Your opinions please on Spring Valley

[SD Observer]

Originally Posted by jimhcom

It's lovely, you can be lulled to sleep at night by the sound of gunshots, and have your house painted for free by the local youth.

Section-8 housing + gangs = decline of a city !

[dhe]

Interesting this thread should pop back up as I've learned a great deal more about Spring Valley since posting it. Here is what I have learned.

East of the 125 but not in the Hills, Spring Valley ranges from extremely trashy to gang-bang dangerous to somewhat liveable yet totally run down neighborhoods. Things change from street to street and from house to house. Everyone has bars on their windows. When you drive past the people they look at you like they want to kill you.

In the hills of Spring Valley there are a lot of older homes but the neighborhoods feel about the same as the older parts of Santee. Not yet run-down but obviously older and declining. Few bars and the people seem ok.

West of the 125 (about a mile deep) there is a small strip of land considered to be Spring Valley just before it becomes Encanto. I have found the nicest neighborhoods to be in this area; between Paradise Valley Road to the south and and Troy/Palm to the North. The houses don't have bars on the windows, are generally acceptable in appearances, the neighborhoods are tidy, and when you drive past the people they seem indifferent. The houses are clearly older but most people seem to be maintaining the paint/years/roofs and things look nice enough. It isn't great, but this area is significantly nicer than the majority of Spring Valley to the west of 125.

The primary shopping area is along the East side of the 125 between Paradise Valley and Jamacha. It's not a great place but it's good enough.

I have also found that Spring Valley has very poor soil for building. The majority of homes in the valley have cracks in their foundations. I have looked at 10 homes currently on the market that have severe failure in the foundations, causing giant upheavals and tearing the walls from the ceiling. A "good" home in the valley has only small foundation cracks with minor slopes in the flooring. Anything in the MLS in Spring Valley that is "cheap", is priced such because you're going to find a giant rip down the center of the house; often so bad that you stumble to walk around.

Also check National Sex Offender Registry whenever considering a neighborhood. Spring Valley has child molestors all over the place. Live close to elementary schools to stay away from these monsters.

In summary, stay out of the valley part of Spring Valley and things are OK. I wouldn't say any part of it is "nice". But there are areas that restore your hope in humanity and make you think your neighbors might actually smile and talk to you on occasion. It doesn't seem like any part of this area is being considered for rehabilitation so I expect to see Spring Valley to continue to decline and wouldn't be surprised if much of the area is eventually labeled blight.

[SD Observer]

Originally Posted by dhe

Interesting this thread should pop back up as I've learned a great deal more about Spring Valley since posting it. Here is what I have learned.

East of the 125 but not in the Hills, Spring Valley ranges from extremely trashy to gang-bang dangerous to somewhat liveable yet totally run down neighborhoods. Things change from street to street and from house to house. Everyone has bars on their windows. When you drive past the people they look at you like they want to kill you.

In the hills of Spring Valley there are a lot of older homes but the neighborhoods feel about the same as the older parts of Santee. Not yet run-down but obviously older and declining. Few bars and the people seem ok.

West of the 125 (about a mile deep) there is a small strip of land considered to be Spring Valley just before it becomes Encanto. I have found the nicest neighborhoods to be in this area; between Paradise Valley Road to the south and and Troy/Palm to the North. The houses don't have bars on the windows, are generally acceptable in appearances, the neighborhoods are tidy, and when you drive past the people they seem indifferent. The houses are clearly older but most people seem to be maintaining the paint/years/roofs and things look nice enough. It isn't great, but this area is significantly nicer than the majority of Spring Valley to the west of 125.

The primary shopping area is along the East side of the 125 between Paradise Valley and Jamacha. It's not a great place but it's good enough.

I have also found that Spring Valley has very poor soil for building. The majority of homes in the valley have cracks in their foundations. I have looked at 10 homes currently on the market that have severe failure in the foundations, causing giant upheavals and tearing the walls from the ceiling. A "good" home in the valley has only small foundation cracks with minor slopes in the flooring. Anything in the MLS in Spring Valley that is "cheap", is priced such because you're going to find a giant rip down the center of the house; often so bad that you stumble to walk around.

Also check National Sex Offender Registry whenever considering a neighborhood. Spring Valley has child molestors all over the place. Live close to elementary schools to stay away from these monsters.

In summary, stay out of the valley part of Spring Valley and things are OK. I wouldn't say any part of it is "nice". But there are areas that restore your hope in humanity and make you think your neighbors might actually smile and talk to you on occasion. It doesn't seem like any part of this area is being considered for rehabilitation so I expect to see Spring Valley to continue to decline and wouldn't be surprised if much of the area is eventually labeled blight.

Was Spring Valley ever nice ? I don't know much about the town except from the threads I've read here on the forum. It all seems so negative and hopeless in SV.

All I read is about the gang punks, mean people, section-8 housing, crummy looking houses, prostitutes, tweekers and drugs.

When did all of the decent people leave and why so fast ? Pretty scary.

Can any SV turn back the tide of blight ?

[stormy73]

We just looked at a house in La Presa area on Saint George off sweetwater right next to the vons..
Could somebody PLEASE help us by telling us how the neighborhood is.
There is good and bad everywhere and for the prices of the houses i know we artent gonna have a white picked fence in a perfect community...
But I have read soooo much about how bad it is there.. ANYONE actually live over there that can give me an honest opinion?

[Tony riggio]

I just bought a house in Spring Valley. I would suggest that you look on Dictionary Hill above Apple and east of 125. There are a lot of very nice houses there with great views and they are well built. The prices are more reasonable there than most places of similar beauty in SD. They are Freeway convenient, and the money you save will allow you to send your kids to a private shool and there are a few good ones in the vicinity.

[Carrie2979]

I grew up in Spring Valley and though it has changed over the years (my parents still live in the area so I visit often) I would still say that it's pretty safe. I don't know where people are driving or living to see the "gang-bang", prostitutes and drugs everywhere. One hint about drugs I must say is THEY ARE EVERYWHERE! Now aside from that, the places of SV that most of the posters are talking about is Between Jamacha Rd and Spring Street. That litte section across the street (Sweetwater Rd./freeway now) from Mt. Miguel High School. The only thing about SV is that it looks a bit run down from when I was little. I think that is due in part of newer houses being built east from SV. That is just my opinion.