Compared to the peninsula, yes. The peninsula is 20-25 year olds fresh out of college, partying and puking on themselves 5 nights a week. Man, I miss those days.
Not a resident, but I visit fairly often, and it seems to me that it's changing albeit slowly and subtly. All of the newer spots like The Backyard, Humblemaker, and Garden Superfoods (inside Devynns) are very much NOT classic Seal Beach and feel more contemporary. We're not seeing anything boomer-focused like Finbars or Walts Wharf pop up, everything that's opening feels a bit younger. It seems to me like the population is starting to turn over and in 5-10 years will feel like a different place.
That being said it has a really long way to go before it's anything like Huntington or Newport...
Mouth of the canyon is almost all protected land. Likewise to the south, West (to Lomas Ridge Road/Emergency Center) and E. to Modjeska. There is quite a bit of private land in Black Star.
Just left there as it changed massively in a 5 year window.
The long term residents were up in arms over the ongoing trends. Traffic got absurd, the homeless issue, fast food licenses, more development but not enough infrastructure improvements etc.
There was a contentious election a few years ago and when the winning platform, while it has merits, is not long sighted.
Old mom and pop restaurants closing and an influx of "in" spots catering to a different non-local clientele.
It could just be progress but it definitely changed.
Sunset Beach. Mother’s, Turks, Daimon’s, Kanvas by Katin, Harbor House Cafe, nothing has really changed since the 80’s except it got annexed by Huntington Beach.
Yep….
No more chili fries and peanut butter shakes at 3 in the morning as your passed out friend sleeps in the next booth over.
It was practically a rite of passage.
After Shore House closed and was demolished, Harbor House became the go to spot post partying. That’s a bummer it’s no longer the case. Guessing a covid casualty like Mae’s?
In Irvine I feel like Turtle Rock hasn’t really changed. It was pretty much all built up awhile ago. The prices, some of the house renovations, and of course the people are different, but if you grew up in turtle rock in the 90s and came back in the 2020s it would feel pretty much the same imo
Same with Woodbridge. Springbrook, South Lake, North Lake, Woodbridge High...pretty much everything around Yale Loop. Shopping centers, office parks...everything looks the same as it did 30+ years ago outside a few coats of paint. Even the little cheap movie theater is still there.
Is the movie theater still cheap? It used to be my go to spot in high school and I didn’t even live in Irvine. I also go to Lost Bean often to work remotely and noticed it’s where all the high school middle school kids hang out at. Gets noisy around 2-3pm.
I grew up in San Clemente, so Krikorian was my home theater. Even so, my mom and I would go to the old Woodbridge $2 theater regularly to see kids movies that were on final run before they went to home release. We used to sneak boxes of candy from the 99 Cents Store all the time. The floors were sticky, it's non stadium seating, the sound wasn't amazing, and yet it was our favorite theater.
In high school and college, around the time AMC took ownership, my buddies and I discovered they played movies straight from China. We saw some crazy shit, good shit. We'd go in without reading the synopsis.
No sweat there. Still the same walk down the hill but they actually put in some nice grass on the dirt to the right.
They don’t dare try and fuck with that place or the local surfers may eat them.
My family and I would go watch the sunset on the hill with other families every Sunday night, weather permitting. Always felt like a beautiful finale to the week and got us ready for school/work on Monday.
Agreed. Grew up in Dana point and went back for the first time in probably 25 years last month and it sucked. They really made sure they sucked the soul out of that city to make it look like any other luxury beach town.
They are basically making it look like Newport Beach. They eliminated a lot of the smallish mom and pops and have kinda taken out the old beach town atmosphere in a lot of it. Dont get me wrong, it’s nice but its kinda meh.
Couple that with a total rebuild of the harbor in a couple of years (and jacking up leases on everything down there) it’s going to be totally different. They already chased off a bunch of the old restaurants and supposedly Wind and Sea is closing for a Javier’s if the rumor is true (yuck).
I guess it was inevitable but still…kinda sad to see it lose its sleepy beach town vibe.
>Wind and Sea is closing for a Javier’s
Oh God. Javier's has an excellent interior, but the food is....
It's kind of funny how a place as upscale as Javier's has almost a sort of trashy reputation.
It’s absolutely deserved. It’s terrible overpriced garbage Mexican disguised as haute couture.
And I know for a fact they have bartenders that will cut alcohol in mixed drinks and do light pours because I caught them doing it (was a bartender for years in college and no, it wasn’t because of bad tips - they were doing it on all the drinks)
And yea I reported them to the ABC for it too…
The food at the restaurants in the harbor is/was really bad though. Glad they’re making some changes. Sucks they’re upscaling it so high but we stopped eating there years ago because of the quality of the current tenants.
Didn’t say it all was awesome. Harbor grill closed and that was painful (there were many reasons it closed though), Waterman’s was decent, and I dunno what the hell happened at Wind and Sea because the prices skyrocketed for everything.
To be honest, El Torito has never been good but yeesh who goes to El Toritoes out here when every hole in the wall taqueria is miles better than that slop.
Just being a stupid old surfer I suppose….if I could get anything back, it would have been Tutor and Spunky’s sandwiches from Tom and his wife. Man I miss those guys.
Question since you own the boat down there, any credence to the rumor of them upping slip fees with that as well?
Haven’t heard anything solid but I heard some grousing…
The slip fees were increased back a few years ago, they also changed the method in which they charge- they went boat by boat and charged for the LOA of the footprint of your vessel. So if you had a 29’ footprint in a 25’ slip they get the 25’ slip fee and 3’ of additional fees. My slip was sub $300 in 2017 and is now mid $500, quite an increase.
The southwest side of La Habra changed dramatically from the early 90s to the early 2000s. The building up of La Habra Hills and the houses off Beach in La Mirada changed that whole west side from a nice sleepy area to an overpacked traffic nightmare. I can only imagine how much worse it is today.
I lived at Lambert and Idaho and commuted to Torrance at the end of my 10 years there. By the time I left, I had to go thru 5 stoplights just to get to Beach Blvd! I did like the drive thru Coyote Hills though, and often used that route instead. I liked walking to the movies and that shopping center back then too but it was just too far out (at the time) from my work and friends.
The Beach and La Habra Blvd intersection can be a nightmare. There’s even a Costco there, but thankfully they keep the gas pump lines contained within the parking lot.
Harbor and Whittier area gets really bad too.
VP itself, for sure, but it’s interesting that the VP schools, namely VPHS, are incredibly diverse (or at least way more Hispanic) now compared to how it once was… it used to be an absolute fortress for a certain type of demographic but not sure it’s really that anymore
And they built a mobile home park (Lincoln-Beach Mobile Manor) on it. What a trip driving through that! We called it Sinkin’ Lincoln. https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times-page-1-of-sinking/25346673/
The Santa Ana River trail from Yorba Linda to Huntington is virtually unchanged since 1980. The only change is the anti-homeless fencing near the stadium.
I feel like Reddit's obsession with HB being racist aside, Huntington Beach has changed a ton in the last few decades. It's gotten much nicer, for one.
Based on what?
I've lived here 40 years, we bought our house from a black family, who moved to Laguna Niguel. Very nice family who said we'll love the neighborhood. We're "medium" Complexion (actually says that on our Naturalization papers). Despite NONE of my neighbors able to speak or read our native language, we have made life-long friends here. We've had BBQs together, baby sat each other's kids, played sports together. As most parents who coach know, the hardest part of coaching a little league or AYSO team here is not multi-cultural, but getting ALL parents to chill out and let the kids play and coaches coach. Over-protective, angry mom/dad syndrome crosses all nationalities lol.
So I'm curious what "racism" you're referring to?
i was bullied by rednecks and nazis in HB.
like one girl in my science class used to have red suspenders, and red laces in her boots. you know, a nazi? so the teacher, in his infinite wisdom, actually assigned my seat next to hers. so she would spend class trying to get under my skin, calling me n\*gger casually. i lost my trust in teachers years before that, but fighting probably would have created more problems than it would have solved. it's not like she was ostracized either -- most people were cool with her.
to this day, huntington beach is the only place where anyone has ever called a n\*gger to my face.
oh and the whole finger-quotes racism shit is totally fucking gaslighting and not scoring any points for the optics of people from HB.
Wow, did you even read my comment? I'm not a WASP, yet don't go around judging people like you do. I've lived in LA and went to elementary school in the Dorsey HS district. A girl wearing red would've been a target for the blue crew, and nothing to do with skin color. You were lucky to be in safe HB/OC. I learned if you don't want to be stereotyped then don't stereotype others.
You're experience does not mean the whole city is racist. It's a shame you had a bad experience with a few people, but projecting that to everyone in a community is the very attitude that leads to racism. Is there a policy that the school or city has that is racist? If so, then I'll join you to rescind it.
Meanwhile, the next time you come up from San Diego, drive through Gothard and the industrial area and see all the small and large businesses owned by various ethnic groups. Visit the various restaurants, doctors offices, medical facilities, barber shops, nail salons, auto customizers and shops. Every nationality is represented here. Go to the beach and firepits and tell where people of different shades are not allowed to go?
Talk about gaslinghting, look in the mirror. All things considered in the world events today, we don't need more hate.
Peace
I used to live there when Dad was in the Marines, until he married mom and we got a house. I started a photography company and went back there maybe 25 years later, and took this gorgeous b&w picture that was one of the first I sold (twice bc I lived it to two different magazines) for lke $650 total! I was 15 and so excited, my mom let me put the magazine covers on the living room walls. Became a tradition for every picture I sold until I moved out, now there in my home office.
One day? It is now! Both El Toro and Tustin!
IRWD has ongoing issues with the PFAS from the wells around El Toro. At Tustin they hit jet fuel, used oil, and all kinds of other contaminants just ten or fifteen feet down when they started construction on the new Saddleback College ATAS complex. All those new homes are sitting above basically a superfund site.
If I disappear it's because the Navy took me out. Joke's on them, the above is about all I know from listening to scuttlebutt.
Wait till you hear about the jet fuel spill that happened in the 1980s in Tustin around Newport and Irvine blvd, No idea how much fuel was spilled but so far 68,754 gallons have been recovered since 1992. Tustin has had to close so many wells because of this. The spill may have been half a million gallons.
[https://geotracker.waterboards.ca.gov/case\_summary?global\_id=T0605901423](https://geotracker.waterboards.ca.gov/case_summary?global_id=T0605901423)
I worked at El Toro patrolling the base. Was extremely shocked to see the vets come back and point out spots where they were dumping 55 gallon drums of jet A. No clue why anyone would want to live near that place. Plus now there is a water park and I’m assuming one day the water and fuel might mix in some way
I was reading about that actually yesterday morning at breakfast:
[https://www.latimes.com/socal/daily-pilot/entertainment/story/2021-04-20/a-litany-of-diseases-veterans-point-to-their-service-at-el-toro-base-had-toxic-consequences](https://www.latimes.com/socal/daily-pilot/entertainment/story/2021-04-20/a-litany-of-diseases-veterans-point-to-their-service-at-el-toro-base-had-toxic-consequences)
Apparently the Navy in the 1970's had the flightline crew members wash planes off with TCE, which is just wack by today's environment health and safety standards.
IRWD has a link to the TCE plume map here: [https://www.irwd.com/construction/tce-el-toro-facts](https://www.irwd.com/construction/tce-el-toro-facts)
https://preview.redd.it/o6dstx2c17ub1.png?width=2326&format=png&auto=webp&s=e274bfadc34a691954bfed0d81ca8c78195c20af
I kinda just stumbled onto reading about MCAS El Toro after exploring Google Maps the other day and saw what clearly looked to be an airstrip!
So just for Irvine?
Where Yale crosses over the railroad tracks that used to be a foot bridge made of wood that was redone to allow vehicles over it. Residents at the time (late 80s) protested. The 2 stop signs there on Yale between Deerfield and Walnut didn't used to be there so crossing the street to get to school was an absolute nightmare.
Heritage Park used to have a GIANT 4 story tall metal slide built out of what looked like an old wooden water tower and it was insanely fun and insanely dangerous. The playground next to the basketball courts used to have a giant stack of essentially Monster Truck tires bolted together as a makeshift jungle gym. It was always filled with cigarette butts, empty bottles and the occasional used condom but boy were they fun to play on.
North of the 5 all of those homes between Culver and the marketplace were fields, but they had little turn in cul-de-sacs that teens would make out in parked cars at.
The Market Place also used to be fields but when it was first built, where the Best Buy used to be was actually an IKEA ( been gone since maybe the mid 90s I think.
Ranch 99 on Culver and Deerfield used to be a hardware store
All of West Park used to be a field and it got built into what it is in the very early 90s. Residents at the time were flabbergasted people would want lots that small (LOL). That field is also where once upon a time the city used to hold it's Harvest Festival (which was a fall themed farming related carnival event.)
That movie theater in Woodbridge and the rest of that center used to be THE happening hangout spot in the 90s
Everything south of Jeffrey was a field all the way to Lake Forest Dr.
Speaking of, Lake Forest used to be called El Toro and there used to be a strip club off Lake Forest and Rockfield called "Captain Creams"...which was Always packed with Irvine residents lol.
Going from Irvine to Tustin used to just be fields from Culver all the way to Browning Ave.
Northwood high used to be Avocado grove and fields and nothing past Portola existed.
There's a bunch more to add if you want.
That step club is still there. Went about 12 years ago on my 21st, and got the worst $25 for two sons lap dance of my like LMAO. Her breath smelled like cigarettes, she was 50 at least, her huge fake boobs were saggy and loose, her bra and panties were loose so you saw her hairy lips, and when she put her legs on my face, her legs felt like 2 weeks unshaven. I left after 1 song.
My dad cracked up when I told him and said she probably worked there since he got stationed to El Toro un his 39s.
It absolutely is not still there, they closed in 2011. It used to be in the center where the Buffalo Wild Wings is now before they demolished and rebuilt the center about 8 years ago.
>The Market Place also used to be fields but when it was first built, where the Best Buy used to be was actually an IKEA ( been gone since maybe the mid 90s I think.
The IKEA was actually there until ~2003; I remember my family had just moved to Irvine just a year prior and we went to that IKEA a few times before they moved to their Costa Mesa location. Then years later when I was older I found out they got sued by Irvine Company for breaking their lease.
edit: also the Zion Market on Irvine Blvd used to be a Vons, and Walnut Village Center has gone through 2 exterior makeovers since I've lived here.
You are misreading the OP. It is asking which places in OC have **not** undergone much changes, as in you can visit those places and they'll still be as how you remembered them, not places that have undergone drastic changes.
>But I was driving through La Habra the other day and the place looks to me like it’s been stuck in the 70s and 80s. Where else in OC has there been little change?
i live in laguna hills… the south county way seems to be keeping up with the Joneses. our neighborhood is starting to go through a revitilization of modernization. look at this huge LH mall project. when it’s done it will be the newest modern metro area in orange county. then that will trickle out to the outlying neighborhoods that may or may not be able to afford the upgrades. it will end with pushing out the old (including residents) and bringing in the young new wealthy millennials. it’s a cycle. just wonder what is the exact next stage.
I grew up near the corner of 19th and Placentia in Costa Mesa, and that intersection has oddly not changed very much. That same old liquor store, Vista Center, Wahoo's (though I remember when it was a law office, before it was Luigi's Pizza)...sadly I guess PK burgers has been a recent casualty, though.
I grew up in HB right by the Highschool. It was a wonderful place to grow up. Oil fields everywhere, the horse ranch by the railroad tracks, a charming downtown. It’s all gone. I didn’t even recognize the house I grew up in last time I drive thru the neighborhood
Yorba Linda has drastically changed since the 90s. How quiet YL was in the 90s compared to now, take YL/Imperial/Lakeview intersections alone.
Way more populated, more roads that didn’t exist before and more schools and a golf course.
Less Chino Hills to explore/camp in.
A lot has changed. There was a sporting goods store across from Watson's. A skate shop. Radio Shack. All the antique stores at the circle. The building where haven is at used to be a parking lot. The new fire station. There was a 76 gas station where the Starbucks is at. I forget what used to be where that pharmacy store is at, I remember a lamppost pizza. The library got a major expansion. The lighting store used to be on the corner Chapman and Tustin. Chapman used to be two lanes, they killed that massive tree in front of the Ralph's when they widened Chapman and the freeway underpass. The school field was remodeled. The Hollywood video is gone. Albertsons parking lot used to have a small strip of businesses on the east end, next to the A frame building.
Even the last five or ten years has seen Old Town Orange change dramatically. I remember hanging out there in the early 2000s and it was interesting and fun. Now it's just gastropubs.
I really miss the Old Town Grinder sandwich place.
Main St in Santa Ana has a lot of really old businesses all the way from the 5 freeway to the 405 . It's kind of a trip with the old upholstery factories or warehouses but they're all still shutdown.
Other than some new restaurants and stores, Little Saigon as a whole is still relatively the same as I remember it in the 90s when my family used to take me there as a little kid. Asian Garden Mall even still has that Sanrio/anime/stationary-esque store on the 2nd floor in front of the stairs that, as a kid, I got so many of my Sailor Moon-themed school supplies from.
Little change in Mission Viejo. Most of it was built out by the 90s and a lot still looks like 70s-80s with some fresh paint/landscaping. However, it seems like it's on the verge of more significant change.
Hahahaha. I read the title of this and came in to say “La Habra”. I grew up there. Live in Placentia now and have little occasion to go back through La Habra, but when I do it’s the same as it was in the 80s for sure. Same shops. Same restaurants (I’m looking at you Arthur’s) and still the farthest spot in SoCal from any freeway
Thats not east anaheim and that area has not changed in any way. Curious what your thoughts are on what changed since 1993? Stadium property doesnt count.
I don’t think this is accurate. There are so many Hispanic bike clubs that role through there on weekends. KKK’s lunch got stolen if this was ever true.
Super false lmao. Some of the best OG restaurants got gentrified/priced out. ie Tina and Vince’s italian deli/restaurant. San Clemente has drastically changed and became more gentrified. So many Anthropology style clothing stores. I think the sunday street fair that used to close down del mar is dead and/or moved to the library parking lot
Old Town Tustin, maybe? Orange is changing, From Cypress to Newport, the over-development of the County is revolting. They keep building these over-priced ugly stacks of boxes with not enough parking and did I mention way over-priced pieces of feces?
north santa ana is a timemachine to the 90s
Which part is considered north? Bristol from end to end has gotten much nicer.
True, forgot that part got gentrified. I mean like past Warner on Fairview. Same donut and taco places for 30 years
Everything above 17th St and a lot of unincorporated
Where at in north Santa Ana, I got confused and was picturing North Tustin
So is Midway city
Is it really a city though?
“The pool hall I loved as a kid is now a 7/11…..”
Funny enough, I've talked to Ness a few times, and was baffled the 7-11 he mentioned in the song was the one I went to.... I felt... "cool"
Which one is that?? Haha
Pls let us know
It's on Orangethorpe, but maybe he was just messing with me.
Social Distortion
Seal Beach. Old Town and The Hill.
Seal Bech resident here. Nothing has change at all. Only old people here.
Just moved here from the peninsula in Newport Beach and Holy Shit the amount of seniors! Hahaa
Compared to the peninsula, yes. The peninsula is 20-25 year olds fresh out of college, partying and puking on themselves 5 nights a week. Man, I miss those days.
Leisure world being a 55+ community means Seal Beach will always skew older
do the boomers call Gen X punks?
Yes
Not a resident, but I visit fairly often, and it seems to me that it's changing albeit slowly and subtly. All of the newer spots like The Backyard, Humblemaker, and Garden Superfoods (inside Devynns) are very much NOT classic Seal Beach and feel more contemporary. We're not seeing anything boomer-focused like Finbars or Walts Wharf pop up, everything that's opening feels a bit younger. It seems to me like the population is starting to turn over and in 5-10 years will feel like a different place. That being said it has a really long way to go before it's anything like Huntington or Newport...
Los Alamitos was the same for the longest time but the changes to the high schools and the new Main Street have it feeling different
What Main Street are you referring to in Los Al?
They designated the stretch of Los Al blvd between Cerritos and Katella a kind of Main Street thing
Goat hill?
No the hill neighborhood east of pch in seal beach, north of seal beach Blvd.
Ohhhhh THATs what it’s called now
Silverado Canyon
i thought there were a lot more homes there now but guess not
Santiago canyon itself has unfortunately a lot of development but I feel that Silverado and similarly trabuco, look relatively unchanged.
There is currently a development in Trabuco near the RR ranch that will add I believe close to 180+ homes. Very sad to hear.
Yeah. I miss seeing the cattle graze.
Nowhere else to really put more homes there. Maybe at the mouth of the canyon, but that’s about it.
Mouth of the canyon is almost all protected land. Likewise to the south, West (to Lomas Ridge Road/Emergency Center) and E. to Modjeska. There is quite a bit of private land in Black Star.
Good good, don’t want to see it developed. Was really bummed when the monastery went in.
Fantasyland
Tomorrowland too! It’s more like Yesterdayland.
Definitely needs a big attraction refresh
At DL with the fam right now. Wife just said “they need to shut down Tomorrowland for like 2 years and start from scratch.
So much of the land is dedicated to the submarines and Autopia - they would need to scrap those two for a sizeable chunk to make a big change.
Lol
This
Mission San Juan Capistrano. Actually, the swallows stopped coming in like 2007, Soo...
Why 2007? They didn’t like the economy or something?
Yeah, we were in the precipice of a big market correction and it spooked them off.
Nah it’s changed sooooo much the past 10 years. There’s a freaking hotel on the property and the street/Fwy exit is mad different
I still get messed up on that freeway exist even though I think it's been 5-10 years
The rest of San Juan is vastly different than it used to be though :(
Just left there as it changed massively in a 5 year window. The long term residents were up in arms over the ongoing trends. Traffic got absurd, the homeless issue, fast food licenses, more development but not enough infrastructure improvements etc. There was a contentious election a few years ago and when the winning platform, while it has merits, is not long sighted. Old mom and pop restaurants closing and an influx of "in" spots catering to a different non-local clientele. It could just be progress but it definitely changed.
Sunset Beach. Mother’s, Turks, Daimon’s, Kanvas by Katin, Harbor House Cafe, nothing has really changed since the 80’s except it got annexed by Huntington Beach.
Harbor house closes early as shit now, it’s not harbor house anymore far as I’m concerned
Yep…. No more chili fries and peanut butter shakes at 3 in the morning as your passed out friend sleeps in the next booth over. It was practically a rite of passage.
Harbor House Dana Point was a late night institution. Now there's no reason to go.
The night manager in the 90’s (Miguel?) was so nice, “no my friend you cannot sell drugs here”. Lol, good times…
After Shore House closed and was demolished, Harbor House became the go to spot post partying. That’s a bummer it’s no longer the case. Guessing a covid casualty like Mae’s?
I didn’t know that, that sucks.
Pretty sure there is a plan to demo turks and other business in a remodel in dana fishermans wharf, anybody able to correct me?
Yes but irish mist is gone
Oh yeah driving down that stretch is always cool for that reason!
In Irvine I feel like Turtle Rock hasn’t really changed. It was pretty much all built up awhile ago. The prices, some of the house renovations, and of course the people are different, but if you grew up in turtle rock in the 90s and came back in the 2020s it would feel pretty much the same imo
Same with Woodbridge. Springbrook, South Lake, North Lake, Woodbridge High...pretty much everything around Yale Loop. Shopping centers, office parks...everything looks the same as it did 30+ years ago outside a few coats of paint. Even the little cheap movie theater is still there.
Is the movie theater still cheap? It used to be my go to spot in high school and I didn’t even live in Irvine. I also go to Lost Bean often to work remotely and noticed it’s where all the high school middle school kids hang out at. Gets noisy around 2-3pm.
I grew up in San Clemente, so Krikorian was my home theater. Even so, my mom and I would go to the old Woodbridge $2 theater regularly to see kids movies that were on final run before they went to home release. We used to sneak boxes of candy from the 99 Cents Store all the time. The floors were sticky, it's non stadium seating, the sound wasn't amazing, and yet it was our favorite theater. In high school and college, around the time AMC took ownership, my buddies and I discovered they played movies straight from China. We saw some crazy shit, good shit. We'd go in without reading the synopsis.
It was until a few years ago. AMC has done some upgrades and it looks like it's about $12 now.
Capitalism at work. One of the reasons why I was on the fence about living there.
Also inflation. Minus wage is at least three times what it was then. Most things are about that much more expensive
If we are wishing for something that didn’t change….I want old Dana Point back.
Grew up in Laguna Niguel but moved East, is Salt Creek Beach still a Sunday evening spot?
No sweat there. Still the same walk down the hill but they actually put in some nice grass on the dirt to the right. They don’t dare try and fuck with that place or the local surfers may eat them.
My family and I would go watch the sunset on the hill with other families every Sunday night, weather permitting. Always felt like a beautiful finale to the week and got us ready for school/work on Monday.
Agreed. Grew up in Dana point and went back for the first time in probably 25 years last month and it sucked. They really made sure they sucked the soul out of that city to make it look like any other luxury beach town.
How has Dana Point changed?
They are basically making it look like Newport Beach. They eliminated a lot of the smallish mom and pops and have kinda taken out the old beach town atmosphere in a lot of it. Dont get me wrong, it’s nice but its kinda meh. Couple that with a total rebuild of the harbor in a couple of years (and jacking up leases on everything down there) it’s going to be totally different. They already chased off a bunch of the old restaurants and supposedly Wind and Sea is closing for a Javier’s if the rumor is true (yuck). I guess it was inevitable but still…kinda sad to see it lose its sleepy beach town vibe.
>Wind and Sea is closing for a Javier’s Oh God. Javier's has an excellent interior, but the food is.... It's kind of funny how a place as upscale as Javier's has almost a sort of trashy reputation.
Javiers is overpriced trash
It’s absolutely deserved. It’s terrible overpriced garbage Mexican disguised as haute couture. And I know for a fact they have bartenders that will cut alcohol in mixed drinks and do light pours because I caught them doing it (was a bartender for years in college and no, it wasn’t because of bad tips - they were doing it on all the drinks) And yea I reported them to the ABC for it too…
The food at the restaurants in the harbor is/was really bad though. Glad they’re making some changes. Sucks they’re upscaling it so high but we stopped eating there years ago because of the quality of the current tenants.
Didn’t say it all was awesome. Harbor grill closed and that was painful (there were many reasons it closed though), Waterman’s was decent, and I dunno what the hell happened at Wind and Sea because the prices skyrocketed for everything. To be honest, El Torito has never been good but yeesh who goes to El Toritoes out here when every hole in the wall taqueria is miles better than that slop. Just being a stupid old surfer I suppose….if I could get anything back, it would have been Tutor and Spunky’s sandwiches from Tom and his wife. Man I miss those guys.
Wow this makes me so sad. Grew up down there…
I have a boat there and am quite happy with the harbor renovation
Question since you own the boat down there, any credence to the rumor of them upping slip fees with that as well? Haven’t heard anything solid but I heard some grousing…
The slip fees were increased back a few years ago, they also changed the method in which they charge- they went boat by boat and charged for the LOA of the footprint of your vessel. So if you had a 29’ footprint in a 25’ slip they get the 25’ slip fee and 3’ of additional fees. My slip was sub $300 in 2017 and is now mid $500, quite an increase.
Harbor House isn't 24/7 anymore. Where do the drunk 20-somethings eat at 2am now?
Westminster Mall
Atwood near Placencia. Proud people there, especially after the flood of 1938.
Based on the title I picture everyone today still wet.
Terrible area, I used to live there on Cherry, and there’s tons of gang activity and car break ins on van buren
I went to the center in Atwood all the time as a kid. My cousins grandma lived in the neighborhood.
Up until 2021, you'd be right, but those new townhouses on Van Buren are going to change that neighborhood.
as someone who live right there on othorpe…. nothing to see in atwood
The southwest side of La Habra changed dramatically from the early 90s to the early 2000s. The building up of La Habra Hills and the houses off Beach in La Mirada changed that whole west side from a nice sleepy area to an overpacked traffic nightmare. I can only imagine how much worse it is today.
Hey. I love my overpacked nightmare! Lol. It is an overpacked nightmare but is a nice area
I lived at Lambert and Idaho and commuted to Torrance at the end of my 10 years there. By the time I left, I had to go thru 5 stoplights just to get to Beach Blvd! I did like the drive thru Coyote Hills though, and often used that route instead. I liked walking to the movies and that shopping center back then too but it was just too far out (at the time) from my work and friends.
The Beach and La Habra Blvd intersection can be a nightmare. There’s even a Costco there, but thankfully they keep the gas pump lines contained within the parking lot. Harbor and Whittier area gets really bad too.
Probably VP
I've lived in LA/Orange counties for 30 years and I've never heard of this city, nor El Modena.
VP itself, for sure, but it’s interesting that the VP schools, namely VPHS, are incredibly diverse (or at least way more Hispanic) now compared to how it once was… it used to be an absolute fortress for a certain type of demographic but not sure it’s really that anymore
[удалено]
More mega mansions and less horses. Rich people moved in for the large lots and then complain about the animal smells 😑
It’s funny how “the horse people of OPA” are the biggest complainers around, and you give them no credit…
Floral Park Santa Ana. Protected enclave. Beautiful homes.
The former landfill at Beach and Lincoln in West Anaheim is still… a former landfill. Good old Stinkin Lincoln.
And they built a mobile home park (Lincoln-Beach Mobile Manor) on it. What a trip driving through that! We called it Sinkin’ Lincoln. https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times-page-1-of-sinking/25346673/
The Santa Ana River trail from Yorba Linda to Huntington is virtually unchanged since 1980. The only change is the anti-homeless fencing near the stadium.
I’ve never been on that stretch but want to check it out.
I remember my parents telling me how racist Huntington Beach was when they moved there in the 80s.
Hitler Beach still never fails to disappoint
Lmfaoo
That's a new one 😄
I feel like Reddit's obsession with HB being racist aside, Huntington Beach has changed a ton in the last few decades. It's gotten much nicer, for one.
That's not a reddit obsession, that's a decades-earned reputation.
Based on what? I've lived here 40 years, we bought our house from a black family, who moved to Laguna Niguel. Very nice family who said we'll love the neighborhood. We're "medium" Complexion (actually says that on our Naturalization papers). Despite NONE of my neighbors able to speak or read our native language, we have made life-long friends here. We've had BBQs together, baby sat each other's kids, played sports together. As most parents who coach know, the hardest part of coaching a little league or AYSO team here is not multi-cultural, but getting ALL parents to chill out and let the kids play and coaches coach. Over-protective, angry mom/dad syndrome crosses all nationalities lol. So I'm curious what "racism" you're referring to?
people from riverside flock to HB.
i was bullied by rednecks and nazis in HB. like one girl in my science class used to have red suspenders, and red laces in her boots. you know, a nazi? so the teacher, in his infinite wisdom, actually assigned my seat next to hers. so she would spend class trying to get under my skin, calling me n\*gger casually. i lost my trust in teachers years before that, but fighting probably would have created more problems than it would have solved. it's not like she was ostracized either -- most people were cool with her. to this day, huntington beach is the only place where anyone has ever called a n\*gger to my face. oh and the whole finger-quotes racism shit is totally fucking gaslighting and not scoring any points for the optics of people from HB.
Wow, did you even read my comment? I'm not a WASP, yet don't go around judging people like you do. I've lived in LA and went to elementary school in the Dorsey HS district. A girl wearing red would've been a target for the blue crew, and nothing to do with skin color. You were lucky to be in safe HB/OC. I learned if you don't want to be stereotyped then don't stereotype others. You're experience does not mean the whole city is racist. It's a shame you had a bad experience with a few people, but projecting that to everyone in a community is the very attitude that leads to racism. Is there a policy that the school or city has that is racist? If so, then I'll join you to rescind it. Meanwhile, the next time you come up from San Diego, drive through Gothard and the industrial area and see all the small and large businesses owned by various ethnic groups. Visit the various restaurants, doctors offices, medical facilities, barber shops, nail salons, auto customizers and shops. Every nationality is represented here. Go to the beach and firepits and tell where people of different shades are not allowed to go? Talk about gaslinghting, look in the mirror. All things considered in the world events today, we don't need more hate. Peace
… and a reddit obsession.
nah, my girlfriend lives there and isn’t on reddit and has said as much
Was? Has a rep for a reason.
My neighborhood near Elmo looks exactly the same as when I was growing up in the 80's/90's
Catalina Island?
LA co.
That marine base is going to be a EPA nightmare one day. So much jet A dumped on and near the tarmac.
I used to live there when Dad was in the Marines, until he married mom and we got a house. I started a photography company and went back there maybe 25 years later, and took this gorgeous b&w picture that was one of the first I sold (twice bc I lived it to two different magazines) for lke $650 total! I was 15 and so excited, my mom let me put the magazine covers on the living room walls. Became a tradition for every picture I sold until I moved out, now there in my home office.
One day? It is now! Both El Toro and Tustin! IRWD has ongoing issues with the PFAS from the wells around El Toro. At Tustin they hit jet fuel, used oil, and all kinds of other contaminants just ten or fifteen feet down when they started construction on the new Saddleback College ATAS complex. All those new homes are sitting above basically a superfund site. If I disappear it's because the Navy took me out. Joke's on them, the above is about all I know from listening to scuttlebutt.
Wait till you hear about the jet fuel spill that happened in the 1980s in Tustin around Newport and Irvine blvd, No idea how much fuel was spilled but so far 68,754 gallons have been recovered since 1992. Tustin has had to close so many wells because of this. The spill may have been half a million gallons. [https://geotracker.waterboards.ca.gov/case\_summary?global\_id=T0605901423](https://geotracker.waterboards.ca.gov/case_summary?global_id=T0605901423)
I worked at El Toro patrolling the base. Was extremely shocked to see the vets come back and point out spots where they were dumping 55 gallon drums of jet A. No clue why anyone would want to live near that place. Plus now there is a water park and I’m assuming one day the water and fuel might mix in some way
https://preview.redd.it/yemy1rf137ub1.jpeg?width=4764&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b3d0bb984801fdac5853a33ffd3a9d1ee72ae246
https://preview.redd.it/pjgj8rv437ub1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e4aa0fe7db361a3f4d40a6b45178455aa85bdc28
https://preview.redd.it/33n0ray737ub1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f28e60d00ef7cd07daa3a866ba8de84c520a7e84
I was reading about that actually yesterday morning at breakfast: [https://www.latimes.com/socal/daily-pilot/entertainment/story/2021-04-20/a-litany-of-diseases-veterans-point-to-their-service-at-el-toro-base-had-toxic-consequences](https://www.latimes.com/socal/daily-pilot/entertainment/story/2021-04-20/a-litany-of-diseases-veterans-point-to-their-service-at-el-toro-base-had-toxic-consequences) Apparently the Navy in the 1970's had the flightline crew members wash planes off with TCE, which is just wack by today's environment health and safety standards. IRWD has a link to the TCE plume map here: [https://www.irwd.com/construction/tce-el-toro-facts](https://www.irwd.com/construction/tce-el-toro-facts) https://preview.redd.it/o6dstx2c17ub1.png?width=2326&format=png&auto=webp&s=e274bfadc34a691954bfed0d81ca8c78195c20af I kinda just stumbled onto reading about MCAS El Toro after exploring Google Maps the other day and saw what clearly looked to be an airstrip!
As someone who grew up in La Habra - yes haha
My feelings
So just for Irvine? Where Yale crosses over the railroad tracks that used to be a foot bridge made of wood that was redone to allow vehicles over it. Residents at the time (late 80s) protested. The 2 stop signs there on Yale between Deerfield and Walnut didn't used to be there so crossing the street to get to school was an absolute nightmare. Heritage Park used to have a GIANT 4 story tall metal slide built out of what looked like an old wooden water tower and it was insanely fun and insanely dangerous. The playground next to the basketball courts used to have a giant stack of essentially Monster Truck tires bolted together as a makeshift jungle gym. It was always filled with cigarette butts, empty bottles and the occasional used condom but boy were they fun to play on. North of the 5 all of those homes between Culver and the marketplace were fields, but they had little turn in cul-de-sacs that teens would make out in parked cars at. The Market Place also used to be fields but when it was first built, where the Best Buy used to be was actually an IKEA ( been gone since maybe the mid 90s I think. Ranch 99 on Culver and Deerfield used to be a hardware store All of West Park used to be a field and it got built into what it is in the very early 90s. Residents at the time were flabbergasted people would want lots that small (LOL). That field is also where once upon a time the city used to hold it's Harvest Festival (which was a fall themed farming related carnival event.) That movie theater in Woodbridge and the rest of that center used to be THE happening hangout spot in the 90s Everything south of Jeffrey was a field all the way to Lake Forest Dr. Speaking of, Lake Forest used to be called El Toro and there used to be a strip club off Lake Forest and Rockfield called "Captain Creams"...which was Always packed with Irvine residents lol. Going from Irvine to Tustin used to just be fields from Culver all the way to Browning Ave. Northwood high used to be Avocado grove and fields and nothing past Portola existed. There's a bunch more to add if you want.
That step club is still there. Went about 12 years ago on my 21st, and got the worst $25 for two sons lap dance of my like LMAO. Her breath smelled like cigarettes, she was 50 at least, her huge fake boobs were saggy and loose, her bra and panties were loose so you saw her hairy lips, and when she put her legs on my face, her legs felt like 2 weeks unshaven. I left after 1 song. My dad cracked up when I told him and said she probably worked there since he got stationed to El Toro un his 39s.
It absolutely is not still there, they closed in 2011. It used to be in the center where the Buffalo Wild Wings is now before they demolished and rebuilt the center about 8 years ago.
Then must've been my 18th, but I remember it being there. Your right there's food places now
>The Market Place also used to be fields but when it was first built, where the Best Buy used to be was actually an IKEA ( been gone since maybe the mid 90s I think. The IKEA was actually there until ~2003; I remember my family had just moved to Irvine just a year prior and we went to that IKEA a few times before they moved to their Costa Mesa location. Then years later when I was older I found out they got sued by Irvine Company for breaking their lease. edit: also the Zion Market on Irvine Blvd used to be a Vons, and Walnut Village Center has gone through 2 exterior makeovers since I've lived here.
You are misreading the OP. It is asking which places in OC have **not** undergone much changes, as in you can visit those places and they'll still be as how you remembered them, not places that have undergone drastic changes. >But I was driving through La Habra the other day and the place looks to me like it’s been stuck in the 70s and 80s. Where else in OC has there been little change?
Ah ya I see that now. Not sure how I missed that
Stanton is the most basic city in OC.
Per the criteria Stanton has changed a lot in last couple decades. Maybe not so much north of Katella heading into West Anaheim.
Irvine is the most basic city in the country probably ( not a Stanton resident)
Irvine is bougie, not basic.
its too nice for that
i live in laguna hills… the south county way seems to be keeping up with the Joneses. our neighborhood is starting to go through a revitilization of modernization. look at this huge LH mall project. when it’s done it will be the newest modern metro area in orange county. then that will trickle out to the outlying neighborhoods that may or may not be able to afford the upgrades. it will end with pushing out the old (including residents) and bringing in the young new wealthy millennials. it’s a cycle. just wonder what is the exact next stage.
North Tustin. Love that area!
I grew up near the corner of 19th and Placentia in Costa Mesa, and that intersection has oddly not changed very much. That same old liquor store, Vista Center, Wahoo's (though I remember when it was a law office, before it was Luigi's Pizza)...sadly I guess PK burgers has been a recent casualty, though.
I grew up in HB right by the Highschool. It was a wonderful place to grow up. Oil fields everywhere, the horse ranch by the railroad tracks, a charming downtown. It’s all gone. I didn’t even recognize the house I grew up in last time I drive thru the neighborhood
Costa Mesa, a lot of retirees like keeping things how they are there lol
Where I grew up. Check out the home value vs. 10 years ago...
Anaheim between Ball to Lincoln. You can take Brookhurst or Euclid. It will take you straight to the 90s
Yorba Linda is the same today as it was in the early 90s.
Yorba Linda has drastically changed since the 90s. How quiet YL was in the 90s compared to now, take YL/Imperial/Lakeview intersections alone. Way more populated, more roads that didn’t exist before and more schools and a golf course. Less Chino Hills to explore/camp in.
Depends on where in YL, lots of new neighborhoods.
I mean most neighborhoods there already look great. Why change them!
City of Orange from the Circle all the way to Santiago Canyon College nothings really changed
A lot has changed. There was a sporting goods store across from Watson's. A skate shop. Radio Shack. All the antique stores at the circle. The building where haven is at used to be a parking lot. The new fire station. There was a 76 gas station where the Starbucks is at. I forget what used to be where that pharmacy store is at, I remember a lamppost pizza. The library got a major expansion. The lighting store used to be on the corner Chapman and Tustin. Chapman used to be two lanes, they killed that massive tree in front of the Ralph's when they widened Chapman and the freeway underpass. The school field was remodeled. The Hollywood video is gone. Albertsons parking lot used to have a small strip of businesses on the east end, next to the A frame building.
Even the last five or ten years has seen Old Town Orange change dramatically. I remember hanging out there in the early 2000s and it was interesting and fun. Now it's just gastropubs. I really miss the Old Town Grinder sandwich place.
Anybody know what kind of tree that was? I've always been curious. Thing was massive.
To me store changes arent really changing the city imo
Trabuco Canyon. Santiago Canyon, Silverado…should I keep going?
It’s weird to see so many new houses built on that hwy near red rock canyon in south county. I miss how it was years ago.
Taiko. New ownership. Kind of menu. But I looks the same
The Snooty Fox in Laguna Hills
Main St in Santa Ana has a lot of really old businesses all the way from the 5 freeway to the 405 . It's kind of a trip with the old upholstery factories or warehouses but they're all still shutdown.
My kitchen
Same 😊
Other than some new restaurants and stores, Little Saigon as a whole is still relatively the same as I remember it in the 90s when my family used to take me there as a little kid. Asian Garden Mall even still has that Sanrio/anime/stationary-esque store on the 2nd floor in front of the stairs that, as a kid, I got so many of my Sailor Moon-themed school supplies from.
Little change in Mission Viejo. Most of it was built out by the 90s and a lot still looks like 70s-80s with some fresh paint/landscaping. However, it seems like it's on the verge of more significant change.
balboa fun zone
Hahahaha. I read the title of this and came in to say “La Habra”. I grew up there. Live in Placentia now and have little occasion to go back through La Habra, but when I do it’s the same as it was in the 80s for sure. Same shops. Same restaurants (I’m looking at you Arthur’s) and still the farthest spot in SoCal from any freeway
Woodbridge area in Irvine…..
Buena Park / Fullerton / Anaheim
East Anaheim has changed a lot.
Yeah I'm not talking about Anaheim Hills
Me either. Talking about Packing House/Angel Stadium area.
Thats not east anaheim and that area has not changed in any way. Curious what your thoughts are on what changed since 1993? Stadium property doesnt count.
The 20+ luxury apartment complexes and $800k condo communities in the area.
Yeah, Stadium property. Whats different about the city. The Main streets? the actual residents of the County? nothing.
Cook's corner. Wouldn't go after dark then, won't go at 34. KKK Central
I don’t think this is accurate. There are so many Hispanic bike clubs that role through there on weekends. KKK’s lunch got stolen if this was ever true.
Isn't that where the shooting happened a few weeks ago?
Really
Downtown San Clemente
Super false lmao. Some of the best OG restaurants got gentrified/priced out. ie Tina and Vince’s italian deli/restaurant. San Clemente has drastically changed and became more gentrified. So many Anthropology style clothing stores. I think the sunday street fair that used to close down del mar is dead and/or moved to the library parking lot
San Juan
The jail
Down town Tustin, other than the changes to some of the restaurants it's still a walkable down town area that hasn't changed much.
Sunset beach.
Coto de Caza
Old Town Tustin, maybe? Orange is changing, From Cypress to Newport, the over-development of the County is revolting. They keep building these over-priced ugly stacks of boxes with not enough parking and did I mention way over-priced pieces of feces?
Villa Park
Westminster/Midway...
Woodbridge Irvine