>>1042338I live in Fullerton, which is a city about 10 miles north of Orange. Orange is on the south end of what we'd consider north county, which is markedly different from south county (Irvine, Mission Viejo, Aliso Viejo, Newport to a certain extent) in that it is somewhat less affluent (much less in many areas), less cookie cutter, and generally has a lot more character, if you want to call it that.
There's a bit of a friendly rivalry between north and south county - we have to deal with the shitty "rich kid" reputation that orange county gets because of cities in the south, even though the majority of cities in the county are much more normal and quite a ways away from the beach (if you consider 45 minutes far).
Orange is a great place though, the orange circle (OP pic) especially - lots of smaller restaurants, dive bars, antique shops, a good place to hang out on a weekend afternoon. Good/bad areas are largely determined by the cities they border. The north/south ends aren't the best because they border Anaheim/Santa Ana respectively, the parts bordering Irvine and Tustin, and out toward the hills especially are very nice but a bit too suburban.
The people are nice enough, mostly keep to themselves same as anywhere in Southern California. The biggest danger in Orange County, same as in a lot of Southern California is Mexican gangs, but with a bit of common sense and a show of respect for others you'll be fine.
Where are you from? Anything specific you want to know? I've lived all throughout north county my whole life so I could probably offer some insight into a very broad subject.
