Make An Informed Decision If Moving To San Diego (Escondido: sales, real estate)

[NYSD1995]

It's interesting that two people can live in the same city and have such a vastly differing experiences.

I think a lot of the things you mention on your list are true, but not only for San Diego. Almost any coastal US city will have the problems you mention. Pretty much every major city suffers from some kind of major housing, traffic, pollution, education, and infrastructure problem.

Personally I've found opportunity, success, and quite a bit of happiness living in San Diego, and if that was to change, I would leave.

Seashell, I'm going to guess that you didn't buy that 212k house in 2002? I think if you had, you might have some different views on SD today.

If post-Katrina New Orleans is the worst case, and say... Seattle or Boston is the best case... where does San Diego fit in?

[sdurbanite]

Normally I wouldn't respond to negative comments regarding life in San Diego, but this thread is full of so many false statements and ridiculous observations that I feel the need to respond.

Let's break it down, shall we?

Originally Posted by seashell

HOUSING
*If you rent, you will pay a lot for a little. Ask about charges for water as well. There are basically 4 types of housing here to choose from:
1) old 1970's era apartments that are now "condos" Don't be fooled by the shiny new appliances. Ask about the water pipes, the foundation, the crime stats in even the nice neighborhoods.
2) old poorly built homes from the 1950's or 1960's that have lots of problems.
3) newer tract homes that look spiffy but be aware of your commuting costs, HOAs, mellaroos, high taxes.
4) new downtown condo towers with high costs and low resale.

Well, what's left? What do other cities offer that is so much different than what you described above? Nothing you mentioned is unique to San Diego.

*In areas with colleges, be aware of the student housing issues. You have several colleges and universities here with populations in the tens of thousands and they all need housing too.

Again, what other major cities with local colleges don't have this problem? It's ridiculous that you even have to mention this. SF, LA, DC, Boston, etc, ALL have major universities with large student populations.

Ask about airways. Planes zoom over many residential neighborhoods constantly- commercial and military.

Are you kidding me? Doesn't every major city have an airport or two? I live near the football stadium and I can assure you that planes don't buzz low enough to affect my daily life.

*In high tourist areas, be aware that your life will be living next door to the non-stop (often drunken) vacationers, drivers, people people people. It is not pleasant.

Hmmmm.... the high tourist season is only during the summer months. Have you ever been to SF, NYC or DC during the peak tourist season? It's NO different from here. Better yet, go to any beach now see how uncrowded they are these days?

Commutes during the fair, the racing season or the tourist season are horrendous

Yeah....and?

Commutes year around are insane because tens of thousands of commuters now live in Riverside county and commute into San Diego daily, so there are that many more cars, that much more pollution than say five years ago.

The air has gotten less polluted due the the stricter emission laws.

Get used to BEING IN LINE for everything. Shopping. The DMV. The cell phone store. Movies. Gas stations. Long lines

Are you telling me that people in Dallas, Phoenix or Las Vegas or any other city, don't have to wait in line in their daily lives? It's life in the big city, you just deal with it.

Anyone moving here needs to think long and hard because San Diego is using it's final fallback water supplies now. In two years there has been less than four inches of rain. Nearly all the water here is imported from two sources that are tapped out. You will be drinking recycled sewer water.

Sure, two years of little rain, but the year before that we had 22 inches. You can't predict the weather so what's your point?

Our beloved ocean is very sick. Every day beaches are shut due to sewage and other types of pollution. Here's a random example: on Memorial Day weekend we took guests to a north county beach and for miles, it was coated with sticky tar washing up. It was be there at your own risk. Oil spill. Kept pretty quiet so the tourists wouldn't be disturbed or distressed.
On Labor Day we tried again, taking guests to a popular beach. The beaches had been closed for five days but reopened for the big tourist weekend. When we entered the water we noticed the smell of sewage. We could taste it. We could see it. Only when we got out of the water and went to the water spout to rinse off did we see a very small sign warning that the water was contaminated with high fecal bacteria and that we entered the ocean at our own risk.
Routinely, for years, swimmers and surfers have gotten terrible viruses and illnesses from the water, such as meningitis. It is kept quiet so the tourism market will not be disturbed. Check out the health records for the city, county and state. See for yourself. Ask your family doctor.

More lies. Everyone knows not to go into the water after it rains. The same thing happens in Miami. As for beaches closed everyday, check out the report card for the local beaches in regards to pollution. Heal the Bay | 17th Annual Beach Report Card for 2006-2007 | San Diego County - Grades
We have 70 miles of beaches that are available to us. Besides the same ones that have always been problems (IB, beaches near the river outlets and storm drains), almost all of them are considered clean.

Unless you are a multi-millionaire, here's your more likely story:
You will work hard to make ends meet. Often two jobs.
You will use hours a day just driving to where you need to go.
You will be too tired from working and driving to much enjoy the beach. You will probably get better beach time if you don't move here but take a great vacation here each year.
You will have air pollution, water pollution noise pollution and chemical pollution in your soils.
You will be surprised at how much construction there is and how dirty and noisy and burdensome it is for your daily life.
You will probably experience an increase in personal crimes and motor vehicle accidents from wherever you are coming from. Check out the DMV records, and the crime statistics. Crimes of violence and personal crimes are up again.
Remember that you are living in an international border county and city and there are lots of desperate people doing lots of desperate things. Use supreme caution in your everyday life. Keep your doors locked. Watch your back. Yes, even in La Jolla. I lived there for four years and had several personal crimes against me and had my home and car broken into. It was not unusual for the police search copters to use their spotlights in our neighborhood several times a month. We lived two blocks from the beach in a family neighborhood where homes start at about 2 million dollars.
Be prepared to feel increased stress and health problems as you live here. It is unavoidable.

That was comical.

-I know NO ONE who works 2 jobs to make ends meet.
-I have a morning and afternoon commute just live everyone in the WORLD who has a job.
-I've never been a victim of a crime, ie, never gotten beaten down by police, or robbed at gunpoint. My last car accident was about 8 years ago.
-I've learned to live with pollution of all sorts because I chose to live in a city.

I suspect that you'd be happier living in a small town in Montana or Wyoming. Since neither state has a major city, you just might find happiness there. Good luck to you.

[Redrover]

sdurbanite, you seem to be overlooking much of what seashell was trying to say. First of all, LOTS of cities have much more up-to-date and affordable housing options than SD. I live in Houston (a HUGE city) and I know that is true here. As for the student housing situation, he was just pointing out that that is another large population body requiring less-expensive housing, thus further depleteing the already limited supply. Again, I live in a major city and never hear a commercial aircraft (or military) fly over my neigborhood and that is true for a large portion of the city, in spite of the fact that we have not one but two large airports. As for the influx of tourists, seashell didn't say that San Diego was the ONLY city to have a huge problem, just that it could be a real issue during certain times of the year and to be aware of that fact. But I think the really critical issue is the scarcity of water. Many communities have dependable reserves that can be tapped during times of water crisis but evidently that is not the case for San Diego. To further burden an already over-taxed municipal water supply could have dire consequences for your future and it is not unreasonable to let someone contemplating a move there to know what might be in store. I think "his point" is abundantly clear. 22" of rain three years ago is hardly enough to ensure a steady supply of good water for an ever-expanding population. I can't comment on the beach situation but apparently it is not of concern to you - although it may be to someone contemplating a move. And as for the crime situation, you are correct that virtually all cities, large or small, share this problem. Bottom line, seashell is just telling anyone considering a move to San Diego to not come there expecting paradise. He advises everyone to do their homework thoroughly and make an informed decision. (You may have noticed several others who responded to his posting conceded that much of what he said was grounded in truth. )

[indecisive]

my likely relocation to SD has nothing to do with the beach or the ocean or the weather - but everything to do with a calculated career move within my company. If I can come out financially ahead after 4 years and stay safe and healthy I'll be happy - even if that means renting a place for 4 years. I'd then consider moving back to STL subburbs with its pretty low cost of living, relatively mild winters, and pretty darn good salarys (in the IT sector at least) - yup - I'll miss the large house on a 1/4 acre flat lot that I built 3 years ago for under $200k thats within a 30 minute commute in traffic to all the large employers in town .................................................. ......................or maybe we'll just fall in love with SD and decide to settle down there - who knows?

[Sanddawgg]

I think the point is that San Diego sells itself quite well. Whether it's the beaches, or the near perfect climate, Balboa Park, the Zoo, the Gaslamp. Obviously San Diego has a lot of positive attributes. What are the off-setting things one should consider before deciding that San Diego is THE place to choose? I think Seashell is just pointing out the other side of the equation.
As far as house prices go, In my case, after buying in the early nineties, I was quite upside down in it for several years before seeing the market take off. In fact, four years in, I was down about 25% as the neighborhood filled with foreclosures. I think the market today is in a similar situation.

San Diego does have a lot of appeal. Even though I agree that most of what Seashell says, I would consider moving back under the right circumstances... If I hit the powerball, I'm moving to LaJolla...

[sdurbanite]

First off, I need to clarify what I meant to say in the first sentence of my post above. That is, negative opinions of San Diego don't bother me because people have different experiences of living here and I understand that. I just felt there were so many ludicrous remarks in seashell's post that I needed to respond to some of them.

Originally Posted by Redrover

Bottom line, seashell is just telling anyone considering a move to San Diego to not come there expecting paradise. He advises everyone to do their homework thoroughly and make an informed decision. (You may have noticed several others who responded to his posting conceded that much of what he said was grounded in truth. )

No one claims that San Diego is a true paradise. We definitely have our problems, but it's a fact that none of them are unique to San Diego. Sure, it costs alot more to live here but NYC, SF, Boston, DC are just as expensive, and if you go into any of those threads you can read all about their complaints. It's the price you pay for living in a place that many consider desirable. Yep, we have crowds, traffic, lines, etc, but my point is, what city doesn't? Houston has all of those problems, too, but it doesn't seem to stop people from moving there, right?

That said, seashell's description of life in San Diego is as absurd as me saying that San Diego is the perfect city for everyone.

[jamesh]

I hate to wade into the thick of things but here goes...

The bottom line is that seashell's description of life in San Diego is as absurd as me saying that San Diego is the perfect city for everyone.

I kind of think you are both correct. San Diego, like anywhere else, has it's issues and, as pointed out multiple times before, is compounded by the fact that it's a desirable place to live. It won't be the ideal location for everyone. Heck, Hawaii seems like it would be paradise until you scratch the surface and find out about all the problems related to cost-of-living and the economy.

But the way I (and I think many others) interpreted seashell's post was as a wake-up call for anyone potentially moving to SD with rose-colored glasses of how life is there. For people thinking "I live in Houston now and it sucks because there's so many people I have to wait in line for everything. I will move to SD because the people there are much more laid-back", I believe seashell is advising that such problems of course exist in SD as well.

As someone mentioned before, SD sells itself very well. I find there's a lot of noise you have to sift through to find the real deal when it comes to SD. I think people who've been to the city before can see the difference between the truth and the marketing but many people post on this forum (trust me on this one, I've been researching this forum nearly daily for the last three months ) with statements along the lines of "Am moving to SD in X months. Never been there before. Where's a good place to live?". Those people would probably benefit from seeing both sides of the coin.

My only real problem with the OP is a little too much dependence on generalizations to make his point. I think that may be irking you as well. I believe the generalizations were made to more effectively grab the reader's attention and make his point. It's not quite as effective to say "Many SD area beaches are closed an unusually high number of times due to runoff and sewage."

There was a previous post from someone that was flat-out anti-SD. The post was long and amusing, but a tad rambling and vitriolic. The post was obviously written to garner a reaction and as I recall it did: 5 pages or so worth before a moderator shut down the thread. (Incidentally: As soon as I read it I KNEW the poster had to either be from SF or lived a considerable amount of time in SF, which was later confirmed. Nobody but SF-dwellers would actually take the time to type so much rage. )

I am wondering if responses to seashell's post could be colored by that incident? If so, I think that it would be tragic that a potential useful message would be lost simply by poor timing.

[sonicman25]

I agree with a lot of what sdurbanite said. A lot of those things mentioned could be applied to my home city of Minneapolis. Some of those are just general city problems that go without saying no matter what city you want to live in. I do agree that you have to look at the whole picture when moving to a place like San Diego and consider both the positives and negatives.

[Jax]

Sonicman25 is right...you have to look at the whole picture when moving somewhere and decide if it's right for YOU...not the just whether or not it's right for the general public. Honestly, I miss living in San Diego and being out west. Florida doesn't cut it for me, even if it is cheaper here and all that. I loved the weather in San Diego and always will, made lots of friends there and feel the sting of loneliness here in my new FL home, met my husband there in SD, and so on. I found cheap rent there through living with a roommate, living in a friend's house (who just happened to be a doctor), etc. But see, that's my story and not everyone else's... My point with all that is that San Diego is one person's dream come true and another person's financial struggle. I agree with Sassberto about finding happiness out there. For those thinking of moving there, just analyze what's best for you as an individual/family, where you're at in life, and so on. It's a city with problems like every other city, but for some, it can be a great place to live.

[Huckleberry3911948]

Originally Posted by seashell

Five years ago, a job brought me to San Diego. On the day I moved here, July 5, 2002, the headline on the paper was: Home Median Price Soars to All-time high: $212k". That home now would cost a person about $640k. AND it's five years older.
Here are some realities you need to know:

HOUSING
*If you rent, you will pay a lot for a little. Ask about charges for water as well. There are basically 4 types of housing here to choose from:
1) old 1970's era apartments that are now "condos" Don't be fooled by the shiny new appliances. Ask about the water pipes, the foundation, the crime stats in even the nice neighborhoods.
2) old poorly built homes from the 1950's or 1960's that have lots of problems.
3) newer tract homes that look spiffy but be aware of your commuting costs, HOAs, mellaroos, high taxes.
4) new downtown condo towers with high costs and low resale.
*Be prepared to live in a much smaller place than you ever have and/or have at least one room mate.
TAXES
*If you buy, as a newcomer, you will pay premium taxes. Most people who have been here for years use special tax breaks such as "family trusts", so their tax rate may be $600 a year while yours will be $10,000 a year for the identical property next door. Do your homework.
*In areas with colleges, be aware of the student housing issues. You have several colleges and universities here with populations in the tens of thousands and they all need housing too.
AIR NOISE
Ask about airways. Planes zoom over many residential neighborhoods constantly- commercial and military.
*In high tourist areas, be aware that your life will be living next door to the non-stop (often drunken) vacationers, drivers, people people people. It is not pleasant.
COMMUTES
*Commutes during the fair, the racing season or the tourist season are horrendous.
*Commutes year around are insane because tens of thousands of commuters now live in Riverside county and commute into San Diego daily, so there are that many more cars, that much more pollution than say five years ago.
*Keep in mind that you live in a border town and there is an unbelievable amount of big truck traffic on the highways daily.
OVERCROWDING
*Get used to BEING IN LINE for everything. Shopping. The DMV. The cell phone store. Movies. Gas stations. Long lines.
LACK OF BASICS SUCH AS WATER, ROADS
There are too many people here and more hoping to move here and an inadequate infrastructure.
That means there are not enough roads, sewer pipes, electrical lines, fresh water to go around in the best of circumstances.
WATER AGAIN- pay attention
*Anyone moving here needs to think long and hard because San Diego is using it's final fallback water supplies now. In two years there has been less than four inches of rain. Nearly all the water here is imported from two sources that are tapped out. You will be drinking recycled sewer water.
POLLUTION
*Our beloved ocean is very sick. Every day beaches are shut due to sewage and other types of pollution. Here's a random example: on Memorial Day weekend we took guests to a north county beach and for miles, it was coated with sticky tar washing up. It was be there at your own risk. Oil spill. Kept pretty quiet so the tourists wouldn't be disturbed or distressed.
On Labor Day we tried again, taking guests to a popular beach. The beaches had been closed for five days but reopened for the big tourist weekend. When we entered the water we noticed the smell of sewage. We could taste it. We could see it. Only when we got out of the water and went to the water spout to rinse off did we see a very small sign warning that the water was contaminated with high fecal bacteria and that we entered the ocean at our own risk.
Routinely, for years, swimmers and surfers have gotten terrible viruses and illnesses from the water, such as meningitis. It is kept quiet so the tourism market will not be disturbed. Check out the health records for the city, county and state. See for yourself. Ask your family doctor.

BE AWARE OF WHAT YOU ARE GETTING INTO
*What we think we're moving to: a fabulous perfect permanent vacation place where we have come, visited and loved it so much we want to move here. No rain, no snow, and look at those gorgeous beach homes!
*Unless you are a multi-millionaire, here's your more likely story:
You will work hard to make ends meet. Often two jobs.
You will use hours a day just driving to where you need to go.
You will be too tired from working and driving to much enjoy the beach. You will probably get better beach time if you don't move here but take a great vacation here each year.
You will have air pollution, water pollution noise pollution and chemical pollution in your soils.
You will be surprised at how much construction there is and how dirty and noisy and burdensome it is for your daily life.
You will probably experience an increase in personal crimes and motor vehicle accidents from wherever you are coming from. Check out the DMV records, and the crime statistics. Crimes of violence and personal crimes are up again.
Remember that you are living in an international border county and city and there are lots of desperate people doing lots of desperate things. Use supreme caution in your everyday life. Keep your doors locked. Watch your back. Yes, even in La Jolla. I lived there for four years and had several personal crimes against me and had my home and car broken into. It was not unusual for the police search copters to use their spotlights in our neighborhood several times a month. We lived two blocks from the beach in a family neighborhood where homes start at about 2 million dollars.
Be prepared to feel increased stress and health problems as you live here. It is unavoidable.
Make sure you have a job when you come here. There are basically two types of jobs here: A high paying executive type position and a low paid service industry job. You will be competing for jobs with many many people.
And last, before you come, save money so that you can then leave. It's a long wait list, by the way, to get a rental truck to go OUT of the state. Make sure you have an exit plan for yourself in case things don't work out as you hoped.
Think it through and make an informed decision. The beach, the sun, the ocean just won't cut it for day to day living but it's unbeatable if you have a vacation. Be truly aware of wh at your real quality of life could be here.

Thanks for reading. I hope you each do your research.

very good post.
thanks
stephen s
san diego ca