What kind of Community is Bonita? (San Diego, Chula Vista: real estate market, homes, school district)

[shukertj]

We are always searching for the ideal place to relocate to from Denver, CO and I just discovered Bonita. Hubby and I like San Diego, but don't want to live in the actual city. From the description on Wikipedia, Bonita sounds very rural and tranquil. If anyone could answer the following questions about Bonita it would be greatly appreciated:

1) How far/long a drive from San Diego is it?
2) What are the schools like?
3) What type of community is it?
4) What types of people make their home there?
5) Is it a walkable area?
6) Is there a hospital there or in a nearby community?
7) How is the pace of life there? We are hoping to get out of the rat race.

Any other input about the town would be wonderful. Thanks in advance!

[janineg]

1. about 20 minutes to downtown, maybe less. But traffic into downtown is bad in the morning.
2. In my day, the two good elementary schools were Allen and Sunnyside. I went to Sunnyside. You'd have to check greatschools, but I believe that they're still good. Bonita Vista High had the IB program (probably still does). I got into Cornell from there, and had a classmate go to Harvard and Stanford that year. But that was '92.
3. It's pretty with a large swath of preserve running through the middle of it. It has a nice golf course with a trail around it and a duck pond, a new library, no big box stores except a Vons grocery. Some good restaurants. It has a more authentic feeling (because it has a history) compared to new developments like nearby Eastlake. The shopping strip along Bonita road has hardly any chain stores and is attractive.
4. Hmmm, a good mix of white/hispanic/philipino. Pretty conservative. Getting older. Eastlake has younger families. There's a fair amount of wealthy golfer-types, too.
5. It's not very walkable, really. Most homes have good sized yards and that doesn't lend itself to a walkable community where you can stroll to the grocery store.
6. I think there's a hospital in Chula Vista
7. Pace seems slow-ish. I don't live there anymore, but visit my parents who still do.

[shukertj]

Hi Janineg,

Thanks so much for your responses! We are planning a trip to the area next year to check it out. Any idea how the real estate market is in Bonita? It looks like prices have come down somewhat from a couple of years ago.

[janineg]

I know that prices are down quite a bit from their height. I don't really know if they're going back up, or staying the same.

[Bhavs]

Hello,
Did you visit Bonita? Did you find out more about it? I haven't had a chance to drive there but everybody automatically refers you to Poway whn you ask for an affordable home in a good school district.