El Cajon? Good/bad? (San Diego, Carlsbad: appointed, real estate, apartment complexes)

[FunkyMonk]

Overall El Cajon is not that dangerous or bad. It's got some character and has people that carry themselves like they're tough, with a sort of wannabe gangster style. But overall it's not a very dangerous place to be, no worse than most parts of SD and better than a lot of them.

I ride my bike through El Cajon at night all the time and I encounter less problems than I do in the city of SD. In fact as a bicyclist, in El Cajon people leave me alone for the most part. In SD people yell at me all the time and just try to be smarta$$es. Also in SD people just won't move out of the way of a bicyclist, they do that egotistical "You gotta get out of MY way" thing. People in El Cajon seem to more more respectful in that regard.

There's a big mix of all kinds of people here, so everyone tends to be accepted regardless of how unusual. I see this as a good thing. It's got a socially liberal feel, and you see a lot of "interesting" stuff out on the streets.

El Cajon gets a bad reputation from SD because El Cajon is a mostly working class city. The people of El Cajon are a little more country and more bluecollar overall. In SD many of the people have a high-class superiority complex against the working class. They see them as "unsophisticated" or "ghetto" etc. But it's really just their snobby, elitist attitude talking for them.

[cnkad]

Originally Posted by SoCal78

I've lived in El Cajon for 10 yrs now and grew up in Allied Gardens in SD City for than most of my life. EC has some armpit area's in the central downtown area vicinity, but for the most part it's real quiet and doesn't really have a high crime rate. EC is nothing beautiful, but is not the worst place all around. There are alot more wacko people and bad area's in SD City then you will ever find in El Cajon.

There are actually a lot of exspensive area's in El Cajon to live in. Half of Mount Helix is El Cajon, then you have Fletcher Hills, Granite Hills, Shadow Mountain area, Avocado hills, Rancho San Diego area, Greenfield area, Crest.
And 95% of the average home costs in those area's go from $ 500,000 to 1 Million dollars. People in SD City pick on outlying suburban cities, because they have the Metrosexual image mentality and try to feel artsy by having a tiny little shack to live in, in North Park, Hillcrest or Kensington that they pay a ridiculous price for, with wooden floors and retro looking furniture and kitchens with stainless steel counter tops. They also take their metrosexual mentality and to absorb the urban keep with jones race. Gotta go get my tofu bowl, made with real herbed leafs grown organically and usually are very anti-social people and are not people friendly, especially if you were walking your dog on the street and as passing them you had told them good morning as a friendly human courtesy. People tend to portray this image of East County, because it's regular hard working middle class blue collar people, and they don't own Metrosexual interior design shops in Mission Hills as they're eating their organically grown cosmopoltian garden burgers. The weather in general is a bit warmer in the Summer, but other than that it's no different than SD City throughout the rest of the year. But anyways, EC is nothing exciting, it's just a regular middle class area for the most part. The bad trashy area is mainly Central EC.

I lived in allied gardens as a kid too! Did you go to Fosters E? We loved it there. And as a adult I lived just a block from parkway plaza...I never had any problems and like I said, some of the nicest people were in el cajon.

[eastsandiegobornandraised]

my problem with El Cajon isn't because of crime or the class of people that live there. Is just a hot, boring, depressing place in my opinion. Just like I dont really like the inland empire or the antelope valley up north, same thing as El Cajon to me.

[Y from FL]

So I've read your posts about San Diego, that the SE is bad, that there are gangs there. I also read about University, College and El Cajon Blvd being bad, and having drug and car theft problems. But El Cajon Blvd covers a big area.
My husband is in SD right now on an interview, we live in FL though. We need to make a desicion today. We would have to live in the area close to Fletcher Hills Elementary,(Fletcher Pway) is that area good?
I would like to live in Carlsbad or around, but we have a rent deal, so for a little while and while we learn the area, if we accept the job, that is where we would live. What do you think? I will always be grateful for your help. Since we don't know anything or anyone there, I am basing my desicion on the info I can get here and other research.

Thanks again and all the best,

Y. from Florida

[AFTERSHOCK]

Y from Florida,
That is a good area, the nicest part of EC

good luck

[Y from FL]

Hi Aftershock,

Thanks for your reply. We have until next week to decide now since nothing happened today. I hope I get an opinion from Sasberto and others too, but I certainly appreciate getting a response today.

All the best,

Y. from FL

[MtnDude]

There are good and bad area's everywhere you go in SD County and SD City. San Diego City has a larger span of bad area's than most cities in the county in general, but it all depends on the neighborhood individually where you live.

[Y from FL]

Originally Posted by KQSellsHomes

Why does everyone have such a negative impression of El Cajon? I have lived in East county for 20 years and love it. Yes there are some bad areas but it is not all like that. I have raised 3 great kids who did great in school, were involved in sports and went on to great careers. There are Dr's, Lawyers, Business People and all kinds of professionals that make El Cajon home. There are beautiful homes and views in El Cajon. There is no desert and no more smog than anywhere else in the county. I have never been a victim of crime. All in All El Cajon and the East County in general is a great place to live.

Hi KQ,

My husband will most likely get a job in San Diego, so we'll be moving with our 3 kids to the Fletcher Hills area. Could you recommend places for entertainment like: good local economic restaurants, (I imagine there is good seafood around), places to take the kids, shopping, supermarkets(although that is not entertainment), best family friendly beaches, parks, festivals, etc. Oh and is there any vineyard near by? I've never been to one, and while I wait to go to Napa Valley it would be nice to find a local one. Thank you so much for your positve opinion, it made me feel a little more at ease with the idea of making such a big move from Florida. And thank you for any information you could give us.

All the best,

Y. from FL

[MtnDude]

Fletcher Hills and San Carlos area's are very nice upper middle class and family oriented places. There are a lot of gorgeous exspensive homes there. Plus very safe and quiet with access to close shopping.

[Huckleberry3911948]

wait 12 months. then get something small that wont be a killer commute. think small.