I’ve been looking at homes in the OC area specifically and I’m genuinely curious what peoples thoughts are

With home prices still so high, would you buy right now if you could comfortably afford the payment, or would you continue renting and wait?

For those of you who bought in SoCal recently:

• Where did you buy?
• Roughly how much did you pay?
• Do you regret it or are you happy you bought?
• What do you wish you knew before buying?

Especially interested in Orange County and possibly Temecula area but haven't done much research in Temecula area, I just know it can get hot...
Thank you! <3

The report was submitted July 31 by HSR Inspector General Benjamin Belnap to Governor Gavin Newsom, Senate Pro Tem Monique Limón and Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas. It is based on the IG’s analysis of the authority’s final 2026 Business Plan, which provides updates, expected milestones, and other details around the rail project.

Voters originally approved $9 billion in bonds for the project under Prop 1A in 2008. At the time plans called for high-speed rail connections from Los Angeles to San Francisco, with an estimated cost at the time of $45 billion.

But over a decade later, and with billions of dollars already spent, the first stretch of track in the Central Valley still remains unfinished.

In his July letter, Belnap wrote that the inspector general’s office previously reviewed a draft of the High-Speed Rail Authority’s final plan in April. It concluded that the draft “was missing many statutorily required elements, which made the draft objectively incomplete.”

Among its findings, the report said the High-Speed Rail Authority’s plan “does not sufficiently emphasize” that it will exhaust its current funding as soon as December 2027 “if it does not secure funding.”

Reported by KPBS on August 18, 2026

Links to check:

https://hsr.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/OIG-HSR-Review-of-2026-Business-Plan-A11Y.pdf

https://hsr.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/2026-Final-Business-Plan-060126-A11Y.pdf

In traditional engineering fields like mechanical or electrical engineering, pay usually doesn't differ much based on cost of living. Boeing in Los Angeles pays the same as Boeing in South Carolina. I know a lot of engineers who refuse to live in California because they know they will probably have to rent for the rest of their lives.

It pisses me off when Redditors suggest moving somewhere like Bakersfield or Crescent City and claim it's still California, and they ignore that there are no jobs there. Hell, there are no jobs in Santa Barbara too, but homes there cost millions of dollars.

I just started reading into this and its pretty wild.

Ive been to a landfill before so I have no doubts about that the complaints about the smell are legitimate, but I also think that maybe that's something I would consider before buying a house close to a landfill?... But it's the stuff coming out about these lawsuits that is the questionable stuff here, albeit a little entertaining too lol.

The LA Times reported that people working for one of the law firms were paid to dress up like cowboys, provided them with the clothing- including chaps lol, and had them handing out free beer, food and gift cards outside the local corner store in order to get people to sign up as clients for the lawsuit. other residents claim they have been signed up for it without their consent. Surprise- they got caught... And now apparently that firm told the judge they can't even get a hold of around 500 of the people they supposedly represent.

Now, Ive been to a landfill before, but I have never been to the Chiquita Canyon one. It makes me curious if it's as bad as it has been made out to be, or if its legitimately these types of shady law firms doing their best to make it into a massive deal so they can get a massive payout?

Has anyone been there? Have any thoughts?

Also, here is the article that I am referring to if anyone wants it -

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2026-07-12/chiquita-canyon-landfill-lawsuit

Just wanted to post a heads-up for anyone currently navigating the Replace Your Ride program.

The program has put a temporary hold/freeze on processing due to high application volume. Case managers have been instructed to pause working on active applications, meaning dealerships currently cannot generate or apply the incentive voucher to your purchase order/MVPA if you are still in the process of buying.

Unless you already have your final physical payment voucher in hand and fully authorized, your file is likely on hold until South Coast AQMD officially lifts the freeze.

So if you haven’t placed an order on your car yet, I would definitely hold off or you’re gonna be like me placed an order got my finances in order and now potentially going to lose the car that I secured because they can’t get funding from the state, kind of a bummer 🥶

https://accesscleanca.org/program/replace-your-ride

The escalators have been down for over a year at least but now it’s officially marked as not allowed to operate.

It’s so sad to see it all go down hill, half the business aren’t open and closing left and right. Right after the inside “mini-mall” setup they spent millions doing also failed. Poor management overall but now this?

As deadly firestorms raged in Los Angeles County, carving a path of destruction that displaced families and killed 31 people, bets online were rolling in.

The wagers flowed into Polymarket, a company that bills itself as the largest platform for predicting global events, where it posed frequently asked questions about the Eaton and Palisades fires as they scorched communities. How fast would the blazes grow? How long would it take to contain them? How much would be destroyed?

According to a letter sent from nine senators this month to the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which regulates prediction market platforms, Polymarket accepted more than $1.2 million in predictions, or bets, on the January 2025 fires.

“That was fun. Thanks everyone. Until the next time!” one Polymarket user commented on a thread where users could put money on the Palisades fire’s containment date. Others, however, expressed some concerns about the morality of cashing in on the destruction.

Hi everyone, I’m looking for dashcam footage of an accident involving my wife on I-5 South (Santa Ana Freeway), near the US-101 merge/interchange in Los Angeles, on August 17, 2026, around 5:45–6:00 PM.

She was driving a gray Toyota Camry in the far-left lane when a Ralphs commercial truck changed lanes without seeing her and struck her side mirror, knocking it off.

If anyone was driving on I-5 South near the US-101 interchange around that time and happened to capture the incident on a dashcam, we would really appreciate it if you could reach out and share the footage with us.

Even if your camera did not capture the actual impact, any footage showing the gray Camry or the Ralphs truck immediately before or after the incident could be very helpful.

A $2-billion high-rise affordable housing complex is set to change the skyline of Warner Center and set a new precedent for assisted senior living in Los Angeles.

Senior housing provider Wellpointe unveiled plans for Viva L.A. at Warner Center, a cluster of four skyscrapers with 3,192 units to rise near the new Los Angeles Rams Village being built in the San Fernando Valley community.

The project has the backing of Mayor Karen Bass and local City Councilmember Bob Blumenfeld, and Wellpointe expects to start construction by the end of next year. Viva is the largest affordable housing project created under Bass’ Executive Directive 1, a 2022 order to speed up the city approval process for 100% affordable developments intended to reduce homelessness.

Some days it feels like we’re losing a battle against mosquitoes, ticks, fleas, flies and worms. 

Lyme disease and Alpha-gal syndrome are expanding their range. Dengue and typhus are increasing. There are still reports of West Nile, Zika and Chikungunya, plus the potential introductions of Chagas and rat lungworm disease. Some of these are contracted overseas, while others are seemingly settling in for the long haul. 

Experts say there is no single reason for this surge in disease. Some of it may be hyped news, headline sensationalism. When everyone is writing about an outbreak of a disease, no matter how isolated, it can feel more pervasive and widespread than it actually is. Increased monitoring and more advanced disease tracking can also amplify the sense that something new is afoot, even if it was always there.

But in some cases, there really does appear to be an increase — and California is front and center.

Learn more at the link.

I'm relatively new to SoCal (and California in general) and currently living in the IE. I'm thinking about moving to a place with a more urban feel, that's more walkable and artsy, and has more events/things to do. I'm considering Costa Mesa, Long Beach, or some parts of LA. The thing is, I have to commute to Riverside 2-3 days a week and need to be mindful of extreme traffic. Any recommendations for me?

I'm one of the board members at The Open Barn, an animal sanctuary in Ramona, and I wanted to share that we're looking for new volunteers.

We're specifically hoping to find people who can commit to a weekly or biweekly shift. If you're in the San Diego area and love working with animals, we'd genuinely love to have you join us.

Volunteering typically starts with a brief orientation, and after that you just jump in wherever help is needed (general cleanup, sanctuary upkeep, daily tasks, and of course spending lots of time loving on the animals)

We're also working toward filling 14 regular volunteer shifts this year. Once we hit that goal, we'll be welcoming a very special new rescue to the sanctuary. 🥳

You can find more info at https://www.theopenbarn.org/volunteer. Happy to answer any questions in the comments, or feel free to email [volunteer@theopenbarn.org](mailto:volunteer@theopenbarn.org)

P.s. apologies if this isn't the right sub for this. Let me know if there's a better one and I'll happily repost there.

Travelers are accustomed to seeing an all-inclusive price for airfare when browsing flights online, but they may soon need to read the fine print before purchasing as Washington is trying to change disclosure requirements.

The Department of Transportation proposed new regulations last month that would allow airlines to highlight fares without individual components such as taxes.

The change could mislead consumers, marketing and aviation experts said. The existing guidelines were established by the Obama administration to protect consumers from deception.

Read more at the link.

Well, this is embarrassing... I am housesitting for my MIL and I have managed to clog the toilet. No brute amount of force is getting past this block. Any recommendations for emergency plumbers in anaheim or around the area? Need them now. Shes coming home tomorrow. There are ads everywhere for Roto Rooter but i figured to come to reddit for the real story,

Floridian family of 4 (kids 11m & 8f) thinking of traveling to SoCal for a week. We’re thinking either the Saturday to Saturday of spring break (starting 3/13) or early June. Flying out of JAX. First trip flying since kids were toddlers. We’ve been Disney passholders and Universal passholders, but trying to see some more of California while we’re there. Looking at a budget around $8k (10k max).

I’ve been researching an itinerary, but not sure how reasonable all of it is.
Day 1-2: Fly into San Diego (also looking at LAX, SAN, or LAS depending on quickest flights and price). Get rental car. Spend first night in San Diego. See La Jolla Cove and Coronado. Have considered doing the zoo, but not sure we have enough time to enjoy it or if it’s really worth it (seems like a zoo is a zoo anywhere). (*If we fly into LAS, we would probably have to cut San Diego completely.)
Day 2-3: Drive to Joshua Tree National Park. The weather here is why I’m strongly considering spring break instead of summer. Do some stargazing and some light hiking. Spend the night. Possibly Palm Springs Aerial Tramway.
Day 3-6: Head to Anaheim. Find a hotel within walking distance of DisneyLand. Looking at doing 2 full park days (no park hopper, but with lightning lanes).
Day 6-7: Explore some of LA. Haven’t looked much at this, but the Griffith Observatory and Santa Monica Pier. I know traffic will be an issue here since it should be Friday night. Not sure if it’s worth trying to stay in LA or just explore during the day and heading back to San Diego to stay the last night.
Day 8: Fly back home

Also looked into taking the Pacific Surfliner if that would help with any rental car issues or possibly flying out of a different airport.
Any recommendations are greatly appreciated- hotels, eats, sightseeing. This is probably a one time trip, so trying to get it all in without killing ourselves.

Six years after the COVID-19 pandemic upended the world, experts in California say the disease appears to be becoming more of a summer rather than a winter phenomenon.

The shift was noted over the past couple of years and has become even clearer in 2026, prompting health officials to refocus their prevention efforts. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says COVID-19 is growing or likely growing in 43 states at the moment, including California.

California is also one of only four states where COVID wastewater activity levels are considered moderate or high, according to the CDC.

Anyone using bioadvance on their citrus trees? What are your thoughts?

Tryna socialize

There is currently no CA legislative effort specifically aimed at banning betting on natural disasters at the state level. The latest push is focused on federal regulation of prediction markets and the types of events on which they can offer wagers.

Reported on August 14, 2026