Yet another "what neighborhood is right for me" thread (San Diego: apartments, for rent)

[hobscrk777]

Hi all. I have yet another "what neighborhood is right for me" question. I'll try to make this easier on you all by giving concise, bullet-ed lists. I spent some time living in San Diego a few years ago, so I have a bit of a feel for the place already.

About Me:
* Male
* Not married
* Mid 20s
* Have a job lined up just south of Del Mar

What I like/want
* Less than $1500/month, but of course less is better
* Being close to the beach, or at least the ocean if not a nice sandy beach (i.e. walking or biking distance)
* Surfing
* I want to try sailing and scuba diving
* Less than 30 min (one way) commute to work
* Some sort of shopping and restaurants area within walking distance

What I don't like/want or don't care about
* Loud party scene

Where I'm already considering
* La Jolla - expensive, sure, but close to the ocean, close to Village of La Jolla, close to La Jolla Shores. Am I correct in thinking that if I stay north of Turquoise St I'll be able to avoid the frat boys?
* Balboa Park neighborhoods - Hillcrest, North Park, Little Italy, etc. - I love Balboa Park, and downtown has a lot to offer in the way of shopping and restaurants within walking distance. It's also close to the 5, which could potentially make commuting easier, but I can imagine it might also lead to more regularly heavy traffic congestion and noise.

Please share your thoughts!

[Clevelandgal]

The balboa neighborhoods for the very reasons you noted. Plus the reverse commute will not be too bad.

[loveautumn]

check out Encinitas - west of 5 is downtown area with lots of restaurants, shops, etc. right up from Moonlight Beach. Growing night life. east of 5 is more "older" suburban with every store and restaurant you could want for convenience. Encinitas to south of Del Mar won't be a difficult commute at all.

[cruitr]

You'd probably like North PB - the Turquoise Street area of the 92109 zip code. It's a very walkable area with limited noise. However, North PB can be a little hard to commute from during normal commute times. You're probably looking at a 30 min drive time @ 7:30am.

Pacific Shores is a nice condo complex in North PB for renting if you can find something available.

[Clevelandgal]

yeah I love Bird Rock as much as anyone, but the commuting out of there-even to adjacent La Jolla is a bear. My spouse works in La Jolla/Torrey Pines- and he can get to work faster from downtown (strait freeway reverse commute from our place which is a stones throw from the 5) than from Bird Rock (gridlocked surface streets all the way). Believe me if we thought it could work we would put it in serious contention for future living.

[lrmsd]

Definitely Encinitas or Solana Beach.
Bird Rock or north PB would be next, but I agree with others re: commute-no need when you can do SB or Enc. just fine. They are right n ext door to one another, and can easily be visited together to scope out places. And, to del mar, you can take surface streets. I'm guessing your job may be carmel valley or sorrento valley? You can also do surface streets or the 5/56-lots of options there.

[Clevelandgal]

Sorry. Somehow I missed that you would be working in del mar and not la jolla. I would absolutely consider looking right around DM

[hobscrk777]

Thanks for the replies everyone. I have a couple of follow-up questions.

I spent some time in Del Mar, and I've considered checking out some apartments there, but my impression is that it's a bit limited. There's really one outdoor shopping area (Del Mar Plaza), right?

I'm unfamiliar with Solana Beach or Encinitas, since they are farther to the north and I spent all my time in Del Mar or points farther south. Do these places have outdoor shopping and restaurant areas, and are they close to parks (think Scripps Park in La Jolla or Seagrove Park in Del Mar) and sandy beaches?

[Mil73]

Hi, who are the frat boys?

[katnip kid]

Originally Posted by Mil73

Hi, who are the frat boys?

College guys in fraternaties.