Anybody else like Oceanside?

[LoneStarJerry]

Originally Posted by Sassberto

I like Oceanside... it has a working class character that I appreciate... because I came from a working-class background. I like that it has not been Condo-ized and mansion-ized... yet.

Well said.

[JSD45]

I have a couple of friends here in Encinitas who own ocean-front condos. It's a lot different from Encinitas, which I recognize is in the "La Jolla, Rancho Santa Fe, Del mar, Solana Beach, Encinitas" bubble. I like the downtown, but I've been harassed by drunk bums and other shady individuals. It just doesn't feel that safe lat at night. I personally don't really like it, but west of the 101 is nice, west of the 5 is generally nice but east of the I5 goes downhill pretty quickly.

. I always read the crime reports in the "Coast News" and Oceanside, Escondido and Vista always have much higher crime rates. My spanish teacher had his house broken into and his car broken into. He rented a place in Carlsbad afterwards....

Why not try a house in North Escondido, Fallbrook or Bonsall? The area is beautiful and while there are mansions, there are some cheaper, smaller homes on the market. Maybe south Escondido or some places in Encinitas (Village Park's prices have fallen) & maybe some heavily discounted tract homes in Carlsbad.

Those areas listed above are safer and have better school districts. If you can afford it, I would live elsewhere. North Escondido, while warmer and more rural, is beautiful. Village Park in Encinitas has some discounted homes for sale, ranging from attached townhomes to houses. It's a sub-division built a while ago with a lot of trees, community pools and tennis courts...it's great for families). Plus, you get to send your kids to the San Dieguito Middle & High Schools, some of the best in the state. Oceanside's high schools aren't that great....one of the teachers at a volunteer day care I volunteered at lives in Oceanside but got a district transfer to the San Dieguito district because she said the Oceanside Middle and High schools were "absolute s***).

Anyway, Oceanside is pretty cool west of 101....but it has more crime and I think you an find a place in your price range with better schools and less crime.

[HereinVA]

I lived in Oceanside from 1998-2006 (my 20's) and loved it! I loved the bike path that goes from College Blvd to the beach. My family used to ride our bikes to the beach, park our bikes, and walk along the pier and get a meal/treat at Rubys while we watched the surfers! I loved the quaint/quirky little shops like Inner World and Hill Street Coffee House. I loved Colimas and all the "'bertos" Mexican food places--I live in Virginia now and there's nothing like that 'round here.

Yeah, I heard bad things about the public schools, but honestly public schools are bad all over--I had friends that lived in Carlsbad and they had awful stories about the schools there--and I've pretty much resigned myself to sending my kids to private schools no matter what. In the 8 years we lived there, we never experienced any crime. We moved to Oceanside a few weeks after we married, prior to that my husband lived in an apartment in Carlsbad, so I moved into that apartment the first couple weeks we were married. My car was vandalized parked on the street outside his apartment (Adams St, right off Tamarack). My car was brand new, still didn't even have the real liscense plate, and someone "egged" it. Since I hadn't lived there long enough to "make enemies", I have to assume it was just a random crime. So I don't know what statistics say about crime in Oceanside vs. crime in Carlsbad but my personal experience was 1 crime: less than 5 weeks living in Carlsbad vs. 0 crime: almost 8 years living in Oceanside.