Living Downtown vs. other nearby options (North Park/Hillcrest/etc) (San Diego: rental car, transplants)

[ickingfudiot]

Hi -

I've done a lot of reading of this forum over the last few months and I've read a lot of helpful threads on similar topics, but I have a sort of specific advice request choosing between neighborhoods and hoped some people might have some suggestions.

I'm a 24 year old guy moving to San Diego in early April. My whole company is relocating and I'm going with. I'll be living with one of my coworkers, also male and same age. Our office will be downtown, most likely in or around Gaslamp (we have a few candidates, haven't finalized, but all are in that general vicinity). I've been commuting a fair distance to work here in Raleigh for about 2 years so I'd love to be able to walk or bike to work. A walkable area around wherever I'm living is a huge plus too.

My roommate and I are primarily looking at Downtown and some of the areas around Balboa Park - specifically Hillcrest, North Park, and University/Normal Heights. We initially leaned towards Downtown due to the proximity to work and nightlife and the fact that some of our other coworkers are focusing on that area. However, I also hear a ton of great things about Hillcrest and North Park in particular and feel the entertainment/"vibe" might better suit me there. We'll be visiting Thurs-Sat next week so I can scope it out to some extent, but it's hard to get a good feel for the day-to-day just driving around in a rental car and visiting apartments/condos.

Being near fun stuff to do at night (bars, live music, occasional club) is important, but from a some of what I've read here - one of Sassberto's posts in particular - it seems like Downtown and Gaslamp are more geared towards tourists and transplants. Someone else called it "douchier" entertainment, which I take with a grain of salt, but still.. I realize I am a transplant-to-be, but I lean much more towards the cool/laid-back dive bars than a loud club. The only reference I can really give is I grew up in Atlanta and I'm very at home in Decatur or Virginia Highlands but not so much at nicer "clubs" downtown, etc.

So what would you guys recommend? We'd like to stay below $1800-$1900 for a 2BR and have found some decent lofts downtown that rent around there or slightly below, so it's economically feasible. My mental list looks something like:

* Downtown - Nice but occasionally gritty, new loft developments are v. nice, lots of bars and clubs and restaraunts, potentially more "douchey" than I'd like.
* Hillcrest - cool, diverse, walkable, gay with enough straight girls to keep it interesting for me (and I'm fine with the gay thing), close enough to Downtown to bike to work regularly
* North Park - lots of development, many new bars and restaurants on 30th I'd probably dig, cheaper than alternatives, probably still bikable to work (through the Park, cool!), good live music scene?

My only concern with a place like North Park is it seems a little more suburban than I'd like coming from the endless suburbia that typifies Atlanta and Raleigh, but if the nightlife Downtown doesn't interest me much, living somewhere "urban" loses some of its appeal...

Sorry for the wall of text! Any advice will be much appreciated Thanks.

[Sassberto]

A couple things...

Hillcrest and North Park are up a big hill from downtown.... might make the ride home a bit of a pain.

North Park is not suburban... it's really the center of the city. Remember that prior to about 10 years ago no one lived downtown.

Personally I recommend Little Italy over Downtown proper. It's still urban and walkable, but with less of a "douchey" vibe.

[ickingfudiot]

Originally Posted by Sassberto

A couple things...

Hillcrest and North Park are up a big hill from downtown.... might make the ride home a bit of a pain.

North Park is not suburban... it's really the center of the city. Remember that prior to about 10 years ago no one lived downtown.

Personally I recommend Little Italy over Downtown proper. It's still urban and walkable, but with less of a "douchey" vibe.

Thanks. I didn't really mean to call North Park "suburban" in the usual sense, not sure what I was thinking, it just looks a lot more neighborhood-y than Downtown proper (side streets have a lot of houses with small yards, no tall buildings, etc)

[BRinSM]

though i don't live there, i do frequent downtown fairly often. it is definitely fun for a visitor, but i can imagine how it would get old for locals. it definitely lacks a "neighborhood vibe" though if that makes sense. everything is so new there that there don't seem to be places where the locals all hang out together. Up here in Santa Monica, we have the 3rd st promenade which is where the tourists go, while the locals tend to hang out on Montana Ave or Main St. It may be there somewhere, but I haven't seen those type of "locals only" places downtown. there are some great happy hours in the gaslamp area though if that makes a difference. i will also second checking into little italy. although it is also fairly new development wise, you don't get the touristy vibe there. I'm not familiar with the dining/drinking options, but i'm sure there are some and you're only a 10-15 minute walk from the gaslmap area anyways.

[Sassberto]

Originally Posted by ickingfudiot

Thanks. I didn't really mean to call North Park "suburban" in the usual sense, not sure what I was thinking, it just looks a lot more neighborhood-y than Downtown proper (side streets have a lot of houses with small yards, no tall buildings, etc)

North Park can be very neighborly depending on where you live.

Personally if I was choosing for somewhere to live long-term, I would pick North Park over Downtown or Little Italy. But if I was single, I think it would be more fun to live in Little Italy for a couple of years. I would probably prefer owning a home in a "neighborhood" but renting in a fun, transient place.

[ranzchic]

North Park and Hillcrest are the almost same in terms of walkability but Hillcrest is more upscale. The commercial area is also a little more interesting than North Park just because there are more nice parts, and you have walking access to the "entrance" to Balboa Park which is around Laurel and Sixth which I prefer aesthetically. I've lived in both and I prefer Hillcrest(I'm gay so it probably isn't fair to North Park) over the two but both are great places to live if you're into that urban/uptown scene in San Diego. University Heights is interesting, it's like a more quieter Hillcrest. Same with Normal Heights in that it's almost like the quieter version of North Park. Little Italy is the more residential geared neighborhood so I'd live there over actual Downtown as well since I still have walking access to the Gaslamp anyway.