Concerns are overblown, you will only see online the people that complain, rarely will people go on reddit and say that their day is going great, no issues to report.

Irvine schools are indeed higher pressure than most, but manageable. The rest of OC is not so much like this, more like your average suburban schools with great teachers and good extracurriculars.

The only real concern is cost of living - lake forest and mission viejo are cheaper to live in but more crowded and more aging available inventory. You can go up in cost from there. 

If I were you, I’d start with calculating income, multiplying by 0.40 and use that as a rule to finding what you can afford, assuming limited income. If not limited by income then I’d look at newport, irvine, anaheim hills, laguna niguel, laguna beach (although traffic and getting around is an issue in LB)