the good && the bad (San Diego, August: renting, condo, new house)

[LAAFTERHOURS]

Originally Posted by Radical347

Okay people, Mira Mesa, Linda Vista, and Clairemont are not bad areas. They aren't fancy, hip, or exciting, but they're not bad. Bad would be City Heights, Barrio Logan (although this area may be improving as development is pushing this way), and North Park (hip and exciting, but still bad), as well as the areas nobody's heard of except on the news when someone gets shot: Chollas View, Chollas Creek, Grant Hill, Lincoln Park, Stockton, Mt. Hope, and a few others I can't think of. Pretty much the big chunk of land the front of the phone book calls "Grantville."

I have to disagree on North park. It depends on where you live in north park. For the best areas, South of Upas, West of 30th along the park. My wife and I lived at Thorn and Grenada, a block from Bird Park (in the greater Balboa park area) and it was great. No crime whatsoever. Kids lived in the general area. One of the best sushi restaraunts (best for food, not the service) is on the corner of 30th and upas. We walked there weekly for dinner and never felt threatened. A sports bar opened on the opposite corner about a year ago - local hangout for the 25-35 crowds. They have bands play weekly.

There is also a pocket of really nice homes near the private Catholic Boys School, i think south of redwood and east of 30th. Anything near 30th is not good. Anything about 30th - no way in hell, but generalizing that north park is all bad is incorrect. We were renting too and I know there are a lot of rentals in the area.

[Radical347]

Originally Posted by LAAFTERHOURS

I have to disagree on North park. It depends on where you live in north park. For the best areas, South of Upas, West of 30th along the park. My wife and I lived at Thorn and Grenada, a block from Bird Park (in the greater Balboa park area) and it was great. No crime whatsoever. Kids lived in the general area. One of the best sushi restaraunts (best for food, not the service) is on the corner of 30th and upas. We walked there weekly for dinner and never felt threatened. A sports bar opened on the opposite corner about a year ago - local hangout for the 25-35 crowds. They have bands play weekly.

There is also a pocket of really nice homes near the private Catholic Boys School, i think south of redwood and east of 30th. Anything near 30th is not good. Anything about 30th - no way in hell, but generalizing that north park is all bad is incorrect. We were renting too and I know there are a lot of rentals in the area.

You are right. I guess I should have specified that it's not all of North Park. I have been to the area you are talking about (the South Park side) and it is pretty nice. I was thinking of the sides closer to by Normal Heights, University Heights, Hillcrest, and City Heights (NH, UH, and HC are not bad, but the sides of North Park bordering them seem to be) and especially, as you said, along 30th.

[LAAFTERHOURS]

They auctioned that massive new development on 30th and university off a month back - i wonder what those condos went for..

[Imperial1904]

Originally Posted by Radical347

Okay people, Mira Mesa, Linda Vista, and Clairemont are not bad areas. They aren't fancy, hip, or exciting, but they're not bad. Bad would be City Heights, Barrio Logan (although this area may be improving as development is pushing this way), and North Park (hip and exciting, but still bad), as well as the areas nobody's heard of except on the news when someone gets shot: Chollas View, Chollas Creek, Grant Hill, Lincoln Park, Stockton, Mt. Hope, and a few others I can't think of. Pretty much the big chunk of land the front of the phone book calls "Grantville."

You think North Park is worse than Linda Vista?

Mira Mesa is a 'bad area' based on the statistics on gang crimes.

[Sassberto]

Originally Posted by Imperial1904

You think North Park is worse than Linda Vista?

Yeah I don't get that. Linda Vista sure looks scarier to me.

[eastsandiegobornandraised]

If your think Mira Mesa and Clairemont is bad...you need to travel more.

Linda Vista's kinda sketchy, its the poorest neighborhood north of 8, but surrounded by unpoor areas. On one hand you got USD lookin nice over there and some nice military housing, then on the other hand you got all the old run down apartments and duplexes that used to be government housing. Legit gangs too(I dont know about LVC though, they tag all over the place but i've only seen one who wasn't playing about it).

North Park also isn't bad to me, you might have a couple blocks that might look a lil run down, expect that to disappear as well because they've been fixing that area up. When you got two Starbucks built within 10 blocks from each other on the same street, you know things are coming up

I swear Starbucks is the mascot of urban redevelopment

To me, there aren't too many places in San Diego I'd personally be scared of...at least not in 2007...but back in the day, things were BAD. City Heights and Southeast before the redevelopments, National City(especially the parts bordering shelltown), every major apartment complex in Southeast(Meadowbrook, Bay Vista, Solola(now Bella Vista), Harbor View, John Adams(Bayview Heights) just to name a few. These areas are still considered bad, but to me they aren't nearly as bad as they used to be.

[Sassberto]

Originally Posted by eastsandiegobornandraised

To me, there aren't too many places in San Diego I'd personally be scared of...at least not in 2007...but back in the day, things were BAD. City Heights and Southeast before the redevelopments, National City(especially the parts bordering shelltown), every major apartment complex in Southeast(Meadowbrook, Bay Vista, Solola(now Bella Vista), Harbor View, John Adams(Bayview Heights) just to name a few. These areas are still considered bad, but to me they aren't nearly as bad as they used to be.

Well times have definitely changed since the 80's and 90's. A lot of the dudes who were little thugs in those days are still locked up today. A lot of what I see going on seems to be little kid stuff... wannabe stuff. A lot of these gangs are nothing but little kid taggers. San Diego isn't LA and being a thug will get you noticed unless you stick to a few little areas. The whole hip-hop/gangster trend seems to have run it's course for most people.

Chollas View, the barrio, and City Heights seem to be the only places that are really sketchy for civilians these days, but even those areas have cleaned up a lot. Most of the trouble is concentrated around the main streets and the Apartment complexes.. sometimes in the parks, but not so much in the neighborhoods anymore. It's weird, but more people seem to get shot in Vista than down in the city.

You can see it in my neighborhood - houses getting fixed up, businesses getting fixed up, slowly but surely it's all changing around. 10 years ago I would have stuck out like a sore thumb. Now, I'm just one of a bunch of Mini Cooper owners in the neighborhood. One guy decides to re-stucco his house... and then the guy next door. In my immediate neighborhood we've got at least 5 major remodels going down.

As for Starbucks - they've crossed all socioeconomic barriers. We've got no fewer than 5 Starbucks within a mile - 2 at SDSU, 2 on El Cajon, even one down on University now. Even the new shopping center down by the 5 offramp in the barrio has a Starbucks.. imagine that!

All that said - the people missing out on all this good stuff are getting frustrated. You can see it on their faces. Their neighborhoods are getting richer and they aren't. They are faced with being pushed out of their neighborhoods and they don't like it. Thugs who used to run the streets now have to keep a low profile because no one's afraid of 'em and people are willing to call the cops now. If I see anyone out of place on the block I'm out there shining a mag-lite at em... you won't see them come back a second time.

[Sassberto]

Originally Posted by loco boy

these days sd has gangs ever where like
varrio logan hieghts gang sherman 27,lomas 26 {golden hills},shelltown 38,paradise hills,
lomita village 70's,mountain view,linda vista,east mission bay,north and west clairemont,

Lomas is what... 6 guys now? LH is big, but is anyone over 18? They seem to just be a bunch of taggers now. Mission Bay and Clairemont have had their gangs forever, those dudes must be 10 deep nowadays.

Gangster fad is over... these dudes are not nearly what they used to be. Everyone's either in jail or some little kid. Not like the old days when it was grown men dealing drugs in the open, shutting down entire blocks. Those days are gone and ain't coming back.

Check out what's going on in Oceanside and Vista... that's the new trouble spot.

[Imperial1904]

Originally Posted by Sassberto

Well times have definitely changed since the 80's and 90's. A lot of the dudes who were little thugs in those days are still locked up today. A lot of what I see going on seems to be little kid stuff... wannabe stuff. A lot of these gangs are nothing but little kid taggers. San Diego isn't LA and being a thug will get you noticed unless you stick to a few little areas. The whole hip-hop/gangster trend seems to have run it's course for most people.

Chollas View, the barrio, and City Heights seem to be the only places that are really sketchy for civilians these days, but even those areas have cleaned up a lot. Most of the trouble is concentrated around the main streets and the Apartment complexes.. sometimes in the parks, but not so much in the neighborhoods anymore. It's weird, but more people seem to get shot in Vista than down in the city.

You can see it in my neighborhood - houses getting fixed up, businesses getting fixed up, slowly but surely it's all changing around. 10 years ago I would have stuck out like a sore thumb. Now, I'm just one of a bunch of Mini Cooper owners in the neighborhood. One guy decides to re-stucco his house... and then the guy next door. In my immediate neighborhood we've got at least 5 major remodels going down.

As for Starbucks - they've crossed all socioeconomic barriers. We've got no fewer than 5 Starbucks within a mile - 2 at SDSU, 2 on El Cajon, even one down on University now. Even the new shopping center down by the 5 offramp in the barrio has a Starbucks.. imagine that!

All that said - the people missing out on all this good stuff are getting frustrated. You can see it on their faces. Their neighborhoods are getting richer and they aren't. They are faced with being pushed out of their neighborhoods and they don't like it. Thugs who used to run the streets now have to keep a low profile because no one's afraid of 'em and people are willing to call the cops now. If I see anyone out of place on the block I'm out there shining a mag-lite at em... you won't see them come back a second time.

Alot of gangs are nothing but kids now, but that's everywhere, not just San Diego. You're right about San Diego not being like L.A., but gangs have been in San Diego for decades and I'm sure there are alot of gang members that are adults and are legitimate. I knew a few bangers back in the '90s, a couple from the L.A. area. In my opinion, just like in L.A., you can tell who's a wannabe in San Diego.

Also, alot of gangs and gang members are documented and/or put in an injunction. So gang members who can't be in the area might have to live in a rival's area, obviously then, he/she would have to keep a low profile.

[Sassberto]

Originally Posted by Imperial1904

Alot of gangs are nothing but kids now, but that's everywhere, not just San Diego. You're right about San Diego not being like L.A., but gangs have been in San Diego for decades and I'm sure there are alot of gang members that are adults and are legitimate. I knew a few bangers back in the '90s, a couple from the L.A. area. In my opinion, just like in L.A., you can tell who's a wannabe in San Diego.

Well.. figure if a dude was 15 in 1992... he's 30 today. Slangin' and bangin' is a young man's game. If you were an OG in the 90's you're over 40 and either in jail or struggling to feed your kids. Not exactly someone running the streets.

Their numbers are in decline... gangs will never completely go away, but their influence diminishes. Seems to me like the gangs are 90% wannabees these days. In the 90's there was a recession and the gang thing was new to a lot of people. Today it's easier to get a job than to sling weed. People don't fear the gangs the way they used to... and our country is aging so there are a lot more older, wiser heads around than there were 10-15 years ago. The demographics just aren't working in their favor anymore.

To me the areas to worry about for the future are places like San Ysidro, Vista, O'side, Hemet, El Cajon, Spring Valley... places where an older dude can afford to live and operate without everyone knowing what they're up to. There are more kids out there than in the older areas of the city, less opportunities, and more isolation which lends to gangs forming.