Pt Loma vs Solana Beach / Encinitas (Mesa: rentals, houses, neighborhood)

[rozzzebud]

Hi Everyone!

We have narrowed down our rental search to two areas thanks to all the helpful posts on this site. We have found house rentals that we like and I am now hoping to get any additional insight into the two areas so that we can make our final decision.

1) Point Loma (near Liberty Station)
Like that it is a beachy community yet near places to walk, downtown, airport. Seems like it is near it all which is nice to newcomers to SD. Wondering if it gets really congested with traffic?

2) Solana Beach or Encintas
We found a nice place just east of the 5 in Solana Beach that is walking distance to some shops. However, I am concerned that there is not much to do in Solana so we are also looking at Encinitas too as it seems like there is more family friendly activites there? Also, I like to walk and it doesn't seem like there are any walking paths at the beach in Solana, Cardiff, Encinitas - just cliff or houses then beach / water.

A little about us...
-Family with two babies (schools not a concern yet)
-Stay at home mom looking for family friendly activities close by such as good places to walk the babies in a stroller, parks, moms clubs, local shops, farmers market, etc.
-Husband works in Mira Mesa which seems to be in the middle of these two areas

Can anyone give me pro and cons on either of these two areas?

Thanks!

[happykid]

Hi,
I am glad to see you have narrowed it down to include Pt. Loma, near Liberty Station. I had suggested to you before Liberty Station because I live there and love it! I have a preshcooler and a baby on the way and just love the convenience of everything being in walking distance. There are many families with little ones in this neighborhood and lots of families from nearby come down to play here . Liberty Station is an extremely friendly neighborhood that is very pedestrian friendly. There are moms with strollers walking everywhere and a few parks where moms gather. There are various play groups in the area, but you don't have to join one. I never did, but always found friendly people to talk to in the various parks and other children to play with my child. Since you love to walk, there is a big sidewalk along North Harbor Drive that takes you to Spanish Landing. Cabrillo National Point is a short drive. The Ocean Beach Farmer's market is just over a hill.
As for your husband's commute, he is going against traffic so he should not encounter problems very often. I used to commute to Scripps Ranch and it took 20 minutes each ways.
Pt Loma gets packed on Rosecrans on weekends but there are other ways to get in and out of the area--such as Nimitz to the 5, North Harbor.

I don't know much about Solana Beach. However, I only have positives to say about Liberty Station!

[bestwest]

Liberty Station is very cool, except be prepared for LOTS of airplane noise, depending upon exactly where you are. You can hike all over the San Elijo lagoon, which is north of Solana Beach, south of Cardiff. You can walk on the beach for miles between Cardiff and Encinitas and beyond. There's a farmers market in Solana Beach on Sundays and another one on Fridays in Encinitas. Downtown Encinitas is really cool, the schools are great, especially in Cardiff and Solana Beach (those days will be here sooner than you think). The Y in Encinitas has lots of activities for kids, moms and everyone. In fact, that's a great place to meet other moms when you bring your kid to swim lessons, skate camp or whatever. The commute to Mira Mesa is not so pleasant--it would be great to be in a carpool, so you can ride in the carpool lane. It's hard to beat North County, if you can afford it.