Armed home invasion is a little more serious than a mugging,

In my neck of the woods, it usually results in a body recovery (and usually the invaders)

Think about how you would feel if your next door neighbor told you she had her purse taken while she was out for a walk. Then think about how you would feel if your next door neighbor was robbed at gunpoint in her own home.

Or to deploy helicopters and police dogs for muggings.

Unless of course it happened to your wife or teenage daughter.

From the descriptions given here it sounds great as a place to live to me. I prefer to seek out adventure on my schedule rather than have to deal with it all the time. For a lot of families, clean, pleasant, and boring holds a lot of appeal.

Charles, I would agree except for the fact that life is what happens between the lines. It sounds to me like in Irvine (I have never been there), there is no between the lines... I find that a little sad.

So we are actively looking to move to Manhattan Beach or Laguna Beach.

On the pace of change...

Once when I was in the Marines, I was hitchhiking back to Camp Pendelton and caught a ride with this old fellow just on the other side of El Toro (glad the MPs didn't catch me--hitchhiking was a no-no). Anyway, we're tooling south on the Santa Ana Freeway and he's telling me how much things have changed around here. "Why," he said, "I used to drive the stagecoach between Laguna and Santa Ana."

If only I can afford something near La Jolla or Del Mar.

I suppose you have to define "near", but I think you can buy a whole town in some parts of Kansas or Nebraska for less.

I'm walking the dogs while smoking a cigar. (Ashton maduro for those who care.)...

Great taste in cigars, btw.

Down the coast in S.D., I often get the same treatment when I take my Ashton Cabinet #8 out for a walk.

There's a large Chinese population in Irvine, and the quality of the food rivals that of the real mecca of Chinese food in the San Gabriel Valley about an hour away. For Mexican, Santa Ana is 5 miles away.

Yes, that would be Moneterey Park I noted above. It is in LA county, in the San Gabriel Valley.

I was looking at a "where to retire" book this weekend, and saw that Irvine is still very near the top for safety. Mission Viejo edged it out though.

When I lived there, I was commuting up the 405 to El Segundo. I looked at buying at the time, and went to see houses throughout southern OC and Huntington Beach. MV was on the wrong side of the infamous El Toro "Y" (where I-405 and I-5 merged from eight lanes to four, a really bad traffic bottleneck). Irvine was near all the major freeways allowing making the trip to LA very convenient. Actually, I'm looking at San Diego as the ideal retirement location. If only I can afford something near La Jolla or Del Mar.

(A classic Costa Mesa story is that a guy had a dozen old cars rusting in his overgrown front yard. The city sent him a citation to have them removed. He wrote back, "but they are my classic car collection, all Cadillacs." The city wrote back "never mind.")

If I have any criticism at all it may be that their police force is a little too big and has a few too many resources at their disposal for what they have to deal with. On the other hand, maybe these excess resources are effectively acting as a deterrent that makes it such a relatively crime free area.

Then I would stronly suggest you not live here. For those of us that do, this is what we choose and are willing to pay taxes for.

Thank goodness we can keep it all contained in Irvine.

Irvine is in Orange County by the way, a county that has traditionally been very conservative.

I scream at my kids more or less hourly. My wife takes the half hour. Our kids give back at double the volume. The four of us all yell at the two dogs who bark at UPS men -- even when there are no UPS men.

So far no police.

You must live in the bad part of Irvine. :)

So we are actively looking to move to Manhattan Beach or Laguna Beach. There are artists in Laguna, writers in Manhattan Beach. Irvine is a Flanders city and we're a Simpsons family.

Haven't been the Manhatten Beach much, but Laguna is very nice. Might want to look at other areas too like San Clemente, Dana Point, etc. Not sure what your commute is like though. I've got co-workers that live in Hunting Beach, they like it. And you'd have Dog Beach which is one of the few off leash beaches for dogs. And you'd be close to Garden Grove which has all kinds of Vietnamese restaruants. Plus you'd be closer to Los Angeles which is a Mecca for foreign food. Thai, Indian, Chinese, Mexican, Salvadoran, Ethiopian,....

Oh, and on a Saturday if you guys are feeling adventerous, go to McArthur Park and hit Langers for an awesome pastrami sandwhich. I swear they must cut it with a machette. Or head over to Pico and La Brea and go to Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles (sounds weird I know, but its good). Palms Thai in LA is very good, and the entertainment is interesting (a thai Elvis impersonator). The Farmer's Market in LA is also a fun place to eat. All kinds of food for everyone, and right next to the Grove for shopping, people watching, or even catching a movie.

But yeah, I'll agree with ya...get out of Irvine. At 9:30 PM they roll up the streets and put them in the closet. Boring, boring, boring.

Edit: I'll add Dog Beach is actually worth a day trip by the way. Take the kids, the dogs, and an easy to cary easy-up, a cooler of food and drinks and you're set. Let the kids swim, and play, throw the ball for the dogs till their ready to nap, then relax.

And you might want to check out this place in Costa Mesa.

An Asian couple running, sees me, they pause, they gather their courage and strength and rush past me holding their breath and waving their hands in the air like crazy people.

Once safely past they make loud disgusted noises for about a block.

Because the problem with the air here in Southern California is me.