San Diego after 8 months - reflections/questions...

[pi314]

I think that's very likely what Ill do, though I just thought the end of my lease may be a good time to re-evaluate. At this point, I don't know what they would raise my rent to for next year - as I've heard people saying $1300-$1400 for a 1br is normal in downtown, much of an increase would have me wondering if I should move, even staying within downtown. Though I should note that in my experience when looking, I didn't see anything below $1400 - and what I did find around $1450ish was in a less attractive part of downtown (at least to me...) Perhaps I happened to rent at a bad time of year, or my area of downtown is more expensive than most? Obviously, moving itself has a cost (and perhaps higher for me since I wouldn't be able to go the U-Haul route...), so saving a tiny amount wouldn't necessarily be worth it.

Also, while downtown works reasonably well, it does sometimes get a bit loud - and it does seem like there are other areas that may work as well. Obviously, most won't have the same amount of walkable amenities as downtown, but may make up for that in other ways (costing significantly less, or perhaps being able to walk to the beach...) Transit access is also going to be an issue, though all the areas I mentioned have a reasonably direct route to UCSD (either the 30/150 buses or the UCSD Hillcrest shuttle), and you can get downtown with a bit of patience. That is one area where downtown is hard to beat - perhaps only Old Town has more transit options, though there doesn't exactly seem to be any apartments there... Getting a license/car (if possible) would obviously alleviate that, but would add many new costs... And driving to downtown wouldn't be something Id want to do unless I wasn't planning on drinking at all...

Hence, I just figured it may be worth reevaluating everything - though a lot depends on what my lease renewal offer is and what the cost of the alternatives would be. Perhaps I should have waited until then, but am just trying to be prepared...

[earlyretirement]

Originally Posted by pi314

Also, while downtown works reasonably well, it does sometimes get a bit loud .

Yep. This would be the most annoying thing for me. Several of my friends in San Diego have lived in San Diego at one point. But almost none of them live there now as most have "outgrown" it. And all have mentioned the annoying noise.

I've lived in the heart of various cities so I know what it's like. But that would get old fast like I mentioned.