Washington

There's plenty of working families, and the Sun View Elementary School and nearby park anchors one of the largest tracts. On the weekends, you'll find kids outside skating, biking and occassionally looking suspicious smoking ciggarettes and loitering around. There's a large Hispanic population, and even larger, denser migrant Hispanic community just south of Washington in the Oak View Neighborhood. There's also lots of working singles and young people who want to live in Huntington Beach, but don't want to pay as much for a place downtown, which is a 15-20 minute drive depending on traffic. 

The best night life event is Oktoberfest at the Old World Village, a eight-week celebration mirrored after the centuries-old festival in Munich, Germany. It's typically $10 to get in, but there's many options for free entry through coupons and early arrivals. Once you're in, there's big 32 oz. German beers for about $10-$12, plus shots, beer pong and general drunkenness with a lot of other jolly drunks.  The Old World Village has a fun underground bar and German Restaurant where you can grab a tall stein with your friends during non-Oktoberfest months, but you better bring the party with you. The crowd is mostly German ex-pats and older drinkers prone to Renaisannce Festivals and Civil War reenactments.

There's also some bars and restaurants at Bella Terra; King's Fish House, Kabuki Japenese Restraunant and Bucca di Beppo are fun, but in a generic, corporate cuisine type of way. Not that doesn't mean you can't have fun....some raunchy encounters have been confessed at the Pope's table at Bucca's, where a bust of Pope John Paul II faces diners on a Lazy Susan and listens to their worst sins.

The most happening place is downtown Huntington Beach, but it's a good 15-20 minute driv , and there are police everywhere who love to give DUIs. You don't want one of those in Orange County, which has some of the strictest laws in the state. Sunset Beach is a little closer, but it's also a little sleepier and kind of divey.

Property values for all housing types have taken a hit with the drop of the real estate market, but all the buildings are 20-to-30 years old, so their values won't fluctuate too much. That being said, its a buyer's market for anyone looking to get into this neighborhood.

According to Rentomatic.com, which tracks rental prices, the average monthly rent for a one-bedroom unit is $1,195, dropping as low $817 and as high as $1,600 for newer units. Often what you get when staying in developments like the Huntington Villa or Huntington Highland is a gated entrance and a community pool, along with expanded building service. Smaller units and duplexes are often cheaper. The median price for a two bedroom is $1,600 while, studios can be as cheap as $625.

Rentals are going to be $100-$200 per month cheaper than downtown Huntington Beach, and considerably cheaper that new units in Irvine and Costa Mesa, which can run as high as $2,000 per month for one bedroom. Ofcourse you're not iiving in the most desirable part of town, but it is very safe and convenient, but also dreary and downright boring.

Plenty of street parking and covered spaces make it easy to own a car in this neighborhood. If you plan on venturing far off your chunk of concrete, you really need a car. This is area is not meant to be walked, and it's really not meant to be biked — at least far. This is Orange County, and the vehicle is as much a status symbol as a daily reality.

Buses can take you anywhere you need to go, but it's long ride. A ride on the OCTA to the beach will take about 35 minutes and cost you a $1.25; the same bus to the John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana will take an hour and ten minutes and run you $2.50. The 405 can essentially take you anywhere in the Southland, except for Anaheim, Tustin and Orange, which run along the 22 freeway. Train service is non-existent and not really practical since, it's a 15-mile drive to the nearest station.

The housing slump has hit Orange County hard and there are many building owners looking to lock in reliable leases to help with their monthly mortage payments. Rising adjustable rates, sinking property values, an abundance of units and an increasingly small pool of qualified, employeed renters make it a great market for anyone looking to lock in a 12-month lease at a good price.

The trick is to shop and compare several units in this neighborhood before signing any lease. There are plenty of more desirable places to live in Huntington Beach and a lot that can be used to your advantage when negioating with your landlord. Besides proximity to the freeway and the Bella Terra Mall, neither of which are that great, the Washington neighborhood is very wanting in ammenities and decor, so don't let any landlord drive up the price by arguing that Washington is a booming neighborhood, because it's not.

If you're going to try and get into a large complex, look for units offering freebies, like multlple free months or furnished units. Right now the Huntington Highland Apartments on Sher Lane are offering $400 off rent and a free Plasma T.V. to qualified renters.

If you have good credit, a strong renter's history and have been employeed for the past 6 months, then you are an ideal candidate and you should be able to negiotiate a lease on your own terms.

Huntington Beach is a dog city and if you're lucky enough to find a renter who will let you have a dog, then you'll be happy with pro-pup attitude in the city. There's also plenty of pet stores around to keep your little guy or gal well fed.

There's not really that much to do without leaving your neighborhood. That being said, you're in Orange County and there are plenty of things going on at the beach, the mall or Angel Stadium. Disneyland is only a 20 minute drive, and you could be in downtown L.A. in 40 minutes if there's no traffic. If you like live music, or bars, then grab OC Weekly or 944 magazine and check out the calendar sections. Southern California is vast and begging to be explored.

Bella Terra has a 20-screen movie theater that you can easily walk to, and the theaters themselves are spectacular with excellent pictures and crisp surround sound. There's also a beautiful plaza that connects the theaters with the courtyards of Bella Terra, but be warned that this place is overrun by teenagers on the weekend. On any given Friday or Saturday night, and practically every day in the summer, the place is literally crammed with hundreds of prepubescent surfer types. And when teenagers get together with little adult supervision, they tend to behave.....like teenagers.

This neighborhood is essentially two blocks long by two blocks wide. Edinger Ave at the north is a busy commercial street with banks, shopping centers, grocery stores, restaurants and retail. It's a main thoroughfare for the north part of the city. Beach Blvd is the main street cutting through this neighborhood, serving as the city's north-south corridor between the beach and inner Orange County. More strip malls, restaurants and d car dealerships on the "Boulevard of Cars." Heil Ave is essentially a residential freeway where you can drive 60-miles-per-hour. 

The two best neighborhoods are down Sher Lane and the area along Damask Drive. Neither are particular note-worthy n, but they do offer a interesting mix of housing types, although Damask is mostly town homes. Sher Lane is also a place where a lot of families hang out because it's close to Sun View Elementary and Sun View Park, which is nothing spectacular — just a beat-up playground and some open space with paved paths. There's no utopia in this part of town, although Volga and Amazon Drive, along with Rhone and Anita Lane have the most original tract housing, but that's just because its the oldest.

Really, you have everything you could ever need or want in terms of modern retail options. If it's not within a mile or two from your home, it's likely only a short drive away. That's the Orange County — shopping options are vast and usually convenient.

The main grocery stores serving the community are a brand new Pavilions and Fresh & Easy on Edinger and an older, crappier Stater Brothers down on Warner. If you love Trader Joes, it's only a quick 5-minute drive down Beach Blvd to Five Points Plaza, and there's a great natural food store down further near the beach. The near Whole Foods is in Tustin, but you really have a plethora of shopping options in all directions.

In terms of gyms, there's a brand new 24-Hour Fitness just on the other side of the mall that seems very nice and glittery. There's also a few martial arts clubs and a nearby Linda Evans for weapon, along with personal training centers and smaller gyms spread throughout the shopping malls. Big retailers within a two-mile radius include Target, Barnes and Noble, Circuit City, REI, Cost Plus and Office Depot. Venture a little farther in any direction and you'll find whatever your little American consumer heart desires. Orange County loves to shop and spend.

If you're into coffeeshop culture, there's two pretty cool cafes on Warner Street, not far from one another. The Sweet Elle Cafe in the Stater Brothers shopping center near Warner and Gothard is a hip little place with free wireless and a nice staff offering sandwiches, smoothies and specialty drinks. Head a little further down the street for DeSpyro Coffee, a more working-class style cafe with a full service breakfast and lunch menu. And they have free wireless too!

Generally, Washington is a good neighborhood for kids, and there seem to be children out playing on every corner. The neighborhood is part of the Ocean View School District, which generally tests highly on standardized testing. According to a report from the school district, 13 of the 15 schools in Ocean View tested higher than average on standardized test scores. District-wide Ocean View schools scored 63.9% proficient in language arts compared to the state score of 48.5%. In the area of math, the District scored 70.0% proficient compared to the state score of 51.2%.

And while the schools are generally good, the politics of the Ocean View school board have been ugly for years and years, as two warring factions have waged very bloody and very public fights over a multitude of issues. If you're interesting in getting involved at the district level, be warned.

Elementary schools in the Washington neighborhood include College View, Sun View and Westmont Village. The main middle school serving Washington is Spring View neighborhood (almost every school in Ocean View has the word "view" ending its naming). Most of the students living in Washington will go to Ocean View High on Gothard Street, home to the Seahawks and part of the Huntington Beach Union High School District. The school is 41% Hispanic, 32% White and 16% Asian.

For the 2006-2007 school year, Ocean View Students achieved a 52.3 percent proficiency in English standardized testing. The state average was 48.6 percent, while the district average was 63.5. For math, students scored a 47.5 percent proficiency, with the state averaging 49.9 percent and the district averaging 64 percent.