Vista seems so beautiful...am I missing something?

[SDBorn]

We grew up in Vista. From mid 60's to 1991. We moved to the Midwest because we didn't want to raise our two young sons in an environment that was getting too crowded. Back in 1989 when we made the decision to move, it took us 30 minutes on HWY 78 to get from the Carlsbad Mall to the College Blvd area in stop and go traffic. We wanted our kids to grow up as we did, without fear of walking around the neighborhood, building forts with their buddies in empty fields, walking to the library without fear of being kidnapped or run over.

We still have family in Vista and SoCal and visit frequently. You can imagine our shock when we came back...compared to the Vista we grew up in as compared to now. While in high school we could go to Tamarack beach, and there would be maybe one or two cars. We used to build bonfires and it was like paradise in North County with flower fields, strawberry fields and orange groves. Not so today. Areas which used to be considered the well off areas, like Beaumont, Warmlands, Foothills and Monte Vista are pretty much the opposite today. I was shocked to see homes in the Foothills area with 5 cars parked in the front yard which had been concreted over and bars on the windows. What happened?! I'm not suggesting all the good areas are now bad, but I have to say most of them are not as I remembered them. Guess it is true, you can't go home again. Say what you will, but I think it is tragic what has happened to Vista. Just reading some posts indicating there are bad pockets and even though there are gangs, most likely you won't get shot. That is sad commentary in itself. When Shadowridge was first developed, we all turned our noses up at it, because it was a tract development with houses on top of one another. Now it is the best place to live in Vista. Wow

[htnspz]

I initially didn't want to buy a house with an HOA, but I'm sure happy that there are HOA's in Shadowridge because I'm afraid that it would turn into a bad area otherwise. I really do love Shadowridge and I think it's a great value. It has nice parks and the schools are good as well. For me, it's the total package.

[loveautumn]

Poway and RB are very safe and highly desirable places to live...

Each neighborhood in SD has its own "identity" so to speak and North County towns have changed greatly in the last 5 years. North of Carlsbad gets a little iffy (I'm talking Vista, Oceanside, Escondido). There are very expensive homes in each area, and then gang problems in each area. So it kind of runs the spectrum, you would really need to check out a particular location very carefully.

[SDBorn]

We checked out Shadowridge last time we were in Cali...and I have to admit there are some very nice homes with decent sized lots and the area is kept up very nicely. Then there are homes that are way too close to each other which wasn't for me. There are pros and cons to HOA's...the neighborhood is kept up, but you lose a lot of freedom too. Where we are now, you can't even put up a fence because they want the deer and wildlife to be able to wander around, never mind kids are riding their bikes across your lawn and finding strangers using your backyard as their private hiking trail and sitting on your front lawn like it is their own private park. As I said, pros and cons.

[lucyluc]

I live in the warmlands area of Vista, the hilltop area, its kinda like the country out here.I hate to say it but I have noticed that in the last 2 yrs graffitti is coming to the country! I never used to see that out here!I have also noticed quite a few families doubling up with tons of construction vehicles and junk in the yards; my advice;you might be better off in Shadowridge,they have 500 pages of ccand r's. They dont allow junk vehicles;in fact the complex I had bought in stated that if you have a commercial truck or a vehicle with rust it had to be kept in the garage with the door closed!At least the nighborhood will not go down in Shadowridge.Sadly I see the country area of Vista becoming very junky. I am constantly calling the city ordinance enforcer(I am sure he hates me but I am making sure he has a job) when neighbor park boats in the front yard and have 6 appliances on the front yard for months(yes can you believe it?).In the massive real estate depression(yes I said the D word) there are some killer deals out there! My flooring contractor said he installed floors in a 6000 sq foot hilltop home(they all have massive incredible ocean views up there) that an investor bought for 500,000!It was previously foreclosed on by the bank for 1.5 million!So if you want to live in the back hills buy as far up as you can go on the mountains.....that area seems to be immune for the most part to graffitti.

[SDBorn]

Wow, that is amazing...$500K, previously $1.5 million? There are some gorgeous ocean views and beautiful areas up in Warmlands, but what do you have to drive through to get to it? Vista? Is anything being said about trying to get Vista back to the way it was as far as in the news?? You spoke of an ordinance enforcement officer, which shocked me but made me happy. Vista needs a lot more of them! What about ordinance enforcement on Santa Fe where all the purple store fronts are? Guess they only enforce areas where folks complain. More people need to complain! Hats off to you lucyluc, otherwise you might continue to see your property values go down even more. There are certain areas of Vista I would not drive in even in broad daylight.

[wanttoteach]

Wow...it is amazing that this thread is still going! I started this thread about 2 years ago. We ended up buying in Rancho Penasquitos because that is the closest that we could get to my job in Carmel Valley. I looked back at my post and it says that I had timed it and it took 35 minutes to get from Vista to Solana Beach. Was I wrong!!! That would have been an AWFUL commute. I didn't really understand SoCal traffic. The timing on Yahoo and Google Maps only works without any traffic. Lucyluc-that is very sad about the graffiti in the Warmlands area. We loved that area. In fact, we had a house in escrow there but couldn't sell our home in NorCal (thank goodness the deal didn't go through, or I would have been commuting 2 hours a day). We called the house "Tropical Paradise" and it was so beautiful. It was surrounded by Palm trees and tucked away from other houses. There was a deck on the roof where you could see the ocean. It was surprisingly inexpensive at the time. I can't even imagine what it is now. Anyway, how sad that a beautiful place such as Warmlands has more and more graffiti and people leaving appliances on their front yard. Where is the pride of ownership? Sad. Especially in this economic time, where people need to present their homes in the best way possible, to keep the prices from falling even more.

[lucyluc]

I actually have come to love where I live in Vista....at least here you can have a huge lot.I have 2 acres tucked away on a hilltop.Right now there are some real bargains out there;prices have fallen a lot in Vista. If you want land you get some great deals you just have to be very careful where you buy-the higher elevations in the backhills area of buena creek /warmlands are nice. Stay away from the hilltop areas off Santa Fe close to the freeway,yes it makes for a shorter commute but those areas are crimeridden. Also try to stay away from living close to nurseries in the backhills....there is a lot of riff raff that goes on there and noise(forklifts...big trucks coming and going..lots of loud music too)

[oddstray]

Originally Posted by wanttoteach

...In the Sacramento area, if you say you are from Rancho Cordova, people automatically think..."hmmm, not so good there." I am wondering if that is how San Diego people think of Vista.

I've lived in Sacramento so I'm familiar with Rancho Cordova. I think you have a pretty good analogy between Rancho Cordova and Vista. Both have some older, run-down areas and some less safe areas, and both also have some very nice areas.

[SDBorn]

I have a question...what do you think about the Beaumont area in Vista? I see a lot of homes for sale in the Tiger Tail, Beaumont area these days. As I posted earlier, it used to be a really nice area of town but I thought it had gone down hill and was borderline barrio. True?