Anyone live in the San Diego area? Need advice

[thebeesknees]

DH interviewed out there today - felt it went well and they asked before he left how soon he could move out that way, so we are guessing he MAY get an offer soon. Problem is, we've only visited SD once about 8 years ago for a few days, and don't know anyone there that we can ask about preferable living areas, good school district, COL, taxes, etc.

So, can anyone help out here? The office is on the Pacific Coast highway about 10 minutes from the airport (not sure which direction) according to DH, so we'd need to look in that general area or something within commuting distance. He commutes about an hour each way right now, which I think would be the maximum he'd want to do. Currently, we have one car and he uses light rail/bus, so that would be ideal if he could keep doing that, but I don't know how public transit is in the SD area. Is there anything affordable at all in decent neighborhoods with good schools or is everything priced so high that the average Joe can't live there? If he gets an offer, we want to be sure we've thoroughly thought things through and know whether the salary offered would be enough to live on. We tried one of those COL calculators when we moved to Maryland a few years ago and it was waaay off - got ourselves back here in CO as soon as we could make it back.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

I have a cousin out there who rents an 800sq*ft condo for ~$2,400 a month. No idea how that compares to where you live, but it's a frame of reference re: cost of living

 

[furb & dez]

San Diego born and raised here (and now living far, far away).

San Diego is a beautiful city and the weather is gorgeous most of the year.

BUT: It has a very expensive cost of living, is overcrowded, has horrible traffic, and a poorly thought out public transportation system (fine in some areas, non-existent in others). Crime is endemic in many areas, there are many ghettos, and the roads are disasters, and the people can't drive in drizzle, let alone actual rain.

There are nice pockets in which to live, and they are (over-)priced accordingly.

I would need to know where to give you more information. I'll honestly say that I left San Diego for the above (BUT) reasons.

 

[VAfamily1998]

We lived in North County San Diego from 1998-2006.

Unfortunately, schools, in general, are not too great in California. I've heard good things about some of the districts a bit more inland--Poway, Rancho Bernardo, etc. Not sure if that will be a good commuting option for you, since you don't know exactly where his work is...

Public transportation also is not so great in So. Cal. Without knowing where the job is/where you'll be living--I'd still say it's highly unlikely that public transportation will be a viable option for commuting.

 

[Mrs. Ciz]

My parents live in North County (Rancho Penasquitos). They live in a 25 year old, 2300 square foot, $800,000 house. My brother lives in Point Loma in a 60 year old, 900 square foot, $800,000 house. The area my parents live in is very nice, has good schools, but it has a long commute to downtown during rush hour due to traffic. The further away from the beaches you get, the lower the house prices are.

 

[VAfamily1998]

Curious, since you mentioned "affordable"...what do you define as "affordable"? How many bedrooms/baths would you need? Would you be renting or buying?

 

[thebeesknees]

Curious, since you mentioned "affordable"...what do you define as "affordable"? How many bedrooms/baths would you need? Would you be renting or buying?

We currently own a 2400 sf house, 5 bedrooms, 4 baths. We'd be willing to go down to 4 bedrooms and fewer baths. We rented in Maryland due to the cost of living there, and would probably we willing to do so again, but we do enjoy owning our home, so that would be our first choice. So far it is not sounding encouraging re: COL and schools. Good to know before we jump into something.

 

[kiki02]

We currently own a 2400 sf house, 5 bedrooms, 4 baths. We'd be willing to go down to 4 bedrooms and fewer baths. We rented in Maryland due to the cost of living there, and would probably we willing to do so again, but we do enjoy owning our home, so that would be our first choice. So far it is not sounding encouraging re: COL and schools. Good to know before we jump into something.

Hasn't San Diego been voted BEST PLACE to live in American several times? Good luck to you. It looks beautiful.

 

[VAfamily1998]

We currently own a 2400 sf house, 5 bedrooms, 4 baths. We'd be willing to go down to 4 bedrooms and fewer baths. We rented in Maryland due to the cost of living there, and would probably we willing to do so again, but we do enjoy owning our home, so that would be our first choice. So far it is not sounding encouraging re: COL and schools. Good to know before we jump into something.

I'd expect to pay at least $3000/month for a decent 4 bedroom...that would most likely not include utilities.

 

[gk90]

San Diego is so beautiful! Here's a link to a board with moving/relocation info:
http://www.city-data.com/forum/san-diego/

 

[cnj]

We live in Temecula, about an hour from San Diego. It is a commuter town. A lot of stay at home moms. It is also a little over an hour away from Disneyland. 40 minutes to the wild animal park. If there was not government owned land blocking the way, it would be 25 minutes to the beach. As it is, it is about 50. It has lovely houses and I love it here. It got voted second safest city in the united states. The weather is great. Hot air balloons are often visible over the houses.

My husband commutes 50 minutes each way. He works in San Diego. It has a beautiful wine country, with so many wineries. It has a large Indian casino that often has good shows (we have seen Jerry Seinfeld twice here), and an improv that is fun. It has a decent mall. I also think it is very affordable. You can rent about a 2000 square foot house for $2000. And that usually includes a gardner. The school district is the reason we live here. For California, it is good (however, every year they cut more back).

 

[thebeesknees]

I'd expect to pay at least $3000/month for a decent 4 bedroom...that would most likely not include utilities.

Thanks - this is very helpful for us in figuring out a possible budget.

San Diego is so beautiful! Here's a link to a board with moving/relocation info:
http://www.city-data.com/forum/san-diego/

This looks great - I'm going to spent a bit of time checking it out since it seems to have a lot of neighborhood and school info.

Thanks to all of you so far - I knew I could count on the DIS people to help out!

 

[Lisa71]

I have a LOT of family in the San Diego area (Oceanside, Vista, Encintas, etc.). There ARE good schools districts and renting can be affordable and is much more so than buying in most areas. There is a down market and the area is so beautiful to live in. There are few public transportation options so that is out, really, really out. Some companies do a van pool for commuting from Temecula or North County to San Diego itself. There is a lot of traffic and California is not for everyone, but I have been born and raised here so I love it. San Diego is wonderful.

 

[At World's End]

I was born in San Diego and lived there until 6 years ago. The area were your husband would be working sounds very close to downtown. Traffic is awful is that area and heading all directions fromthere from about 4-6 pm. I used to wrork 7-3:30 to avoid traffic. It's probably much worse by now. Public transportation is not efficient. There is the trolley, which does go through downtown, and the Coaster, a train that goes from Old Town to north county. Schools are OK, but those areas with good schools (Poway, Rancho Penasquitos) are very very expensive.

It's true that San Diego is very beautiful and I didn't appreciate the amazing weather until I moved to Oregon. But I wouldn't move back for anything. It is extremely congested, traffic is an issue wherever you live, and crime is a big problem. If you are happy where you are except for your husband's commute time, I don't think you would gain much by leaving. My DH was offered a job paying twice what he makes here, and we figured we would have a hard time making it. BTW, my sister rents a 1 br for $1300/mo if that gives you something to compare COL. Where we live you could rent a nice 4br house for that.

 

[everwondering]

I moved down to Poway this past summer when DH and I got married (We met on the internet. He lived down here. I lived up in Northern California). My kids and I absolutely love it down here. I don't know that I'd want to live near downtown, but Poway is really awesome.

 

[connie1042]

We lived there for 4 years back in the 70's. Husband was stationed there for the Navy. It is a huge military town. We enjoyed it a lot when we were in our 20's, no kids. Both of my boys were born there. We lived in several apt. complexes. One of them backed up to a grade school. That was when we decided we would not raise our children there. The beaches are great. Loved the zoo, and the weather, but just could not raise my kids there. It is a great place to visit, but we wanted our kids to be raised in a slower paced city.