Where to live in San Diego? (Irvine, Orange: appointed, rental, credit)

[nachan]

Hello! My husband and I are thinking about moving to San Diego. We have a 9-year-old daughter so we have to find an area that has good schools and also we LOVE shopping malls! We'd love to be able to get to nice high-end malls in 20 min or less... (If that is possible). I also need to work in a spa (doesn't have to be a 5 star hotel, but nice ones that classy people go to.) so it would be nice if I can drive for 20 min or less to work. We'd like to rent a place that is not too small (Maybe at least 1200sq ft) 2 bedrooms with two car garage. We have a puppy so dog friendly areas would be nice but I know San Diego is really good at that. (We are living in VA now and they are not that dog friendly.) Right now we can drive 5 minutes to go to Wal-mart, Target, and all other major stores and restaurants and we love that. Do you have any idea where we would be happy to live? We don't really care for beaches, but malls and restaurants and manicured housing areas! I'd really appreciate it if you can help us!

[oddstray]

When I think "high-end mall" I think Fashion Valley in the Mission Valley neighborhood. That's reasonably close to hotel circle, though I don't know about 'classy people' spas at hotels in hotel circle ... for that I'm thinking La Jolla and Del Mar. Or maybe Mission Bay.

Can't help with housing and schooling, since I haven't had any reason to look at that situation.

But first and foremost ... get your job situations lined up before you move out here. That will also have an effect on where you choose to live.

[loveautumn]

based on your criteia, you might like OC (OrangeCounty/Irvine) better...Southcoast Plaza is by far the best upscale mall in SoCal, IMO, and I've been to them all also, people there are generally wealthier and into spas and that sort of thing.

[moved]

Where will you be working, and what's your rental budget?

[shmoov_groovzsd]

I have been to VA many times over the years. Are you talking malls like Tysons Corner in the suburbs?

Although a majority of San Diego is a mega suburb albeit scattered from different eras, I dont think its quite the best fit based on your criteria. OC or LA are far more conducive to high end mall lifestyles and spas.
Fashion Valley is probably the most concentrated in regards to high end shopping in SD (Hermes, Givenchy etc). While we do have spas, perhaps some of the better ones are in more affluent communities like Del Mar where their is more disposable income.

The mall itself is centrally located but for world class shopping, go north of San Diego to OC or LA.

[Movin-on-up2011]

Not trying to be rude at all but why San Diego? If you don't care for beaches/weather and are more concerned with mall, restaurants etc then I would pick somewhere with a lower col.

[djxpress]

Whatever you do, don't move to El Cajon:


$#*! My Dad Says: El Cajon is the anus of San Diego! - YouTube
(I have to give credit to someone on r/sandiego thread of Reddit for pointing this gem out)

[sdurbanite]

If spas are your thing, definitely check out the North County area of San Diego. There are a few world class spas like Cal-A-Vie, Golden Door< La Costa Spa and The Spa at Grand Del Mar (recently given a rare 5 star rating from Michelin Fobes). There are also plenty of day spas from La Jolla north to Carlsbad.

Shopping-wise, as already been mentioned, Fashion Valley is the most upscale mall in the county. It has Jimmy Choo, Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Neiman-Marcus, Bloomingdale's, among others. It's rumored that Prada, Ferragamo and Chanel are setting up shop there.

[earlyretirement]

At first I didn't know if your post was real (and still don't) as it's your first post and I've never met anyone that made a priority of where they live to be near shopping malls.

I agree with the others. I've been to lots of different cities around the USA and almost every state in the country and the shopping in San Diego compared to other cities is really not that good. I'm not sure what your definition of "high end" is but I wouldn't say Fashion Valley Mall in the grand scheme of things is "high end".

Sure there are some nice stores there but not as many as most "high end malls". They have done some renovations at Fashion Valley and it looks nicer but still I don't find it high end.

You might be disappointed in San Diego if you're all gung ho on "high end shopping".

[skelaki]

Originally Posted by earlyretirement

At first I didn't know if your post was real (and still don't) as it's your first post and I've never met anyone that made a priority of where they live to be near shopping malls.

I agree with the others. I've been to lots of different cities around the USA and almost every state in the country and the shopping in San Diego compared to other cities is really not that good. I'm not sure what your definition of "high end" is but I wouldn't say Fashion Valley Mall in the grand scheme of things is "high end".

Sure there are some nice stores there but not as many as most "high end malls". They have done some renovations at Fashion Valley and it looks nicer but still I don't find it high end.

You might be disappointed in San Diego if you're all gung ho on "high end shopping".

i'm not sure how disappointing stores such as Saks, Nieman Marcus, and Nordstroms would be. And it's not that long a drive to the very very high end shopping on Rodeo Drive in beverly Hills.

If the OP wants and can afford it, I would check out areas such as La Jolla, Del Mar, Rancho Santa Fe, and Solana Beach. The schools are good in those areas. And you could also check out private schools (The Bishop's School and Francis W. Parker are both excellent).