Thoughts on Talmadge area

[sdurbanite]

Originally Posted by kettlepot

The property's location north of Adams is a big plus whether or not your are inside the gates or not.

The streets inside the neighborhood are safe to walk day or night. Crime took a substantial dip from 2008 to 2011, but has increased some in that past 2 years, particularly car thefts/prowls. This is a direct result of the emptying out of the prisons ordered by a 3 member federal judge panel headed by Judge Stephen Reinhardt. If you can keep your car(s) in the garage you shouldn't have much of a problem. This rise in auto-related crime is a city wide problem, but more so in neighborhoods like Talmadge, Kensington, and Normal Heights. One thing is now that we are connected via email, even though your only connection with crime may be the theft of your lawn gnome once in ten years, you will know when every lawn gnome, Christmas wreath, or car break in occurs throughout the community.

Regarding El Cajon Boulevard, it is an issue, but it's not like it's Straight Out of Compton. I don't want to be dismissive of it, but it shouldn't be over-hyped. One of the biggest problems with the Boulevard is that there is nothing there that anyone in Talmadge wants to patronize. "Nothing" and "anyone" may be an exaggeration, but it is the fundamental problem. It keeps Talmadge's pedestrians inside the neighborhood, and leaves the Boulevard available for the undesirables. Living in Talmadge will not allow you to raise your child in a hermetically sealed suburban bubble. They will see things on El Cajon Boulevard that you will have to explain someday. Why does the Vietnamese market smell so fishy? What on earth is that exotic Asian fruit in the market? Why is it that we can't ride our bicycles south of Monroe Avenue or at night? What is sober living?

If you do your statistical research you will find that Talmadge has a solid middle income profile, but it is near poorer areas. It has some racial diversity, Asian and Hispanic, but it is primarily white. It has a larger than average gay population.

Talmadge is definitely suitable for raising small children, though the neighborhood lacks a park. There is a decent number of other children who can meet each other via playdate groups. This is an urban neighborhood, so it is not like a 1950s baby boom neighborhood where you could kick your kids out the door after breakfast and tell them not to come home until dark. But once your kids are past the 8-9 range, and you show them where they can and can't go and to watch for cars, I personally would not be concerned about their riding bicycles around the neighborhood in a group.

Depending on where you are in the neighborhood, your neighborhood school would either be Hardy or Franklin. Middle school becomes a bit more problematic, but Franklin was recently given the option of tracking into Patrick Henry High School.

To sum up, it's a good neighborhood, but not perfect. It's a neighborhood that is improving not declining.

Great post!

[eastsandiegobornandraised]

Originally Posted by kettlepot

The property's location north of Adams is a big plus whether or not your are inside the gates or not.

The streets inside the neighborhood are safe to walk day or night. Crime took a substantial dip from 2008 to 2011, but has increased some in that past 2 years, particularly car thefts/prowls. This is a direct result of the emptying out of the prisons ordered by a 3 member federal judge panel headed by Judge Stephen Reinhardt. If you can keep your car(s) in the garage you shouldn't have much of a problem. This rise in auto-related crime is a city wide problem, but more so in neighborhoods like Talmadge, Kensington, and Normal Heights. One thing is now that we are connected via email, even though your only connection with crime may be the theft of your lawn gnome once in ten years, you will know when every lawn gnome, Christmas wreath, or car break in occurs throughout the community.

Regarding El Cajon Boulevard, it is an issue, but it's not like it's Straight Out of Compton. I don't want to be dismissive of it, but it shouldn't be over-hyped. One of the biggest problems with the Boulevard is that there is nothing there that anyone in Talmadge wants to patronize. "Nothing" and "anyone" may be an exaggeration, but it is the fundamental problem. It keeps Talmadge's pedestrians inside the neighborhood, and leaves the Boulevard available for the undesirables. Living in Talmadge will not allow you to raise your child in a hermetically sealed suburban bubble. They will see things on El Cajon Boulevard that you will have to explain someday. Why does the Vietnamese market smell so fishy? What on earth is that exotic Asian fruit in the market? Why is it that we can't ride our bicycles south of Monroe Avenue or at night? What is sober living?

If you do your statistical research you will find that Talmadge has a solid middle income profile, but it is near poorer areas. It has some racial diversity, Asian and Hispanic, but it is primarily white. It has a larger than average gay population.

Talmadge is definitely suitable for raising small children, though the neighborhood lacks a park. There is a decent number of other children who can meet each other via playdate groups. This is an urban neighborhood, so it is not like a 1950s baby boom neighborhood where you could kick your kids out the door after breakfast and tell them not to come home until dark. But once your kids are past the 8-9 range, and you show them where they can and can't go and to watch for cars, I personally would not be concerned about their riding bicycles around the neighborhood in a group.

Depending on where you are in the neighborhood, your neighborhood school would either be Hardy or Franklin. Middle school becomes a bit more problematic, but Franklin was recently given the option of tracking into Patrick Henry High School.

To sum up, it's a good neighborhood, but not perfect. It's a neighborhood that is improving not declining.

Whoa, I went to franklin lol. That's a trip considering its a hop skip and a jump to Hoover. And talmadge is honestly the only area I really didn't know growing up, it was always so strange to me. I think only once I've gone across Meade in my entire life lol