Relocation Discussion (San Diego, Irvine, Orange: real estate, 2015, renting)

[sonik555]

Hello everyone.
I have been planning to move to California from Northeast for a few years now and have been to California twice in the past two years and absolutely fell in love with your state.
I am currently planning another trip to California sort of to check out different areas for relocation. I am pretty open to almost any area in the state as long as it is within 30 min to the coast.
These are the areas I am looking to check out in San Diego area:
Encinitas
Carlsbad
Poway
Did not list places like Del Mar and La Jolla as they seem to be out of my budget.

My questions apply to any of those towns and will appreciate any suggestions or comments, positive or negatives.
Things of importance:
1 Safety
2 Great schools
3 Weather
4 Family oriented communities
5 Sidewalks (believe it or not something very rare here in northeast suburbs)
6 Parks, hiking, outdoor activities ( one of the main reasons for moving as we can do that year round)


- Which towns would you suggest over the others and why?
- Schools quality?
- Safety?
- Young, active, engaged, and friendly families?
- Weather differences if any? Also, any weather differences when compared to Orange County or Ventura County?
- How different is Orange County towns when compared to San Diego towns I listed. What do you think is better or worse in each when compared to Orange County?
- I know everyone complains about the traffic in LA and increasing traffic in San Diego. How is the traffic in the towns I listed.
- Should I add anything to my trip list and any activities that would help me better understand the local culture?
- Also if anyone is from Northeast would you please provide any comparison, and any positive or negative experiences you have had?

Thank you in advance.

[psychmd]

Poway is a little further from the coast than other places you listed. It's beyond the marine layer so it can be a bit hotter there in the summer. Schools there are excellent though.


You might check out University City, esp the southern half of it.


Orange County is a very different feel from the San Diego coastal towns. There's a lot of reasons for that but it would be best to just spend a few days in OC and a few days looking at the different parts of SD to get a feel for it. To me, OC feels kind of like if you put Charlotte on the West Coast.

[moved]

Are you going to have a job lined up before you move? What's your budget? Renting or buying?

[eastcoastbias]

Of the three Encinitas.

Lots of folks praise Poway unified but Encinitas and San Dieguito are just as good. 1a 1b scenario here. I'd put Carlsbad 2.

Weather. Coastal is better.
Sidewalks/walk ability Encinitas Cbad over Poway


Cities and Towns are nothing like the Northeast. Maybe socioeconomic similarities but very little else.

Lol at Charlotte West coast comment. The OC is about as different as you can get from anywhere in the US

[psychmd]

Took a look at your other posts. With a budget of 700-800k, the areas along the 56 would be a pretty good target (Carmel Valley, Rancho Penasquitos, Scripps Ranch, Poway), those are all good school districts. Encinitas also excellent but you'll get less for what you spend. UC also has good schools but is part of the city school district, not sure how much difference that makes. All of those areas would be reasonable for commutes to UCSD, the VA, or Scripps Green hospitals in La Jolla for healthcare jobs.

[sonik555]

Thank you everyone for your responses.
Moved: I will definitely not be moving without a job, that would be number one priority as I have a family. Max Budget 700-800K. Will rents initially and then buy.

PsychMD: Thank you for your suggestion of University City I think I drove through it when I was in SD and definitely liked it. Will definitely add to my list. Also your other suggestions look interesting. Although I though my budget was out of range for Carmel Valley when looked at stuff on Zillow. Definitely Like the idea of commute from those areas.
Also if you don't mind me asking, Where does the border of city school districts end? And is city school district something to stay away from?

Eastcoastbias: your suggestions seem to be right on target with my research through pictures and limited visit to SD in past. Certainly Northeast is completely different, thus, why I wanna get out of here.

The reason for asking about Orange county is because it seems like the real estate prices are somewhat cheeper when compared to SD areas. Also there seem to be more economic opportunities and I might have job offers in that area. Also I like their mountainous landscape. However I'm not much into materialism and like the description of more laid-back SD towns.

Thank you for your replies once again.

[eastcoastbias]

City Schools are south of the 56 and then halfway between the 5 and the 15 splits San Dieguito and Poway Unified.

San Dieguito schools are really good they have a new middle school right off the 56. Actually toured the school its extremely nice. They are Building another one MS in Solana Beach and the High schools are excellent. Lots of growth here. Encinitas Elementary feeds into that District. Poway Unified extends from this border all the way to the 67. You will get a lot of great feedback on Poway Unified. I think San Dieguito, San Marcos Unified are closer than some may think.

To give you an idea of City Schools. Scripps Ranch is considered San Diego unified "city school". Very good school system in that area. The further you go south the more the schools change.

I actually lived in No. County for 7 years and spent time interviewing in Orange Co. For various positions. In general salaries are more in line with other places in Orange Co. And there seems to be more growth especially in areas like Irvine.

[NYSD1995]

Would look closely at OC, better place for a career and family than SD unless you are independently wealthy.

[sonik555]

Originally Posted by Sassberto

Would look closely at OC, better place for a career and family than SD unless you are independently wealthy.

This may be a good pint actually.
I will be visiting both places in the fall and will start looking for a job afterwards. That I guess will determine a lot.
Thank you everyone for all the responses.

[SanDiegoSarah]

Hi Sonik. So Encinitas might be really tight if you are looking for a detached home under $800K. And Carlsbad as well. Both will have some properties but you are looking more towards townhomes, condos and smaller homes in that range. i agree completely with PsychMD. $700-800k would get you a very nice property in Poway or Rancho Penasquitos for example and the Poway Unified School District which includes both poway and penasquitos is award winning, the schools are great. Safety wise, Poway ranks in the top safest cities year after year. Here is one example: Study: Poway among safest cities in state | Pomerado News It's also been ranked the safest city in all of San Diego county (but that does not include unincorporated areas - really expensive ones with higher safety ratings)