San Diego Scene (Long Beach, Carlsbad, Encinitas: rent, houses, neighborhood)

[supercad55]

Plenty of rentals for that price in North Park. We live in hillcrest and pay $1050 for a 650 sqft one bedroom. Keep checking craigslist and if you know anyone in NP or SD let them look for you. It's better to be here than to call may not ever get a call back. Most are fake on cl but some are real also. We found this place 6 months ago right across from balboa park and love it.

[sdlife619]

I would definitely recommend Normal Heights. Although it's gentrifying and becoming slightly more uppity, it's low key, still a real "old school" neighborhood with some cool off the wall people, and away from the hipsterish, pretentious North Park.

Before the gentrification of North Park and Normal Heights, you had hipsters that were more rugged and businesses that have been their for generations that catered to the original longtime residents, plus rents were cheap as the areas used to be a "No Go" zone in certain parts after dark because of how gritty they used to be. But unfortunately, new urbanism, and millennials that want to live in the city have effed that all up by having to have everything be trendy and expensive. BTW I am a millennial and I hate that ****.

So the dry cleaners, the barber shop, the tire shop, small mom n pop market have all gone away, or are slowly going away. As they are being replaced by uppity hair salons,yoga gyms,art galleries, pet salons, and bearded hipsters that are opening up craft brew spots all over the place. It all gets old pretty fast, and repetitive since it seems like everybody wants to own the same kind of business block after block.

If you love coffee and want to be around people that aren't a bunch of stuck up "yuppies", try LeStat's off Adams Ave in Normal Heights. It's a great coffee joint too.

[Port Pitt Ash]

Originally Posted by Sarah1111

My question was, as I described myself, do you think I could meet like minded people? From what I've read, people seem to talk about bros, bad clubs, and flaky personalities as the prevalent culture in San Diego.

I have a good friend who moved from Portland to San Diego a few years ago and she's still dealing with this stuff. Very outgoing and down-to-earth sort, but she's even had some trouble with meetup type stuff as well. Originally from outside of LA. Can't speak to the other stuff, but she says she gets a fair amount of flakes, which must say something with her experience being LA.

I personally don't remember much from my time visiting, but it has never been one of the places I've ever considered living. Lived in Portland for a while and liked it.

[Sarah1111]

Originally Posted by Port Pitt Ash

I have a good friend who moved from Portland to San Diego a few years ago and she's still dealing with this stuff. Very outgoing and down-to-earth sort, but she's even had some trouble with meetup type stuff as well. Originally from outside of LA. Can't speak to the other stuff, but she says she gets a fair amount of flakes, which must say something with her experience being LA.

I personally don't remember much from my time visiting, but it has never been one of the places I've ever considered living. Lived in Portland for a while and liked it.

Thanks, that's interesting. Did she move for a job or for the place? I very down to earth and not super outgoing so I'm wondering how I would fare. The two main things I am interested in there is the weather and an ocean I can swim in. I am a Portland native originally.

[Sarah1111]

Originally Posted by sdlife619

I would definitely recommend Normal Heights. Although it's gentrifying and becoming slightly more uppity, it's low key, still a real "old school" neighborhood with some cool off the wall people, and away from the hipsterish, pretentious North Park.

Before the gentrification of North Park and Normal Heights, you had hipsters that were more rugged and businesses that have been their for generations that catered to the original longtime residents, plus rents were cheap as the areas used to be a "No Go" zone in certain parts after dark because of how gritty they used to be. But unfortunately, new urbanism, and millennials that want to live in the city have effed that all up by having to have everything be trendy and expensive. BTW I am a millennial and I hate that ****.

So the dry cleaners, the barber shop, the tire shop, small mom n pop market have all gone away, or are slowly going away. As they are being replaced by uppity hair salons,yoga gyms,art galleries, pet salons, and bearded hipsters that are opening up craft brew spots all over the place. It all gets old pretty fast, and repetitive since it seems like everybody wants to own the same kind of business block after block.

If you love coffee and want to be around people that aren't a bunch of stuck up "yuppies", try LeStat's off Adams Ave in Normal Heights. It's a great coffee joint too.

Thanks, yeah I noticed shop after shop in North Park was the typical reclaimed wood, Edison light bulb aesthetic. Which I do like if done well, but most in that neighborhood seemed very "let's just throw up a hipster joint".

[RosieSD]

You REALLY need to look at Normal Heights. I have spent a lot of time in Portland (my son used to live there) and Normal Heights comes closer to the Portland vibe than North Park. The two areas are very close to each other, but have different feels. You'll find less hipster in Normal Heights and more of a community mix. Cheaper rents too. And, the bars and coffee houses along Adams Avenue are more down to earth places to hang out, especially if you don't want to be surrounded by 20-something college kids trying to act hip. University Heights, South Park, and Kensington are also nice areas. They're close to the action in North Park if you want to hang out there, but have their own community vibe that is different than North Park's.

If you want to go a little inland, La Mesa village is about to undergo a renaissance in terms of new restaurants and shops. If you want to be close to the beach, try Point Loma. If you want a developing area downtown, try the East Village or Golden Hill. Depending on where you will be working, you may also want to look at some of the northern coastal communities (i.e., Solana Beach, Encinitas).

Nothing against North Park, but if you are wiping San Diego off of consideration based solely on one tiny little area, you are doing yourself a disservice. That's like saying I don't like Portland because I hate the Pearl District. There's much more to Portland than one area, and the same is true in San Diego County.

[Sarah1111]

Originally Posted by supercad55

Plenty of rentals for that price in North Park. We live in hillcrest and pay $1050 for a 650 sqft one bedroom. Keep checking craigslist and if you know anyone in NP or SD let them look for you. It's better to be here than to call may not ever get a call back. Most are fake on cl but some are real also. We found this place 6 months ago right across from balboa park and love it.

Wow, I am kind of amazed at the price discrepancies people seem to see here. In other threads people scoff at someone saying they only want to pay $1000 for a studio. It's so difficult to get a good idea from Craigslist as so many are fake and sites that give you average rents in an area are never accurate. Unfortunately, I don't know anyone in the area.

[RosieSD]

Originally Posted by Sarah1111

Wow, I am kind of amazed at the price discrepancies people seem to see here. In other threads people scoff at someone saying they only want to pay $1000 for a studio. It's so difficult to get a good idea from Craigslist as so many are fake and sites that give you average rents in an area are never accurate. Unfortunately, I don't know anyone in the area.

Yes, you do have to be careful about Craiglist ads. But as long as you aren't sending a deposit somewhere without actually seeing the apartment in person first, you should be OK.
You may also want to check out Apartments.com and Zillow.com as counter points to Craigslist.

One thing to keep in mind that isn't really a "scam" is that often the online ads fudge a bit on where the rental is really located. For instance, the ad will say that the rental is in North Park, but in reality it is in the much less desirable area of City Heights.

If you haven't yet found it, the site crimemapping.com will let you look at crime data for specific addresses, which can be helpful in getting a sense of the neighborhood if you are looking at things from a distance. Be sure to set the search for six months of data; the default setting is only for the last week, which will give you a false sense of security. I'd also recommend that you do a search for your current address so that you have a baseline for comparison.

And, yes, apartments exist in your price range, but you will want to be prepared to jump on them. Also, be aware that landlords can be somewhat picky about who they rent to, since they can get a lot of applications for apartments. The San Diego rental market is very competitive and lower priced decent units in nicer areas can get lots of applications and be snapped up very quickly.

Again, that doesn't mean that you won't be able to find something in your price range -- but you may need to be a little flexible and open minded about locations and your budget, and cast a wider net to find the right place.

Good luck with your move!

[Sarah1111]

Originally Posted by RosieSD

You REALLY need to look at Normal Heights. I have spent a lot of time in Portland (my son used to live there) and Normal Heights comes closer to the Portland vibe than North Park. The two areas are very close to each other, but have different feels. You'll find less hipster in Normal Heights and more of a community mix. Cheaper rents too. And, the bars and coffee houses along Adams Avenue are more down to earth places to hang out, especially if you don't want to be surrounded by 20-something college kids trying to act hip. University Heights, South Park, and Kensington are also nice areas. They're close to the action in North Park if you want to hang out there, but have their own community vibe that is different than North Park's.

If you want to go a little inland, La Mesa village is about to undergo a renaissance in terms of new restaurants and shops. If you want to be close to the beach, try Point Loma. If you want a developing area downtown, try the East Village or Golden Hill. Depending on where you will be working, you may also want to look at some of the northern coastal communities (i.e., Solana Beach, Encinitas).

Nothing against North Park, but if you are wiping San Diego off of consideration based solely on one tiny little area, you are doing yourself a disservice. That's like saying I don't like Portland because I hate the Pearl District. There's much more to Portland than one area, and the same is true in San Diego County.

Thanks, I will check out Normal Heights. I would never write off a place based on a small area. I have visited San Diego several times and stayed in small pockets. This last time when I went there to interview I drove around and got a look many parts of the city. Places people had said were cool just seemed a little off to me, but I can't really compare the culture to SF to the culture in SD. Two totally different things. Just used to a different vibe and type of people. I would definitely be interested in the smaller beach town culture (Encinitas) but since I am single right now I think it would be better to be in a more happening area for social reasons. I would be working near Torrey Pines, so all those places seem like a reasonable drive.

[Sarah1111]

Originally Posted by RosieSD

And, yes, apartments exist in your price range, but you will want to be prepared to jump on them. Also, be aware that landlords can be somewhat picky about who they rent to, since they can get a lot of applications for apartments. The San Diego rental market is very competitive and lower priced decent units in nicer areas can get lots of applications and be snapped up very quickly.

Yes, I know about that all too well! I went open houses in SF with 30 people in line to look at the apt. It was crazy. Finally scored a rent controlled apt, so I learned the things you need to do in order to make yourself stick out. I also have no pets so that helps.