San Diego natives please give me your opinion? (El Cajon, La Mesa: apartment, to rent)

[tymonty21]

Relocating to the San Diego area next year, Fall 2012. Please give me your honest opinion of the following cities: El Cajon, Santee, La Mesa, Lemon Grove, and Spring Valley.

Everything from housing/apts./neighborhoods, traffic, schools, local attractions, nightlife, parks, men/women, and of course SHOPPING etc...any amount of info is helpful! I'm a single black woman, no kids, 35 yrs young, aviation field, and will transfer with my job in the next coming year. Thanks again for sharing your thoughts!

[loveautumn]

no offense to anyone, but I wouldn't want to live in any of those areas, esp being single. Are you focusing on those areas because they are less expensive housing wise?

[Just1Lion]

ive also read in this forum that there is an abundance of racism in east county. you may want to look elsewhere.

[BacktoBlue]

Originally Posted by Just1Lion

ive also read in this forum that there is an abundance of racism in east county. you may want to look elsewhere.

No offense but you don't live in SD.

It used to be bad but it has gotten a lot better. There are many blacks, hispanics, and middle eastern people spreading into these areas.

I am a native and I will tell you that La Mesa is nice and that Lemon Grove and El Cajon is hit and miss. They have ok areas and then ghettoish areas.

Santee is nice however you are single so i wouldn't want to live there for a single life. I would live in La Mesa being single though as there are bars and it is also close to freeways and the trolley so you can go downtown from there.

I really like La Mesa.

[Just1Lion]

Originally Posted by BacktoBlue

No offense but you don't live in SD.

whether i reside there or not means nothing. it is what it is. and the OP needs as much info as possible. all she needs to do is read the threads and she will see a re-occuring theme relating to east county. that was my point. not trying to offend the people that live there. i live in friggin PA. bunch of racists hicks here. and i ****ing hate it. black people tend to be really sensitive to racist behavior. my statement was meant to make the OP aware of "possible" racism.

[shmoov_groovzsd]

All of these areas: La Mesa, Lemon Grove, Spring Valley, El Cajon, Santee are experiencing a wider age dynamic than maybe some other areas in the county. Reason being that since SD is a military town, there were quite a few that stayed here after the wars. Most of the seniors on my street are Korean or Vietnam War vets.
I would say on my street, there has already been lady who has left for the nursing home. There are two others that are not far behind. The newer neighbors including myself are in their 30s and 40s and working professionals. Some with kids others none. My area is super quiet and maybe if I see 5 cars drive by in a day, its busy. But for a single person, its not what I would consider a "lively" social place unless you enjoy chatting about the upcoming BINGO nights.

The Lemon Grove downtown has a walkability score of 1/10...it sucks. I would say 99% of the crime happens here on Broadway.
The only saving graces are the Home Depot, Starbucks, Coops BBQ and Henrys Market. There are some other cool stores but overall as people moved out of the area or died over the years, business dried up and its in major need for a re haul if that ever happens. It would be nice if it were nicer to hang out in, but La Mesa and Downtown SD are within 10 minutes to get to.

I have lived in the south and racism in places like Atlanta, its nothing like that here. The tension was pretty bad in Atlanta from what I remember. Passive racism in East County certainly exists because there are more non-whites moving into these areas. So yeah, for some of the old school East County folk I have talked to in my neighborhood, basically say "the area is changing" eg non whites being more visible. I just get to the point with them and ask them what that means and its usually one of those "you know, I am seeing more blacks and mexicans" more so than 20 years ago. My very good friends who are an interracial couple looking for a home are looking at La Mesa. Santee, while very nice, was not a place they felt they would be welcomed with open arms into the neighborhood. Again, its all perception, you really never know until you have experienced it or know someone who has run into these issues.

Referring to now vs 20 years ago seems like a ridiculous statement from these old timers, but is only a testament to the frozen in time mentality some folks still have. Its everywhere though, I just think generally speaking East County for the most part is pretty sleepy and only until recently when homes have become more affordable in these areas has some local sentiment risen. The "I didnt do anything wrong, but the area is changing around me" is kind of humorous and very townie.

as loveautumn asked: are you looking in these areas because the homes are more affordable? If you are looking to buy, then that makes sense. However if you are looking to rent, your options are a bit more open throughout the county. I think I speak for everyone here in saying that if you come here, renting for a year to get your feet wet is really the way to go. Buying here in SD is not like buying in "anywhere" USA. Zip codes here are king.

[NYSD1995]

Look at central SD instead - North Park, Normal Heights and College Area. You will have a more diverse group of neighbors and closer to nightlife. My neighborhood near SDSU is an epicenter of mixed-race families and is only 10 minutes from Downtown SD and all it has to offer.

[shmoov_groovzsd]

Originally Posted by Sassberto

Look at central SD instead - North Park, Normal Heights and College Area. You will have a more diverse group of neighbors and closer to nightlife. My neighborhood near SDSU is an epicenter of mixed-race families and is only 10 minutes from Downtown SD and all it has to offer.

Sassberto really has good things to say on the forums about areas you may be looking for. He is right, about College Area and other neighborhoods. You can do a forum search as well for lots of little nuggets over the past couple of years about certain neighborhoods he listed.

As an outsider, it must be confusing because if you look at a google map of the county and wondering why a mile south over the 94, home prices are considerably less but many of the houses look the same. I dont realy know why except of course, what people are willing to pay to live somewhere. There are some exceptions in certain areas, but this is San Diego County and housing here is unlike anything I had ever seen anywhere.

[grovian]

Lemon Grove was once the place where retired military lived. Now their kids own the houses but rent them out and don't really take care of them. I have lived here all my life. I see the need for improvement, but I also see that most people are nice, families love their kids, mostly, and everybody is real. They work hard and are just trying to get ahead, so people don't care if your house isn't painted the same color as your neighbors. It's very mixed, white, hispanic, black. We have our share of stupid people, what place doesn't? Houses are going for pretty cheap. Renting an apartment gets a bit ghetto, but you can own a house for the same price as renting. It's centrally located, has no good restuarants, but it does have a buttload of tattoo parlors and money"trees". We are still trying to make it a nice place. La Mesa is bigger and more organized, and nicer. We are 7 miles from Downtown San Diego,(but it will take you 30 minutes to get there by car during drive time) 20 minutes to Ocean Beach, an hour to the Laguna Mtns. where it snows in winter, 25 minutes to the Mexican border. It gets hot here, though for the past couple of summers we've only had 2 weeks of real hot weather- mostly dry not like Atlanta. I like the Atlanta soup myself. Personally, I hate El Cajon and feel like I get stupid when I'm there so I avoid it. Santee has become more upscale and has everything you need. The 52 gets you to the 805 to Miramar in 20 minutes (40dt), half hour to Downtown. Nice Y and rec center. Lakeside is still backwoods in every way-eeek.
Spring Valley is an armpit, unless you consider Casa de Oro part of Spring Valley- still fighting about that one- it's on the south side of Mt. Helix- upscale large pieces of land, a bit snobbish.
San Diego has pockets. You can be driving down a really nice street and two streets over, it's a little tweeky. Your golden if your in a good pocket. We are, and we love it.

[grovian]

It's funny what Sassberto writes, because Rolando Park is like 7 minutes away via back streets. SDSU is 10 minutes away and full of stupid white frat boys. lemon grove is more welcoming I think. I grew up with white, black, phillipino, mexican, poles, germans, catholic, methodists, mormons, jews, jockeys, tidy whitys, boxers, democrats, greens, republicans. I still see many of them here. I know that there are gay couples who wish they lived in Hillcrest but can afford here but they seem happy here. Ask more and I'll spill.