I will throw this out there, as I lived recently in south OC and loved it. I really could not afford most the places everyone is throwing out here, but just inland of San Juan Capistrano and Doheny beach, they are building a brand new city. It is about 9 years old and only half complete, but we were able to get a brand new single family home for under 600k. Probably a bit more now, but if you look in the OC, most of the old homes are near a million, and way up from there.
These communities had lap pools and gyms, so saved there. They are also putting in a series of bike trails, and there are plenty of dirt ones for running and off road riding. And just after I left, they continued the pay fwy right through the neighborhood(241), which makes going north super convenient, and you miss virtually all the rush hour traffic that you get having to use the 405 fwy. Have a look, it wouldn’t be a horrible commute for you, and you get way more for your money there, and if you have kids, great new schools that just went online in the last 5 years…
Good luck, let us know what you do…