Fleeing San Marcos (San Diego, Escondido, Carlsbad: sales, apartments, houses)

[harvestmoon]

Anyone else out there thinking of getting out of San Marcos? We have just about had it with the out of control population growth and increasing gang and drug activity. There is an ongoing exodus in my neighborhood that started a year ago and we are thinking of moving out of here soon, too.

[ptcgirl]

There is life outside of Southern California. We moved from Carlsbad a year ago and miss very little about it. We moved to Peachtree City, Georgia (south of Atlanta) and we love it here. The only thing we miss is the beach.

[Roman11]

Originally Posted by harvestmoon

Anyone else out there thinking of getting out of San Marcos? We have just about had it with the out of control population growth and increasing gang and drug activity. There is an ongoing exodus in my neighborhood that started a year ago and we are thinking of moving out of here soon, too.

I was thinking of leaving San Diego altogether. I looked around and had my sites on Washington like so many others. I don't think I would mind the cloudiness to much since I have lived on the east coast too. Then I started thinking "I'm living on a gold mine here." Home prices are a little rough right now but they'll come back like they always do. My parents moved to Escondido back in the early 70's and bought there home for under $100,000. I'm sure you can imagine what they ended up selling it for when they retired. I'm staying as hard as it seems. Doesn't matter where you live they all have there problems, crime, prices, traffic....

Good luck with whatever you decide..but you too could be living in a gold mine....haha

[OliGT]

I left last year to Poway
I regret it though....

[niy38]

which neighborhood u r living ? San Marcos' housing price is dropping like
a stone.

Originally Posted by harvestmoon

Anyone else out there thinking of getting out of San Marcos? We have just about had it with the out of control population growth and increasing gang and drug activity. There is an ongoing exodus in my neighborhood that started a year ago and we are thinking of moving out of here soon, too.

[girlsonthemove]

my 22 yo daughter and I are thinking of moving to San Marcos from Michigan. I'm shocked at the idea of gangs and drugs! Is it a real problem there? We are thinking of the Northwoods apartments. Any advice?

[hotornot]

Originally Posted by OliGT

I left last year to Poway
I regret it though....

I've never been to Poway. I live in Pacific Beach. I know 2 people who lived in PB for several years. One moved back to Virginia. The other moved back to Montana. Many months later they both came back to visit SD and they both said with much sadness that they were sorry they ever left San Diego. They were not trying to be nice, I could see they were genuinely sincere.

Where'd you move to from Poway?

[Nick682]

Not surprised you want to leave, if you've been in SD and SM for long, then you've seen the massive growth that has taken place. If you signed up for SD when it was a beach town 20 years ago then you know it's become much more than that in the last ten years. I have seen field after field and canyon after canyon get plowed over till there is now basically no open space anymore, nothing significant anyway.

San Marcos has undergone huge growth in the last few years. After they put in the strip mall by Las Posas with the big stores, traffic has gone through the roof. There is the Fry's too, basically everyone comes here for there major shopping now. There is no open space thats not taken up by roads and buildings. The increase in traffic has increased the smog in the area, especially the summers.

I feel just like I did when I lived in LA now here. I don't like congested city environments. I have never had direct run-in's with the gangs but I had someone try to steal my car recently. I have had three cars broken into and I'm pretty sure it's the little gang bangers. They take the cars to TJ and scrap them down there. That has definitely been a problem here and all over SD.

I don't like living here anymore, it just seems like a sea of cars now. I can't even drive to the bch anymore without fast-paced drivers ruining my drive. I used to think that San Diego and there surrounding communities were into responsible development, but I think that most of the people who care about that have left Cali because they realize it's a loosing battle. Developers have the money and they are always using the excuse that housing should be made more affordable in SD to get building permits.

It's true that housing is very expensive, but the solution is not unchecked building. Prime example is the battle for Ponto bch in south Carlsbad. It's the only slice of coastline for ten or even twenty miles in both directions thats not developed. Decades ago it went through a court battle where it was declared a wildlife area. Now developers want to change that so they can widen the freeway in that area. They will go to court and wear people down until they get their way. The surfrider foundation is fighting them but it's a loosing battle. If they don't get it now they will only get it in the future.

At first it is considered a wildlife area, so they develop around it everywhere. Then after a while the animals that lived there die off or are driven out because of all the noise and development around them. Then later they petition stating that those species are no longer there. It's a shame, because it will be the last beautiful open space by the bch here in N County and there gonna make it a freeway. San Diego has the highest local species extinction rate in the nation due to the unchecked building and lack of regard for the things that once made this city great.

Also Palomar Airport is now excepting international flights, they have stationed customs officers at the airport. That way all the fancy executive types can fly their international customers in close to their businesses in N county. It's a small airport, always has been, but money trumps all I guess. So now you will be hearing larger planes and more of them flying over your houses in SM. Plus, increased traffic again, especially on Palomar Airport rd, which is bad enough already. Oh and big jets have big engines with big emissions.

Anyway, this is no beach town any more, not even close to twenty years ago and no signs that it's gonna slow down. So unless you like LA, I would leave too, might as well live in LA, you make more money.

[kimmer]

Good heavens! What part of San Marcos do you live in that is that bad? We're leaving San Marcos, too, but not because of gang activity. I know there are gangs, but we almost never hear or see anything about gang-related activity in the paper or on the news. I guess if you live near it, you might see more activity.


To girlsonthemove:

Those apartments are just a bit north of gang area. I would avoid any area in San Marcos south of the 78, bordered by Rancho Santa Fe Road to the east, Business Park to the west, (the edge of Carlsbad), and south to Grandon.

To Nick682:

re: Palomar Airport. I didn't realize they had started accepting Intl. flights. Still kills me that residents of all those new housing developments along Palomar Airport road are complaining about airplane noise... um, sorry, you could see the airport right there when you signed that sales contract!...but I agree, the animals are the big losers here.

[vfrpilot]

We lived in San Marcos from 1990-2004. The traffic definitely got worse. With all the homes and commercial developments built during this time how could it not get worse? The gang influence also grew as the population grew and now there are 2nd and 3rd generation gang-kids in the schools. We moved to CO in 2004 and never regretted it. CO is not perfect, but for us the pros outweigh the cons by a long shot.
Re: Palomar Airport- The addition of a U.S. Customs office should not greatly affect anything. The runway is 4900' long and can only handle business jets and general aviation aircraft. Just means there is another field to clear Customs when flying in from Mexico.