocket. Concurrently, a lot of younger gays couldn't afford to move there, while others no longer see the necessity to live in a gay enclave.

Some became “straight” like Peter Thiel

I left South OC three years ago, after living there for 25 years. I lived in Laguna Niguel for the most part but that is NOT where you want to go. It's suburbia hell.

Try Dana Point and see what you think. It was undergoing a renaissance just as I was leaving. Seems like the artsy fartsy crowd that got priced out of Laguna is settling there. You can go right up PCH to Newport. They have a harbor if you are a boater.

r40 - Hunted to extinction.

JK - like many gay areas in the US, they made it nice and then got priced out by straights who wanted to live there. It's very expensive now - as is every gay area in each US city is nowadays.

Dana Point is nice, and San Juan Capistrano is a cute little town. So is San Clemente.

Do any of my fellow eldergays live in Laguna Woods Village (FKA Leisure World/Seizure World)? I was thinking it might be a good place to spend the rest of my retirement years. (I live in the San Gabriel Valley now, which is too hot in the summer.)

A lot of people in Laguna who had lived there for years and were getting close to retirement age during the last housing bubble (which peaked circa 2007) sold with a huge amount of equity and started buying places in Palm Springs which was still a relative bargain at the time. I think that's around the time PS started becoming the next hot spot (pun intended). I can't imagine it. I think 2007 is when the largest gay bar/club (Boom Boom Room) closed also. It all went hand in hand....young people couldn't afford to live there anymore, older people were cashing out and moving away, and Newport Beach type people started moving in and making the place start feeling like NB South. It was such a cool place before that. I haven't been back in years. It's just a place with lots of good memories of times gone by.

@R45 years ago I had a family member (sibling's inlaw) considering Seizure World. There are several different "communities" and some of them have crazy rules including strict dress code. Things like to eat in the more formal dining room, men must wear a blazer at all times. In the less formal dining room, no jacket required but no jeans or shorts, shirts must have collars. Oh and no Mumus! (Aren't those the same as caftans?). Mumus are specifically called out in the dress code as prohibited. So some of you could never live there.

r29, stop lying. Rents in newport beach are between 2k-4k.

R48 - not if you want a nice 2BR, 2BA with outdoor space. Agreed it won't be $10k, but it won't be $2-$4k for sure.

R37 - in rush hour traffic, the commute you're describing (from Long Beach to NB) would likely be closer to an hour. You're basically sitting on a long stretch of the 405 for most of it, so not at all scenic.

Most don’t strike me as vocally conservative, just the type who “don’t like to be political” and benefit from staying ignorant of politics in general (since they’re white, and much more importantly, have money) — and these days people like that almost always lean Conservative/Republican.

But most would probably deny they’re Conservative altogether because they’re not even aware of it.

Think Real Housewives of Orange County. Conservative because of their money. But more liberal because of Trump.

If OP has $15 million, Diane Keaton's former place in Laguna Beach is still on the market.

R50, the commute I was suggesting did not involve the 405 (etc) freeway. One can start in Long Beach and take either Second Street or Seventh Street to PCH. Then turn right, and it will take you through Seal Beach, Huntington Beach, that long stretch of nothing, then Newport and beyond.

R54 I've tried that route too (taking PCH from NB to LB), and my commute, while much more scenic, was over an hour. This was around 2006ish. Rush hour traffic was a nightmare.

Very republican. Very wealthy. Snobs. Mostly racist.

R51 - that's a perfect description. Not vocal, but Republican nonetheless. It kind of goes along with the vapid, non-thinking vibe there.

There are a lot of places in the country with UMC, white people like this.

"But most would probably deny they’re Conservative altogether because they’re not even aware of it."

But most would probably deny they’re Conservative altogether because they’re are afraid they will be cancelled by their LA friends, gay "friends" or clients so they are extra careful, except at MAGA meetings.

There, fixed that for you.

[quote] But most would probably deny they’re Conservative altogether because they’re are afraid they will be cancelled by their LA friends, gay "friends" or clients so they are extra careful, except at MAGA meetings.

... and except at the voting booth.

I think the only reason why The O.C. has shifted a little blue in the last elections is because of the demographics on the other side of the 405. e.g. In the 2018 Govrenor's race, democrat Newsom won Orange County, but it was very close -- something like 50.1% to 49.9%. Newsom's detractors along the conservative O.C. coast have grown during the COVID lockdown, and it should be noted that it was two O.C. cities - Huntington Beach and Dana Point - that challenged his orders in court.

R58 one isn’t inconsistent with the other.

Also probably the case that the “non-political” housewives leave their husbands to be the more vocal conservatives who say borderline offensive things on FB, while they say nothing (or maybe pay lip service to things like BLM but don’t implicate Trump in any way) so they can continue to use up all his credit cards but still keep all their friends.

R61 - hey, for all of those pretty young things who came to LA 20 years ago and never got far in acting, being an OC Housewife is a good gig. And you still get to use those acting skills throughout your marriage.

Sounds like a joke - but there's actually a lot of that going on in the OC.

I lived there for most of my life but moved away four years ago. It is lovely and expensive and except for some of the older parts it is filled with nouveau riche trash. The Back Bay area has some really nice older homes. That was more my scene than the Newport Coast / Newport Peninsula / CDM. Balboa Island is nice too but it is pretty unattainable. You could buy a house on Balboa Island for $25k in the 1960s.

[quote] The Back Bay area has some really nice older homes.

IA. ... Back in the 80s, I had the opportunity to spend a lot of time in the Back Bay area for about three summers in a row, and it really did seem like a nice little enclave -- specifically "The Bluffs" in the "East Bluff" area. I believe the development was actually considered attached homes - as they'd typically be in pairs with just one small shared wall. Some are detached, though. There are also some that were more condo-like (two stories in a small row). But it was nice, quiet, fairly private, with lots of open space in the middle. They seemed more like single family residences. There's a great walking-biking trail adjacent to enjoy the bay.

The streets all start with "Vista" in this area. Here's an example of one for sale, It's about average price. Some higher, lower.

I wish I had $8 million just burning a hole a in my pocket.....

Listen to the person who mentioned, Dana Point and San Clemente. Even Laguna will still have some nice pockets with artsy folks.

The old inhabitants have been poisoned out.

Cancer-Linked Contaminants Found In Newport Tap Water: Report

A report released Wednesday, though, found more than 270 harmful contaminants in local drinking water across the nation, including in Orange County. The substances are linked to cancer, damage to the brain and nervous system, hormonal disruption, problems in pregnancy and other serious health conditions.

[quote] Newport is full of "ladies who lunch". They have lots of money because they married money, and spend it on plastic surgery and other procedures, fake hair, fake teeth, fake boobs, fake tans. They shop at South Coast Plaza and Newport Fashion Island and then go to lunch with their "friends" to show off their new stuff and drink wine in the middle of the day. Then they drunk drive home to their over priced homes because there's not much else to do.

Haha that's exactly what I saw at the Souplantation (RIP) in Brentwood when I was staying with a friend at his mom's house.