Best Suburbs of San Diego (Irvine, Escondido: middle-class, apartment, rentals)

[ExilefromCa]

Hi everyone,

Our family is going to be moving to San Diego in a few months, and I would like some opinions on of SD's suburbs are the best for raising a family. We are from Irvine, and I would like to live in a suburban area that has a similar atmosphere (clean, safe, and modern). For those who have been to both cities, which San Diego suburbs are most like Irvine, in your opinion?

Here are some of the things we are looking for:

1) Newer community
2) Low crime/no gangs
3) Safe, family-friendly neighborhoods
4) Within driving distance of San Diego proper, but not in the city itself. My sister will be attending school in El Cajon and I will be working in Escondido, so we will need to commute to both cities on a daily basis. Because of this, we are looking mostly in the mid-to-north San Diego area.
5) Good shopping

Basically, I want an area that is culturally similar to Irvine. We've been bouncing around various cities for the last year (even took a trip to visit Redding in NorCal, thinking of buying some land there - yuk. What a mess!) and I really don't want to be too adventurous with this move. I just want a normal, middle-class SoCal suburb with pink stucco houses, a Target, and Ralph's Supermarket Yeah, it's kind of boring, but at least it's a safe bet!

Some of the areas we've been kicking around in our conversations have been: Poway, Scripps Ranch, Rancho San Bernardo, and Rancho Santa Fe. However, I can't seem to find very many apartment rentals in these areas Are we on the right track with these? Are we on the right track?

There are also a lot of names I see floating around like Mira Mesa, Linda Vista, La Mesa, Santee and Clairemont that I can't really get a read on (I've heard everything from "they're old dumps" to "they're great places to raise kids!"). We also did a little reading on Lakeside, which sounded nice in terms of geography, but we were scared away by stories about skinheads attacking ethnic minorities in the streets

Any help here would be hot, as I'm not all that familiar with SD's surrounding areas.

[jksouthbay88]

Originally Posted by ExilefromCa

Hi everyone,

Our family is going to be moving to San Diego in a few months, and I would like some opinions on of SD's suburbs are the best for raising a family. We are from Irvine, and I would like to live in a suburban area that has a similar atmosphere (clean, safe, and modern). For those who have been to both cities, which San Diego suburbs are most like Irvine, in your opinion?

Here are some of the things we are looking for:

1) Newer community
2) Low crime/no gangs
3) Safe, family-friendly neighborhoods
4) Within driving distance of San Diego proper, but not in the city itself. My sister will be attending school in El Cajon and I will be working in Escondido, so we will need to commute to both cities on a daily basis. Because of this, we are looking mostly in the mid-to-north San Diego area.
5) Good shopping

Basically, I want an area that is culturally similar to Irvine. We've been bouncing around various cities for the last year (even took a trip to visit Redding in NorCal, thinking of buying some land there - yuk. What a mess!) and I really don't want to be too adventurous with this move. I just want a normal, middle-class SoCal suburb with pink stucco houses, a Target, and Ralph's Supermarket Yeah, it's kind of boring, but at least it's a safe bet!

Some of the areas we've been kicking around in our conversations have been: Poway, Scripps Ranch, Rancho San Bernardo, and Rancho Santa Fe. However, I can't seem to find very many apartment rentals in these areas Are we on the right track with these? Are we on the right track?

There are also a lot of names I see floating around like Mira Mesa, Linda Vista, La Mesa, Santee and Clairemont that I can't really get a read on (I've heard everything from "they're old dumps" to "they're great places to raise kids!"). We also did a little reading on Lakeside, which sounded nice in terms of geography, but we were scared away by stories about skinheads attacking ethnic minorities in the streets

Any help here would be hot, as I'm not all that familiar with SD's surrounding areas.

Santee might be your best place if your living in the EastCo.San Bernado?I need help on that.Plus it's kind of tough to have an Irvine-type area in the East County just because it's not built up like Irvine.Linda Vista is about 85 no-15 yes,Mira Mesa 50/50,and Clairmont 65/35.Even though i said Santee,it's known by some as "KlanTee" because of a minor and deminshing KKK
presence.Most of the East County is called by some"Trailer Park COuntry" but I don't think it is true.

[ExilefromCa]

Since I'm posting here, I might as well share my little "horror story," just so everyone knows where I'm coming from. A few months ago, our family decided to visit Redding in Northern California, with the intent of renting a property and later buying land in the area. We were drawn in by the mountains and relatively cheap cost of living, and we made arrangements to view a rental property in a small suburb of Redding called Cottonwood. I had heard some dicey rumors about druggies and child molesters living in the Redding area, but I decided we'd give it a look anyway.

Well, to make a long story short, we took a two-day drive down from Montana (where I'm currently residing) and I almost had a heart attack when I saw the neighborhood we were going to be moving into it. We drove in around 8:00 at night, and the first thing I see is some dude standing on the side of the freeway with a backpack full of drugs and some kids at a gas station buying slurpees... wait a sec, those aren't slurpees that guy has in the back of his truck, are they?

Anyway, it just went from bad to worst. We went to see the rental property (which was advertised as a quiet little family neighborhood in the country) and found that the owner had installed a metal security door with no less than three deadbolts on her front door. Inside the house, every bedroom door had a deadbolt on it, and the whole house was wired up with an electronic security system. To make matters worst, the owner was extremely evasive about the quality of the city's drinking water and kept reassuring us that she had filters in the house and that the water was "safe to drink." She emphasized the filters so much that it really made me suspicious that something wasn't kosher in the drinking water in that place.

I've lived in some pretty rough neighborhoods, but Cottonwood almost made me want to sleep with the lights on. There was something that was just out of place about that town and that area - from the guy on the side of the freeway to the kids at the gas station, it gave me the creeps. It wasn't your run of the mill gang activity that you see in SoCal. We spent one night there and ran for our lives back to Montana :-)

So all I'm saying is that I don't want another "surprise" waiting for me after our next move. I know SoCal pretty well and I'm comfortable with the culture and general "feel" of the area. But, I want to make sure we move into a safe, clean neighborhood were we can just settle down and relax without seeing deadbolts on every door in the house!

[CrissCT]

I agree with JKSouthbay88 on Santee being a good choice. Poway (Poway actually fits the description of what you are looking for to a T) and Scripps Ranch might also be good options, but Rancho Bernardo and Rancho Santa Fe are probably too far of a drive to El Cajon.

[ExilefromCa]

Originally Posted by jksouthbay88

Santee might be your best place if your living in the EastCo.San Bernado?I need help on that.Plus it's kind of tough to have an Irvine-type area in the East County just because it's not built up like Irvine.Linda Vista is about 85 no-15 yes,Mira Mesa 50/50,and Clairmont 65/35.Even though i said Santee,it's known by some as "KlanTee" because of a minor and deminshing KKK
presence.Most of the East County is called by some"Trailer Park COuntry" but I don't think it is true.

Whoah, that's just what we're trying to avoid! I've seen enough tailer parks and KKK-type folks. I've got a pack of survivalists living right around the corner from me, and there's a weird cult just down the valley that's known to be stockpiling weapons. The town we moved into here in Montana, while billed as a resort town, is very much a "trailer trash" community, and we almost made the mistake of moving into a similar (but much worst) area in Northern California.


How's North County? I've actually been fishing for properties in North County (Poway, Scripps Ranch) more than I have been in East County.

What are the numbers you used above? Percent of good sections to bad sections?

[ExilefromCa]

Originally Posted by CrissCT

I agree with JKSouthbay88 on Santee being a good choice. Poway (Poway actually fits the description of what you are looking for to a T) and Scripps Ranch might also be good options, but Rancho Bernardo and Rancho Santa Fe are probably too far of a drive to El Cajon.

Poway sounds nice. What would be the driving time to El Cajon from Poway, San Bernardo, and Rancho Santa Fe?

[CrissCT]

Originally Posted by ExilefromCa

Poway sounds nice. What would be the driving time to El Cajon from Poway, San Bernardo, and Rancho Santa Fe?

Just FYI, it's Rancho Bernardo - no such place as San Bernardo. : )

Anyway, mapquest says about 30 minutes to El Cajon from Poway. Depends where in Poway you live. From Rancho Bernardo add another 15 minutes, Rancho Santa Fe, it would be at least an hour's drive.

I would just add that Rancho Santa Fe is quite expensive so unless you are very wealthy, probably won't find anything affordable there. It's a beautiful area though.

[jksouthbay88]

Originally Posted by ExilefromCa

Whoah, that's just what we're trying to avoid! I've seen enough tailer parks and KKK-type folks. I've got a pack of survivalists living right around the corner from me, and there's a weird cult just down the valley that's known to be stockpiling weapons. The town we moved into here in Montana, while billed as a resort town, is very much a "trailer trash" community, and we almost made the mistake of moving into a similar (but much worst) area in Northern California.


How's North County? I've actually been fishing for properties in North County (Poway, Scripps Ranch) more than I have been in East County.

What are the numbers you used above? Percent of good sections to bad sections?

Ooops
Sry
Me myself,very anti-North County but a lot of people like it because of the lifestyle up there.Everything is pretty much good.But it comes with a price.Just about every city up there is crazy expensive.Plus from the North County to El Cajon that's a wild commute.So someone else came up with a better choice(props to em because I forgot) look into PWY or Mira Mesa.It should be about a 15-25 min commute if you take the 15 to the 52.

[ExilefromCa]

Poway sounds to be just right for us, Criss. I'll do some digging and see if I can find some good apartment communities there. Rancho Santa Fe would probably be out of my price range.

As far as Rancho Bernardo and Rancho Santa Fe go, I'm going to give to get out my map and take another look at these places. I didn't realize that they were that far from El Cajon. The driving times you mention seem kind of extreme; I have a friend in Descanso, and he said it takes him about 45 minutes to commute from Descanso to Escondido (which looks like a pretty far drive on the map). Is there heavy traffing going into El Cajon that makes for a slower drive?

[ExilefromCa]

Originally Posted by jksouthbay88

Ooops
Sry
Me myself,very anti-North County but a lot of people like it because of the lifestyle up there.Everything is pretty much good.But it comes with a price.Just about every city up there is crazy expensive.Plus from the North County to El Cajon that's a wild commute.So someone else came up with a better choice(props to em because I forgot) look into PWY or Mira Mesa.It should be about a 15-25 min commute if you take the 15 to the 52.

Thanks JK! I didn't realize how bad the commutes would be. I'm going to have do some research on driving times between north county and El Cajon. Poway might just be the way to go, if I can find some good rental properties there.