Scouting out SD area - Dec 31 - Jan 5 - where to go? (San Diego: appointed)

[HumbleAmbitionz]

Hello forum,

To really get a feel for the SD area, I just booked a trip from Dec 31 to Jan 5. Early 30s, single male, from NY metro area.

I'm looking for areas to potentially call home. Rough criteria are: 20-30 mins max to the beach, safe, maybe on the rise as far as real estate values (not the highest end of the market), within a half hour to main business districts, office parks, corporate centers where I will find employment.

Carlsbad, Encinitas, Cardiff, Solana, Del Mar, La Jolla, Clairemont, Mission Valley, etc. These are the areas I'd like to explore. Is this way too much ground to cover or is it manageable? I know some areas are very expensive (La Jolla, Del Mar), but I'd like to get a feel for the area anyway.

I'd like a place maybe a bit outside the city, but still with an active singles scene, educated people, and relative conveniences. A walkable downtown or village area would be great as opposed to shopping centers and strip malls for all one's daily needs.

Your advice is much appreciated. Thank you.

[RainbowHope]

You could easily drive around these areas to get an idea of what you might like. I know you had a thread already that was similar, so you know that where your job is will greatly influence where you may want to live. Often times commute relative to home is what determines what areas people target for living in.

Do you have a potential job? That may help us to help you with areas to target.

[HumbleAmbitionz]

I haven't started job hunting yet. I want to get a feel for the energy out there, the whole scene, lay of the land, etc. If I feel that it's really where I want to be, I'll start looking for jobs. You're def right about the commute. I get to work from home a lot, and the office is only 25 mins away currently. I'd like to keep a commute under 30 mins, and I hear there's some tough traffic in SD.

If there's any "must see/do" leisure activities, from the Zoo to certain trails, hikes, and other places, please recommend.

Thanks!

[StreetLegal]

Originally Posted by HumbleAmbitionz

Hello forum,

To really get a feel for the SD area, I just booked a trip from Dec 31 to Jan 5. Early 30s, single male, from NY metro area.

I'm looking for areas to potentially call home. Rough criteria are: 20-30 mins max to the beach, safe, maybe on the rise as far as real estate values (not the highest end of the market), within a half hour to main business districts, office parks, corporate centers where I will find employment.

Carlsbad, Encinitas, Cardiff, Solana, Del Mar, La Jolla, Clairemont, Mission Valley, etc. These are the areas I'd like to explore. Is this way too much ground to cover or is it manageable? I know some areas are very expensive (La Jolla, Del Mar), but I'd like to get a feel for the area anyway.

No, San Diego is not that big so you should be able to cover a lot of ground in four full days in San Diego.

Originally Posted by HumbleAmbitionz

Hello forum,

To really get a feel for the SD area, I just booked a trip from Dec 31 to Jan 5. Early 30s, single male, from NY metro area.

I'd like a place maybe a bit outside the city, but still with an active singles scene, educated people, and relative conveniences. A walkable downtown or village area would be great as opposed to shopping centers and strip malls for all one's daily needs.

Your advice is much appreciated. Thank you.

You might be disappointed in this regard. Most of San Diego is shopping centers and strip malls.

Also, given the layout of San Diego you might find some areas in the city limits appealing unless you just despise cities and must be in a suburb. I am thinking here of places like Bankers Hill or North Park, etc.

Anyway, San Diego Magazine compiled this list earlier in 2014 on some of San Diego's more interesting areas. Leucadia might interest you but I know it's not cheap (it is one of the ones on the list). The list includes neighborhoods in San Diego city limits and neighboring cities.

SD's Best Neighborhoods - San Diego Magazine - March 2014 - San Diego, California

[bloom]

Where are you coming from, HumbleAmbitionz?

[Jenkay]

Originally Posted by HumbleAmbitionz

Hello forum,

To really get a feel for the SD area, I just booked a trip from Dec 31 to Jan 5. Early 30s, single male, from NY metro area.

I'm looking for areas to potentially call home. Rough criteria are: 20-30 mins max to the beach, safe, maybe on the rise as far as real estate values (not the highest end of the market), within a half hour to main business districts, office parks, corporate centers where I will find employment.

Carlsbad, Encinitas, Cardiff, Solana, Del Mar, La Jolla, Clairemont, Mission Valley, etc. These are the areas I'd like to explore. Is this way too much ground to cover or is it manageable? I know some areas are very expensive (La Jolla, Del Mar), but I'd like to get a feel for the area anyway.

I'd like a place maybe a bit outside the city, but still with an active singles scene, educated people, and relative conveniences. A walkable downtown or village area would be great as opposed to shopping centers and strip malls for all one's daily needs.

Your advice is much appreciated. Thank you.

Correction: Most of San Diego is not shopping centers and strip malls, but most of the suburbs is. Most of what you're looking for might be found in communities within the city limits, at StreetLegal says. Kensington, parts of north park and south park and university heights (deeper in the neighborhoods, away from the main drags), Bankers Hill, Park West and Mission Hills are all areas to check out.

Mission valley is 100% huge apartment complexes, shopping malls, and strip malls, and not at all walkable. As for areas outside the city limits, a lot of those areas you mentioned would qualify with your stated requirements if you're in the right parts (carlsbad, for example, if you live by the village then it's walkable** and local stuff and has a night life, but if you go east at all it's strip malls and curvilinear unwalkable street layouts, same goes for a lot of these areas- la mesa is another good example)

**my definition of walkable is that you can easily and pleasantly walk to your daily activities, coffee, food, groceries, etc, not along busy 6-lane roads and malls. Basically the urban planning definition of a walkable neighborhood. I'm only stating this because people will insist that Mission Valley is "walkable" (because it's flat? Because the shopping mall is there?) or that a suburb that's several miles away from anything but a strip mall with a 7-11 is walkable because it has sidewalks. Not that they're wrong, but they're using a different definition of "walkable" than what I think you're asking for

[hitman619]

A week is not enough time to get a feel for San Diego.
Sorry O.P. as fellow New Yorker you will be disappointed with just one week of visiting.