Moving to San Diego - opinions needed. (Chula Vista, Escondido: best neighborhoods, apartments)

[TA-TA]

My fiancée and I are looking to move to Southern California when we get married in June. When she posted a thread in the California forum detailing our situation, the general consensus was that we should relocate to San Diego.

My fiancée was raised in Maryland and currently lives with me in my home town in England. She has just graduated university with a Degree in Business and International Marketing and would want to move somewhere that allows her to continue her job search. I work in IT but as I do not currently have a VISA, it’s unlikely that I’ll be able to work for the first 12 months. I own property in England but as I plan to keep it as an investment we will be not be moving with a huge amount of savings.

We love the weather in San Diego, and although we’d like to be within 20-30 minutes of the beach it’s not essential that we live directly on it. We’d also like to have nightlife and a mall close by.

Following the feedback we were given and after reading many other threads we think what seems to be the best idea would be to rent a small studio apartment within Pacific Beach and spend the next 12 months looking around different parts of San Diego for somewhere to buy. Although we think we can afford to rent in Pacific beach (Preferably for $1000 a month or under) I know we’ll have to look else where to buy.

I’d really appreciate opinions on our plans, specifically around whether or not it’s feasible, whether it is the best choice and whether or not anyone else has done anything similar. Sorry this is such a long thread but we learnt from the other one that it’s best to give as much info as possible up front.

Thanks

[TA-TA]

ANY opinions would be greatly appreciated. We don't know anyone in the California area so we are reliant on the combined advice of the people on this forum to make the correct decision.

Thanks

[mewzikguy]

Other people have done it, and done fine It's wise to rent for a year, then after having driven around the area for that long, you can find the best neighborhoods for you. Good Luck

[tripleejh]

I moved here 9 years ago without know a soul. Best thing I did. Met my wife here, had some good times. Now we have to move. My advice to you, live close to the beach. I lived in Pacific Beach the whole 9 years. here is my rundown.
Ok to live in:
PB (pacific beach)
MB (mission beach, but only if you like to party)
Point Loma (if you don't like to party too much, but still want access to the beach)
La Jolla, Encinitas, Del Mar (if you can afford it)
Mission Valley (condos near the malls are nice and you can be almost anywhere in under 10 minutes).
Bay Park (5 min from beach)
Claremont (7-10 min from beach)

Avoid (in my opinion, not to offend anyone)
El Cajon (i work there, very far from the water, very hot)
Poway (really nice, but not for people moving to Cali, better to move there after living in Cali for a while)
Ocean Beach (traffic in and out is redonculous)
La Mesa (nice, but far from water)
Chula Vista, South bay (used to work there...traffic a mess, and not the "beach community" you might think).

Hope this helps...ask more questions and I will try and answer.

[jksouthbay88]

Originally Posted by tripleejh

I moved here 9 years ago without know a soul. Best thing I did. Met my wife here, had some good times. Now we have to move. My advice to you, live close to the beach. I lived in Pacific Beach the whole 9 years. here is my rundown.
Ok to live in:
PB (pacific beach)
MB (mission beach, but only if you like to party)
Point Loma (if you don't like to party too much, but still want access to the beach)
La Jolla, Encinitas, Del Mar (if you can afford it)
Mission Valley (condos near the malls are nice and you can be almost anywhere in under 10 minutes).
Bay Park (5 min from beach)
Claremont (7-10 min from beach)

Avoid (in my opinion, not to offend anyone)
El Cajon (i work there, very far from the water, very hot)
Poway (really nice, but not for people moving to Cali, better to move there after living in Cali for a while)
Ocean Beach (traffic in and out is redonculous)
La Mesa (nice, but far from water)
Chula Vista, South bay (used to work there...traffic a mess, and not the "beach community" you might think).

Hope this helps...ask more questions and I will try and answer.

Hummmm traffic a mess in the SBay?I got from SWC(Otay Lakes@Gotham) to 3rd and K today in 11 mins at 515PM doing the speed limit and hitting 2 red lights.So I would disagree.Commute from where ever in the city,North and East counties though would be a little more correct.But in other words good post.And congrats on your "love" story.

[Nick682]

Sounds like you have most of it figured out already. If $1000 a month for rent is what your looking for, you will not have it very easy. You can find places in PB for that, I'm sure, but they will be small and not the nicest. I don't recommend PB for anyone who is trying to advance their career though, it's a fun place for a twenty something that likes to party and thats about it. Personally I find it to be crowded and sleazy, PB reminds me of a "Girls Gone Wild Video" you will find those types of guys, and those types of girls.

If you are on a budget for buying, now is a pretty good time for buyers, but you will need to live pretty far east from the beach to find anything truly affordable w/ any space. Escondido is an option, the Hispanic population is around 30% so you will need to be okay with that. El Cajon, Santee, may be in your price range, I would look at Chula Vista.

IT jobs are big in Sorrento Valley, and I think there's a lot of software companies in Carlsbad, along w/ bio-tech and golf companies. La Jolla may have some IT jobs, and there's always downtown, especially if you choose Chula Vista. At least that gives you a little bit of info to start with anyway, it looks like you haven't had much in the way of a detailed response yet so I hope that helps you.

[tripleejh]

One poster pointed out that PB can be sleazy...I agree, i live there. however, there are two areas of PB that are nice, and you DONT have to go to the main street and party. Look in the Crown Point area and North PB. Just stay at least 6 blocks inland from the ocean, and at least 4 blocks north or south of Garnet avenue. Those areas are the craziest.

[bluejaye]

Yes I agree with what the above posters have said about PB, it can be nutz to get in and of out that area in the summer especially if your trying to get on the highway to go to work. North PB is for sure the best area of PB. I was just looking for places all over San Diego for around a 1000.00 and let me tell you, there is nothing at all nice in the price range. I'm not sure how you are used to living, but for a 1000.00 you will be living in a shoe box that does not have air conditioning. If you can budge up to 1200.00 you will have better luck finding something no so crappy.

My suggestion would be to also consider trying to find something for six months and see where you find jobs, so you can move closer to that area, you don't want to have to have a long commute, if you can help it.

You might also want to try the hillcrest neighborhood, or bankers hill, sometimes you can find cute, small, cheap studios and you will be close enough to the highway or to getting downtown to work.

[revelated]

Originally Posted by bluejaye

Yes I agree with what the above posters have said about PB, it can be nutz to get in and of out that area in the summer especially if your trying to get on the highway to go to work. North PB is for sure the best area of PB. I was just looking for places all over San Diego for around a 1000.00 and let me tell you, there is nothing at all nice in the price range. I'm not sure how you are used to living, but for a 1000.00 you will be living in a shoe box that does not have air conditioning. If you can budge up to 1200.00 you will have better luck finding something no so crappy.

My suggestion would be to also consider trying to find something for six months and see where you find jobs, so you can move closer to that area, you don't want to have to have a long commute, if you can help it.

You might also want to try the hillcrest neighborhood, or bankers hill, sometimes you can find cute, small, cheap studios and you will be close enough to the highway or to getting downtown to work.

While I agree with the majority of people in this thread, I disagree with the last statement unless...err...your 'orientation' is slanted or colorless. If so-called 'alternative lifestyles' bother you, you want to avoid Hillcrest like the plague.

The other thing I want to mention...if you're coming from back east the first thing you need to reconcile with yourself is the cost benefit of living in San Diego. What would cost you about $200,000 in eastern states runs nearly twice, sometimes three times that amount out here. For the same standard of living. Condos are basically apartments, tiny and offering little of real value. Townhomes are more cramped than some apartments are. There isn't a single apartment that's worth staying in for the long haul - not even the heralded Reserve at 4S, as people are starting to notice it's way overpriced for the way you're treated.

Bottom line - you can find the quality of life you expect. Just be prepared to pony up more money than you think you'd have to.

[TA-TA]

Thank you all so much for the advice and good wishes. It's given us a lot of varied opinions to consider.

I think we can live with a really small place for the short term. The area the property is located in is the most important at this point. We've been living in England in a large house for the last 6 months but as it has been undergoing major refurbishment, we've been restricted to 4 rooms. I know a studio apartment is going to be a lot smaller but I think as long as it's our own place in a nice area we can sacrifice some luxuries in the short term.

One comment that did concern me though by revelated was mentioning about how people are treated. Could you please elaborate on that - In what respect are people treat badly and by whom?

As far as the wild side of Pacific beach goes, although a place being lively is more of a positive than a negative to us, I still think we'll definitely take the advice to live a few blocks from the beach. Where I'm from is extremely lively but I know even here I'd want to have a good 10 minute walk to the centre so that we can sleep at night.

I didn't know you can rent for as little as 6 months so that is certainly something we'll look out for. As Bluejaye said, that would be ideal for us as we have no clue at this stage where we'll be working.

Thanks again everyone. This really is an incredible help.