chula vista safety (Encinitas, La Mesa, Poway: apartments, crime rate, home)

[bunky3301]

jksouthbay88,
I agree with you I do hate to divide Chula Vista by East and West of the 805, but I think its fair to say that the housing is newer and the East side is alot safer in my opinion when suggesting the area to someone who has never been here.

I do also want to say that although I wouldn't want to buy on the West side of Chula Vista , I do alot of business in the downtown part of old Chula Vista , go to the Chula Vista Mall. Eat at Carrows there by the Mall as well . I do frequent Broadway St business and feel completely safe at day with the family. We go to Imperial Beach to let the kids play at the beach. We do however go to Coronado beaches if we are going to go in the water.

pixomb thanks for everyone's replies! I've gotten some great advice and I'm feeling better about the move to chula vista.

the reason why i was wondering about the safety in that area is that i was looking at condos in the area and they're all really affordable!! from where I'm from (MD/DC area), a 2 bed 2 bath 1000 sq. ft. condo would run about $450,000, not the $200,000 that I've been seeing in the chula vista area. I'm just not used to seeing affordable places in safe areas

thanks again all!

pixomb,

Are the condo's your looking at East of the 805 ? That does sound pretty cheap, but with all the foreclosures going on maybe your finding some good deals?

I know that some of the Condo's across the street from me on Telegraph Canyon Rd are 3 bed 2 baths selling for $300,000 and less. I have never been inside them but they look good from the outside. Some are Foreclosures as well.

pixomb,
If you don't mind me asking what part of the DC area are you moving from? My wife is Navy and we leave for the DC area on August 4 or 5 to Bethesda Naval Hospital. I grew up in the DC area but in Southern Maryland and left there over 10 years ago.

We can't afford to live in Bethesda (wish we could) but I'm leaning toward looking to Olney, MD. as I remember it was a nice area of Montgomery County and have heard from some sources that it is still a nice area for families. Gaithersburg and Germantown were nice areas as well when I left , but have heard mixed things about those areas as well. Any help would be much appreciated.

One more thing ....I really don't think you'll regret your decision on living in Chula Vista....we love it !!!!

We will not be buying , but renting because we will only be there 3 years. I really don't want to raise my kids in the DC area anyway. We in fact hope to invest in property in Chula Vista and rent it out till we're ready to come back and settle for good.

[pixomb]

Originally Posted by bunky3301

jksouthbay88,
I agree with you I do hate to divide Chula Vista by East and West of the 805, but I think its fair to say that the housing is newer and the East side is alot safer in my opinion when suggesting the area to someone who has never been here.

I do also want to say that although I wouldn't want to buy on the West side of Chula Vista , I do alot of business in the downtown part of old Chula Vista , go to the Chula Vista Mall. Eat at Carrows there by the Mall as well . I do frequent Broadway St business and feel completely safe at day with the family. We go to Imperial Beach to let the kids play at the beach. We do however go to Coronado beaches if we are going to go in the water.



pixomb,

Are the condo's your looking at East of the 805 ? That does sound pretty cheap, but with all the foreclosures going on maybe your finding some good deals?

I know that some of the Condo's across the street from me on Telegraph Canyon Rd are 3 bed 2 baths selling for $300,000 and less. I have never been inside them but they look good from the outside. Some are Foreclosures as well.

pixomb,
If you don't mind me asking what part of the DC area are you moving from? My wife is Navy and we leave for the DC area on August 4 or 5 to Bethesda Naval Hospital. I grew up in the DC area but in Southern Maryland and left there over 10 years ago.

We can't afford to live in Bethesda (wish we could) but I'm leaning toward looking to Olney, MD. as I remember it was a nice area of Montgomery County and have heard from some sources that it is still a nice area for families. Gaithersburg and Germantown were nice areas as well when I left , but have heard mixed things about those areas as well. Any help would be much appreciated.

One more thing ....I really don't think you'll regret your decision on living in Chula Vista....we love it !!!!

We will not be buying , but renting because we will only be there 3 years. I really don't want to raise my kids in the DC area anyway. We in fact hope to invest in property in Chula Vista and rent it out till we're ready to come back and settle for good.

thanks for all your valuable input! i actually moved to LA from silver spring, md (just on the border of d.c.) two years ago and am itching to relocate again.

i agree, bethesda is a nice area, but it's actually a bit too posh/snobby for me. it is, however, fairly safe with good schools. gaithersburg, much like chula vista, can be great/dangerous depending on which part you're in - the northern area is usually less desirable. the housing rates in germantown are extremely over-inflated in my opinion - i think primarily b/c of an influx of marylanders looking for quieter areas. i'm not sure how the market is doing there now, but if you were looking for a good place for a family environment, olney is definitely a good choice. i'm not sure which areas you're searching for, but i would also recommend columbia (in howard county), burtonsville, parts of silver spring that border olney and burtonsville, and potomac.

potomac has always been billed as one of the pricier suburbs of montgomery county, and it has developed something of a snobby reputation, but i know it's a fairly safe area with good schools.

as you can tell, i dont like snobby areas

if you're looking to rent, i'd say either olney, burtonsville, or columbia (and bordering cities).

sorry if this is all over the place. thanks for all of your recommendations, and i hope i was of some help. happy hunting!

[pixomb]

Originally Posted by bunky3301

jksouthbay88,
I agree with you I do hate to divide Chula Vista by East and West of the 805, but I think its fair to say that the housing is newer and the East side is alot safer in my opinion when suggesting the area to someone who has never been here.

I do also want to say that although I wouldn't want to buy on the West side of Chula Vista , I do alot of business in the downtown part of old Chula Vista , go to the Chula Vista Mall. Eat at Carrows there by the Mall as well . I do frequent Broadway St business and feel completely safe at day with the family. We go to Imperial Beach to let the kids play at the beach. We do however go to Coronado beaches if we are going to go in the water.



pixomb,

Are the condo's your looking at East of the 805 ? That does sound pretty cheap, but with all the foreclosures going on maybe your finding some good deals?

I know that some of the Condo's across the street from me on Telegraph Canyon Rd are 3 bed 2 baths selling for $300,000 and less. I have never been inside them but they look good from the outside. Some are Foreclosures as well.

pixomb,
If you don't mind me asking what part of the DC area are you moving from? My wife is Navy and we leave for the DC area on August 4 or 5 to Bethesda Naval Hospital. I grew up in the DC area but in Southern Maryland and left there over 10 years ago.

We can't afford to live in Bethesda (wish we could) but I'm leaning toward looking to Olney, MD. as I remember it was a nice area of Montgomery County and have heard from some sources that it is still a nice area for families. Gaithersburg and Germantown were nice areas as well when I left , but have heard mixed things about those areas as well. Any help would be much appreciated.

One more thing ....I really don't think you'll regret your decision on living in Chula Vista....we love it !!!!

We will not be buying , but renting because we will only be there 3 years. I really don't want to raise my kids in the DC area anyway. We in fact hope to invest in property in Chula Vista and rent it out till we're ready to come back and settle for good.

speaking of all over the place...yup, i'm realizing now in my search that most of the cheaper places are foreclosures/bank owned properties.

[johnknox]

The area around Chula Vista High School is pretty nice. I've lived here for a decade now. You can go walking around the area without any problems. The only thing I hate about this city is the constant aircraft noise. It seems like there's always a jet or helicopter or Cessna or some damn thing flying over.

[elcamino0]

Originally Posted by jksouthbay88

I live in Ranch Del Rey and there is just about the same amount of crime.I see the same in O.Ranch,Eastlake,and SM Ranch.The crime on the other side of the 805 is a little more dangerous and dramatic,but there is still a reputation issue when you divide CV by the 805.

Lived in CV since the early 60's before there was an 805 and generally there was CV north of L street and CV south of L street. Also most of the area South of L street wasn't CV at the time, it was later annexed. This whole East/West of 805 thing is painting w/ a broad brush and eliminates the whole Hilltop/Peppertree/CountryClub area which is west of 805, not to mention the historical homes on 2nd avenue, Del Mar avenue and others such as Guava and Park Way. I will agree that the better apartments are generally the newer ones. If you're wondering at prices, they're down right now.

[jksouthbay88]

Originally Posted by elcamino0

Lived in CV since the early 60's before there was an 805 and generally there was CV north of L street and CV south of L street. Also most of the area South of L street wasn't CV at the time, it was later annexed. This whole East/West of 805 thing is painting w/ a broad brush and eliminates the whole Hilltop/Peppertree/CountryClub area which is west of 805, not to mention the historical homes on 2nd avenue, Del Mar avenue and others such as Guava and Park Way. I will agree that the better apartments are generally the newer ones. If you're wondering at prices, they're down right now.

See that's good.I came around in the early 90's and I brag about there was no Otay Ranch or Eastlake,just cows.But you do add a great prospective.805 came in the early 70's so you have a lot more knowledge.I came from Brodway&Moss and that whole SW area was so dangerous it's not even funny.Then I moved to 4th&L in 95 which is known as the South Central area of the city and now as of 2006 I'm out here in Rancho Del Rey.But I'm sure you have noticed this in the SC area(South of J,North of Naples,East of 5th and West of Hilltop)if you are west of Second the area get's a little rougher.One reason is that there are no(zero,nada) apartments east of 2nd in the South Central zone.My aunt lived on Del Mar JNO of Naples and that area was hit and miss,mainly drugs.So mainly that annexation means that nearly all of SC and anything south of that incl.Otay and South CV was somewhat forgotten.Wow.Good to know.But I have wondered why is Main Street so far away from Downtown?
A lot of the "new apartments are the better ones" hold water but my place was built in '86 and see much more crime than people from older areas would expect.This would go true for apartments off of East H and Paseo Ranchero,(break-in's and bad residents)Ridgeback@Otay Lakes(drugs from what I have heard)ELP@Corte Vista(Low income housing in Eastlake)and East Palomar and Monarche(2 gangs in an O.Ranch apartment complex)

[elcamino0]

Originally Posted by jksouthbay88

See that's good.I came around in the early 90's and I brag about there was no Otay Ranch or Eastlake,just cows.But you do add a great prospective.805 came in the early 70's so you have a lot more knowledge.I came from Brodway&Moss

All of the area South of L street was annexed around 1984. It was 92011, CV was 92010 (now 91911/91910)... It was unincorporated county before, hence the lack of sidewalks, erratic housing, etc. We used to call everything south of "L" "Castle Park". Further south around Main street was called "Otay". I know what you mean about Broadway & Moss, but that area's been in disarray for decades. I never understood why CV was so anxious to annex this area in that it frankly skews a lot of statistics. There's a reason lettered streets stop at "L" and the housing changes at "L" street (cross "L" street at Hilltop Drive and you'll see what I mean).

You are correct about the area generally east of 2nd (there are exceptions), north of "L" and south of "D" or so. Mostly made up of older residents with some younger ones moving in. And there are no apartments. When I was a kid the only people who lived in apartments were either newly married or old. No families lived in apartments. Too many apartments is what has really hurt the valley area of El Cajon.

The Country Club and Peppertree areas still have some 1 million $$ homes, even in this economy. The Del Mar street I referred to is the 400 block. If you've never been there you should take a look as it's full of restored early 20th century homes.

As an aside, I've lived in CV almost all my life and right now I work in Poway. With flex hours the commute isn't too bad. But people talk about how great Poway is, and I'm sure it is, but it has about 50,000 people and CV has about 250,000 people. I could carve out sections of CV that are just as nice if not nicer than Poway. And frankly Poway's business district is nothing but strip malls and big box stores. It has no downtown like CV or La Mesa. Sorry to get off subject.

[elcamino0]

Originally Posted by jksouthbay88

Things happen in RPQ,Carmel Vly,La Jolla,Carlsbad,Poway,places that people would put on the safe area list.So when something does happen in those places people blow it out of proportion or the news over-does it.Chula Vista is fine.It's in my 5 places recommended county wide.

If you want to see how different areas in the same city can be, go to west Carlsbad, but go in the daytime.

[jkoz]

Originally Posted by elcamino0

As an aside, I've lived in CV almost all my life and right now I work in Poway. With flex hours the commute isn't too bad. But people talk about how great Poway is, and I'm sure it is, but it has about 50,000 people and CV has about 250,000 people. I could carve out sections of CV that are just as nice if not nicer than Poway. And frankly Poway's business district is nothing but strip malls and big box stores. It has no downtown like CV or La Mesa. Sorry to get off subject.

I think Poway gets its high standing mainly because of the excellent schools--people move to Poway just for that, and it's therefore regarded as more family-friendly. However, I'd agree with you--C.V. rivals many of the more popular enclaves IMHO. I also like that we actually have waterfront in C.V. as opposed to Poway, etc. The marina is a nice little park when you don't have time to go to the beach. The bay provides a more moderate climate too, as opposed to inland areas, though Eastern C.V. can get hot. I think the downtown area has the potential to be a cute little downtown--I do wish they'd put in better, "trendier" eateries and shops in lieu of the tired, musty businesses there now, though. Better eateries would definitely draw in more in from Eastlake, etc.--sorry, LaBella's and Dock's just don't do it for me!

[jkoz]

[quote=jksouthbay88;6075295]But I have wondered why is Main Street so far away from Downtown?
quote]

"Main Street" was not the main street for Chula Vista. It ran through the little downtown area of "Otay" (actually a little town) at one time, so I've been told by my mthr-in-law who's been in the area since 1954 and has obviously seen ALL of the changes in C.V. over the years.