Fullerton: Good food, good music but bad roads.
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7/1/2019
I have been living and working in Fullerton for almost 20 years now and have seen it change through the years, both for the better and worse.
Fullerton is a half college town and half professional services/business town. Fullerton is home to the oldest community college in the state and has a state university that is known for it's quality business school and champion baseball team.
The city has a vibrant downtown area (DTF) that has been the focus of revitalization in recent years. With many bars/pubs and a wide variety of restaurants to choose from, Fullerton really does well in catering to the individual or group wishing to have a "night out on the town". Being the home of Leo Fender's original workshop, Fullerton has embraced music into it's heritage and often provides several opportunities for musical artists to share their talents. Many bars have live music on the weekend (especially the Slidebar by the train station) and the city even hosts a "Day of Music" where musicians and bands are welcome to set up on the sidewalk/or parking lot in front of popular city landmarks to perform for free.
The food scene is very multicultural. Being in Southern California, there is a dominant Mexican food theme as in all SoCal cities, but there is so many other places to dine as well. There are many different choices for Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vegan, Thai, Vegetarian, Buffet, Traditional American, Mexican, and others. There's places trying to blend cultural foods together like Chinese South American fusion or Islamic Chinese restaurant.
Some of the biggest downsides to Fullerton are the roads and traffic. The road quality is horrible. Every street is bumpy and has that slurry street sealing markings all over it. All other cities surrounding Fullerton are fine with their road quality, but once you hit the city limit: you're dodging cracks, pot holes, trash and more cracks. The traffic gets really bad during school pickup and drop-off times.
The other big problem is homelessness. Yes there are many homeless and filthy people sleeping all over the place throughout the city. Recently, they haven't been too pushy for money but I usually don't interact with people in the city during day hours.
Housing is very expensive and the city has allowed some multifamily condo/apartment developments to build but it's just too expensive. We're talking $350,000-$500,000 for a condo and houses starting around $600,000. Pretty much anything south of Commonwealth Ave is less desirable due to the smaller houses and lower incomes. I work 2 jobs (60 hours/week) and I am still just renting a room. I really don't know how people are affording any of these houses here.
So there you have it. Fullerton, a great city for: school, entertainment, and food; a tough city for: housing affordability, being homeless, and driving your car.
David | ,