Why live in Orange County
I recently returned from a trip to Tulsa, Oklahoma with my wife and kids. While we were there, we had a wonderful time. We swam in the pool (85 degree water), we stayed in a lake house (lake front home with dock costs under $300,000), we played in the back yard ( 1 acre lots are common and affordable), and we lit a plethora of fireworks in the drive way (pretty much every firework is legal there).
About half way through the trip I began talking with a store clerk while purchasing a toothbrush at the Rite Aide. He could tell I was not from Oklahoma and asked where I was from. "California" I answered proundly, "Orange County, California." "If you don't mind me asking" he said "why do you live there?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well" he continued "The cost of living is triple what it is here, but the pay is only about 60% higher. It's crowded, smoggy, It takes 45 minutes to get anywhere, you have an under-performing education system and your government is going bankrupt."
"So you've been there before" I said with a laugh. I paid for the toothbrush and left.
It was not until later that night, while I lay in bed that I began to really think about what that store clerk had said. Why do I live in Orange County?
Over the last week I have spent a considerable amount of time pondering this question. Is it the weather? ... No, the weather is nice, but it is not the reson I live here. Is it the beach? ... No, I don't frequent the beach as much as I would like. Is it the glamorous Orange County Life style? ... Nope! Then, finally, last night the answer came to me.
It's the character of Orange County that makes me love to live here. It is the only place in the country that defines itself by county. Every other person in the country answers where they live by either a neighborhood, city, state or country. But not us. We live in Orange County, The OC. A county so diverse in each corner yet we share a certain identity. We have one of the most republican Cities in the country and one of the most democratic, yet we define ourselves as the same (from Orange County). Often, the character of Orange County not apparent to the outsider. It sometimes hides behind the new strip malls and the homogenized planned communities. But it is there! Sometimes the deepest character is the hardest to see.
So, to the rest of the country who thinks we are crazy for living hear, I asked to to give it a try and then see if you can leave.
Orange County Real Estate Agents