Where to live in SD as DINKs (San Diego, Carlsbad: renting, condos)

[T. Damon]

Originally Posted by sfosyd

As someone who has lived in Seattle, the homeless situation in SD is not nearly as bad. The weather is just amazingly better, it affects everything you do especially this time of year with the shorter days.

Prices are roughly the same as Seattle so don't think you will be saving money, unfortunately. You probably know this but the state income tax will be painful. For most income levels, up to about 500k annually, Oregon is actually worse so there is that ;-)

I agree with the recommendations of staying around Balboa Park. I'd also highly recommend University Heights, commute would be a bit better than South Park, it's quiet as well, has a great neighborhood park, close to North Park/Hillcrest, and has a really nice commercial district along park blvd. Recently bought a house here, and cannot say enough good things about it. Fantastic community. It's possible to find a SFH for under $1,000,000 but not easy. We just squeaked by but found an absolutely fantastic quiet canyon 3 bed 2 bath home that is walking distance to everything.

Congrats on finding a house in a great walkable neighborhood on a canyon! That is really the sweet spots of San Diego. University Heights was our target neighborhood when we lived just off the Georgia St. bridge for several years in a rental cottage. Specifically the island-like peninsula across the pedestrian bridge to Uptown as well as the “Northeast” state canyon finger streets and Golden Gate above Mission Valley to the north. It really is a great neighborhood. We used to wander those streets on evening walks and dream of having a home there. I’d say the only real downside is street parking is horrendous for a couple of blocks off Park Blvd. because of the built-up apartment blocks right there and if you get way down on the northeast state streets you are a bit of a walk to the village.

That being said I wouldn’t trade where we found our place on the park in South Park and the commute northward would be pretty much the same - we drop right down to the S-Curve and are on our way either up 163 or 5 in less than five minutes. The walk ability directly to downtown as it comes back alive and the bay, North Park and even Hillcrest in a half hour is convenient. University Heights and South Park are amongst the best core neighborhoods that the OP should definitely look into - charming and fun, more so than Mission Hills and Kensington but just enough removed from some of the gritty and homeless issues of Hillcrest and downtown to feel just right.

[NORTY FLATZ]

Originally Posted by mr_gondola

Thanks, all. These are super helpful suggestions!

Question:
(1) when I hear about "inland being hot", how far in are we talking about? Just east of the Park, or 45 min. drive due east on a highway? I was there in the summer a few years ago, and it was high 90s, so everywhere seemed "hot", and the pandas at the zoo weren't thrilled.

Generally speaking, figure the temperature rises about 1 to 1.5 degrees F, for every mile you go inland. (Until you get 18-20 miles inland.) This formula would only apply on a typical day, where the wind is "on shore."

"Santa ana" winds? All bets are off.

(It's also cooler/colder at night during Wintertime, as you move away from the beaches...)



Here's a place:

6541 Clara Lee Ave.
3bd1.5ba in 1123'.

$695K

[sfosyd]

Originally Posted by T. Damon

Congrats on finding a house in a great walkable neighborhood on a canyon! That is really the sweet spots of San Diego. University Heights was our target neighborhood when we lived just off the Georgia St. bridge for several years in a rental cottage. Specifically the island-like peninsula across the pedestrian bridge to Uptown as well as the “Northeast” state canyon finger streets and Golden Gate above Mission Valley to the north. It really is a great neighborhood. We used to wander those streets on evening walks and dream of having a home there. I’d say the only real downside is street parking is horrendous for a couple of blocks off Park Blvd. because of the built-up apartment blocks right there and if you get way down on the northeast state streets you are a bit of a walk to the village.

That being said I wouldn’t trade where we found our place on the park in South Park and the commute northward would be pretty much the same - we drop right down to the S-Curve and are on our way either up 163 or 5 in less than five minutes. The walk ability directly to downtown as it comes back alive and the bay, North Park and even Hillcrest in a half hour is convenient. University Heights and South Park are amongst the best core neighborhoods that the OP should definitely look into - charming and fun, more so than Mission Hills and Kensington but just enough removed from some of the gritty and homeless issues of Hillcrest and downtown to feel just right.

Thank you. We love it here. Not the “island” but just west of Maryland near Meade. Absolutely perfect but South Park is absolutely amazing as well. Nothing like the easy access to downtown, the park and basically everywhere. OP, highly recommend both of these areas and the description as Ballard-lite is spot on. You will love it here....

[mr_gondola]

Nice, so I'm hearing S. Park and N. Park - I'm assuming Cortez Hill is too close to downtown to be super peaceful. What the about the west side of Balboa Park (Cambridge Square, Hillcrest)? Is there a reason the East side of the park seems preferred? I guess I wouldn't want to be too near the airport - it's a shame it's just smack in the middle of the town.


Also, what is the talk about 'canyons'? Do these have cooler breezes, better views from terrain relief?

[mr_gondola]

Originally Posted by joosoon

Depends on what 'hot' is to you. Some people will act as if anything east of the 5 is the desert but that's their own personal comfort zone talking. San Diego overall doesn't have protracted heat waves so even in the farthest flung areas of the moderately populated county, you're not going to be suffering for months on end. For what it's worth, the areas it sounds like you're leaning towards aren't going to get the brunt of summer heat. Full disclosure, my tolerance for high temps is higher than normal. I don't like the other end of the spectrum.

Hot is definitely relative. In Houston, I was used to 90+ degree summers w/ 80%+ humidity, but I've been in northern climes so long I've gotten soft... But dry heat's much better than humid in my book.

[mr_gondola]

Originally Posted by sfosyd

You probably know this but the state income tax will be painful.

God, yes. One of the major things that makes me pause. It's been nice saving income in a zero tax state. But I was in NYC, so I do have experience with Fed+state+city. As long as I'm getting something for the money (museums/city in NYC; sun and (?) in SD), that's fine.

[mr_gondola]

Lots of posts in succession, but also - is crime much of an issue in SD? Seattle has rough property crime problems. The cottage type small homes in North Park would make me super nervous to live in if they were in parts of Seattle. Just right on the street.

[T. Damon]

Originally Posted by mr_gondola

Lots of posts in succession, but also - is crime much of an issue in SD? Seattle has rough property crime problems. The cottage type small homes in North Park would make me super nervous to live in if they were in parts of Seattle. Just right on the street.

https://www.sandiego.gov/sites/defau...ighborhood.pdf

San Diego is always one of if not the top safest large cities in the country. Mostly crimes of opportunity, car prowls and break ins, bike theft and some burglary. Much less than almost any other comparable city though. You can check through the neighborhood statistics above - some rates might look like outliers and surprising (tony La Jolla has much higher crime index than “scary” Barrio Logan (a great neighborhood btw, our “Brooklyn”)) but typically where there are more commercial areas there will be more crime, i.e. property crimes, bar fights etc. You’ve got to keep things locked up/out of sight in the city neighborhoods but there are few places I would feel like crime overwhelms any area in the city.

[tstieber]

Just seeing this thread, and it's right up my alley. So many good and diverse responses! I will echo the support of South Park, University Heights, and Kensington as the safest and cleanest of the walkable urban neighborhoods. These districts are smaller than Hillcrest or North Park, but they also have very few homeless (pretty much not a problem) and really cute older homes. Each has its own vibe, with SP being the most PNW feeling and Kensington having a heavily Spanish vibe.

The west side of Balboa Park has its own charm and more infrastructure (Hillcrest and Banker's Hill), and the park is much more integral to your lifestyle, and it's closer to downtown, Little Italy, the airport, etc., but with more urban grime and crime.

I would forget the coastal communities like La Jolla for your budget TBH.

As for the "heat" inland, I personally think it's way overblown. Now if you head like 40 minutes northeast to Ramona, then you're talking heat in summer (and cold in winter), but even the 15 corridor is not frequently excessively hot IMO. I live in a very hot section of Scripps Ranch just south of the Poway border, and except for heatwaves that affect the whole country, I don't generally find it too hot. In fact, it's less hot less often than where I grew up in the far inland suburbs of the SF Bay Area, and absolutely nobody up there ever complained about the heat. In SD, everyone expects constant 75f perfection, so any deviation is exaggerated.
It's a high class problem. For me, being away from the coastal marine layer, and having very dry air, make it very comfortable most of the year. I wouldn't shy away from areas like Kensington for that reason. There may be a few weeks out of the entire year that are very hot, otherwise you're looking at 'warm.'

Congrats on your new adventure! SD is an amazing place to live, and we love it here. Funny enough, some neighbors we know moved from here to Seattle last year, saying they were sick of the sun and wanted more rain and cold, and now suddenly they spend lots of time at their Palm Springs condo... :-)

Keep us posted on your progress, please!

Originally Posted by mr_gondola

Lots of posts in succession, but also - is crime much of an issue in SD? Seattle has rough property crime problems. The cottage type small homes in North Park would make me super nervous to live in if they were in parts of Seattle. Just right on the street.

[sfosyd]

Originally Posted by mr_gondola

Lots of posts in succession, but also - is crime much of an issue in SD? Seattle has rough property crime problems. The cottage type small homes in North Park would make me super nervous to live in if they were in parts of Seattle. Just right on the street.

The crime rate is much lower in San Diego. Seattle was really, really bad and I wasn’t even in Capitol Hill; I was in Greenwood. It was really night and day when I moved down here. Feels like Mayberry even in a core urban neighborhood.

Also, it seemed like there was a lot of gun violence comparatively. Makes sense since the gun laws are much laxer in Washington. It did feel like everyone was “packing” on the highways, which I guess made people somewhat more polite, and San Diego feels much more like the Northeast in terms of gun, and driving, culture.