Areas of SD to avoid? (San Diego, Chula Vista: for rent, low crime, how much)

[navywifeinTN]

Hi, my husband and I and our 3 daughters are moving to SD in December. He'll be working at the 32nd St base. We're pretty overwhelmed by the sheer size of the city and we would like to know what areas to definitely avoid. We've lived in all different kinds of areas (rural, suburban, more urban), and we're comfortable with new environments/ experiences, but we need to have great schools. I have one in middle and two in elementary school. Our budget would be $1500 - $2000 and we'd prefer to be 30 minutes or less away from work. Is there a good safe area with great schools in my budget or should I just live in base housing and hope for the best?

[mewzikguy]

That area down there is in a long-established Hispanic neighborhood. I taught at Logan Elem. , nice kids and people, but if you're white, you probably don't want your kids there. Allied Gardens, Tierrasanta, Point Loma will have better schools, and he can still get to work ok.

[jarfykk]

Don't know what rank your husband is, so not sure what BAH he'd get, but looking in the $1500-2000 range might be a stretch for a place with good schools and a four bedroom house (mentioned three daughters + parents). If you're having kids share rooms and so forth (a great idea I think), there are going to be more options.

Thirty minutes from 32nd street is also a limiting factor. Many of the best schools are in North County, which would be more than 30 minutes for sure. Plenty of good places within your radius, but just another variable to consider.

Mewkiz mentioned Allied Gardens, Tierrasanta, Point Loma, all good places to think about. To get acquainted with the city, I find the neighborhood maps here help: Neighborhood Maps | City of San Diego

Tierrasanta has great elementary and middle schools (high school is okay as well). Suburban, but close to city core, very convenient access to much of San Diego. Roughly 20 minute drive to 32nd street gate (without traffic). Not sure how early your husband's commute would be...when I went to 32nd St it was ~0600 which has no traffic to speak of. But during rush hour the most direct route(s) can get backed up (same with commute home).

Allied Gardens is likewise a good neighborhood, a little more central but similar commute time I'd think.

Point Loma is another good place, pricier than the first two as its coastal, and the drive down can be a headache with worse traffic in my experience that the first two (but can conceivably take surface streets the whole way in 35-40 minutes I'd think). No traffic drive is 20 minutes give or take depending on where you live in the neighborhood.

South County is worth a look, parts of Chula Vista and East Lake are quite nice and likely within or close to your commute distance. Prices can be cheaper down that way, but homes are often larger so prices might but more than you'd expect. Schools vary so check what schools god with the home you're looking at.

On that neighborhood map, you probably want to skip all the neighborhoods listed in Central area as schools there aren't as good, even though it is quite close to the 32nd St base.

My recommendation is to also think about what kind of place you want to live, close to what amenities. We have price (under $2k), distance from 32nd St (under 30min), bedrooms (4??), and good schools...what other stuff matters so we can help more?

[navywifeinTN]

I'm not super picky. I've just heard so much negatives about overcrowded schools, crime, gangs etc. I'm willing to settle for a 3 BR but would prefer a 4 BR. If I don't have much of a yard, then I'd like safe parks close by and streets/ neighborhoods my kids could ride their bikes safely to go to their friend's house. I'd like a neighborhood with plenty of families. I'd prefer not to be too far from a commissary (not more than a 30 min drive) and some shopping areas like Old Navy, etc. My dh is E5, but will likely be E6 very soon, and I'm trying not to go over BAH. Of course close to the beaches would be a plus, but not critical. I'd like to be away from extreme heat in the summer. We've been in the Memphis area where the heat indexes this summer (and that's since May here) were from 100-120. UGH! I have a daughter with asthma and allergies, so, depending on pollen issues and stuff, we would probably need air condition to control how much pollens get into the house in the summer. I guess my biggest concerns would be to 1) get a house in a very safe neighborhood and 2) a neighborhood with good schools that are strong academically.

[moved]

The best schools are in Poway, but that would be quite a drive for your husband. You might want to try living in base housing, there are some really nice ones. The ones in Tierrasanta sound like what you're looking for. www.lincolnmilitaryhousing.com.

[jarfykk]

Most suburbs are safe and reasonable good schools. Downtown and some parts of southern San Diego have less-than-desirable schools. Crime varies substantially, but no "bad" areas that you'd be interested in.

Santo Terrace/Murphy Canyon
Tierrasanta was brought up a couple times, here's a link to the military housing (E1-E9 only, have 4BR units) in the neighborhood. Straight shot down highway I-15 to 32nd street (more or less) with some longer, alternate routes available if there's traffic. I drive by these every week and think they look quite nice, and I love the neighborhood. There's a smaller (decent size) commissary nearby at the corner of Aero Drive and Santo Road. Plenty of restaurants and a couple supermarkets and so forth in the immediate vicinity (and a Fry's Electronics & Walmart ~5-6 minutes away). 10-12 minutes away is Mission Valley with two malls and so forth.

You mentioned heat as a concern. As long as you stay west (or just slightly east, like Tierrasanta) of highway I-15, it never gets all that hot (rarely above 90 degrees). Plus we have no real sweltering humidity to speak of, particularly in comparison to the midwest. My wife and I maybe run the air conditioner 2-3 days a month, tops 1-week a month, during summer. I actual has to put on a sweater on the way to work this week as the fog was keeping it in the 60s until the early afternoon.

Meeting your top two criteria, safe & good schools, this area probably fits the bill given your budget and commute to 32nd street. Beyond the military housing in Tierrasanta, there are several single-family homes that you might find for rent. Might be a slight stretch for your budget for a 4BR, but a 3BR should be doable I'd think.

[esmith143]

I don't know if I'd describe Tierrasanta schools as "great"... The elementary school in question is primarily populated by kids from the military housing itself, so you should know what to expect already.

Also take a look east of 805 and south of 54. I believe that many military families from 32nd St. live there. You'd be stretching your budget (expect 2100/month for a 3-br or a smaller 4-br), but schools are stronger academically than in Tierrasanta.

[moved]

The two elementary schools in Tierrasanta are Hancock and Miller. Both of them are almost entirely military kids. I can tell you for a fact, that the principal at Hancock is not very well liked, and the office staff that had been at the school for close to ten years transferred out. The principal before her was very well liked, but she retired.

[navywifeinTN]

Thank you everyone for all of your help. I'm trying to keep a positive outlook about this move, but it's been hard. I'm used to my kids going to some of the top schools in our state, low crime, relatively low traffic (since we don't actually live IN Memphis), and I know it's going to be a big change, but it's just going to take some getting used to I guess. I was highly relieved to hear the really nice weather and temps extend a little farther east than I thought. I do have one last question though. How are the pollen levels in the SD area? Do people have bad allergy issues there normally?

[futbol]

My wife is very sensitive to her allergies. Since we moved to SD almost 17 years ago the dry weather (we live a little inland) has suppressed her allergies.

My guess is that the pollen levels are low, but there are resources on the net to tell you exactly what they are by region.

Note that unlike many areas in the US, San Diego's climate will vary by where you are in the county.