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Dear Network....
We are a family of 4 (mom, dad, 10 year old, 1 year old) who are considering moving to lovely San Diego, but I need some advise and hoping that you could share your experience and advice.
- Where to live? Safe, creative and family friendly and still affordable. And what would be of an average rental wise if your looking for a 3 bedroom apartment? Just so I have an estimate while searching
- A good place or search engine to look for housing (rentals) webpages? Listings? Etc.
- Any recommendations for schools (public as well as private)? And if any experience with your own child in terms of adjustment, language barrier etc. please do share?
- Nusery/daycare of a 1 year old?
- Insurance companies? And what type of insurance besides health insurance are normal standard?
Dear Network....
We are a family of 4 (mom, dad, 10 year old, 1 year old) who are considering moving to lovely San Diego, but I need some advise and hoping that you could share your experience and advice.
- Where to live? Safe, creative and family friendly and still affordable. And what would be of an average rental wise if your looking for a 3 bedroom apartment? Just so I have an estimate while searching
- A good place or search engine to look for housing (rentals) webpages? Listings? Etc.
- Any recommendations for schools (public as well as private)? And if any experience with your own child in terms of adjustment, language barrier etc. please do share?
- Nusery/daycare of a 1 year old?
- Insurance companies? And what type of insurance besides health insurance are normal standard?
Thank you all
I do not live in San Diego but you need car insurance if you plan to drive. I also don't think there are very many Danish people San Diego so the language this will probably be an issue. But from your post your English is great!
If you don't mind me asking why are you moving to San Diego I'm curious! It's very pretty tho!
If you or your spouse have a job, where will you be working? The city of San Diego is very spread out and the county of San Diego is even bigger, so where you will be working will determine where you should look for housing, unless you don't care about a long commute.
Also, it might be better to provide an estimate of how much you expect to pay in rent per month. Everyone's definition of "affordable" is different. One family might consider paying $3000 a month in rent "affordable" while another family's definition of "affordable" might be $1500 a month. So it would help people here to offer suggestions if they knew your definition of affordable. Please give us your maximum budget for monthly rent, if possible.
I would suggest that you also read through the following discussions, which will answer many of your questions, from the perspective of people who live in the San Diego area:
To learn about the costs of renting or buying in San Diego:
To learn about which public schools in San Diego County have the best test scores (although these are not the only good schools here nor are test scores the only measure of school quality!):
Once you have a few areas in mind, you may find that websites like Zillow.com, Realtor.com, Apartment.com and Craigslist will give you some idea of what to expect in terms of costs. However, you will probably need to come to San Diego to actually rent a home, as it can be challenging to line up a rental from a distance, let alone from another country. Most San Diego landlords will want to check information about your salary, savings/assets, and credit history before renting places.
For safety concerns, you can check crime statistics for the area around any address in the U.S. on crimemapping.com (be sure to set the date parameters to the last six months or you will only see the last week of data). The city of San Diego also publishes some crime data for neighborhoods within the city here: https://www.sandiego.gov/police/services/statistics
Keep in mind that many of the more popular areas for families to live in San Diego County are NOT in the city of San Diego itself.
Also, for schools, you may already know this, but in the U.S., different cities and areas have their own public school districts. Each district determines how schools are run, following standards set by the state of Califnornia. Within each school district, are usually several schools at different levels. The quality of schools can vary within the same school district as well as between school districts. I mentioned test scores, and those are a good initial way to get a sense of schools and districts, but they won't answer your questions about how a school will help your child learn English or get settled. For that, it would be best to talk to a few different districts and/or schools before deciding where to live.
In terms of private schools in San Diego, they fall into two categories: religiously-affiliated schools (i.e., Catholic, Christian, Jewish) and non-religiously affiliated schools. In general, the religiously affiliated schools will be a little less expensive (although not cheap) compared to the better non-religiously affiliated schools. But, here again, you may want to consider distance from a preferred school when choosing where to live.
In terms of school support for English as Second Language students, you'll find that a lot of schools will talk about their "bilingual programs." What that *usually* will mean is that the school provides support for students who are native Spanish speakers and teach English speaking students Spanish, since we are very close to Mexico. However, there are schools that are more familiar with students who speak other languages as well. You will want to ask a lot of questions of the different schools about how they will support your older child if he does not yet have strong English skills. You may find that the schools in the mid-city area of San Diego have more experience with ESL students who speak many different languages, than you will school districts in outlying areas like North County.
Dear Network....
We are a family of 4 (mom, dad, 10 year old, 1 year old) who are considering moving to lovely San Diego, but I need some advise and hoping that you could share your experience and advice.
- Where to live? Safe, creative and family friendly and still affordable. And what would be of an average rental wise if your looking for a 3 bedroom apartment? Just so I have an estimate while searching
- A good place or search engine to look for housing (rentals) webpages? Listings? Etc.
- Any recommendations for schools (public as well as private)? And if any experience with your own child in terms of adjustment, language barrier etc. please do share?
- Nusery/daycare of a 1 year old?
- Insurance companies? And what type of insurance besides health insurance are normal standard?
Thank you all
San Diego is a large area.
Schools are much better in the suburban area. Where you should live depends largely on your budget and the location of your jobs. I'd suggest taking a look at Bird Rock in LaJolla, Coronado, Mira Mesa, Del Mar, Poway, etc.
I would contact a local realtor who specializes in rentals. We worked with a Coldwell Banker realtor. Our relocation company provided us with a lot of help. Do you have a relocation package?
Are you looking for a furnished rental? That will be harder to find and more expensive.
Day care ranges in cost. Again, depends on location, hours, etc.
I know most Danish adults speak fluent English. How is your 10 year old's English proficiency?
You may be able to find an international school for your 10 year old. Public schools have ESL programs (English as Second Language). You will need immunization records and school records.
You will need health insurance (probably employer provided), auto insurance, and it's a good idea to have tenant's insurance (personal property and liability protection).
You may need a driver's license. Some rules of the road are slightly different than in Denmark. You can get a handbook from the local DMV (division of motor vehicles).
Welcome to the forum, Nynnemee. You're already getting great advice here, but I'd also suggest that you expand your search to including single family homes. I know a "rental" in Denmark is invariably an apartment, but here there are many homes (houses) for rent, too, and that frequently means a better, more family oriented neighborhood. Plus you get a backyard for the kids to play in, and for you to spend time outdoors all year round. But the best strategy would be to find an acceptable, temporary rental for 3 or 6 months, and put your major stuff in storage. During that time period, look for a better rental in person while you're getting acquainted with San Diego.
By the way, Copenhagen and San Diego used to be approximately the same size. And of course they're both on the water which creates a certain similar dynamic. I'm sure that hasn't changed much. But the layouts of the two cities are fundamentally different. It sounds as if you've visited here before, so you probably know that San Diego has the typical Western American sprawl, and despite there being a trolley, you'll need a car, maybe two. That's not a luxury but a necessity.
You've chosen what we call America's Finest City, and I wish you the best of luck. There will be an adjustment period, but I think you will love it here!
1.
Avg. 3 bedrooms: 2.5K-3.3K. Probably looking more inland. North County Inland would give you safe affordable with good schools (an example Carmel Mountain maybe Scripps Ranch)If you went coastal North County Coastal (Encinitas/Carlsbad) expand the budget here. Probably get more affordable in the South (Example Chula Vista). East (La Mesa) might not be too bad. Again more affordable.
2.
Check out Zillow. Craigslist is scammer central.
3. Top Districts San Dieguito Union and Poway Unified. Coronado is great but you have to live on the island. Don't know the Private school scene.
4. Hard to say.
5. I have Kaiser medical through work. Not thrilled about it but it's affordable. The drawback is scheduling appointments. You have Sharp which I hear is pretty solid. Car insurance I just switched to Geico and saved a ton of money- the commercial is right. I was with Farmers previously.
Hi! We are a Danish (husband)/American (wife) family and we actually moved from San Diego to even tinier Aarhus, Denmark, 4 years ago. We'd both go back to San Diego in a heartbeat (especially after this year's particularly miserable Danish "summer") but it looks like our next move (later this year) will be to Seattle.
I agree with the other posters above and don't have much to add, but you should be aware that there is a group of Danes living in the San Diego area who get together for various events throughout the year. I bet they would be great resources for you to help answer specific questions and share their experiences. Look up Danes in San Diego on Facebook and join their group if you haven't already, and look up House of Denmark too (the latter is not on FB, but they have a website).
We lived in the Carmel Valley/Torrey Pines area just off of I-5 and Del Mar Heights Road and loved it -- especially since it did not get quite as hot as it does just a few kilometers inland. Schools are great but housing costs are definitely high. We have had our bilingual children in the international school here in Aarhus to ensure that they would be able to more easily transition back into an English-based curriculum when we eventually leave Denmark, but I know other non-Danish speaking kids come to Denmark and after a settling in period tend to pick up the language fairly quickly. Given that your 10 year old has already had some English exposure through schools in DK, my guess is the transition would be fairly smooth, but I would look at how the different school districts you are considering handle bilingual children and English as a second language learners.
My Copenhagen born and raised husband would love to move back to San Diego. We felt that our standard of living there was better than it has been in Jutland in many ways (including, believe it or not, healthcare -- though we are both professionals with decent health insurance provided through our employers. Still, he was surprised at how lacking the Danish system was when he compared it to our healthcare experiences in the U.S....but that's a whole other discussion for another time!). Perhaps the biggest concern for you will be where to locate authentic rugbroed...
Welcome to the forum, drgizmo. Great, informative first post! I hope you get to return to San Diego, but at least you can come down here on long weekends if you're in Seattle.
As for Danish-style rugbrød (rye bread), try German-style pumpernickel at health food stores, an acceptable substitute, or get to an Ikea (I think there is one in Seattle) and buy their ready-mix and bake it yourself. Your husband will not have to face life in the US without rugbrød!
Now it would be nice to hear from the OP!
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