Fullerton, California

If you are attending college, or have just gotten out of college and still like to party, downtown Fullerton is for you. Harbor and Commonwealth are literally lined with bar after bar, including a great piano bar. Most of these places charge a cover; I won't say which ones are worth it or not, because, really it depends on what you are looking for - really, though, no matter what your taste, downtown Fullerton has you covered. And, if you are a little bit over the college scene, check out Slide Bar, which is a great bar showcasing some of Fullerton's influence over the rock industry. Also scattered amongst the bars are a wide variety of restaurants. I love Vito & Angelos - check it out not only for the amazing pizza, but, for the crazy decor showcasing Italy and old school Hollywood!

If you tire of the bar scene, as we all do (some of us before others), Fullerton also has an amazing little theater called "Maverick's Theater". Their production of "The Producers" was so entertaining and captivating!

Getting to downtown Fullerton is a straight shot down Harbor off of the 91. It is kind of a pain to get there from the beach cities, but, worth the drive for a good night out. There is even plenty of parking off of Commonwealth!

In the past, my visits to downtown Fullerton have been few and far between, but that is going to change. On a recent visit I was startled by the new life that has been breathed into this once sleepy town. While it has always been a place to enjoy a good dinner, martini or enjoy some jazz music, suddenly it has taken on the energy of real neighborhood.

The sidewalks were full of people, young, old, couples and kids and, with the influx of new, quality housing in and around downtown, I suspect that many of them were locals enjoying the amenities of their neighborhood.

The number and variety of restaurants and shops seems to have expanded over night. The old standbys lie The Kettle and The Keg, the Tuscany Club, the Continental Club and Stubrick’s seemed more vibrant and appealing alongside of the newer upscale restaurants and bars.

My girlfriend was tickled at the sight of a whole downtown street devoted to vintage clothing stores. Out of Vogue made us feel as if we were perusing the aisles of an old time department store. She loved Second Avenue with all of its consignment clothing.

Maybe all of these stores were here on my last visit several years ago, but there didn’t seem to be enough reason to linger around to actually see them. The Fullerton downtown neighborhood has suddenly become a destination worthy of weekend day.

We had a chance to look at some of the new housing and our jaws dropped at the upscale quality of the above street apartments that would be attractive to young families, couples and business professionals. Downtown Fullerton is worth another look by anyone who hasn't been in awhile.

In this particular street, my family moved here when my aunt had left for a condo in Huntington Beach. Personally, I really liked it because there are alot of old, retirees who settled down. But recently, me and my family have decided to move OUT, because there are tremendous (I cannot emphasize this enough) amounts of problem that affect not just me but the other residents.

To start off, my home is next to, what people say, the "most standing out house in the area", in which a Korean family lives (note that majority of the neighborhood is Korean). When we first moved, the neighbors that had lived in this house were actually decent, friendly couple, who really "cares" about the neighborhood. But as time moved on, this family became quite hostile and extremely rude to my family and even got to the point of throwing garbage across the fence. They were also "keeping up with the Joneses" to beat us to be a better neighbor than others. I will also point out that this family also trash talks about almost 75% of the neighborhood and cause random acts of disrespect (such as dumping their trash or smoking on other peoples' lawns). The man living in the house is also dangerous, as he has harassed some of my family members and even made some death threats. The police has arrived several times before to talk with the family, but the man of the house has always looked at my family as though he was serious about the threat.

The second and worst aspect of this street is that occasionally, a group of young college/high school students, appear and randomly attacks verbally at the neighborhood. Previously, there was a family that lived in the corner of the street, but they caused some sort of incident that caused these people to appear and now attack by shouting profane insults (this goes on, even if the neighbors responsible have moved). Clearly, this area of living is not recommended for young children or families.

I cannot emphasize enough that this street is a complete waste of money because of these problems. I do not mean to exaggerate, but I have lived in areas where crime was rampant day and night; this street really isn't any way different, only cleaner and no gangs, but with a dangerous neighbor and a group of kids who verbally harass the people living there.