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Old 04-24-2010, 07:15 AM
 
Location: Mission Hills, San Diego
1,471 posts, read 3,330,324 times
Reputation: 623

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My spouse has an interview for position north of the city. I am trying to do a little research to see if this could be a good move should an offer come. We have lived in Cleveland for 8 years and while we have been very fortunate we know we do not want to live here the rest of our lives.

1) Housing-We like urban neighborhoods. A suburb would not be a good fit. No kids in the home. The ideal area would have plenty of places to walk to, or within a few mile radius. We ride scooters and rarely like to use the car (we only have one).

How are the downtown neighborhoods? Are there near by communities that have an urban/walkable feel (ie some of the beach communities)? I like self contained neighborhoods where you can spend a large portion of your time.

If possible I like getting involved in advocating for my neighborhood-ie community gardening, improving safety, etc. so an area with active residents is a plus. I am comfortable in an extremely economically and ethnically diverse areas. I currently live in an innercity neighborhood with diversity of every kind. No, I do not want to live in a completely seedy area, but I don't break out into hives if I see a homeless person.

Since I would not have a job upon arrival, we would need to budget ourselves to live off spouse's salary for the first year.

We would be renting-hopefully under $2000 month. We would need one garage type space for the scooters since they are high theft items. The car would need some place to part but not nec a reserved spot. We would like to go car free but that is something to be decided upon after living there.

I have looked at craiglist, but am suprised at how few places have pictures or addresses.

2) commute- is the reverse commute bad ( Downtown areas to La Jolla area)? Is there any public transportation from downtown to La Jolla vicinity?

3) Employment- I know qualifications are only part of the equation. There has to be availability! I have a Masters degree, and presently work in the social service/criminal justice field with local government. Does anyone know the state of government employment is currently?

I have only visited San Diego one time and yes I can see enjoying living there. Love the ocean, outdoors, relaxed feel.

My places lived background is DC area and FL, and now as mentioned, the midwest.

thanks!
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Old 04-24-2010, 09:09 AM
 
6,885 posts, read 8,868,428 times
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1. Hillcrest, North Park, Little Italy
2. No. Maybe but not good

what work does spouse do?
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Old 04-24-2010, 09:30 AM
 
Location: Mission Hills, San Diego
1,471 posts, read 3,330,324 times
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he is in higher ed. Thanks for the neighborhood names.
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Old 04-24-2010, 09:56 AM
 
Location: Coastal San Diego
5,024 posts, read 7,533,883 times
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3. You'll probably need to look for employment outside the local and state government. That sector seems to be in layoff mode right now.
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Old 04-24-2010, 10:49 AM
 
Location: Tijuana Exurbs
4,526 posts, read 12,345,556 times
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Besides Hillcrest, North Park, and Little Italy, other urban neighborhoods to consider are:

University Heights, South Park, and Normal Heights. (FYI: South Park is on the south east side of Balboa Park not the south side).

On a map of San Diego you will find that most of these neighborhoods form a circle around Balboa Park east of I-5, south of I-8, west of I-805, and north of Downtown.

All of these neighborhoods are centered around small-to-medium-sized commercial areas where many day to day tasks can be done either on foot or by scooter. These neighborhoods contain the bulk of the cities remaining pre-WWII housing and are combination of charming old bungalow houses, mixed in with appallingly ugly 60s & 70s era apartments known as Huffman Hovels, and their somewhat better looking 80s update which at least provide adequate parking and some landscaping.

I would say University Heights has the smallest commercial area, and Hillcrest the largest. Normal Heights, Hillcrest, North Park and South Park have grocery stores, (though the South Park grocery store leaves something to be desired). University Heights would require a trip to Hillcrest to the Ralphs on University Ave or to the Henry's on Park Blvd.

You will find MANY posts on this board discussing all of these neighborhoods.
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Old 04-24-2010, 05:14 PM
 
Location: Mission Hills, San Diego
1,471 posts, read 3,330,324 times
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great I will put my search skills to work if this seems to move forward.I am just glad there are some less suburban options. And if there are further recommendations, I am grateful for input.
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Old 05-04-2010, 07:05 PM
 
5 posts, read 13,644 times
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Default downtown san diego

planning to move back to usa san diego presently live in barcelona spain hate american suburbs and driving a car can we skype about what you learnabout living downtown check my profile in couchsurfing i am a bit alternative anni.karouni french american ex husband from shaker heights ohio thanks anni
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Old 05-04-2010, 09:41 PM
 
Location: Cleveland, OH
1,973 posts, read 5,191,879 times
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What up Clevelandgal. I live in Chicago, but I'm from the Cleveland area and lived in San Diego for a few years.

I don't think San Diego is very urban as a whole, but there are some good spots.

Downtown - is about the same scale as Cleveland's, but has a higher residential population and amenities (e.g. full service grocery store, real deal mall). Is pretty active at all times and I think it's one of the better downtowns of its size. You would find it a much better downtown to live in than Cleveland's.

Little Italy - Next to downtown. Nice area, but not authentic like Cleveland's Little Italy.

North Park/South Park - kind of like Tremont/Ohio City.

Hillcrest - San Diego's "gayborhood," and possibly the most urban feeling district outside of downtown.

Bankers Hill - Between Downtown and Hillcrest. Looks urban, but for some reason feels void of street life.

Mission Hills/University Heights/Normal Heights/Kensington - somewhat urban. Less so than say Lakewood. Maybe a bit like West Park or Old Brooklyn.

Pacific Beach/Ocean Beach - again, somewhat urban, but the main commercial streets are very active since they are beach communities.

Mission Beach - very urban, but lots of beach rentals.

Downtown LaJolla - Urban and upscale. Feels like its own town, but is actually a neighborhood of San Diego.

Encinitas - Feels like a classic California beach town with a walkable downtown.
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Old 05-04-2010, 10:15 PM
 
Location: San Diego A.K.A "D.A.Y.G.O City"
1,996 posts, read 4,747,375 times
Reputation: 2742
Little Italy used to be real and authentic, sadly it's been dramatically changed through redevelopment, many old buildings have been demolished which has destroyed it's old neighborhood feel. Not too many Italians left either. It's yuppie central now.


SD's urban neighborhoods get pretty dead around a certain time, people seem to stay inside their homes after work, of course people walk around, buts it's not busy at all.

If you do see someone outside walking around, it's because they're dog needs to crap
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Old 05-05-2010, 09:49 PM
 
Location: Mission Hills, San Diego
1,471 posts, read 3,330,324 times
Reputation: 623
Thanks guys for the great info (anni what a rough life Barcelona to SD. lol) I am feeling the love for Hillcrest...spouse would love a downtown highrise or beach community (those are great too) anyway should this actually happen you better believe I will be hounding you all for the inside scoop. Good news is San Diego is not one huge suburb. Thanks 5lakes for the comparisons, very helpful.
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