ARRRGGG! Trying to figure the best area for our family is drving me crazy! (San Diego: for sale)

[LHudson]

At first we were set on Tierrasata, but my husband is not so keen on it for some reason and I don't know how diverse it actually is.

Then.. onto 4S. 4S looks great on paper. It's got the schools, the master plan, and is very family friendly. But the mello roos are very high and it seems.. so far out. For those of you who know the Austin area, 4S kind of seems like Round Rock is to Austin. And since I know Austin well, I can say with conviction that I would never live in Round Rock. (This probably makes sense to no one. )

My husband wants to live in either La Jolla, UTC, or Point Loma area, but I don't think we could ever afford to buy in those areas (our limit is 450-600K) and frankly, I don't want to keep moving my kids around as one starts Kinder this coming fall.

Here is what we're looking for:
Number 1, diversity. We must live in a diverse area where many races/ethnicities are represented. This is very important to us as our family is diverse.

Two, schools are important and they must be diverse as well.

Three, we will rent at first but ultimately we want to buy a 3 bedroom townhome - with a garage - that is close (short driving distance) to a park and soccer fields. We are not interested in buying a house.

BTW, we won't have a commute as we have a home business.

Any suggestions based on what we're looking for?

Thanks!

[mewzikguy]

This is just my opinion having taught in SD for many years:
- Poway/ Sabre Springs/ Rancho Bernardo/ Scripps Ranch areas ( very nice area around Miramar Ranch Elementary School.)
- Mira Mesa ( around Sandburg/ Hage/ Ericsson Elementary Schools )
- North Park/ Hillcrest/ Mission Hills ( more urban, very diverse schools)

Other people will have suggestions I'm sure. Don't be afraid of inner city schools in SD. . .there are 3 pretty high-performing urban districts in the country: Charlotte, San Diego, and Austin
I have taught in Tierrasanta for years, you would like that area ! Have many former students who went to school there, most all went to good Universities and are very successful now

[LHudson]

Originally Posted by mewzikguy

This is just my opinion having taught in SD for many years:
- Poway/ Sabre Springs/ Rancho Bernardo/ Scripps Ranch areas ( very nice area around Miramar Ranch Elementary School.)
- Mira Mesa ( around Sandburg/ Hage/ Ericsson Elementary Schools )
- North Park/ Hillcrest/ Mission Hills ( more urban, very diverse schools)

Other people will have suggestions I'm sure. Don't be afraid of inner city schools in SD. . .there are 3 pretty high-performing urban districts in the country: Charlotte, San Diego, and Austin
I have taught in Tierrasanta for years, you would like that area ! Have many former students who went to school there, most all went to good Universities and are very successful now

Thanks, Mewziguy. You were the first person to introduce me to Tierrasanta. I had never heard of it before.

[Beth56]

You are probably correct about not being able to afford a home in the areas you mentioned. Below is the MLS for the San Diego area which should give you an idea of what areas are affordable for you to move into:

San Diego Homes For Sale (http://sdhomesforsale.com/listings_family/index.htm - broken link)


Since the previous poster taught in San Diego, I would take his suggestions under consideration. Other than that, you may wish to look for Distinguished Schools in the areas you are considering. Below is a link for City-Data info on San Diego which includes their scores on various schools and also provides % of ethnicity throughout the area. If you are interested in a certain area, call the chamber or school to inquire about what you want to know if you need specifics.

San Diego, California (CA) Detailed Profile - relocation, real estate, travel, jobs, hospitals, schools, crime, news, sex offenders


Perhaps you need to take a trip out to the area and look around. It's difficult trying to provide information to someone else about where to live. Do your homework, then come out and look at the areas you are considering to see if any of them meet your expectations. That's my best suggestion.

[NYSD1995]

The question of schools is important: how do you feel about an area with good elementaries but not-as-good middle and high schools?

What is diverse to you? All of Southern California will be diverse compared to 99% of this country. But be aware Poway and RB are 60% white, 30% asian, 10% latino, vs. a high-scoring inner city school which may be 20/30/30/10 white/african-american/latino/asian, etc...

If you have to have top-rated (9+on GreatSchools) high and middle in your local schools it is very tough without being far out from the city. Your options are essentially Scripps Ranch, RP, University City, Coronado, La Jolla, Henry (Del Cerro), not sure about Point Loma High these days but is probably still good. These are very expensive areas. Mira Mesa would be the "value" option.

However there are a lot elementary options in metro SD: the complex of schools at Liberty Station, Albert Einstein Charter (K-8), Good elementaries are in Mission Hills, Florence in Hillcrest is still supposed to be good, Hearst in Del Cerro, Hardy next to SDSU and a ton north of 8 in Del Cerro/San Carlos/Allied Gardens/La Mesa, older homes on larger lots than north county and a much more classic socal vibe.

[LHudson]

Thanks, guys. Yes, I am doing my homework now so we will be prepared when we come out in April. Actually, I've been doing my HW for several months now thanks to this forum! Hopefully, we will have our list narrowed down so we can look closely at our chosen areas - it gets too overwhelming if we look at too many areas.

Keep coming with the suggestions!

[sdurbanite]

Why not look into eastern Chula Vista? It's a very diverse area. Though Mexicans are the majority, you'll find Black, White and Asian all living together with few problems. Not sure about the schools, but my friends who live there have never complained about them.

Plenty of shopping and restaurants to choose from, but know that they will be of the chain variety.

[RD5050]

The below charts will give you an idea of what average home prices are in each area of San Diego.

DQNews - San Diego Union Tribune Zip Code Chart (http://www.dqnews.com/ZIPSDUT.shtm - broken link)

DQNews - San Diego Union Tribune Zip Code Chart (http://www.dqnews.com/ZIPSDUT2007.shtm - broken link)

The following websites have pretty good Demographics and Description data for each neighborhood:

Specific for Tierrasanta:
San Diego Tierrasanta Demographics - Neighborhood Demographics

Neigborhoods within City of San Diego:
San Diego County San Diego Neighborhood Information

Cities within San Diego County:
San Diego County Neighborhood Information

And here is yet another Demographics website, which includes an ethnicity breakdown by zipcode:

It's a little tricky to pull it up by zipcode, so use the "View Level" at the top of the chart
Moderator cut: link to a competitors site removed

[CrissCT]

Yes the mello roos in 4S can be high, but it really isn't "far out", we are much closer to the ocean than Poway and easily accessible to many areas. There are also a few older neighborhoods next to 4S that don't have mello roos but still go to the same schools if you want to check them out.