If a neckbeard or soccer dad looking person was driving a g wagon or maybe even an exotic car like an Aston Martin, Bentley, Rolls etc in gang territory in OC what is the assumption among gang members and would they be a target or left alone?
Also wondering if the time of day or loitering matters
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The Cohen house, while technically located in Malibu, took place in Newport Coast in a hillside subdivision called Pelican Hill that overlooks the ocean. The show discussed it costing $3M at the time and that's actually about right.
With inflation it should be $5M and some change now but those same houses are $15M+ now.
An investor (even a fraudulent one), a plastic surgeon, a Lexus dealership owner, and a real estate developer could certainly afford to live in Newport today but NOT a house in the hills.
Luke, Summer, Marissa and Cohens would realistically be living in what visually resembles a working class neighborhood to most Americans a few blocks from the beach on flat ground (what $5m buys you) with modest square footage (2500 to 3000) comparable to a middle class house in Ohio. Caleb is the only one who could afford Pelican Hill (Newport Coast) now.
Ironically if they stayed in their homes and paid them off, they'd be comfortable squatters due to frozen property taxes living off their upper class retirement in paid off $10M+ mansions.
The actual residents of Newport are now either grandpa Cohen squatters in a paid off house, Caleb level wealth tech founders, pro athletes, CEOs and about 20% Asian and Middle Eastern foreign investors. A lot of the really nice homes sit vacant now.
There are definitely still families and rich kids there driving Lambos and G wagons living in the hills but they are kids of the above mentioned ultra rich demographics. That and the Lambo/G wagon isn't Jimmy or Sandy's car, it's their kids.
As a kid I used to dream of living there because it seemed attainable in 2003 if you became a modest millionaire. The reality is its not even attainable for most of Hollywood. None of the original cast could afford to live there.
The closest inflation adjusted 2026 equivalent of Newport Beach is probably Dana Point, where the conservative family upscale vibes are similar, no adjacent slum towns, and $5-6M gets you something close to what the Cohens had between view and modest but upscale aesthetics.
It's honestly kind of depressing in a way because 2003 Newport was obtainable to the (probably) 5% chance of millionaire success most of the millennial middle class was born with, however it no longer is. You could certainly live there but you will never know the real estate and lifestyle portrayed without being a tech founder or A list celebrity.
Part of the reason I think the 90s and early 00s were so nostalgic to those of us who grew up middle class or poor is because it reflected the general belief of the decade that American prosperity was at an all time high and class mobility was still very real. 2008 hadn't happened yet, both political parties championed capitalistic success, and there was no concept of wealth inequality being negative like it is today.
Being poor then was seen as a moral failing, or at least it was implicitly portrayed that way in TV.
The irony here is that in 2026 Ryan's mom wouldn't live in a shitty Chino house with bars on the windows, she would be living in a dilapidated RV or car at Walmart. Even 2003 Chino was idealistic.
I've been to the OC 3 times now, 2003, 2005 and 2024 and my lived experience matches my research.
EDIT: Ok looks like I was right on the money for inflation. The actual Cooper house is worth 8.2M per Zillow, the catch of course being its not for sale and is in fire prone Malibu. Still unobtainable for any working professional, but it looks like it held its actual value and not the ridiculous hyper inflation of actual Pelican Hill where the show takes place.
At 6400 square feet the Newport comparables anywhere with an ocean view are twice as much. There's a few below 10M but none have an ocean view.