Need info on Imperial Beach (Los Angeles, San Diego: apartment, to rent, condo)

[spark5]

Hello, I am looking for info on Imperial Beach. I am in my 20's and single and I like how low the home prices are there. I don't want to be moving to where people do nothing but party and are all fake and snobby because I grew up in Newport Beach and don't want to move to another Newport Beach type of area.

So basically I was wondering what type of people live in IB and what the crime is like. I will probably take a drive down their to check it out sometime next month.

Thank you all in advance.

[spark5]

Oh I forgot to ask but why are the home prices really cheap considering it is a beach city?

[PollyGlott]

Home prices are cheap because it's not a nice place to live: industrial, ugly, and poor. It is the opposite of Newport Beach, no snobbiness there, because nothing to be snobby about...

[Jenkay]

Originally Posted by PollyGlott

Home prices are cheap because it's not a nice place to live: industrial, ugly, and poor. It is the opposite of Newport Beach, no snobbiness there, because nothing to be snobby about...

There's a teeny tiny strip down by the pier just along the beach that's nice-ish, but then you're surrounded by the rest of IB so that pretty much ruins it.

[shmoov_groovzsd]

I am not a resident there, but here is some info I can share.

Seacoast Dr has water behind and in front south of the Pier that Jenkay mentioned.

Flooding and stinky water from Tijuana River overflowing into the Pacific might be something to look into more seriously in IB. Recently it smelled really bad down there because there was a massive sewage spill in TJ.

From the times that I have gone down to IB, the area looks pretty rundown as you get off the freeway and head towards to water. The pier area is not too bad, aesthetically, comparing it to Newport is apples and oranges.


IB itself is quite small as its sandwiched between the Airbase to the South followed by TJ and then the Bay to the north.

A little trivia, IB was the setting for the movie Lords of Dogtown. IB looked very much like Venice Beach did in the 70s apparently.


Check this out for Crime
San Diego Regional Crime MAPS

[spark5]

I have another question. How are the schools here particularly Mar Vista High School. The reason I ask because a family I know in Irvine is moving to Imperial Beach as well and they asked me for help. They have 4 kids, 2 of them are high schoolers, and the other two are in middle school. They also considered Coronado as well but they said that they like how Imperial Beach is inexpensive.

[hitman619]

IB as a whole is not Bad
The closer you get to the air base the better the area gets imo.
My niece graduated from Mar Vista in 2006 and seem to like it a lot.
If you have a choice in schools,Coronado high school is the best choice hands down.

IMO everything east of 12th street going all the way down south is pretty bad.
IB does have gangs mostly made up of Hispanics and White supremacist but seem to stay within the areas i mention.
I like IB
Like some else said,a lot of movies and T.V. Shows are shot in IB

[spark5]

I managed to make time for the drive down to Imperial Beach on Saturday and I actually liked the area a lot. I noticed that the worst part was right when I got off the 5 but it started to become nice as I headed west. My favorite part was driving on Seacoast Dr. and the locals were very helpful. One concern some of the locals said was that the beach closes sometimes because of sewage spill from Tijuana. Aside from that I will most likely make the move down there. I will try to find an apartment or condo to rent before I buy a house.

[cruitr]

The beach was closed last week:
Tijuana sewage forces closure of beach in southern San Diego County | L.A. NOW | Los Angeles Times

[virgil tatro]

we were just there on Vacation and liked it alot.. but would also like more info on this area.. Oceanside was the best of all the place we went..