Moving to San Diego area from Cleveland area! Help! (Chula Vista: rent, low crime)

[Breakindown]

Hello all! First off, I'm sorry for creating yet another where to live thread! Me and my family are from Lakewood, Ohio which is a suburb of Cleveland and has beautiful homes situated right on the lake and a very active community. We are moving to San Diego, but don't know exactly where to live! We were considering moving to Seattle area, but we changed our mind after my wife convinced me to move to San Diego area seeing as my wife has a good handful of relatives down there and I loved San Diego when I visited, especially the weather! Also, I'm hoping to find more Pacific Islander communities. Like many families relocating, we have the "newbie syndrome" as in we hear a lot of towns and names going around but don't know in which one to live! I have two children, a 4yr girl and 1yr boy. As far as ethnic backgrounds, I am Black, my heritage is Maori Pacific Islander and my wife is of Mexican descent.

We are looking for friendly communities, with good shopping (I don't know why but my kids absolutely love malls and big stores and all that jazz). We don't mind newer housing but don't want concrete sprawl all over the place! I don't know if schools are necessarily an issue right now but it always helps to live in a place with good schools. We've been told of some cities like Vista, Chula Vista, Poway and Oceanside, and some of the city-suburbs like Mira Mesa and Scripps Ranch. But the opinions vary greatly on the areas, I've heard things like "They're the best place for families to live!" And then comments like "The place is run-down, and would not raise kids there" on the same area. It leaves me very confused about which places I should look at. So people, you think you can help me out ? THANX!!

[CrissCT]

We moved to San Diego from Bay Village - just down the lake from you in Lakewood! We just left San Diego after 3 years this summer to move back east but my recommendation is to check out 4S ranch. That is where we lived and we loved it. It is very family oriented. There are lots of parks and nature trails but also plenty of shopping and all that fun stuff too. Its centrally located, not too far inland. Definitely rent first no matter what area you choose then if you aren't happy you aren't tied down to a particular place. Scripps Ranch is also very nice as well as Poway that you mentioned but they are further inland and that means a little hotter in the summer/cooler in the winter. Best of luck to you!

[kcda]

Eastern Chula Vista is nice (not run down) but you will find run down parts on the west side. Chula Vista is pretty spread out so it feels like a different city on the eastern end. If you are interested, I would look at Eastlake, Rolling Hills Ranch, Otay Ranch (91915, 91914, 91913). The schools, neighborhood, parks and facilities are very nice.

[dweej]

I used to live in Oceanside, and although there are good parts and bad parts, the nice parts are very nice and it's close to the ocean (yay!). Thought about it for you because there is a pretty diverse population, including a lot of Samoans and Phillipinos. Very family focused. Good luck in your search!

[Breakindown]

CrissCT: Thanks for the suggestion of 4S Ranch! After researching some more, we are seriously considering it, the place looks really nice.

On another note, we found a lovely gigantic home in Chula Vista in our price range that we would be interested in. Everybody says that there are some parts of Chula Vista that should be avoided, but it says that the house is in zip code 91910. Is that area good enough ?

[CrissCT]

Do you know what area you will be working in? That may rule out some areas or help suggest some different ones.

[Breakindown]

I'll be working in the core of downtown on Broadway. I know that will probably rule out some areas for good commutes, especially in traffic but I don't know which ones.

[sav858]

If you're working downtown I would look at University City/UTC area. Good schools, low crime, good middle to upper middle class neighborhood, and near University Town Center (UTC) mall and several other shopping centers. It's a great central location that's close to La Jolla, the beaches, Mission Valley, downtown, etc... There is virtually no traffic between University City and Downtown either, most of the traffic is heading north towards UTC/Sorrento Valley area. I used to live in University City of off Governor Dr and work downtown and it was only a 15 minute drive usually. The area isn't quite cookie cutter b/c it's older and many of the homes have been remodeled and look different. And with UC San Diego narby, it helps add to the diversity of the area. I think UC offers the best combination of an easy commute, good schools, good low crime neighborhood, shopping amenities, and location.

[Breakindown]

Okay so I have:

4S Ranch
Chula Vista
University City

Can anyone recommend more, you guys are really helping me out!

[CrissCT]

I would add back into your consideration Scripps Ranch and an area near there called Sabre Springs since you are working downtown.