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Old 07-31-2007, 09:13 AM
 
Location: Tijuana Exurbs
4,530 posts, read 12,348,235 times
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Rockx

If you check back here, it would be great to get your impressions of the places you visited. C-D members post replies and then never know how things turn out for the people for whom they've answered questions. It's like missing the second half of a play!

Also, anyone checking this thread in the future could see how these areas appeared to someone from outside seeing them for nearly the first time. That added perspective would be a real benefit to them too.

So if you check back, let us know what you liked and didn't like.
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Old 07-31-2007, 05:14 PM
 
Location: California
157 posts, read 674,248 times
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Hey there well we went this past weekend all around San Diego.

We checked out Mission Hills, HillCrest, University Heights, Normal Heights, North and South Park, also La Jolla, Solona and Encinitas.

Pretty much what you said about each neighborhood was right on point.

First of all we really like Hillcrest it is like our old street in NYC "Hudson". However, just like you said...no families , not 1 baby stroller. So we just marked it off our list because it must not be a place to raise a child. Unlike West Village in NYC you will see many parks filled with young couples and babies.

Mission Hills, we liked this very much also, but to get a nice place would cost so much. Also it seemed a little far from the park, at least the places we looked at on Washington Street.

We looked at a few places north of the Park and even though they were in good location to the park, it was not the part of the park we wanted to be next to.

We did happen happen to see a few young families in University Heights, however the areas housing just looked unmaintained and kind of just sketchy in places??? Same with Normal Heights, definitely some nice homes there but the Shops just seemed a little on the "harsh" side.

South Park on 26th St and A,B,C... hrmm I don't know about this area, we saw some families but we also saw what appeared to be very cramped living with duplexes and families living out of garages...scary no offense.

We pretty much marked off the area around Balboa as being either non-family oriented, too expensive, or just a little too unmaintained. These may have been wrong, but these were our impressions.

Ja Jolla, Solana, Encinitas, nice beach areas...not too much going on besides the beach though. Very pretty and much more funky than OC's beaches.

I think if we were to move to San Diego we might live in the downtown area, like in a loft or something, but having lived in high-rises before...it can get a bit trapped in feeling.

Overall we liked San Diego, the people are very nice and I would live there before we lived in OC another year, since it has character. However, we just got the feeling it might have been a little too laid back.

I hope I didn't offend anyone, but it is a smaller city that reminds me of Tampa, FL. It has nice beaches, and a lot of culture but there isn't a real Urban feel like San Francisco or NYC that we are looking for.

Thanks to all that gave us information. It is a beautiful city, with many things to do.
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Old 07-31-2007, 06:06 PM
 
9,523 posts, read 30,377,414 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rockx View Post
I hope I didn't offend anyone, but it is a smaller city that reminds me of Tampa, FL. It has nice beaches, and a lot of culture but there isn't a real Urban feel like San Francisco or NYC that we are looking for.
Absolutely - if you are looking for SF or NYC - you won't find it in San Diego :-)
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Old 08-01-2007, 12:40 AM
 
Location: Sandy Eggo - Kensington
5,291 posts, read 12,700,499 times
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Glad to see that you made it down and that you had a pretty good impression of San Diego overall. Had I known better, I could have told you the main streets to drive down in each neighborhood. Oh well, I guess that means you have to drive down again sometime.

As you could probably tell, even our densest and most urban neighborboods are nothing compared to the ones in NYC. Then again, few cities, except maybe Chicago, Philly, DC, SF and Boston could even compare.


Quote:
Originally Posted by rockx View Post
First of all we really like Hillcrest it is like our old street in NYC "Hudson". However, just like you said...no families , not 1 baby stroller. So we just marked it off our list because it must not be a place to raise a child. Unlike West Village in NYC you will see many parks filled with young couples and babies.
Hillcrest is definitely San Diego's most urban walkable neighborhood. No less than 10 Thai and Indian restaurants within 3 square blocks, some cool shops, straight, gay and dive bars, many coffeehouses (3 Starbucks on the same street within 2 blocks of each other - damn them! ), late night restaurants (open till 3:00am!) stores, etc. As you observed, though, not a locale for the soccer mom.


Quote:
Originally Posted by rockx View Post
Mission Hills, we liked this very much also, but to get a nice place would cost so much. Also it seemed a little far from the park, at least the places we looked at on Washington Street.
I hope you didn't just stay on Washington St. FT. Stockton, Sunset and Pine Sts. are the ones go thru the heart of Mission Hills. Very nice area.

Quote:
Originally Posted by rockx View Post
We did happen happen to see a few young families in University Heights, however the areas housing just looked unmaintained and kind of just sketchy in places??? Same with Normal Heights, definitely some nice homes there but the Shops just seemed a little on the "harsh" side.
Like NYC, the neighborhood can vary from street to street. The best parts of University Heights is the area west of Park Blvd. near the neon "University Heights" sign. Hopefully drove under that. In Normal Heights, the area north of the Adams Ave. is where you want to be. Believe or not, this neighborhood has been gentrifying nicely over that past few years.

Quote:
Originally Posted by rockx View Post
South Park on 26th St and A,B,C... hrmm I don't know about this area, we saw some families but we also saw what appeared to be very cramped living with duplexes and families living out of garages...scary no offense.
If you only drove thru the streets that you mentioned above, then you really didn't make it to South Park. Had you kept going north on 30th Street all the way up to about Upas St, you would have driven thru the heart of South Park's funky main drag. The better part is on the west side of 30th, along the eastern side of Balboa Park. I know it's confusing, why call it South Park when it's actually, East Park..

I assure you, you wouldn't have seen many duplexes and people living in garages. This neighborhood seems to have more families living there because the houses are bigger, I suppose.

Quote:
Originally Posted by rockx View Post
Ja Jolla, Solana, Encinitas, nice beach areas...not too much going on besides the beach though. Very pretty and much more funky than OC's beaches.
Each of the areas has it's own commercial district and a vibe of it's own. La Jolla has 3 different "Main Streets" - the Shores, Bird Rock and Prospect. Many families here, but they mostly live behind the walls of their estates on Mt. Soledad or along the coastline. Encinitas is definitely a funky area with a great commercial strip along the PCH. Solana Beach's Cedros Blvd. is brimming with shops and restaurants. All 3 areas are pretty expensive - especially La Jolla.

Quote:
Originally Posted by rockx View Post
I think if we were to move to San Diego we might live in the downtown area, like in a loft or something, but having lived in high-rises before...it can get a bit trapped in feeling.
You might be surprised. Downtown SD is nothing like Manhattan. It's not as overwhelming, hectic and suffocating. I have many friends who live downtown and love it. Granted, they don't have kids, but they like the big city feel without it being "too much" city, if you know what I mean. It's safe and the best part of it is that your close to everything - Balboa Park, Coronado, Pt Loma, Mission Hills, Hillcrest, the airport, trolley line, etc.

Quote:
Originally Posted by rockx View Post
Overall we liked San Diego, the people are very nice and I would live there before we lived in OC another year, since it has character. However, we just got the feeling it might have been a little too laid back.
Besides the beach cities (Laguna, Newport), I'll agree that OC has no character. You must be going crazy having to live there.

Like Sass said above, if you're not going to find SF of NYC in SD. IMO, the only real city west of the Mississippi is SF. Maybe you should head up there?
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Old 08-01-2007, 01:04 AM
 
Location: Tijuana Exurbs
4,530 posts, read 12,348,235 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rockx View Post
Hey there well we went this past weekend all around San Diego.

We checked out Mission Hills, HillCrest, University Heights, Normal Heights, North and South Park, also La Jolla, Solona and Encinitas.

Thanks to all that gave us information. It is a beautiful city, with many things to do.
I'm glad to hear your honest opinions about the areas you drove through. Like sdurbanite said, I do hope you really drove into the neighborhoods and not just down the main drag, or one or two blocks off the main drag. For example to get to the best parts of University Heights you need to be 3 blocks west of Park Boulevard where the craftsman's with character reallly kick in. And just driving down 30th street doesn't give you the real feel of South Park which I fear you missed altogether. It appears the area you thought was South Park was in reality Golden Hill.

Come down again sometime, and let us know if you want a tour guide!
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Old 08-01-2007, 09:41 AM
 
Location: California
157 posts, read 674,248 times
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You San Diego people make a great impression on your city.

It seems we may have missed some critical parts on our trip, we are going to give it another try this weekend. Yeah we totally missed South Park, since it is really east of the park ...Balboa is an amazing park BTW you folks are very lucky to have such a nice city park.

We are not coming there to compare it to NYC at all, I really don't want to live in another NYC. However, it would be nice to have some of the convenience and character that NYC offers in an area (parks, shops, eatery, culture).

To be honest we just want something 'real' with soul, unlike OC that has no soul and feels like an empty existence. San Diego does indeed have soul and we really like the change from one neighborhood to the next, each having their own history.

So I say we go another round in SD. Thanks again folks, even if we do go to San Francisco instead, I will hold a very high opinion of San Diego if that counts for anything .

Last edited by rockx; 08-01-2007 at 09:50 AM..
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Old 08-03-2007, 11:18 PM
 
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Rockx, Don't move to Hillcrest...you're nuts, it's really not the place for a family. Most of us have no problem with people choosing to be gay, but we're not saying you're going to see a few here and there, in Hillcrest, that's about all there is.
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Old 08-04-2007, 07:57 AM
 
Location: Tijuana Exurbs
4,530 posts, read 12,348,235 times
Reputation: 6268
Quote:
Originally Posted by rockx View Post

So I say we go another round in SD. Thanks again folks, even if we do go to San Francisco instead, I will hold a very high opinion of San Diego if that counts for anything .
Rockx,

One neighborhood that none of us has really discussed is Middletown. It just south of Mission Hills, on the south side of Washington Street, and it's west of Hillcrest and Park West with it's eastern boundary starting at Goldfinch (link to neighborhood maps City of San Diego Western Neighborhood Map (broken link)). Sometimes people just forget it's there, or think it's part of Mission Hills, Hillcrest, or Little Italy. It's a mix of small and large Craftsmans, Spanish Revival/California bungalows, and newer construction of both houses and apartments.

It's main drag is probably Goldfinch which then turns into Reynard Way as it descends into a canyon. or possibly Kettner Boulevard which is its western boundary. If you drive down either of these streets, you will NOT NOT NOT get a feel for what the neighborhood is like. You need to get onto the side streets which tend to be small and difficult to navigate like Mission Hills to the north.

I believe you could walk from this area into Hillcrest, Park West, Mission Hills and eventually into Balboa Park. However, it could be quite a hike because the area is bisected by canyons that may make a direct route difficult. However, some of these canyons are crossed by pedestrian footbridges, much like the one that connects University Heights with Hillcrest. I believe the neighborhood doesn't have it's own park, relying on Balboa Park for its green space. And from it's proximity to Hillcrest, Park West and Little Italy, I doubt it's full of families, but have no real idea about that.

However, it's seems more residential than the parts of Hillcrest that you are familiar with, and it would put you in closer proximity to the west side of Balboa Park, the shopping of Hillcrest, the restaurants of Little Italy, and Downtown than the bulk of the other neighborhoods we have discussed.

Some unique negatives of this area compared to the others we've highlighted are airport noise, and the non-logical nature of the streets because the canyons, I-5, Kettner Blvd, and Washington St., have just made the layout disconnected and non-intuitive. You will definitely need a map in hand for a trip to this neighborhood.
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Old 08-04-2007, 08:57 AM
 
9,523 posts, read 30,377,414 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kettlepot View Post
Rockx,

One neighborhood that none of us has really discussed is Middletown. It just south of Mission Hills, on the south side of Washington Street, and it's west of Hillcrest and Park West with it's eastern boundary starting at Goldfinch (link to neighborhood maps
you're really talking about South Mission Hills. Middletown is really the area between Kettner and PCH.... it's mostly non-residential. South Mission Hills is a great area but very expensive. There are mansions in some of those canyons.
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Old 08-04-2007, 09:19 AM
 
Location: Tijuana Exurbs
4,530 posts, read 12,348,235 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Sassberto View Post
you're really talking about South Mission Hills. Middletown is really the area between Kettner and PCH.... it's mostly non-residential. South Mission Hills is a great area but very expensive. There are mansions in some of those canyons.
I've on occasion heard people refer to the area as South Mission Hills too, but according to the city's map, the area I described is called Middletown. The area you've identified as Middletown on the other side of the freeway between Kettner and PCH is called Harborview by the city.

The question is, what traditionally was the name of the area? I wonder if the So Mission Hills moniker might be an attempt by people in recent decades trying to affix the "Mission Hills" appellation onto an area that is really just named Middletown. This would be much like the people in La Jolla Colony trying to affix La Jolla to their name, or the people in Del Mar Heights attempting to claim Del Mar residency. And will how long will it be before Teralta West of City Heights tries to rebrand itself as Baja Kensington Del Sur?
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