Need help picking a neighborhood; family of 4 (San Diego, Compton: apartments, crime)

[AZ2SD]

Commute from San Marcos to Mission Valley will be tough - the 78 is really bad during rush hour to the 15 going south. I live in San Marcos and my office is located in the Black Mountain/PQ area, just off the 56. Average commute time for me is just under 30mins. It'll take you considerably more than that to get to Mission Valley if you were to settle in San Marcos.

In case you are still considering other North County communities; there are some really nice areas in SM, especially the Twin Oaks Valley and Walnut Grove Park areas and also San Elijo Hills. The San Elijo neighborhood borders La Costa/Carlsbad and SFH there go for anywhere between 500 to mid 600K. You can even find some nice homes with large backyards in the 400K range, but will not be in the areas I've listed, but still in good, safe areas.

Some of the schools in SM may not be in the same range as PUSD, but a good number of them are really competitive and the API test scores are right at the top with some of the PUSD schools, especially San Elijo, Discovery, Carrillo etc. Neighboring schools in Carlsbad are also very good.

Commute will be tough from SM to MV, but you also get a big bang for your buck and you'll be 30-60mins drive to pretty much anywhere in SD.

San Marcos is home to Palomar College and also Cal State University, so there's a large number of young adults that live here - though night life is virtually non-existent. This is a bedroom community, but that may change with the plans to develop a downtown area.

[sdhkshdcny09]

I don't recommend relocating to San Marcos if you commute to employment centers south of Miramar. Many people do commute to the UTC area, but the drive is tiring day after day (from personal experience).

San Carlos, Santee, Allied Gardens, La Mesa, Mt. Helix, and CV are all nice communities with shorter commutes to MV.

[metoque]

hell

[debyne]

Originally Posted by docmcstuffin

I'm not sure how much you want to spend on housing. $160k + bonus doesn't mean much. You should saying something like, I have budgeted for $50k for housing or something like that. Then we can narrow down the area much better for you.

I hear you. We'd like to find a place that's at least 2,000 sq ft for $2800/month or less.

[docmcstuffin]

Originally Posted by debyne

I hear you. We'd like to find a place that's at least 2,000 sq ft for $2800/month or less.

$2800 for renting a 2000 sq-ft house give you some decent options. At that price, you probably won't get much larger than 2000 sq-ft in a good school areas. Do you prefer newer home (what year is your cut off) or view or larger lots/back yard, etc? Maybe you can give your list of desires in a home in priority. In general, for that price range and size, I'd either look at Mira Mesa, Rancho Penasquitos, Scripps Ranch, or Carmel Mountain area.

[debyne]

Originally Posted by docmcstuffin

Do you prefer newer home (what year is your cut off) or view or larger lots/back yard, etc? Maybe you can give your list of desires in a home in priority. In general, for that price range and size, I'd either look at Mira Mesa, Rancho Penasquitos, Scripps Ranch, or Carmel Mountain area.

We definitely don't need a newer home. From what we've seen on Craigslist for rentals, Rancho Penasquitos appears to be the best bang for the buck; it's not quite as nice as Rancho Bernardo or 4S Ranch, but it's still very safe and has great Poway schools. Plus, it's farther south than many of the other neighborhoods with Poway schools. Would you say my assessment is accurate?

Regarding Mira Mesa, I've heard it's a bit more ghetto from some friends of ours that currently live in 4S Ranch. Is that true?

[kettlepot]

Originally Posted by USDefault

Other suggestions: have you looked at the Del Cerro neighboorhood? There are always lots of nice homes for rent in Del Cerro, wonderful place,

Originally Posted by rhanifin

San Carlos, Santee, Allied Gardens, La Mesa, Mt. Helix, and CV are all nice communities with shorter commutes to MV.

I will freely admit that knowledge about school districts and family friendly neighborhoods is not my strong suit, but I wanted to echo the idea of checking out Allied Gardens, Del Cerro, San Carlos and Tierra Santa. These are mid-century neighborhoods (built in the 50s, 60s, 70s,) that have held up well. Also, by going east, rather than north, you save substantially on the housing price premium. Plus, as others have mentioned you can avoid the bottleneck which is traveling with the crowd on I-15. Don't underestimate the joys of a shorter commute.

[mewzikguy]

Mira Mesa has some nice areas, around Hickman and Sandburg elementary schools. Keep in mind that Asians & Pacific Islanders have been dominate in MM for 50 years. Across the freeway to the East, check out areas around Jerebek elementary school. Upscale, Jewish, caucasian, etc.

[docmcstuffin]

Originally Posted by debyne

We definitely don't need a newer home. From what we've seen on Craigslist for rentals, Rancho Penasquitos appears to be the best bang for the buck; it's not quite as nice as Rancho Bernardo or 4S Ranch, but it's still very safe and has great Poway schools. Plus, it's farther south than many of the other neighborhoods with Poway schools. Would you say my assessment is accurate?

Regarding Mira Mesa, I've heard it's a bit more ghetto from some friends of ours that currently live in 4S Ranch. Is that true?

As for bang for your bucks, Mira Mesa will take the cake. For $2500-2700/month, you can get a newer (post 1990) house >2100 sq-ft house with canyon view. Anything like that will run you well into the $3k in all the other areas I've mentioned. You can check out houses North of Calle Cristobal, East of Camino Ruiz and West of Camino Santa Fe. Yes, Mira Mesa have some ghetto areas, but it also have some very nice areas too. But because it's in 92126 zip code, you will get much more bang for your buck because that zip code doesn't have the same prestige as the other areas I've mentioned. So, it'll come down to whether you want bang for your bucks or prestige. Keep in mind that MM schools are on par with Penasquitos and Mt. Carmel areas. But as has mentioned, Asians are the majority here. If you mind that, then Mira Mesa is not for you. But if you don't mind, it can give you a bigger bang for your buck. Also, the advantage of having Asian being the majority is that there are 4 Asian supermarket on Mira Mesa Blvd. Also, due to the density of Mira Mesa, you'll also have 4 American supermarket on Mira Mesa Blvd as well.

I personally like Park Village of Penasquitos area better than most of 4S and Rancho Bernardo area. PQ and RB all have their "ghetto" area very nice area.

[debyne]

Having lived in the Seattle area for the past 5+ years, my wife and I have a ton of Asian friends...so that's definitely not a problem. Actually, it's probably more of a positive for us. I just want me and my family to be completely safe, but that's irrespective of ethnic concentration. I'll check out Mira Mesa again and see what I can find...I will admit that those people that said to stay away from MM are kind of snobs, which my wife and I definitely aren't. I almost prefer being around more working class people just as long as it's safe and has really good schools.