Neighborhoods in San Diego

[soccermomof3]

Just know that Poway can be more family like since it's well-known for its awesome school district.

This is my take:

Golden Triangle in La Jolla -- great place to meet people, close to UCSD, the mall and the beach. Housing will be pricey. There are a lot of condos and apartments there.
Hillcrest -- lots of restaurants and stores. It's a little busy and dense for my taste but if you like that then there is Balboa Park, the Zoo, Old Town, downtown/gas lamp quarter and its close to the airport and Coronado It's an older neighborhood and primarily a gay and lesbian community.
Fashion Valley -- If you like malls and shopping then you are in the right place. There are two huge malls there. I think Fashion Valley is a good place to meet people. It's not so family-friendly but more for the younger crowd.

Good luck to you.

[LivingLikeAGradStudent]

Hillcrest is pretty walkable, tolerant, full of interesting shops and (healthy) restaurants and only a few bus stops from downtown.

[amc760]

I really like City Heights..at least the redeveloped part along Fairmount.


Village Townhomes was a great place to live!

Its a huge apartment complex. I lived in a 3 bedroom townhouse that was practically new, with a living room balcony on the 3rd floor looking across the neighborhood, gated, underground parking all for 1350!

Its been a couple of years , so im sure its gone up some.

And it might be for City Heights locals only, but it was great. Dont let that hoods reputation fool you.

I lived across the street from that huge plaza with Papa Johns, McDonalds, Subway, Albertsons, WaMU, Denny's, Panda Express, Starbucks, and some other stuff literally across the street.

I loved it. It only needed the trolley nearby to be perfect.

Oh yeah, its a stones throw to the 15 and the 805, and the 8.

I miss that place

[JM926]

Originally Posted by soccermomof3

I recommend Poway. It's rural and about 25 minutes from downtown. Carmel Mountain Ranch is also nice (right next to Poway) with newer developments. People are easy-going and friendly in Poway. It's a different life from the beach towns. You have the popular Trader Joes and Henry's for health foods. There is also the commuter bus that takes you directly downtown in the center lane with NO stops. I used to take it and could read peacefully in a nice upscale bus. I consider Poway/CMR to be much safer than many other parts of San Diego.

Soccermom,

I'm looking at an utterly charming apartment on Welton Road between Poway Rd and Scripps Poway Parkway. What do you think of this area? It's actually quite close to a climbing gym and some yoga studios, so it looks pretty ideal, but the one thing I'm concerned about is the commute to the Little Italy area of downtown everyday. It sounds like it was no problem for you at all to commute via the commuter bus - was it ever tough? Also, it looks like the commuter bus is $5 one way, I'm guessing there's some kind of bus pass too - is that what you did?

I'd love to hear everything / all your thoughts on the commute and Welton Rd.

Thanks so much!

[JM926]

P.S. how is the commuter bus? It is just a normal bus? I'm thinking it must larger, and it must ride pretty smoothly for you to be able to read on it ... or do you just not get carsick very easily?

[NYSD1995]

Originally Posted by JM926

Soccermom,

I'm looking at an utterly charming apartment on Welton Road between Poway Rd and Scripps Poway Parkway. What do you think of this area? It's actually quite close to a climbing gym and some yoga studios, so it looks pretty ideal, but the one thing I'm concerned about is the commute to the Little Italy area of downtown everyday. It sounds like it was no problem for you at all to commute via the commuter bus - was it ever tough? Also, it looks like the commuter bus is $5 one way, I'm guessing there's some kind of bus pass too - is that what you did?

The area is nice. That commute via bus seems insane to me, at least an hour if not more.

[cnkad]

Hillcrest is kind of nice...esp. if you are single because it is so close to downtown and balboa park and all that. Just to let you know, it is considered where most of the homosexual culture in san diego is. I guess this could be good or bad for you. Fashion valley is really busy I am not sure it would suite you just from what you said. La jolla is pretty expensive...You also might want to check out areas of encinitas, allied gardens/san carlos/teirasanta as well as poway. The other areas I mentioned are not as rural but are generally less busy than other areas you mentioned. San diego has so many diff. areas, you really have to see for yourself what you would like best.

[cnkad]

Originally Posted by Sassberto

The area is nice. That commute via bus seems insane to me, at least an hour if not more.

I agree, commuting from poway to little Italy seems like it will take longer than 30 min no matter how you commute. Traffic in and out of poway is just awful--really bad.

[JM926]

Sassberto and cnkad,

Thanks for the feedback. I've researched it, and you're right ... the bus ride is just under an hour. I think I could comfortably do that for the short term, but I'm not sure about indefinitely.

Also, I'm starting to see that community btn Poway and outside of Poway is a terror from all the different postings on this message board ... which is too bad, because the apartment is so ideal otherwise!