Garden Grove may not have a lot of flashy elements to it, but it is a relatively safe place with a lot of families and responsible homeowners. In most neighborhoods, you can get a feel of what it means to be in them, even if you can't express why you feel that way. Garden Grove CA feels like an area where you can relax: You're not around huge crowds but you also have all the amenities you could ever want to feel comfortable, even if you don't necessarily feel spoiled.
Source:en.wikipedia.org
Those who purchased homes here even 15 years ago are likely shocked at how much the market has gone up. It's climbed in proportion to other cities in the area. Garden Grove has a few zip codes, but the average for homes is under $500,000 or so. Just over 40 percent of the population identifies as Asian with a third being white. The highest concentration of ages is 29 percent between 40 and 64 with 23 percent between 25 and 39. Just over 30 percent of the total population are married couples with children with another 20 percent of the total being married with no children. The main industries here are manufacturing and education. About 35 percent of the people have a college degree and 40 percent of people make between $30,000 to $70,000 a year. Crime has decreased dramatically recently, but this is still not the safest area of Orange County. You're also close to Santa Ana which can also be a little patchy in terms of crime. Theft is still by far the largest percentage of crime, but violence is not unheard of around here. Be careful when you choose your area and look into the actual rates of your particular zip code.
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Considering the average price of a home in nearby Irvine could be over a million dollars, Garden Grove CA makes a much cheaper alternative while still living in the area. Because of the relatively new influx of money in the area, you'll likely soon see better businesses, schools and more amenities as well. While the city may have had some government scandals recently, it's made every effort to remove the problems and start focusing on what needs to be done to instill trust back in the residents. The home prices are still relatively good all things considered, and while crime is higher than in some of the more expensive areas, there are definitely safe zip codes that you can find. It has a charming Historic Main Street with shopping and restaurants, and it's a generally fun place to people watch.
Source:en.wikipedia.org
The residents here have been around for a while. This is not LA where people come and go trying to make it in show business or even a bustling university town where people come to be educated only to head back to where they came from. You'll find community colleges in this area with young people starting local when trying to make a difference. If you're planning to join some sort of religious community, then this is also an excellent place to explore different places of worship so you can find a group to call your own. When you move somewhere, your quality of life is based on the people around you. Even though the virtual world offers plenty of opportunities to meet friends from around the world, your happiness is linked to the people who live near you. Garden Grove is a good place to find those who have made their roots here so you know that they are able to invest in getting to know you because you both plan to be around for a while.
While the words practical and communal may do an excellent job at describing what Garden Grove CA actually is, don't let that fool you into thinking that's all you can expect if you live here. Southern California may be more spread out than NYC or Chicago, but you can think of Orange County, Los Angeles and San Diego as the greater metropolitan area. Anywhere in Orange County puts you within about an hour or two to both of these amazing cities, as well as gives you opportunities to go your next-door neighbor cities. Newport and Laguna Beach make perfect day outings, so bring your surfboard and get suited up. Go to Irvine and drink some coffee near (or even with) the students who are bound to be talking about something you hadn't heard of before. Or you can take a short drive to the mountains for a hike. The weather here makes all-year-round outdoor outings an actual reality, and you might be amazed at just how beautiful everything really is here. Take a train ride down the coast to San Diego for the weekend and see the Gaslamp district, or you can even do the city in one day without spending the night.
