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A lot of good posts on the topic. To me I see downtown San Diego becoming a "force this opinion" on people and "force these overpriced condos/apartments" on people. It happens in many cities. Fix up certain areas and try to get rid of the homeless and crime and dumpy areas with fairly expensive condos and apartments. And then you have certain places like vantage point that nobody would buy so they were forced to turn it into expensive apartments.
I like some of the newer appliances and buildings, but I also see them as big concrete boxes with extremely small square footage. There was one condo downtown that had the Euro washer/dryer where it washes your clothes and drys them without you having to take them out. That was kind of cool. But it was also on the "doesn't really work" side of things. Cool technology but not really doing what it claims.
But this isn't a San diego thing. Many cities across the US have tried to rehabilitate dumpy areas and turn them into "new happening" places. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it's still a dump except for a few buildings. And those buildings are always overpriced for some reason. East Village to me is still mostly dumpy say for a few blocks and you have these new buildings or rehabilitated buildings.
The East village is safe compared to other parts of the country, but if you walk outside at night you are likely to see homeless people. Some whom are not all there. You are likely to see drug deals on street corners if you wind up near vantage point and the trolley tracks. There are certain parts of Gaslamp that are dumpy. Ignoring that fact is odd to me. But like I said, a lot of these rehabilitated areas wind up getting into the "this is the greatest place ever" conversations no matter where you go in the country. It's almost like people can't accept what the place actually is or was or they have to believe what they are paying is worth it.
The overpriced nature of these new condos is the biggest issue with me. It's San diego. Downtown isn't like the downtowns of other cities. Most cities are overpriced. You could live in NYC, be able to afford $5K per month on some condo, but still think the damn place is not worth that money. Same can be said for those places in East Village. It's not about affordability, it's about getting something of value compared to what you pay for. As posted in another thread, I don't see tons of value in buying homes out in the Del Sur area for 850K+. It just seems like forced "little boxes" with no soul. But people are buying them.
Same goes for the East Village. It's being rehabilitated. But it's still a work in progress. And downtown San Diego is what it is so if you aren't a big fan of baseball and you don't like going to bars/restaurants in the Gaslamp, I'm not sure what's really cool about being able to walk to nothing that interests you. I honestly wouldn't even call San Diego urban for the most part. It's a ton of different neighborhoods spread out across the county. People who are looking to live in a "lively city" probably shouldn't move to San diego. Hell Los Angeles isn't really a 'lively city' in many ways but it's more so than San diego.
So whether you live in East Village or Little Italy or Bankers Hill, the reality is what are you planning on doing? Walkable doesn't mean anything if you don't like anything within walking distance. I mean if you were in walking distance to a beach, but never liked going to the beach, does it really matter? Same goes for downtown San diego. If you live in the East Village and don't have any desire to walk to petco or the marina or gaslamp, I'm not sure what you'd get out of it.
So yeah, I didn't read all of the rest of this thread, but I thought I'd throw out there that as a single woman (a little older than you, but not much) with similar concerns, who is not a "hipster", I really enjoy living in North Park near 30th & Adams. I feel quite safe walking at night, where I wouldn't so much in the East village. There's shopping and food and bars for ALL KINDS of people, from the "hipster" to the professional that just likes good beer & food, to places where you can see punk bands every night of the week and drink $2 PBR tall cans, to places with a dress code and $20 cocktails. Hole in the wall ethnic food? Got that. Causal high-end dining? Got that too. Starbucks vs independant coffee-snob places? got both of those. North Park, University Heights, Kensington, South Park, Golden Hill... They're all areas I would live based on this criteria.
I'm close enough to stuff that when I do feel like going out, it's there, but it doesn't intrude on my life whatsoever otherwise. My street is quiet and my neighbors are nice. So I guess it's "livelier" than the 'burbs, but not exactly in the middle of things unless you live on one of the main streets, which is inadvisable anyhow. Plenty of nice residential areas that are close to the amenities in the central part of town.
Point is, it doesn't have to be all or nothiing, live-in-the-middle-of-everything downtown vs dull boring suburbs. There's plenty of middle ground to be had
Just my two cents.
Thank you that is very helpful, I'll have to visit in July.
When I moved to California I moved to downtown Ventura. Smallish town (for California) but I could walk to get take out food (or go out with friends if I were lucky enough to have visitors). I could grab a coffee without getting into my car before work (epecially nice since places around here don't have drive through Starbucks!). I could walk to the beach, and several eateries where eating alone was no big deal. I could ride my bike on a nice path for excercise. It was very nice but not a huge city. If can find this in a big city or a small town I don't really care, it was a nice vibe but I did have an overpriced condo, with a washer dryer in one -- actually and yes I flooded my apartment and ended up paying handsomely for the floor damage.
I now live in a nice but very small apartment which is part of a house which has turned out to be uncomforatble due to the neighbors getting 3/4 of the house and me 1/4. It feels much less equitable and harder to negotiatiate as its not professionally managed. I'm able to walk to the beach in a more residential spot. I can walk to my gym and the marina but need to get into my car for most other things. I miss having that community feel in Downtown Ventura and I Also miss living in a building that felt more managed.
There are positives to both. The beach property is much quieter (except for the neighbors) no traffic noise and I can hear the ocean at night.
My biggest issues with Oxnard/Ventura area is its a bit colder than I like and I feel a bit 'far away' from all the other singles...not that I need to live next door to them but I would like to meet someone someday and it makes sense to move closer to a larger population center lol.
San Diego does seem a little sleepy to me but that might be one of the reasons I prefer it to LA.
I feel like, in my situation specific areas or buildings or properties could make the difference, sort of a micro geography? It could be in the urban area, the suburbs or even farther out in Orange County?
I'm just trying to learn as much as possible about the choices as something small could make the difference, like if all things were equal, I might choose the place that is 5 degrees warmer at night, etc. or has a salt water pool and is $50 cheaper.
The challenge a lot of us face is that when you are reading craigslist its incredibly hard to visualize the area and the dynamics or if you are getting scammed, etc.
I am visiting soon and will learn more (I've been there before too, obviously) but sometimes it is hard to visit the entire area especially when on business.
The challenge a lot of us face is that when you are reading craigslist its incredibly hard to visualize the area and the dynamics or if you are getting scammed, etc.
I am visiting soon and will learn more (I've been there before too, obviously) but sometimes it is hard to visit the entire area especially when on business.
I think you will figure things out rather quickly during your trip. Sometimes people almost over analyze everything before a move. While it is good to get some information before a move, I think ultimately it will just come down to you visiting these areas. MANY of them I'm quite confident you will eliminate fairly quickly driving around.
It's fairly easy to get the flavor and feel for certain areas just doing a preliminary visit. So I'd say it's good to ask advice but don't try to over think this or over analyze this before coming out and seeing some of the areas in person.
You will quickly eliminate many of them and then you can come back and ask questions on the areas that you ultimately decide will work.
yeah, I agree. I think it was just overwhelming looking at Craigslist and you just 'don't know what you don't know' and I couldn't visit at the moment. I also wanted to get an idea what a good budget would be ...and I was just excited and looking for more info. Its an interesting discussion. I think this thread at this point is less about me and more about local people discussing their experiences.
The thing is a lot of people refer to areas in shorthand or other language that doesn't make a whole lot of sense if you don't already know the area. For instance people were saying "UTC" in another thread without saying what it meant. There is no way to know without just doing the research from scratch yourself. To me the value of these boards is probably more to get an idea what the real culture of an area is that you can see by statistics or CL ads.
Oh absolutely I'm not saying not to ask questions. Nothing wrong at all with asking questions.
I just meant from a point of stress. I have seen this so many times before with friends or clients that want to rent/buy in a certain city and they just over analyze and stress about it. But then they will see the various areas and it's fairly evident that they can eliminate their list of 10 areas as 7 of them clearly will NOT make sense to them and in the end there are a small handful of areas that they prefer.
Good luck with the search and move and keep us posted where you end up. I always love hearing about the process and where people ultimately ended up and the reasons they decided to pick those areas.
its more overwhelming than I thought and I'm not even buying a house. Then again I've moved so much in my life I'm taking this more seriously so that I might not have to move again for awhile.
The thing is I've never had so few constraints. I've always had to report to an office. When you take that away and you have more options, its awesome yet overwhelming!
its more overwhelming than I thought and I'm not even buying a house. Then again I've moved so much in my life I'm taking this more seriously so that I might not have to move again for awhile.
The thing is I've never had so few constraints. I've always had to report to an office. When you take that away and you have more options, its awesome yet overwhelming!
I totally understand. We were in a similar position when we bought our house 2 years ago.
We literally had no limit as to where we could live around as I worked from home most of the time or commuted to Scripps Ranch, Sorrento Valley or Rancho Bernardo for client meetings or new business meetings.
My SO at the time did work at an office in Scripps Ranch, but the commute was within our bounds as totally acceptable (less than 25 mins each way) from the house we bought. Our free time was far more important than being close to work or a school as we dont have kids and the commute is reverse.
I was traveling MUCH more then so being closer to downtown and the airport was also more important.
The only difference I can say is that we had already been living in San Diego for over 6 years at the time. So we knew what we wanted to be closer to and things of that nature for our next step vs coming fresh here.
Based on what you were saying its like in Ventura, it seems most of the coastal cities I had mentioned will have a sort of similar layout and vibe. Smallish downtown villages so you can walk to coffee shops or restaurants etc.
Have you thought about taking it easy on your first year of renting until you maybe find a place you can lay roots that fits your needs? Tough not to land in a nice part of San Diego
When I moved to California I moved to downtown Ventura. Smallish town (for California) but I could walk to get take out food (or go out with friends if I were lucky enough to have visitors). I could grab a coffee without getting into my car before work (epecially nice since places around here don't have drive through Starbucks!). I could walk to the beach, and several eateries where eating alone was no big deal. I could ride my bike on a nice path for excercise. It was very nice but not a huge city. If can find this in a big city or a small town I don't really care, it was a nice vibe but I did have an overpriced condo, with a washer dryer in one -- actually and yes I flooded my apartment and ended up paying handsomely for the floor damage.
I now live in a nice but very small apartment which is part of a house which has turned out to be uncomforatble due to the neighbors getting 3/4 of the house and me 1/4. It feels much less equitable and harder to negotiatiate as its not professionally managed. I'm able to walk to the beach in a more residential spot. I can walk to my gym and the marina but need to get into my car for most other things. I miss having that community feel in Downtown Ventura and I Also miss living in a building that felt more managed.
There are positives to both. The beach property is much quieter (except for the neighbors) no traffic noise and I can hear the ocean at night.
My biggest issues with Oxnard/Ventura area is its a bit colder than I like and I feel a bit 'far away' from all the other singles...not that I need to live next door to them but I would like to meet someone someday and it makes sense to move closer to a larger population center lol.
San Diego does seem a little sleepy to me but that might be one of the reasons I prefer it to LA.
I feel like, in my situation specific areas or buildings or properties could make the difference, sort of a micro geography? It could be in the urban area, the suburbs or even farther out in Orange County?
I'm just trying to learn as much as possible about the choices as something small could make the difference, like if all things were equal, I might choose the place that is 5 degrees warmer at night, etc. or has a salt water pool and is $50 cheaper.
The challenge a lot of us face is that when you are reading craigslist its incredibly hard to visualize the area and the dynamics or if you are getting scammed, etc.
I am visiting soon and will learn more (I've been there before too, obviously) but sometimes it is hard to visit the entire area especially when on business.
There are plenty of places like that all over San diego. But it'll be hard to walk to the beach if you live in University Heights or North Park. But if you lived in La Jolla or Del mar or Carlsbad or PB or OB or Solana Beach and so on you'd be able to walk or ride a bike to the beach, walk to a coffee shop, walk to a market, walk to a restaurant, and so on. Some places might not stay open till midnight, whereas other places might be a little more lax.
To me it seems like you like you have a ton of options. Just drive around and get to know the area. Also craigslist is notorious for being full of crap. I've dealt with plenty of ads over the years where "great house blah blah" and then you get there and its a small house on the same yard with like 3 other buildings that rent out studios and 1br apartments. And sometimes it wasn't even the front house.
I have rarely seen that in other cities. In san diego you have to watch out for clueless landlords who I guess figured hey I can buy a house and rent it out and they become nothing more than slumlords in a way. And they lie.
One time there was 4 bedroom/3 bath house for rent out in La Mesa. It overlooked a yard, had two stories, and was about $2200 a month. Cheap for what I was looking for. I didn't like the area so much, but it wasn't unsafe or dirty, so I figured why not try it. I toured the house, started asking questions, and then suddenly just as I'm about to fill out an application the guy's like, but there is one little thing you should know. There was this small room down on the bottom, hidden in the back, it was like a studio apartment for this old guy, he lived there for like 10 years or something. Nowhere was that ever mentioned. It was advertised as a 4br/3ba house with a yard. And even during the tour he never mentioned it or showed it to me. And it wasn't like I could even see it or get to it. It was really hidden. But it was still a part of the house. And then that was it for me. I wanted a house, not a shared house.
But there seems to be a lot of that on craigslist, especially in San diego. People will lie about certain things. Or they will omit other things. Or they will list a property and if you don't know the area, you will think it's close to everything. I've read plenty of ads where it makes it sound like you are minutes from the beach, from SDSU, from La Jolla, From Mexico, from downtown, etc. When I first moved here, it sounded great. Now I just ignore those ads as it's probably some dump or some slumlord or some liar trying to oversell you a property.
So be careful and ask a lot of questions. And don't believe everything they say on craigslist. There are a lot of landlords in San diego who probably shouldn't be landlords.
I have rarely seen that in other cities. In san diego you have to watch out for clueless landlords who I guess figured hey I can buy a house and rent it out and they become nothing more than slumlords in a way. And they lie.
One time there was 4 bedroom/3 bath house for rent out in La Mesa. It overlooked a yard, had two stories, and was about $2200 a month. Cheap for what I was looking for. I didn't like the area so much, but it wasn't unsafe or dirty, so I figured why not try it. I toured the house, started asking questions, and then suddenly just as I'm about to fill out an application the guy's like, but there is one little thing you should know. There was this small room down on the bottom, hidden in the back, it was like a studio apartment for this old guy, he lived there for like 10 years or something. Nowhere was that ever mentioned. It was advertised as a 4br/3ba house with a yard. And even during the tour he never mentioned it or showed it to me. And it wasn't like I could even see it or get to it. It was really hidden. But it was still a part of the house. And then that was it for me. I wanted a house, not a shared house.
But there seems to be a lot of that on craigslist, especially in San diego. People will lie about certain things. Or they will omit other things. Or they will list a property and if you don't know the area, you will think it's close to everything. I've read plenty of ads where it makes it sound like you are minutes from the beach, from SDSU, from La Jolla, From Mexico, from downtown, etc. When I first moved here, it sounded great. Now I just ignore those ads as it's probably some dump or some slumlord or some liar trying to oversell you a property.
I never knew that Craigslist ads in other cities were always truthful and never deceiving. I learn so much from you all the time.
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and yes I flooded my apartment and ended up paying handsomely for the floor damage. 
