Pros and Cons of El Cajon (San Diego, Escondido: low income, real estate market, apartments)

[ExilefromCa]

Hi everyone,

I'm thinking about moving to the El Cajon area and would like to know a little bit about it. Is it a nice area to live? New? Old? Safe neighborhoods? Crowded? What are some of the pros and cons of this particular part of San Diego?

[NYSD1995]

Originally Posted by ExilefromCa

Hi everyone,

I'm thinking about moving to the El Cajon area and would like to know a little bit about it. Is it a nice area to live? New? Old? Safe neighborhoods? Crowded? What are some of the pros and cons of this particular part of San Diego?

It's an older area. Hot in the summer. Some shabby neighborhoods, some nice neighborhoods. Generally speaking, you want to be somewhere in or close to the walls of the box canyon that El Cajon sits in. Check out Granite Hills, Crest, Mt Helix, Fletcher Hills, Hillsdale, and Winter Gardens in Lakeside.

The 'hoods in the flats are kinda sketchy near downtown but there are nicer neighborhoods esp on the south and east side. Most of the crime issues are right around downtown.

Beware: many people on this forum will call it an armpit... but personally I think it looks a lot like Florida or Texas.

Upside is that you can get a much larger lot and house for the money, downside is the long commutes and relative lack of upscale-type amenities without driving into SD. Personally I prefer the Cajon Zone to Escondido, but they are of similar socioeconomic status.

[socketz]

Texas!!! You mean 'some low income parts of Texas' right ?

In north texas where I'm out now, this is a mid range home:

http://www.mckinneyhomerebate.com/images-2007/IMG_0462.JPG (broken link)

Or maybe you want a 7 mill home down the street in the hood where the Dallas Mavericks/Cowboys live:



It's funny the misconception folks out west have of Texas. There is a TON of money out here.

[NYSD1995]

Originally Posted by socketz

Texas!!! You mean 'some low income parts of Texas' right ?

Just as there is tons of money in Florida, Texas, and San Diego, every city also has it's respective 'El Cajon'. :-)

[socketz]

Florida is waaaaaaayyyyyy overpriced now. There was so much speculative buying there over the past 5 years, that I fear for the future of its Real Estate market.

There simply is not the types of jobs, nor quantity there to support that high of a median home price.

In San Diego, we had alot of people over extending themselves on mortgages, but not a whole lot of speculative (i.e. 2nd homes and investment property) buying.

Texas is now experiencing a boom because of all the Californians moving here...

It's actually spooky how many are here that I meet on a daily basis.

But as we know, these are all cycles, and cycles change every 5-7 years.

[aprettydress]

Originally Posted by ExilefromCa

Hi everyone,

I'm thinking about moving to the El Cajon area and would like to know a little bit about it. Is it a nice area to live? New? Old? Safe neighborhoods? Crowded? What are some of the pros and cons of this particular part of San Diego?

It's known for Meth addicts and apartment buildings. Pick La Mesa or just move farther out, since you're already in El Cajon, what's another 10 minutes out...Still, in Lakeside or Santee you're getting the same kind of cross-section of people, basically meth-users and meth lab operators. Sucks because it's relatively affordable, but that is why.

good luck.

[SDCAx]

Originally Posted by ExilefromCa

Hi everyone,

I'm thinking about moving to the El Cajon area and would like to know a little bit about it. Is it a nice area to live? New? Old? Safe neighborhoods? Crowded? What are some of the pros and cons of this particular part of San Diego?

Intersting - where are you moving from and why El Cajon in particular? It depends on what you like I suppose but it's an eastern suburb and is hotter/dryer due to being further from the coast than much of the city. There is not alot to do there in terms of culture and the arts, but if you are raising a family and don't mind strip-malls and chain stores you would find it acceptable I guess. They do have some crime/gang problems and I have heard complaints from people who are Asian and Hispanic that they have been slurred on several occasions there

[socketz]

Honestly, at some point you just have to decide that renting is a better prospect than buying. If El Cajon was all I could afford, I'd probably just rent in a nicer area and use the money saved to enjoy life. Owning a home is not the panacea its all cracked up to be.

[ExilefromCa]

Thanks for input, everyone! It sounds like I probably won't be moving into El Cajon proper, but somewhere outside of it. Lakeside might be nice, but I haven't yet seen many rentals there in the San Diego tribune.

What is Mira Mesa like? Is it also 'sketchy,' or it is a better area? What are some of the better suburbs of San Diego?

[Mama12345]

Hey, folks please help - what can you say about living in the area of 1518 Sams Hill Rd., El Cajon? Is this place safe to live? I have a teenager who goes to Grossmont HS and I am being offered an onsite management job in Sunset View Apartments and was trying to get more info about the area.