Fallbrook area (Los Angeles, San Diego, Chula Vista: insurance, high crime, houses)

[Yourlehrness]

Hi, I’m looking to move to San Diego county from Los Angeles. I was wondering about Fallbrook. My friend said when her family was developing North San Diego in the 70-80’s that the KKK head lived in Fallbrook and because of that Fallbrook got some notoriety. He’s been gone 30 years but I was wondering if it still affects resale at all? My husband and I have a few horses and love the ability to get a beautiful home and land for them at a reasonable price compared to my Los Angeles ranch. Just want opinions on how you all feel about the vibe of the place. The home I like is 843 Del Valle it’s between Bonsall and Camp Pendleton.

[expatCA]

Originally Posted by Yourlehrness

Hi, I’m looking to move to San Diego county from Los Angeles. I was wondering about Fallbrook. My friend said when her family was developing North San Diego in the 70-80’s that the KKK head lived in Fallbrook and because of that Fallbrook got some notoriety. He’s been gone 30 years but I was wondering if it still affects resale at all? My husband and I have a few horses and love the ability to get a beautiful home and land for them at a reasonable price compared to my Los Angeles ranch. Just want opinions on how you all feel about the vibe of the place. The home I like is 843 Del Valle it’s between Bonsall and Camp Pendleton.

Fallbrook is a nice somewhat withdrawn area, with a nice old downtown, though not as much so as in the past. Nice area to live, but a bit of a commute to anywhere but Oceanside or Escondido.

[JamesCruz1]

The Notorious person you are referring to is Tom Metzger. In the 1970's was a Grand Dragon (or something) in the KKK. He has since left that organization and started a different "Lone-Wolf format" group.
There is a very good Documentary by Louis Theroux called "Louis and the Nazis", where Louis Theroux gets the real scoop on Tom Metzger and hangs out with him for a full day as they drive around Fallbrook, Ca. meet a lot of very nice people.
I met Tom quite a few times around town and he was always a pleasant individual. I even saw him one morning at one of the local breakfast spots and he was sitting at a table with a Hispanic man and two Black gentlemen. They were talking and laughing and at one point some water dripped onto their table from the A/C system on the roof and Tom got up to tell the(Hispanic)waitress what was happening and she promptly helped them move to another table, and he called her Honey.
With his so-called reputation as an evil racist, I was expecting him to be really upset and fly off the handle.
This all being said, Tom has since moved to Indiana(Now back to California near the Hemet area). One should not worry about about some "hate filled racist organization" in the area that doesn't exist, and worry more about the many Latino gangs, smuggling groups and high crime in the area. The San Diego County Sheriff is ok, but severely understaffed and they just do not care about property crime at all which is rampant in the area.

[TacoSoup]

Originally Posted by expatCA

Fallbrook is a nice somewhat withdrawn area, with a nice old downtown, though not as much so as in the past. Nice area to live, but a bit of a commute to anywhere but Oceanside or Escondido.

Or Temecula? The reverse commute there would be a breeze. We looked at Fallbrook when my wife got a good job offer in Temecula, but just like with Temecula, the commute would crush my soul even in the off hours. I will say the backup to Temecula usually doesn’t start until after Fallbrook so it has that going for it. It also has beautiful houses on acreage with views for miles for what a typical house in an average neighborhood of San Diego goes for.

[cruitr]

Originally Posted by Yourlehrness

The home I like is 843 Del Valle it’s between Bonsall and Camp Pendleton.

That house is beautiful. Love the 4-car garage with room to build more.

However, we couldn't live there:
1. Over 50 miles to the SD airport. We don't fly a lot anymore but we do get lots of fly-in guests.
2. It's very close to Pendleton. You'll hear night bombings. I could handle the noise but not the ground shakes.
3. The high Firestorm potential. See 2007 video below. Be sure to check with your insurance agent before signing any papers. Some areas of Fallbrook cannot get fire insurance.

Don't worry about the KKK stuff no matter what your color. It's all gone but not forgotten. Santee is still known as Klantee. Chula Vista is still known Chula Jiuana. And Lake Elsinore held KKK rallies decades ago.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQivcOfmc3k

[JamesCruz1]

Agreed cruitr. 50 miles translates to 2.5 hours drive time. In Southern California, we always related any distance in time it takes to travel there instead of miles. When my wife worked on board Camp Pendleton, we lived exactly 9 miles away and it was taking almost 45mins with all the traffic for her to get to work. The Howitzer practice never bothered me(grew up there). But the traffic, taxes/fees, crime and natural disasters took its toll.
I was standing on Ranger Road on Oct. 22, 2007 and watched the Rice Fire jump all lanes of the 15 and burn its way into Fallbrook with not one firefighter in sight. All they did was do reverse 911 warning everyone to evacuate, causing a 4 hour traffic nightmare as the entire population of Fallbrook was evacuated through Camp Pendleton. Then they used National Guard and Police officers from every available corner of SoCal to keep the residents out for almost 5 days. Meanwhile peoples homes and businesses were being looted and vandalized(or burned down)while they were evacuated trying to find someplace to go.
I was also there in 2003 when the Cedar Fire jumped 2 seperate highways and burned all the way to the ocean.
That area has 3 seasons: Summer, Fire and Flood season.

[oddstray]

Originally Posted by JamesCruz1

. . . .
That area has 3 seasons: Summer, Fire and Flood season.

Naw. Four seasons. You missed out Drought season.

[TacoSoup]

Originally Posted by JamesCruz1

Agreed cruitr. 50 miles translates to 2.5 hours drive time. In Southern California, we always related any distance in time it takes to travel there instead of miles. When my wife worked on board Camp Pendleton, we lived exactly 9 miles away and it was taking almost 45mins with all the traffic for her to get to work. The Howitzer practice never bothered me(grew up there). But the traffic, taxes/fees, crime and natural disasters took its toll.
I was standing on Ranger Road on Oct. 22, 2007 and watched the Rice Fire jump all lanes of the 15 and burn its way into Fallbrook with not one firefighter in sight. All they did was do reverse 911 warning everyone to evacuate, causing a 4 hour traffic nightmare as the entire population of Fallbrook was evacuated through Camp Pendleton. Then they used National Guard and Police officers from every available corner of SoCal to keep the residents out for almost 5 days. Meanwhile peoples homes and businesses were being looted and vandalized(or burned down)while they were evacuated trying to find someplace to go.
I was also there in 2003 when the Cedar Fire jumped 2 seperate highways and burned all the way to the ocean.
That area has 3 seasons: Summer, Fire and Flood season.

Well that’s a gross exaggeration, especially in regards to Fallbrook

[JamesCruz1]

Originally Posted by TacoSoup

Well that’s a gross exaggeration, especially in regards to Fallbrook

Was just there on February 21, took 1 hour and 15 minutes to drive to Temecula.
#neveragain

[Axxlrod]

Originally Posted by JamesCruz1

Was just there on February 21, took 1 hour and 15 minutes to drive to Temecula.
#neveragain

From Fallbrook?

Were you driving in reverse?