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Old 05-16-2014, 12:36 PM
 
3 posts, read 4,368 times
Reputation: 10

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Yet another post trying to get a handle on all the San Diego neighborhoods and which one might suit me. Hope you guys can help me out.

Right now I live in Vancouver, BC and am finalizing my green card process. I have a small business and work mostly at home.

I lived for about 8 years in the bay area so that's my main experience of California. In southern California I've only visited Ojai and L.A. a few times. After living a decade in the rainy northwest I'm looking for a bit more sunshine than the bay area.

Berkeley resonated a lot with what I was looking for in a place to live:

- walkable small town/neighborhood vibe
- walk to hot yoga
- walk to movies
- walk to groceries, many having organic selections
- good vegetarian restaurants
- laid-back, casual ppl
- mostly quiet neighborhood and low crime

I have a car and can drive if necessary, but I'm looking for a neighborhood in San Diego where I can walk to everything (yoga, groceries, etc.) or at least walk to most things and drive a short distance for other things.

I'm not into the beach scene, am more into hiking (and sometimes cycling and kayaking). Into meditation, vegetarian food, etc. and eventually hope to make friends with similar interests.

I'm east Indian, so looking for a neighborhood that, if not diverse, is at least tolerant of minorities. My impression of SD is everyone is laid-back and tolerant there.

I have a budget up to $1800 to rent an apartment.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions!
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Old 05-16-2014, 01:17 PM
 
Location: East Fallowfield, PA
2,299 posts, read 4,824,723 times
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Perhaps North or South Park or Mission Hills will fit your desires. Your budget may be the only challenge.
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Old 05-16-2014, 01:25 PM
 
Location: Tijuana Exurbs
4,537 posts, read 12,397,477 times
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You should also look at Normal Heights, Kensington, and University Heights.

As MovingA said, budget may be a challenge, particularly in Kensington, and certainly in Mission Hills.

The cheapest neighborhood of the three I have mentioned will be Normal Heights. Parts of Normal Heights have issues with poorly built apartment buildings and a certain grittiness, but overall, Normal Heights is a neighborhood on the upswing.

Kensington has yoga and an independent movie theater, and will soon have an upscale market.
University Heights has a market which caters to your food tastes.
Normal Heights has a vegetarian restaurant.

UH and NH may have other things that fit your wish list, I just happen to know Kensington best.
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Old 05-16-2014, 02:08 PM
 
2,145 posts, read 5,069,086 times
Reputation: 1666
Quote:
Originally Posted by zumaro1 View Post
Yet another post trying to get a handle on all the San Diego neighborhoods and which one might suit me. Hope you guys can help me out.

Right now I live in Vancouver, BC and am finalizing my green card process. I have a small business and work mostly at home.

I lived for about 8 years in the bay area so that's my main experience of California. In southern California I've only visited Ojai and L.A. a few times. After living a decade in the rainy northwest I'm looking for a bit more sunshine than the bay area.

Berkeley resonated a lot with what I was looking for in a place to live:

- walkable small town/neighborhood vibe
- walk to hot yoga
- walk to movies
- walk to groceries, many having organic selections
- good vegetarian restaurants
- laid-back, casual ppl
- mostly quiet neighborhood and low crime

I have a car and can drive if necessary, but I'm looking for a neighborhood in San Diego where I can walk to everything (yoga, groceries, etc.) or at least walk to most things and drive a short distance for other things.

I'm not into the beach scene, am more into hiking (and sometimes cycling and kayaking). Into meditation, vegetarian food, etc. and eventually hope to make friends with similar interests.

I'm east Indian, so looking for a neighborhood that, if not diverse, is at least tolerant of minorities. My impression of SD is everyone is laid-back and tolerant there.

I have a budget up to $1800 to rent an apartment.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions!
The areas mentioned so far are good for you, but currently no walking to organic food markets-you'd drive to nearby Hillcrest and shop at whole foods. Jimbo's is a locally owned small chain healthfood store and the nearest one to those areas would be downtown in horton plaza. SD has a great food co-op-People's food. It's been around since the 70's. http://obpeoplesfood.coop/ It's in ocean beach so you have to drive. Lots of driving! It's so cal!!!

Also, driving to nature activities would be necessary from those areas-mission gorge and mission trails [though you could bike to those] or further to penasquitos, lake poway, san carlos, Torrey Pines state beach park (has hiking) etc. All of these are popular with cyclists. SD has good nature access for a city of its size, but people are very 'fit' more than 'nature-ey' and lots of people use the trails here. ie, it's hard to go somewhere without seeing other people. I'd almost say impossible. It's not Marin and there are few trees. If you like semi arid desert it's good. You can drive further to anza borrego desert or up into the mountains near julian or further to Joshua Tree or Big Bear for more hiking, camping, backpacking, etc. Proximity (driving or short plane ride) to other places as far as the outdoors goes is a great pro of SD, in my opinion.

I lived in normal heights for a few years and my spouse is a SD native who lived there on and off for about a decade. People say it's on the upswing but much in NH has been established since before the other surrounding areas were trendy. You'll find a nice mix of interests and people there. It used to be 'antique row' but is decidedly a bit more on the hipster/yoga trendy scene. Yoga changes regularly, so I'm not sure if there's hot yoga there-if not, north park possibly, south park and most likely you'll find it nearby in downtown SD [a short drive]. Google will be the best as far as mapping out current studio locations vs. neighborhoods.
Pilgrimage of the Heart Yoga Has been in NH for years.
Also, jyoti byanga vegetarian restaurant has been in NH since 1986. It's old school.
Jyoti Bihanga - Vegetarian restaurant

Kensington and university are the hoods that border normal heights. Both are really nice with kensington being more upscale [always has been]. I've also lived in Kensington and it's a small, village atmosphere. It is really easy to get from there to additional amenities in normal heights, walking or biking. And a short drive to university heights, north park, etc. [Univ. Heights=Park Blvd is the main drag-lots of shops, restaurants, etc that you may be into. For north Park, University ave and part of El Cajon Blvd will have the same, plus several cross streets. NP feels more urban of all of these, followed by parts of Normal Heights, then Univ. Heights and Kensington feels the most mellow.]

The 'regular' grocery stores have good organic sections these days, but it's probably not enough for regular shopping. Someone mentioned a new upscale grocery coming to Kensington, so that may help. The Ken Cinema, which has been around for decades, is closing last I heard. Not sure if it will re open as a similar venue or something else. However, its current owner-Landmark Theater (the Indie chain) has a large theater in nearby Hillcrest.

Note: In these areas, turnover for cafes, yoga, etc can be high, so amenities that were there for a couple of years may no longer be. The best thing to do is google to see what's around in terms of your interests.

You are right, SD is very chill and live/let live. It's laid back for sure. The east indian population is mainly centered in the family/job convenience suburbs of north county [where I now live]. Also, Mira Mar/Misa Mesa is the suburb where you'll find lots of indian restaurants and the grocery/supermarkets. But the central/walkable areas of SD that are recommended to you will have diversity-just not necessarily lots of east indians. SD is a series of spread out suburbs. It's not as densely populated as the urban parts of the bay area, overall. And you won't get trails out your door usually, the same way you could in the pacific NW-vancouver, seattle, portland.

[also, this varies a little, but my experience is that people in the US usually refer to folks from india/of india descent as 'indian', not east indian. For some reason, I've seen people on the CD forum practically yell at people correcting them-esp. if they are from the UK. LOL. Telling people that indian means american indian. And that the correct term is east indian. Native American is customary in the US, however, leaving Indian wide open and available for us. (: Anyway, terms and PC etiquette change often, of course. Just mentioning in case there's any future confusion of word choice.
Also, people in the US do *not* consider 'asian' to include indian, at least in terms of what the mind conjurs when hearing the term. Asian is korea, china, japan to most people. This tendency has also been the object of fury from some people on this forum, as well. LOL.]

There really isn't anything like Berkeley here in so cal. Encinitas is a liberal coastal small city in north county SD for exampe, but even then, it's so cal liberal. Laid back also translates as fairly apathetic/uninvolved. And SD is not an intellectual city by any means. There are plenty of folks who may be intellectual themselves. But overall, it's not a big city for conversation as such-and this include all ends of the political spectrum. Also, SD is pretty middle of the road these days-you'll find plenty of conservatism, a strong christian presence and also plenty of liberal minded folks and alternative/holistic amenities and lifestyles. It runs the gamut, but you will find all of that here for sure. This characteristic makes it pretty different from the bay area [I also lived in SF for a few years].

Budget wise, I see no problems with your finding a really nice place for less than $1800, even in kensington and south park. [South Park is a beautiful little enclave-very hip, lots of professionals, not a huge area but a nice selection of restaurants, cafes, shops. And close to north park for additional stuff]. You should be able to find a fantastic place in University Heights or Normal Heights. When looking at rentals, as far as quiet and lower crime, avoid the major cross streets: Adams Avenue [Tip: Look north of Adams for the nicest places in NH, anyway], University Ave, El Cajon Blvd and Park Blvd. Lots of great little residential streets tucked away from the action, but walking distance to it. Some homes on the canyon in the area, too.
Good luck w/your move!

Last edited by lrmsd; 05-16-2014 at 02:25 PM..
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Old 05-16-2014, 02:24 PM
 
2,145 posts, read 5,069,086 times
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Also, here are a few past threads for consideration:
//www.city-data.com/forum/san-f...ncisco-vs.html
//www.city-data.com/forum/city-...-diego-vs.html
//www.city-data.com/forum/calif...la-vs-san.html
//www.city-data.com/forum/san-d...san-diego.html
//www.city-data.com/forum/vanco...iego-need.html
//www.city-data.com/forum/san-d...-not-move.html
you can probably find other threads of use, using slightly different search terms, with the search button.

And, COL calculator:
Cost of Living comparison calculator
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Old 05-17-2014, 12:02 AM
 
Location: Philadelphia
5,294 posts, read 10,201,724 times
Reputation: 2136
Encimitas, Leucadia, Carmel Valley
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Old 05-17-2014, 09:49 AM
 
3 posts, read 4,368 times
Reputation: 10
Default Thanks!

Thank to everyone for the great responses, especially Irmsd for the detailed one. I'll continue to research and try and get a feel for all the areas.

Unfortunately they recommend not traveling down to the US while waiting for my green card, otherwise I would've loved to spend a week in San Diego and explore it first hand.

Most probably I'll just show up sight-unseen. It'll be an adventure!
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Old 05-17-2014, 11:02 AM
 
210 posts, read 412,024 times
Reputation: 145
Little Italy.
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Old 05-17-2014, 10:22 PM
 
24 posts, read 41,431 times
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South Park or North Park near South Park.

Be aware that many North Park locales are very urban and still have high crime rates.

South Park is kind of like Berkeley in that it has that vibe of hip urban but still is close to urban urban (like Oakland). I prefer North Park because South Park feels so gentrify-ee.

There's a good community in both SP and NP and probably a bay area's worth of diversity in North Park proper, including a Vietnamese/East Asian community, Somalian community, African Americans and a big Latino (mostly Mexican but also Salvadoran) contingent. And white people too! Reminds me a bit of Oakland around MacArthur station.

Adams avenue in Kensington might also be worth checking out. It's urban, has tons of stores, restaurants and bars, and San Diego's most popular vegetarian restaurant.
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Old 05-19-2014, 04:39 AM
 
3 posts, read 5,083 times
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I'd really recommend Hillcrest, Normal Heights, North Park, or Kensington to fit most of the things you are asking for in terms of walkability and friendliness. However, for hiking and being out in nature, you might need a car to get to such places in town. If you would like to be near an Indian community, I would look around Black Mountain Road in the Miramar area. This area is not very walkable though, as everything is spread out. I've found that most areas are tolerant to minorities. I'm Mexican, my boyfriend is Indian, and I don't think either of us have felt excluded or out of place in any neighborhood
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