Oceanside, Vista or Temecula? What is the best city to buy a home and raise a newborn?

[Lucas'smommy]

Thanks for all the great advice everyone! I really appreciate it! We looked into all the areas you guys have suggested and we can't seem to afford anything other than a small condo in our price range. The prices of houses have gone up so much these past few months. We loved the San Elijo area the most since it seems that most people who live there are young families like us but even the small condos there are over $400k right now. One of the realtors there told us that houses in that area have gone up over $100k just in the last month! We loved Shadowridge too but it is pricey there as well. I am more concerned about safety and a good friendly neighborhood than the house itself. I would love to live in a place where I am friends with my neighbors and my son can play outside with me feeling at ease about it. After MUCH consideration we have decided to move to Temecula. I hope we are making the right decision for our family and mostly our son. Thank you guys for taking the time to help me out!

[NorthSDLifer]

Originally Posted by Lucas'smommy

Thanks for all the great advice everyone! I really appreciate it! We looked into all the areas you guys have suggested and we can't seem to afford anything other than a small condo in our price range. The prices of houses have gone up so much these past few months. We loved the San Elijo area the most since it seems that most people who live there are young families like us but even the small condos there are over $400k right now. One of the realtors there told us that houses in that area have gone up over $100k just in the last month! We loved Shadowridge too but it is pricey there as well. I am more concerned about safety and a good friendly neighborhood than the house itself. I would love to live in a place where I am friends with my neighbors and my son can play outside with me feeling at ease about it. After MUCH consideration we have decided to move to Temecula. I hope we are making the right decision for our family and mostly our son. Thank you guys for taking the time to help me out!

Temecula has a rep for being a safer choice for families over areas in North County, especially the cities mentioned, along with Escondido. By "safer," I just mean a higher percentage of low-low-crime areas and schools with good or better test scores. When I saw someone mention San Elijo Hills, I thought "good luck" on 375K. We live near there, on the other side of the hill, and 375 might get you into the Discovery-San Elijo Middle-San Marcos High trio, but you need homes for sale.

The natural surroundings of the Temecula Valley are very nice, albeit the housing stock is generally blah -- but people don't move there for Craftsman-style homes. Can say the same for a lot of North County, though. You saw Shadowridge, for example.

[Lucas'smommy]

Originally Posted by NorthSDLifer

Temecula has a rep for being a safer choice for families over areas in North County, especially the cities mentioned, along with Escondido. By "safer," I just mean a higher percentage of low-low-crime areas and schools with good or better test scores. When I saw someone mention San Elijo Hills, I thought "good luck" on 375K. We live near there, on the other side of the hill, and 375 might get you into the Discovery-San Elijo Middle-San Marcos High trio, but you need homes for sale.

The natural surroundings of the Temecula Valley are very nice, albeit the housing stock is generally blah -- but people don't move there for Craftsman-style homes. Can say the same for a lot of North County, though. You saw Shadowridge, for example.

I agree with you. Thanks for your feedback! I never thought we would ever be leaving San Diego but even going up as high as $400k doesn't get us a small home in a good neighborhood. Maybe if we had looked last year we would have been able to find a place but not anymore.

[Pedro2000]

Originally Posted by oddstray

Amount of house for your money - advantage Temecula

Commute - huge advantage Oceanside/Vista
Weather - huge advantage Oceanside/Vista
Walkability - advantage Oceanside/Vista
etc.

There are pockets of not-so-good in Oceanside and in Vista. If you stay away from them, you should have no worries about crime.

I don't know enough to comment about schools in any of these areas.

I would not say Vista is a walkable area. Maybe certain parts, but the reality is Vista, San Marcos and so on are really 'suburban' type of communities with big stores like walmart and target and traffic. So if you were to pick Temecula vs Vista or San Marcos and so on, it would be more about better commute than walkability.
I mean you can walk to the farmers market in downtown old Temecula and visit all the little shops.
Nice area to walk. I wouldn't want to live there, but to me, walkability and Vista don't really go hand in hand.

[sdhkshdcny09]

I'm pretty sure $375,000 could have gotten you a home in SM. Maybe you wouldn't have been in the southern part of the district (the wealthiest), but it would allow you a place in East or North San Marcos, which has its fair share of high performing schools. Overall, SM is a safe city. Correct me if I'm wrong, but SM had the second lowest crime rate of all incorporated cities in SD County for the year 2012.

These schools are all outside of the more affluent southern areas and are on par with Temecula schools:

Knob Hill Elem API: 905
Richland Elem: 888
Paloma Elem: 916
Twin Oaks Elem: 898

Woodland Middle: 888

Mission Hills High: 841

[oddstray]

Originally Posted by Pedro2000

I would not say Vista is a walkable area. Maybe certain parts, but the reality is Vista, San Marcos and so on are really 'suburban' type of communities with big stores like walmart and target and traffic. So if you were to pick Temecula vs Vista or San Marcos and so on, it would be more about better commute than walkability.
I mean you can walk to the farmers market in downtown old Temecula and visit all the little shops.
Nice area to walk. I wouldn't want to live there, but to me, walkability and Vista don't really go hand in hand.

But you have to drive to downtown old Temecula before you could walk to the farmers market there. Temecula is no more or less walkable than Vista or San Marcos - namely it has pockets that are walkable interspersed with swaths that are not.

[1357brl]

I don't know if you will be able to find much in your price range in San Elijo Hills