Santa Ana, California

Santa Ana's reputation was built in the 80's and 90's when things got rough. It's a very different city now but the reputation for crime has clung to the city. If that bothers you then you won't like it here.

Here's one local's point of view on the issue of Santa Ana's reputation:
I think there is certainly a negative stereotype of the city, that being said my dad grew up in Santa Ana before the white flight (he's black) but he said it definitely got worse in terms of crime in the 80s/90s but since the 2000s it has gotten much much better.

Downtown Santa Ana has gone through a major revitalization in recent years. Much of this is driven by an arts movement that has given the city a cool vibe. Combine that arts scene with growing restaurant and bar options and the downtown area offers increasing social and cultural options. Future growth is planned but the city continues to wrestle with a desire for Downtown development and a fear of gentrification that displaces the majority hispanic community. In the meantime most of Santa Ana has a more family-focused “suburban” lifestyle with gated neighborhoods and amenities focused on keeping kiddos and parents happy.

The big drivers of the local economy in Santa Ana include government, financial, aerospace and electronics. The development project in downtown resulted in the creation of 10 new banking and financial building and the civic center for local, state and federal government buildings. Which means you can live and work in the city. That said, plenty of people live in Santa Ana and commute to Orange county cities like Irvine or Anaheim. While commuting is a thing we would strongly advise not moving to Santa Ana and then leaving yourself a long commute to LA or any other SoCal city.

All the usual SoCal reasons. The climate is temperate (those famous Santa Ana Winds keep the nights balmy) and you can move strategically around Santa Ana and it’s neighboring communities and be quite comfortable.