Stepdaughter turned 16. Permit is on her way. We want to take her out and just show her the ropes of brake and pedal and reverse and steering radius and parking etc. When my permit was in the mail, my father would take me out to old parking lots and what not. Granted that was 20 yrs ago. Are there any places in Irvine Tustin HB CM where we could let the girl make mistakes without being hassled by some night patrolman?
Warehouse parking lots too. They’re usually designed for very large vehicles. And usually vacant at nights.
Big church parking lots are often empty during the week. That big glass cathedral in Anaheim on Chapman has a huge parking lot.
Saddleback church is incredibly large
Saddleback Church has chains up when services aren’t happening as a deterrent. Also the employees there will ask you to leave.
Glad they’re making good use of their non-profit status
Oh shut up.
Won’t somebody think of the poor church with 20 acres of the most valuable land in the world?
I've smoked many a joints back in the day in church parking lots
College lots too they are usually huge if they don’t have a structure
Tried Santiago with my daughter and the gates were closed.
Try OCC
Big lots too as the name implies it’s supposedly big lots
Wife(gf at the time) got kicked out of OCC when I was teaching her. YMMV.
Oh weird I also taught my fiancé (gf at the time lol) and we had cops drive by and never pulled in. Must be a per cop basis.
It's wasn't the cops, they didn't care. It was campus security.
Also, CONGRATULATIONS!!
I second this! I learned all the stuff mentioned by OP in a warehouse parking lot!
Most schools nowadays get locked up after hours even the parking lot or at least every school in my area does
Mall parking lots, early in the morning! That is how I learned and gave my dad near heart attacks 😝
I wouldn’t say schools these days, I was teaching my sister a few years back and the cops came both times and told us to leave. This was at a high school and a community college parking lot.
This is exactly what we’re trying to avoid
I’d do it anyway and when the cops show up ask them where you’re going expected to go. Maybe they have a solution lol. Technically if it’s a public school, as a tax paying citizen you have every right to use the parking lot.
Yeah, but they just tell you to leave they don’t do anything. This happened at the mall by us. And we would just try a different day. Some of the Renta cops take their jobs extremely seriously. Others would just wave and wish us luck.
Nope -too many after school events or most are locked after hours
Exactly, my dad taught me how to drive a manual in a parking lot.
Great place to have your kid do “donuts” in the parking lot in the winter to practice straightening out the car in slippery conditions.
Westminster Mall. Not many people. Tons of spaces. Learn to yield. Next to freeway.
This is prefect. I forgot this place is like a ghost town now
Behind Orange mall also very minimal cars if any
Ohh what does the Laguna hills mall look like now? Is it completely blocked?
Cirque du Solei in a few weeks
Demolished heavy foot traffic cause of the hospital
They tore it down!
Soooo true. I was there the other day and literally took a video for my husband because of how creepy and empty it was.
Surprised that’s still around. Last time I went was probably three years ago and the only thing opened was the food court.
My cousin took me to the cemetery near the block and stated “can’t go wrong, they are already dead” circa 2011
Same! My mom taught me in the cemetery.
😆
Cemetery crew.
I learned how to drive a stick in the cemetery, unlike a mall parking lot there are clear roads and obstacles which helps!
Distant parking lots off-hours at malls, church parking lots mid-week.
We practiced backing up a 35 ft. RV + 20 ft truck there, security checked on us, but were OK.
GWC or fairgrounds lots
Angels Stadium and the Honda Center are where I learned, but for honda centers large lot, you can only get in from Ball road now
honda center is doing a lot of remodeling/construction so best bet would be angels stadium rn.
Hi, Angel Stadium employee here (I do not speak for the brand or the company) The stadium has 24/7 security onsite. Also Cal State Long Beach is having their graduation ceremonies there this week.
Baseball stadium good enough for the green eclipse, good enough for OP
I learned at the Forum
I would say try the 405 north between the 55 and the 22 freeway around 4:30-5pm on a Friday. Trial by fire baby!!! WOOHOO!!! Good luck to your stepdaughter, when she learns to drive in So Cal I feel she’ll be able to drive anywhere!
This is where I learned 35 years ago!
That’s how I learned to drive manual transmission lol
😂😂😂
Two enter, one leaves
westminster mall and local cemetaries are a good place to practice, nobody is going to honk at her if she's driving too slow and most aren't crazy busy.. it's calm and most have enough turns for practice
Irvine valley college.
Irvine Business Complex area on the weekend. There will be extremely light traffic on the side streets so she can practice the basics. Lot of empty parking lots to practice parking, reversing out of a spot, etc.
My wife was taught at Forest Lawn cypress 😂
My father in law said “everyone is asleep here. No one cared”
Westminster mall, saddleback church
Second that - Saddleback Church
DMV parking lot after hours. No one will bat an eye.
Interesting
The DMV in Westminster has a gated parking lot, so you can't drive there after hours. I recommend Westminster Mall.
Stay away from DMV parking lots. They may be state property, but they’re not open to the public outside of business hours.
My mom use to wake me up at 6 AM on Sunday to let me drive around and get practice. Westminister mall sounds like a great place to go.
My husband taught me stick in the Santa Ana College parking lot 😂😂😂
My mom did the same thing with the early morning wake ups on the weekends. In the moment I hated it because as a teenager all I wanted to do was sleep in. 😅
Cemeteries are an unexpectedly good place to practice driving basics because there are lots of turns, the speed limit is low, and there are very few other cars. Plus the presence of Jesus is better than average.
Amen
Go to a community college campus early in the morning on a weekend like 7-8. Parking lots are big and little to no people will be there
Irvine regional park.
This is the second best rec
Corporate Park is a loop in Irvine; that's where I learned how to drive and felt totally comfortable just driving in a big circle. I recommend going there when there are fewer cars around
Behind the Vons on Harbor. Also the area north of Superior (near Carden Hall) in the evenings
I used the spirit Halloween mall parking lot but right now there is bounce house thing in parking lot in Buena Park.
Half the parking lot is empty when the bounce house and Halloween store isn't there. Very helpful in learning the basics.
I started learning just last summer
I learned in the OCC parking lot.
I took my son to OCC Lot E last month on a Sunday. It was empty.
Church parking lot! Not on Sundays of course:)
Behind pretty much any mall.
Section next to 405 on ramp from baker
405 sink or swim
IMHO, this is counter intuitive. I learned in a rural area in Pennsylvania. She needs exposed to be exposed to any situation she’ll encounter. That being said, if you’re looking for the absolute basics, I can’t think of any better location than Puente Hills Mall, and maybe, Westminster Mall. It may be a little out of where you’re comfortable, but it being a mostly dead mall parking area, she’ll have ample space to learn starting, stopping, parking, parallel parking, and general requirements to pass testing.
Centered on HB - HB sports complex, just not early on weekends, full of sports families (I took my daughter here). Goldenwest college - weekend evenings it’s empty. As someone else said, Westminster mall parking lot.
Warehouse district in Fullerton. Taught two of my kids there so far lol
GWC in the evenings.
Eastbound 91 through the canyon at 6pm on a Friday.
Lessons will be remembered.
I took my son to Irvine near Technology, down street from the Spectrum—on the weekend when nobody is working. The office parking lots and side roads were perfect for learning the car basics.
Angels Stadium outer parking lots.
Over in santa ana is the fairhaven cemetery. I learned to drive there. Very slow speeds and no traffic even in the middle of the day. You can just go in circles till you get the hang of it.
Taught all my kids how to drive at Fairhaven Cemetery. Just avoid the weekends. I always told my kids that if we crashed and died at least we were already at the cemetery!
That's exactly what my dad said the first time I went driving with him! I groaned so hard at that dumb joke. We've got family in there and every time we drove past he'd lean out and greet them in increasingly silly ways.
I took my son to the cemetery to teach him how to drive. It has roads, turns, stops, parking, and the speed limit is very limited. A great place to learn the rules of the road at a slow pace. Also a great place to learn how to share the road.
Abandoned mall parking lot. We have a few, and that's where I learned 😀
The Ortega’s 🤣
Just do what my pops did, Threw me to the wolves my first day and sent me on the freeway. Good times.
Don’t go to the Ziggurat building in LN. Armed security guard will “ask” you to leave.
IKEA parking lot on weekdays.
Strands parking lot in Dana point. That’s where my driving instructor took me many moons ago!
In Anaheim, the parking lots and streets around the buildings across from Angel Stadium are great. Empty on the weekends. In Brea, the parking lot at Mercury Insurance is great, also empty on the weekends. The lots there have little stop signs, so they're like a miniature street system.
Katella & Knott driving toward Spring & N Studebaker rd is a great long stretch to show basics. It’s usually clear starting at 8PM.
I’ve seen behind the wheel learners on the old Fountain Valley Fry’s empty parking lot day and night years before closing in 2020. Now a sports store opened and not sure it’s a still an ideal spot.
Ziggurat
Irvine businesses on weekend, technology, barranca, Alton, jeronomo, all wide open weekends.
We recently used the big empty roads around OC Animal Care near Redhill to practice getting up to speed, emergency braking, 3 point turns,etc. Once our kid was comfortable with all that we started practicing parking in empty sections of large parking lots and business parks. Then moved on to driving around other traffic in business parks.
I learned to drive in the Ziggurat parking lot but I don't think they allow that anymore - industrial areas on Sundays are deserted, and some lots have huge open parking areas
All Southeast Santa Ana...it's all warehouses
Saddleback Church parking lot off hours. Best place.
UC Irvine. The lots are always open
Saddleback Church has a huge parking lot
Great park lot across from the palm court! People always learning how to drive there
Irvine on the weekend at 6am.
Westminster Mall is a great suggestion. Once she's mastered the basics, take her to an industrial area with smaller streets. They're usually pretty empty on weekends. Graham and McFadden area was my go to with my kids.
I taught my daughter in the Golden West College parking lot after hours.
I’ve been taking my daughter around UCI, especially the newer area of campus with the business district by Bison. It’s very empty and you get a little bit of parking lot stop signs and stoplights.
College parking lots! Lots of room and not too many barriers. I taught mine at CSUF
Take her to a quiet neighborhood with wide roads around 8-9PM. Make sure she stays near the middle of the roadband give her pointers if you want her to parallel park.
Eghhh kids aren't dumb...driving is easy.. I understand wanting to show then the ropes...my dad owned a carlot and when I was like 13-14 I'd go in the office and frequently grab the keys to the corvettes and hop in and drive like I was a pro....never had been taught to drive in my life..
southcoast plaza parking area. 9am weekend morning it is EMPTY since the store opens at 10:00
A little out of the area you wanted but Anaheim Stadium parking lot when the Angels are out of town. Wide open. Lots of lanes to drive through.
The great park.
Ikea, OCC college, Angels Stadium, Irvine Park
Business park on Sat or Sunday when office workers are gone. Less traffic than a mall.
Cemetery. Chill windy roads to go slow / low traffic area
I’m not sure if a building has replaced the old Boeing building in HB, but it’s a huge parking lot. I grew up in south county and my mom would take me to Saddleback Community College’s parking lot on the weekend to practice.
Any Westfield Mall parking lot. 😭
I really love the Orange Coast College parking lot in Costa Mesa. It’s pretty huge so lesser chance for her to get bored plus mostly deserted (except for the OCC swap meet 8 AM - 3 PM every weekend). It’s at the intersection of Adams Ave and Fairview Road, the intersection is pretty empty most of the time, except for peak traffic hours.
Or Vanguard University parking lot. Basically down the street. People there are nice and the parking lot is pretty big
Christ Cathedreal
I learned how to drive at Yorba regional park. Basically like a sampler version of streets. They have a speed limit, stop signs, roundabouts and tons of parking spaces
Mile Square Park
I learned how to drive in random parking lots off Miraloma in Anaheim on Sundays. Mainly the big one off Miraloma and Kraemer with that brunch spot in the corner.
Great park
Industrial area at Graham & Edinger in Huntington Beach, evenings & weekends. Also, industrial area at Ward & Lawson River, Fountain Valley, evenings & weekends.
My family always did it at the Westminster Mall, goddamn ghost town these days lol
Empty parking lots since forever. Have dinner and go to an empty mall.
The block parking lot. Church parking lots on weekdays.
in irvine, near the oak creek golf course/IVC towards the recycling center. or the business buildings around the spectrum that you never really go into. east and west yale loop is also a great start because it’s a lot of four way stops and learning how to ease into breaking & accelerating.
generally, any business plaza on the weekend is a good choice :) good luck!
Movie theater parking lot during Sunday morning off hours
Parking garage with multiple levels. Best place to learn when not busy. Perfect place to learn a clutch.
Los Alamitos Race Track parking lot
Cemetery, lots of turns and stops and you probably won't kill anybody
Costco parking lot.
If you’re up to go to North OC - Fullerton courthouse on the weekends is awesome- can practice turns, parking etc…
The 405
Business complex’s on weekends. Their parking lots are large and empty
Westminster Mall.....nobody goes there anymore
I learned in parking lots and started my kids in the same but found that cemeteries were even better (we used Westminster Memorial among others). They are mini golf versions of the streets. Then graduated to business parks in the area as they are a ghost town after 6pm.
Behind the Village in Orange all abandoned
Fairview Development Center
Irvine regional park in the early am. It has nice roads through the park and you have to go slow anyways. I had a pass but it’s 5 bucks or maybe 10’now with longer days. I had to two teens use it :)
My dad taught me in the mariner’s church parking lot when it was empty/mid-week.
ikea parking lot at nighy
Ortega Highway is a good place to learn.
Brookhurst and Slater. Fountain Valley School District parking lot.
Church parking lots
College parking lots on the weekend if no events are happening. Empty, boring. Can do a donut
I took both my daughters to Saddleback College. Nice big open lots, and some easy mostly deserted roads on the campus. A few other people doing the same thing, and security is totally cool with it.
Freeway
If you’re in Irvine, there a TON of vacant business parks all over irvine center drive. So much room and I never see anyone occupy these spaces.
The dying Westminster Mall, if you're willing to take the trip. The whole parking lot is basically desolate. There are stop signs, and a million parking spots to practice pulling into. I haven't seen anyone patrolling the lots before
The exact same places. Giant parking lots. OC is full of them.
Any college parking lot on the weekend, except at the residence halls.
The Ring
The industrial area by La Palma and Lakeview in Anaheim (aka the canyons lol). On the weekend it's a ghost town with plenty of 4-way stops, long curbs, and parking lots galore. Bonus is hitting Stereo Brewing right there.
Ziggurat building parking lot. My dad taught me there - it’s a big big empty lot.
Just from experience, go early on Sundays for a while then slowly introduce them to the roads, take on different areas and situations.
The office buildings near John Wayne are all closed on Sundays, so it’s a ghost town over there other than landscaping crews. That’s where my mom took me
OC Fairgrounds. Also Arlington Dr behind the fairgrounds is a great street to practice on. It’s laid out like a busy street with lanes and a suicide lane and lots of driveways to pull in and out, but very little traffic.
I was taught in Rose Hills, large cemetery in Whittier. It’s a little far if you’re not in North OC, but can’t hit anyone who’s not already dead
Any business park on weekends in southeast Irvine, near the spectrum. You’ll also get wide side street roads and if you want to go on the freeway, you’ll have the easy, medium, hard mode with the 405, 5, and 55 in that triangle.
Any large parking lot that is fairly wide and open.
Grace Church of Orange (off of Fairhaven) has an open campus to the community during the week so my dad taught me how to drive there. Just avoid busy times like Sunday morning and you’ll be golden.
Iceland 🇮🇸.
This is the way
community college parking lots on weekends? thats where i learned
I taught my daughter in the empty Michaels parking lot at 26503 Aliso Creek Rd, Aliso Viejo, CA 92656. The Home Depot shut down awhile back and looks like Michael’s shit down now too. So that whole parking lot of abandoned and she could drive around the front and back and practice parking all around it.
Go to Brookhurst and Westminster and practice in one of those plazas. If you survive that your rdy for anything
Costco parking lots after close. Huge and well lit
i learned at the UCI outdoor parking lot
Santiago Canyon Community College
UCI Bison on a Sunday.
Saddleback church in Lake forest has a huge parking lot and an actual two-lane road
Edit: the two-lane road has a traffic light and several stop signs. So it's a good place to practice
I remember my mom taking us the the cemetery in Santa Ana off of Santa Clara. Can’t kill anyone there lol
There’s an industrial area that starts where Sunflower meets up with Harbor Blvd. on the Costa Mesa Santa Ana border. By the 405. Good luck!
Behind a Home Depot
Irvine park very early morning. Perfect roads and stop signs.
I suggest the great park when it’s not too busy.
Saddleback church lake forest on weekdays, I worked there and we all were happy to let various groups use our lots when we didn't need the parking
When my fiancé taught me how to drive he took me to OCCs back parking lot at night to do loops at first, then we practiced in the neighborhood where killybrooke is located to practice residential driving and lastly I practiced down Baker and Fairview St at night of course to practice getting up to 40mph. I hope this helps! I recommend OCCs back parking lot at night as it’s a pretty big loop and there’s stop signs to practice braking with!
There is a light industrial area near the old Boeing facility in HB, right next to the naval weapon station in Seal. Bolsa Chica & Bolsa St. Near zero traffic around there on weekends, big wide streets. This is where I'd go bed the brakes on my track cars when I lived in Belmont Shore.
Westminster mall is normally empty thought out the week. So is Buena Park mall
The church by Woodbridge highschool. Shepherds grove. it's usually empty except on Thursdays nights. Easy to circle the area. parking lot is a decent size and you can use both church and hs parking lot since they are literally 10sec drive apart
Angel stadium is where I took my friends to drive stick , this was like 14 years ago though
Westminster Mall. Large parking lot that is mostly empty since the mall is closing down. Just took my son there the other day.
School parking lots, specifically a highschool one past class hours. Lots of space