moving from cent. coast to vista (Oceanside, Escondido: real estate, rental, crime)

[baabgwirl]

Moving from central coast to vista and after i sign my lease i hear the not so great things.. i dont know the areas here at all and the house is off e vista wy n a lil south of anza.. please help me with opinions and experiences in this area because i will forfeit $ to not move my pre teen daughter into a bad area

[NorthSDLifer]

Longtime, although former, Vistan here. Around E Vista Way, farther from Bobier the better, generally. I say this not having reviewed crime stats anytime recently. Some of the cutest homes in Vista are close by, clustered on streets off Vale Terrace Drive, I guess SW of there. From Vale Terrace to Eucalyptus. I hope that helps. If you want to PM/DM me your street, I can pinpoint it more. Or someone else will chime in.

On not-so-great things: Again, without perusing crime stats, I would venture to say that Vista is a generally safe, quiet, kinda boring suburb. Having said that, I'm sure some areas still have gang/neo-gang issues. Cheaper to live in Vista than the coast, so it has a large immigrant population, reflected in what you see in the north side of town -- Bobier and N. Santa Fe, for example.

Weather is great, though. The rural/semirural areas of town, inc. unincorp parts, mostly north side, are nice and hilly. Some with expensive real estate.

If you are willing to break your lease, the south side of Vista has a better reputation for safety and schools, namely the master-planned Shadowridge neighborhood (late 80s-90s-built, IIRC) and the neighborhoods off Lake Boulevard near Oceanside border. (Some streets are in fact Oceanside but are served by Vista school district in some cases. I'm not sure is Rancho Buena Vista HS still has a better rep than Vista High. And not sure if that's always been deserved.) Lake Elem and Madison Middle over there on the O'side border were considered pretty good schools when I was still living in Vista.

Retail is hit and miss. Vista does have an old-style Main Street area, but it pales to that of Carlsbad and Encinitas. Escondido's is also probably better. The newer area across from there, Vista Village, was pretty well done, though. There are no huge parking lots separating everything, a look that I despise. It feels like a little walkable entertainment district. The best grocery store in town, Frazier Farms, is also near there. Off Sycamore, you can find Target and Walmart shopping centers. Heck, way south near Carlsbad, Vista has a shiny new Target, but that would seem a world away from your rental in terms of a suburb's boundaries. But now I am rambling.

[janineg]

In terms of middle schools, try to move to area within the boundaries of Madison or Roosevelt: http://www.vusd.k12.ca.us/Department...Boundaries.pdf
Go to greatschools to read reviews.

[baabgwirl]

Thank you for your useful knowledge.. !!

[davdaven]

Where on the Central Coast are you from? Vista most closely resembles Santa Maria in my opinion. It's not bad per se, but it's no Santa Barbara or San Luis Obispo!