Couple w/ Young Child (San Diego, Mission Hills: to rent, condo, townhouse)

[Former Longhorn]

I've spent the last couple of days familiarizing myself with old threads in the forum and have gotten some good bits of information, but I figured that I would just ask a few questions directly about my situation.

My wife and I (early 30s) are going out to San Diego in July for a few weeks to get a feeling for the city and surrounding areas. We have an infant daughter and have lived mostly in Texas (Houston and Dallas). We've gone to the Comic-Con for a few years now and love the San Diego weather and what little we've seen of downtown!

Can anyone recommend areas of town to look into given the following conditions:

1) Home/Townhouse/or Condo price less than $700k
2) Safe areas to walk around and enjoy the beautiful outdoors
3) Family friendly with other young couples with kids

Our general bias is to be in more urban areas as opposed to the suburbs due to the shopping and dining choices. Any suggestions?

[neutrino]

You may want to look into the Mission Hills neighborhood. It's a walkable neighborhood fairly close to Balboa Park. There are plenty of shopping and dining options in Hillcrest (borders Mission Hills to the east), downtown (about 4-5mi S), and Mission Valley (3-4mi NE).

Are you a UT alum? Hook'em 'Horns \m/

[Unkllars]

There are a lot of areas like that. Are there certain areas you would prefer?

[Former Longhorn]

Thanks for the replies. I am indeed a UT alumn! \m/

Because we are new parents one of the key elements we are looking for is a neighborhood with other young parents, safe to walk around, and has hip and fun things to do as we desperately cling to our remaining years of youth . We will do more research on Mission Hills. Any other suggestions will be very much appreciated!

[Unkllars]

There are a lot of things to do in the suburban areas on or near the 56 freeway. It just is whether you want to live in suburbia. The drive isn't long to fun things!! That's what is so great about San Diego. The only negative after the short drive is having to park your car

[SD601]

You'll probably want to look for good schools as well, and for that, I'd say Point Loma will be one of your best options. You can't buy a lot for $700, but you can get a small 3 bed/2 bath with a decent yard. It may seem outrageous (and it probably is, compared to Texas), but Point Loma is a reputable, established neighborhood with excellent schools and great community feel.

My husband and I recently bought a little house in the Point Loma "wooded area" and have met many other families in this quiet neighborhood (we have a two-year-old). We really enjoy it here....such a great community, a far cry from our condo in Mission Valley. Good luck!

[jimcav]

last time (pre-kids) we lived in hillcrest--walked to everything but my work. it was great.
this time, i wanted to go back to hillcrest, but Florence elementary is not top, there aren't as many kids, and it is a much more urban feel to the areas i'd want a house or apt.
So, we decided on pt loma or mission hills. not much to buy in our price range (under 700k), so we decided to rent for a year or 2 and see what is available. Grant elementary is very good. in pt loma sunset view is best, then silvergate. Mission hills has families out and about, and a short stroll to hillcrest shops and restaurants. Pt loma has much less you can walk to, but the beach is close. look at the google map and you can see the direction the airport runway goes--some areas have lots of airplane noise all day long.
good luck
jim