Thinking about buying a home in Spring Valley (San Diego, Vista: violent crime, neighborhood)

[meme2016]

I am looking to buy a home in Spring Valley. I hear that there are pockets of good areas. Does anyone know where they are. Also, are there neighborhood watch established there too?

[moved]

Use the search feature for the CD Forum, using the words "Spring Valley," and you should find the answers to your questions.

[RosieSD]

May I ask why you're attracted to Spring Valley? And, are you looking at homes in specific areas? If we know where you're looking it might be easier to give feedback.

Spring Valley overall has traditionally had one of the highest levels of violent crime in the unincorporated area. But, as you note, there are pockets that are safer so you are smart to be asking questions.

As a general rule of thumb, the closer you get to the Rancho San Diego area (parts of which are technically in Spring Valley) and the La Mesa border the better the area gets. The closer you are to the intersection of Jamacha with 125 and 54, the iffier things are.

In other words, the further east you get in Spring Valley, the better the area will generally be.

It's a bit of pain to use, but you can check crime statistics for surrounding areas of specific addresses here: Crime Mapping - Building Safer Communities! (Be sure to set the search for the last six months, otherwise you only see the last week, which doesn't give you a full picture).

If you have kids (or even if you don't), you'll also want to pay attention to the schools serving different parts of Spring Valley, especially at the high school level. Spring Valley is part of the Grossmont Union High School District and there are a lot of differences between the Grossmont High Schools. The three main high schools serving Spring Valley are Monte Vista, Steele Canyon, and Mount Miguel. In terms of academic quality, I'd rank them in this order: Steele Canyon, Monte Vista and Mount Miguel, with Steele Canyon being heads and shoulders above the other two. The differences in the high schools will be reflected in the home prices so even if you don't have kids, your home will be a better resale value if you're served by one of the "better" high schools in Grossmont Union like Steele Canyon.

Another issue that may be important to some is that shopping and restaurant options are somewhat limited or inconvenient to get to from some areas of Spring Valley. This may not seem like a big deal at first, but if you have to drive 15 minutes to get to a good restaurant or a decent sized supermarket, it can begin to bug you. Again, the further east you get (towards Rancho SD and La Mesa), the more convenient and plentiful shopping and restaurant options will be. (Although no one would call this area a hot spot for nightlife and entertainment).

Good luck with your home search.

[bigdaddy5]

If there are pockets of good areas, they must be pretty dang small.

[USDefault]

Originally Posted by meme2016

I am looking to buy a home in Spring Valley.

Why. It's mostly a dump. Sure you could buy in the newer construction areas, which are safer -- but for the same money, you could be in a superior neighborhood with much better schools. Do schools matter to you? If so, last place I'd send my kids is Sweetwater, a black hole of incompetence and corruption.

[RosieSD]

Originally Posted by USDefault

...last place I'd send my kids is Sweetwater, a black hole of incompetence and corruption.

Spring Valley isn't in the Sweetwater District. Spring Valley is part of the Spring Valley-La Mesa School District for elementary through Middle School, and then part of the Grossmont Union High School District for high school.

[hkbruin]

Hi Meme, are you from the east county area? Have you thought about La Mesa? I'm from there and think that would be a more desirable area. How soon are you thinking? This year? Next year?

[TristramShandy]

I lived on Dictionary Hill for four years and never had a problem there - - incredibly quiet (except for coyotes). As another poster said, though, almost all of my activity (shopping and such) was towards Rancho San Diego. The areas around 125 are dicey (for San Diego - - not bad versus bad areas in other cities).