Just returned from a San Diego visit with some questions

[Texasturkey]

Originally Posted by Sassberto

Isn't that San Ysidro schools though? If so it's cheap for a reason, those are some of the worst schools in San Diego County.

San Ysidro is a border town a few miles away from Mexico. Gangs, immigrants and Espanol. Very 3d World.
Remember the infamous Mc Donald's Massacre of 1984?

Have you considered Oceanside, Mission Bay, La Jolla, Carlsbad or Del Mar?

[roger9552]

Note when people talk about San Carlos they don't mean the town in the bay area of San Francisco but the community of San Diego zip code 92119 which is in eastern San Diego by Cowles Mountain and Mission Trails park. You also might consider Santee which is east of Cowles Mountain.

[roger9552]

Originally Posted by bbcdm

Another thing. My brother in law drove down from LA to meet us on Sunday, and he was amazed in how clean the air is in San Diego vs. LA.
Is there any particular reason there is such a difference besides fewer vehicles?

Actually there are two reasons the air in San Diego is cleaner, one LA is in a basin with mountains to the north and west and second it has like 6 times the people of San Diego.

[LDigz]

I've lived in Tierrasanta the last year. A very nice neighborhood, but be aware that you will hear lots of noise from MCAS Miramar that sounds like a war zone. Fighter jets (frequent), plus the occasional explosion and machine gun fire. The jets don't fly nonstop, but they do fly often, as early as 7am and as late as 11pm, weekends included. It is quite loud and for the first month, I had to stop myself from ducking for cover. The noise is worse in the more northern and higher elevation parts of Tierrasanta. Also, if wildfires erupt again, be prepared to evacuate quickly.

Before that I lived in Eastlake/Chula Vista for a year - it's also very nice down there, but the commute to SD (on 805) is atrocious. Plan to avoid 6:15-8:30am northbound travel and 3:30-6:30pm southbound travel. Either that, or you will spend 45-60 minutes in stop and go traffic hell. I loved the neighborhood, but moved because I could not stomach the commute to Kearny Mesa.

[Navych1ck]

Tierrasanta and Serra Mesa are both pretty nice areas. My grandmother lives in Serra Mesa, and it's right in the middle of eveything. Tierrasanta is also quite nice, but traffic in and out of there can be pretty bad sometimes - when it was originally built, it was rather small, and then it sprung up overnight. Now there are too many people for the few roads in and out of there. Poway, as mentioned by other members is also very nice, but it's more in North County, and it gets hotter than other parts of San Diego. As for good schools? The Poway Unified School district is very good, and has some of the nicest schools in SD county. I know because I graduated from one such school in that district. Penasquitos is also a very nice area, but it's kind of expensive.
If you can stomach the long commute, Santee is a very nice area with pretty good schools, but the wildfire threat there is greater (typical of East county), and it's about 20 degrees hotter than the coast. But you also avoid most of the May grey and June gloom, so there's an upside.
San Diego has a higher cost of living than a lot of other parts of the country, but I'd rather live there than anywhere else in the world. I'm currently in Norfolk courtesy of the US Navy, and it's the cost of living is so cheap compared to SD, it's almost ridiculous. But it's completely flat, the weather constantly changes, and it actually get cold here compared to San Diego. I became aquainted with 'too cold to go outside', which in San Diego means you may need a sweatshirt and pants...I miss it so much. All of San Diego's crazy weather patterns, and everything. There really is no place like home - especially my hometown, San Diego. Good luck with your move.

[SUEDAN]

My wife and I recently moved out of San Diego after living there for 30 years. We had an inheritance and wished to buy a house, but the prices were much too high. As an example, my eldest daughter and her husband purchased a 700-sq-ft home for $400,000. We moved north (to Selma, CA near Fresno) and paid $145,000 (cash) for a home more than twice as large, and several years newer. We wish we could have stayed in San Diego.
The area we lived in is called Mission Village (Part of Kearny Mesa), and is located due north of Qualcomm Stadium, which is between Friars Road and Highway 8, just west of Highway 15. I can't say anything about the schools because our daughters went to the San Diego School for Creative and Performing Arts (SCPA). It was, at the time, the safest neighborhood in the entire city. Crime was practically non-existent. We moved out in 2003, so I cannot vouch for the current safety of Mission Village.
The area is centrally located and near highways 15, 8, 163 and 5, which can get you practically anywhere around San Diego in reasonable time. We always found the cheapest gas to be at almost any Arco station, especially the one on Balboa Avenue west of Ruffner, on the south side of the street. They were ALWAYS lower than any other station. I wish I could tell you how much gas is now in San Diego, but I haven't even been able to visit my daughter (and grandchildren) in about 3 years.

[SUEDAN]

I hope my previous message helped (from SUEDAN). I wasn't allowed to edit it, and I had to add this message just to be able to send the previous one on to you. I hope it works this time.

[bradical32]

Greetings all,

quick question, I am considering relocating to San Diego or Phoenix. I currently live inm Yuma Arizona.(don't ask how I got here LOL ) anyway, I'm trying to leave at the beginning of the year. I came here from Washington, DC so the sticker price of San Diego wouldn't be a big deal. I am currently a line cook completing coursework for a culinary arts certificate. However, I previously was a paralegal and have experience in office administration. What's the job market like and I'd have not problem taking an $8-10 dollar an hour job just to get settled. All feedback appreciated.

[sav858]

if you don't mind making $8-10 to get settled then you shouldn't have too much trouble. That is on the fairly low end of wages, even for SD. Just make sure you do a budget and factor in all of the expenses and what type of living situation you'll be in b/c $8-10 is VERY HARD to live off of.