Urban Neighborhoods (San Diego, El Cajon, Burlingame: condo, how much, house)

[EastCoastNative]

My husband and I (mid-30s, no kids) will be moving to San Diego in May ... he's Navy and will be working down at 32nd St. I haven't spent any significant time in SD so I'm hoping for some insights on various neighborhoods. We've been living in generic suburbia for the past few years and would like something with a bit more character, preferably in walking distance to some shops/restaurants, around the $2000/month range.

I've heard mention of these neighborhoods and was hoping someone could tell me some of the pros/cons, especially any areas to stay away from:

* Hillcrest
* Mission Hills
* University Heights
* North Park
* South Park
* Kensington

Thanks in advance ...

[NYSD1995]

Originally Posted by EastCoastNative

My husband and I (mid-30s, no kids) will be moving to San Diego in May ... he's Navy and will be working down at 32nd St. I haven't spent any significant time in SD so I'm hoping for some insights on various neighborhoods. We've been living in generic suburbia for the past few years and would like something with a bit more character, preferably in walking distance to some shops/restaurants, around the $2000/month range.

I've heard mention of these neighborhoods and was hoping someone could tell me some of the pros/cons, especially any areas to stay away from:

* Hillcrest
* Mission Hills
* University Heights
* North Park
* South Park
* Kensington

Thanks in advance ...

All the neighborhoods you mentioned are nice. Kensington, Mission Hills, and parts of South Park (Burlingame) and North Park (Morley Field) are the most upscale. Normal Heights north of Adams ave is also nice. For 2k/mo you are looking at a decent house in a good area or a really nice condo/apt. Just as a comparison, I rented a nice but not spectacular house on a nice but not spectacular North Park block for about 1600 in 2004. My guess is that nowadays a place like that is about 2k.

General rule of thumb is to avoid the quad bounded roughly by

Adams ave to the north
University ave to the south
30th street to the west
the 805 fwy to the east

The worst area is just to the east, from about 35th to 54th, south of El Cajon blvd.

[sdurbanite]

The advice from Sassberto is pretty dead on. Other urban neighborhoods you should consider are:

** Banker's Hill (Western side of Balboa Park and in between Hillcrest and Downtown)
** Little Italy and East Village section of downtown
** Golden Hill (Directly east of downtown, up & coming neighborhood with great housing stock)
** Normal Heights (North of Adams ave) is in a good location also.


Aside from Kensington, all of these neighborhoods either border or are well within 5 miles of downtown and Balboa Park and have some of the best variety of bars/clubs/restaurants/housing stock that the city has to offer. These areas also have more independent establishments, than the corporate chains (sans Starbucks, of course)

[EastCoastNative]

Originally Posted by Sassberto

General rule of thumb is to avoid the quad bounded roughly by

Adams ave to the north
University ave to the south
30th street to the west
the 805 fwy to the east

The worst area is just to the east, from about 35th to 54th, south of El Cajon blvd.

I recently saw a posting on craigslist for a unit at La Boheme, which seems to fit squarely in the area you mentioned. Anyone know anything about this condo complex?

[NYSD1995]

Originally Posted by EastCoastNative

I recently saw a posting on craigslist for a unit at La Boheme, which seems to fit squarely in the area you mentioned. Anyone know anything about this condo complex?

Big brand new crackerbox megaplex party village right on a major street.

[Imperial1904]

Originally Posted by EastCoastNative

My husband and I (mid-30s, no kids) will be moving to San Diego in May ... he's Navy and will be working down at 32nd St. I haven't spent any significant time in SD so I'm hoping for some insights on various neighborhoods. We've been living in generic suburbia for the past few years and would like something with a bit more character, preferably in walking distance to some shops/restaurants, around the $2000/month range.

I've heard mention of these neighborhoods and was hoping someone could tell me some of the pros/cons, especially any areas to stay away from:

* Hillcrest
* Mission Hills
* University Heights
* North Park
* South Park
* Kensington

Thanks in advance ...

I always (and always will) recommend Tierrasanta for military families given the large military presence in the area. It's a suburb, although I've also heard it referred to as an "inner suburb within the city". It's also a great place even if you don't have kids. 3 shopping areas with restaurants and shopping and is close to the Fashion Valley and Mission Valley malls with even more to offer. I don't know how much character you want in a neighborhood so I don't know if Tierrasanta would interest you and your husband but I think it's worth looking into even as a back up.