Possibly moving to SD from the Philippines (San Diego, Chula Vista: apartment, condo)

[spakanatoy]

I am a 21 year old female living in the Philippines, planning to migrate to San Diego sometime around March. I have been trying to research on places where I can live in San Diego (my husband is going to follow in 6-8 months after I leave). So far, I have been looking into "safe areas" like Mission Hills, La Jolla and Point Loma (though from what I hear pretty pricey). I consider myself as someone who DOESN'T like to party at all so it is NOT important for me to be near places like that. Oh, and preferably an area drug free (if there is such a thing)

By safe I only mean, low crime rate, PREFERABLY NO THEFT AND IT'S VERY CRUCIAL THAT THERE ARE NO RAPSISTS (as this is my greatest fear).

1) What areas would you recommend?
2) Should I find a roommate first or is it relatively easy living alone (I mean completely alone in San diego)?
3) How long can one drive and keep an international license before getting one in San Diego?
4) Which areas are near major intersections/roads?

I'd appreciate any help now as I am completely desperate. If anyone also has YM (thepoweroforangeknickers9) I'd also appreciate anyone adding me to talk about life in San Diego. Thanks again

[NYSD1995]

Originally Posted by spakanatoy

By safe I only mean, low crime rate, PREFERABLY NO THEFT AND IT'S VERY CRUCIAL THAT THERE ARE NO RAPSISTS (as this is my greatest fear).

San Diego is a safe city overall, but realize that you are still talking about the 6th or 7th largest city in the country. Theft, especially auto theft, is a commonplace occurance throughout the city - the local paper had a graphic of car thefts showing the majority occur at places like the beach, malls, colleges, and the border area.

As for violent crime, we've seen how a 'safe' are like Mission Beach is not immune to these type of crimes either. Even suburban North County has occasional car thefts, and armed burglaries. A woman was found dead in the street in Carmel Valley just a few months ago. But rapists are not just running around wild in the streets or anything.

If you are truly as afraid of crime as you seem to indicate, I would reconsider moving to the more urban areas of Central San Diego and consider living in one of the rural or suburban communities.

[Roman11]

I am Roman11's wife, a Filipina who's born and raised in S.D. I grew up in the suburbs of east county and have been living in the north-inland area. For someone like yourself, I would recommend areas such as Sabre Springs, Rancho Penasquitos, Carmel Mountain Ranch and the newer areas such as, 4S Ranch & Westview/Torrey Highlands. All these communities are full of families, close to major freeways (15 & 56), great school system and a full range of housing prices - from plenty of apartment communities and mid to high priced homes. All these communities have it. If you are interested to be close to a Filipino community, you can find those within these areas, too. Crime is inevitable, let's face it. But, the most common crimes are car theft/vandalism and burglary - the kind of stuff that happens everywhere, no matter how pricey the area. Violent crimes rarely happen, those are usually in the urban areas, such as central S.D. Overall, S.D. is a great city. There are other suburban areas you can look into, like EastLake, down in the South Bay Area. It's nice, but, it's too far from everything for my taste.

[spakanatoy]

Awesome thanks Would you know of any boarding houses/rooms owned by Filipinos? You've been of great help. I appreciate it.

[spakanatoy]

awesome thanks for all the help I appreciate it

[Encinitas]

Hello,
I'm also Filipina. Born in Manila, grew up in Chicago (the actual city), lived in the New England area for 13 yrs., 6 yrs in Encinitas, Ca., and soon be moving to Phoenix, Az.

San Diego is a great place to live but very expensive. Check out Encinitas (92024 zio code). I just love it here and very, very safe. There are a few Filipinos here but I never clicked with them.

Will try to get back to you on your other questions, baby crying.
Good luck.

Why Ca? My family is in Chicago. My mom helps a lot of Filipinos get jobs and maybe housing. She's getting old but has many many Filipino friends. Mostly in the medical field. Chicago weather is brutal though. But can get a lot of support.

[spakanatoy]

Thanks for replying. I just like san diego because I fell in love with the place when I visited a couple of years back (though I'm sure life there it's always different than how a visitor would see it), I heard about how great the weather is (after visiting my sister in DC during winter and til spring I still found it too cold and vowed never to stay in places that killed my skin - which is COMPLETELY 'sanay' with 90 degree weather), it's more laid back than LA and I guess another bonus is, I hear the pollen isn't bad at all during spring?

Thanks so much for your suggestion, will also check out Encinitas. I appreciate all the help

[starkt]

If you really want safety, stick to the coastal areas north of La Jolla (La Jolla recently had a home invasion robbery and has had a rash of rock throwing incidents in which people were seriously injured, so I'm taking it off my list of safe places for a while).

Carlsbad, Encinitas (including Olivenhain, Leucadia and Cardiff), Solana Beach and Del Mar are your best bets.

[spakanatoy]

Thanks. Are those areas really far from Downtown? I mean, suppose I live in Encitinitas, how long would it take to get to work Downtown? It just seems like all the jobs (well, I'm sure I'm wrong in this but a lot of jobs in line with marketing seem to be downtown) are Downtown. What do you think of Mission Hills?

[starkt]

You're right to be concerned about the commute. The main reason Del Mar, Encinitas, Carlsbad and the other areas I mentioned are so safe is that they are far from downtown San Diego. The closer you get to downtown, the more crime there is likely to be. The only exceptions to this are large cities outside of downtown like Oceanside, Escondido, Vista, Chula Vista and El Cajon. They have their own crime problems.

If you can avoid rush hour or are going against the flow of traffic, you can commute from the areas I've recommended to downtown in as little as half an hour. But if you get caught in rush hour going with the traffic, that half hour trip can easily turn into an hour and fifteen minutes. And it will be a hellish hour and fifteen minutes, because San Diegans are insane freeway drivers. The 5-805 merge (northbound) between Del Mar and Solana Beach is best described as a "nightmare".

Mission Hills is a beautiful, walkable area with older, expensive homes. Parts of it have views of the bay and the ocean, or of Mission Valley. It is located just above Presideo Park, which has the original Mission. The houses in this area are often Spanish in style. Other architectural styles include craftsman. As you get closer to Hillcrest, there are more apartment/condo buildings mixed in with the single family homes.

Although generally regarded as safe, there have been serious crimes in the area (I live in Hillcrest.) And serious crime has increased, probably thanks in part to the understaffing of the San Diego Police Department. Several people have been robbed and beaten unconscious on the commercial streets in Mission Hills/Hillcrest by roving groups of men.

San Diego is an extremely poorly run city, with politicians passing the buck and taking no responsibility for anything. So, if you want real safety, you need to get out of San Diego as far as I'm concerned. And that includes La Jolla, which is part of San Diego.

On the other hand, you might get bored with the beach/suburban communities and yet not want to deal with driving downtown for more nightlife, culture, etc. Basically, it's a tradeoff. Living closer to downtown is less safe, but more interesting.