Anyone here live in San Diego?

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futureicon
futureicon Posts: 348 Member
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My boss is giving me the option to transfer my position from Baltimore out to San Diego. Sounds exciting but we aren't sure about where we want to live or what our money will get us. Anyone have any experience living in San Diego? We're looking for neighborhoods in good school districts, with cool shops and restaurants within walking distance, that won't have us living in a cardboard box. We're going to scope things out in July and would love some ideas of where to look.

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  • efink85
    efink85 Posts: 19 Member
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    I'm a San Diego native, and wouldn't consider living anywhere else. What's considered San Diego is spread out over 30-40 miles, from the beach to the mountains. My personal experience with schools is with the Poway Unified School District, which is one of the best in San Diego (encompasses Rancho Penasquitos, Rancho Bernardo, Poway, 4S Ranch), high graduation and college acceptance rates. The San Diego Unified School District as a whole isn't bad (San Diego's biggest school district), but different areas are better than others (any school located north of I-8 is probably okay, south of I-8 you'll want to check the US News and Reports about school ranking). Housing is unfortunately expensive, you might want to check out Redfin or Zwillow for exact pricing, but it will vary greatly by neighborhood. Besides the PUSD communities, Santee is an up and coming community that has really added a lot to their neighborhood these past few years, its got a good rep and its not as pricey as their westerly neighbors. Sorrento Valley, Mira Mesa, Clairemont, Mission Valley, Scripps Ranch are also good middle class, family friendly neighborhoods (very suburban though). If you end up being priced out of the city of San Diego, I'd suggest looking to neighborhoods on the northern side (carlsbad, oceanside, escondido), rather than near the border or desert as those places have higher crime rates.
  • futureicon
    futureicon Posts: 348 Member
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    efink85 wrote: »
    I'm a San Diego native, and wouldn't consider living anywhere else. What's considered San Diego is spread out over 30-40 miles, from the beach to the mountains. My personal experience with schools is with the Poway Unified School District, which is one of the best in San Diego (encompasses Rancho Penasquitos, Rancho Bernardo, Poway, 4S Ranch), high graduation and college acceptance rates. The San Diego Unified School District as a whole isn't bad (San Diego's biggest school district), but different areas are better than others (any school located north of I-8 is probably okay, south of I-8 you'll want to check the US News and Reports about school ranking). Housing is unfortunately expensive, you might want to check out Redfin or Zwillow for exact pricing, but it will vary greatly by neighborhood. Besides the PUSD communities, Santee is an up and coming community that has really added a lot to their neighborhood these past few years, its got a good rep and its not as pricey as their westerly neighbors. Sorrento Valley, Mira Mesa, Clairemont, Mission Valley, Scripps Ranch are also good middle class, family friendly neighborhoods (very suburban though). If you end up being priced out of the city of San Diego, I'd suggest looking to neighborhoods on the northern side (carlsbad, oceanside, escondido), rather than near the border or desert as those places have higher crime rates.

    Thanks for the info. The one realtor that I spoke with recommended Scripps Ranch as well, so we plan on looking around that area. You mention that it's suburban, would you consider Santee similarly or is it closer to the city? I ask because my wife and I are really in to the arts and music scene here in Baltimore and we'd love to find someplace that's more culturally inclined and not just a bunch of neighborhoods for miles. I'm sure finding that, plus good schools, at a price we can afford is going to be a challenge.
  • ElizaRoche
    ElizaRoche Posts: 2,005 Member
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    I can see sd skyline from my neighborhood... And go there more or less often..
    But I'm in the Mexican side :)
  • efink85
    efink85 Posts: 19 Member
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    Most of the suburban neighborhoods are houses, with parks & rec areas, then have shopping centers within a mile or 2 (shops vary, but at least a major grocery store, coffee, small shops and restaurants; some centers are bigger and have movie theatres and clothing stores, etc). I wouldn't describe most neighborhoods as cultural meccas though Little Italy, Balboa Park area, Old town and Liberty Station are the exceptions. I'd say the arts and music scene is concentrated in Downtown San Diego, Balboa Park (near downtown, but technically North Park), La Jolla, and Escondido. The good thing about San Diego it should only take 20-40 minutes to get to just about anywhere on the weekend or at night, i.e. from Scripps Ranch to Balboa Park: 20-30 minutes. We have actual freeways here, and our traffic isn't *quite as bad as LA (traffic really depends on which freeway you're using, what direction, and what time of day). Don't forget to mapquest where your work is and how far it is from prospective neighborhoods. On the whole, San Diego is a very friendly place, with a low crime rate (especially for a city of its size). Each area has its own feel to it (I could probably write a book). We have micro-climates here, so the weather 5 miles away can be very different than where you are depending on if you're on a mesa or in a valley, or near the coast or near the mountains.

    Santee is farther inland than Scripps Ranch so has hotter weather and you'd need to traverse more freeways to get there, which is why it has lower house prices than Scripps Ranch. They have similar amenities close by(movie theatres, shops, sports facilities, restaurants, etc). I have no clue about Santee schools, but the Scripps Ranch High School is one of SDUSD's best schools and consistently ranks high in the US News school ratings.

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