Visiting San Diego (San Francisco, Corona, El Cajon: violent crime, credit card, hotel)

[sailo]

Hi everyone,

I am visiting San Diego next week. I just like to seek some info about the area.

1. Is it safe to walk from Old Town transit centre (bus stop) to my hotel at 3880 Greenwood Street at night from say 6pm upto 11pm?

2. Which areas are no-go zones due to high incidence of crime? Need some street booundaries to mark this area on the map.

3. Would it be safe to wander around the neighbourhoods near or within Balboa Park, downtown & waterfront, Coronado Island, La Jolla and Old Town, especially at night?

4. Is there any night life in San Diego? Are the streets dead silent after dark?

Any advice you can think of would be very much appreciated.

Thanks so much in advance.

[DBallerz]

Half of San Diego is unemployed. There are crazy drunks, homeless, and degenerates everywhere. I would caution you against La Jolla, lots of suicide types who lost a lot of money in the stock market lately. Make sure you get lots of shots before you come here too, you don't want to breathe in any fumes from LA. JK


1. Yes, its safe.
2. I'd be weary of anything near the border.
3. Yes
4. Bars close around 2. Go to LA if u wanna go buck wild all night.

GL

[sailo]

Originally Posted by DBallerz

Half of San Diego is unemployed. There are crazy drunks, homeless, and degenerates everywhere. I would caution you against La Jolla, lots of suicide types who lost a lot of money in the stock market lately. Make sure you get lots of shots before you come here too, you don't want to breathe in any fumes from LA. JK

Thanks DBallerz. You almost ruin my day reading this top bit... lol

[NYSD1995]

Originally Posted by sailo

1. Is it safe to walk from Old Town transit centre (bus stop) to my hotel at 3880 Greenwood Street at night from say 6pm upto 11pm?

It involves negotiating some busy intersections and freeway onramp / overpass complexes as well as a fairly deserted industrial area. That area has a lot of transients / strip bars. I don't know that it is unsafe but it might not feel very safe.

Originally Posted by sailo

2. Which areas are no-go zones due to high incidence of crime? Need some street booundaries to mark this area on the map.

Avoid the areas immediately south and southeast of downtown at night. Also the central SD area of City Heights along El Cajon Boulevard and University Ave from about 805 fwy to 54th street. No where in SD is really unsafe during the day.

Originally Posted by sailo

3. Would it be safe to wander around the neighbourhoods near or within Balboa Park, downtown & waterfront, Coronado Island, La Jolla and Old Town, especially at night?

I would not wander around residential neighborhoods late at night, but up to say, 10-11PM should be fine.

Originally Posted by sailo

4. Is there any night life in San Diego? Are the streets dead silent after dark?

Yes, see downtown San Diego on any weekend night.

[sailo]

Originally Posted by Sassberto

Avoid the areas immediately south and southeast of downtown at night.

Do you mean the waterfront where the convention centre is (south of Harbour Drive/Petco Park) or do you mean further down south at Chulla Vista?

Originally Posted by Sassberto

Central SD area of City Heights

Is there any touristy things to see/do in this district?

[Oerdin]

Originally Posted by sailo

Hi everyone,

I am visiting San Diego next week. I just like to seek some info about the area.

1. Is it safe to walk from Old Town transit centre (bus stop) to my hotel at 3880 Greenwood Street at night from say 6pm upto 11pm?

2. Which areas are no-go zones due to high incidence of crime? Need some street booundaries to mark this area on the map.

3. Would it be safe to wander around the neighbourhoods near or within Balboa Park, downtown & waterfront, Coronado Island, La Jolla and Old Town, especially at night?

4. Is there any night life in San Diego? Are the streets dead silent after dark?

Any advice you can think of would be very much appreciated.

Thanks so much in advance.

It's a pretty safe city with a low violent crime rate. If you want to go clubbing then the gas lamp is the place to go but right now the economy sucks so a lot of people are cutting back on the eating and drinking out.

[luvSD]

Some areas of town are kind of shabby with homeless people and stuff, but I don't think there's a lot of serious crimes like rape, stabbing, and shootings. I don't go out at night, but my general feel is that you won't be attacked if (1) you are male, (2) you keep moving and don't hang out looking for trouble.

I believe that these areas are not particularly safe at night though I have not actually been there to see it myself:
El Cajon,
National City,
areas close to the Mexican border
(basically: east and south of downtown)

- Old Town is safe but stores close after 6 pm or so, so there's no point in continuing to stay there unless you are in a restaurant.
- La Jolla is safe.
- Coronado Island is safe.
- Downtown and waterfront is patchy: still generally safe, but can get some homeless people milling about.

As mentioned above, economy is bad so conditions are not suited for excellent night life but the one place to go drinking and dancing would be the Gaslamp Quarter of San Diego .

[sailo]

Thanks for all your lovely replies. Sounds like San Diego is a much safer city than LA or San Francisco.

I am just wondering if there is frequent train service at all from downtown to old town?

Is there a place where I can buy the Regular Regional Four-Day Pass for $12 on a saturday? The transit shop at downtown only opens monday - friday. Link: Fares and Day Passes

[Encinitan]

The Coaster train stops in both Old Town and Downtown. It runs north and south throughout the day.

[luvSD]

Are you talking about the train as in Amtrak or do you mean the trolley? You can buy trolley tickets in vending machines at each trolley station. Some of the larger stations may have a store which sells chips, chocolate bars etc and they sell trolley tickets too. The Old Town station has such a convenience store - but - they only take cash, no credit card. Keep in mind that when you enter the trolley, there is no trolley driver to check your ticket. So, in theory, you can board with no ticket BUT if they catch you, it is a $120 fine (a guy walks around and asks to see your ticket at random). You can read more about the trolley system here: San Diego Trolley System