San Diego is not a good place to live anymore (Riverside: rent, crime)

[loveautumn]

well, honesty, if you ask a thousand people in SD where they would prefer to live (in SD), Chula Vista probably wouldn't get mentioned. I work with a lady who has lived in CV for 25 years and her beautiful street is going downhill, if you get what I mean. So she and her husband are moving to North County this summer.

I mean, it sounds good on paper, but it's really not that great a place to live compared to so many other areas in SD County.

[PunkGuy]

Originally Posted by loveautumn

I've lived in Sd for about 31 years and of course it's changed a great deal, as well as my interests, etc. have changed. What appealed to me about SD 31 years ago, doesn't matter that much any more (i.e. nightlife, beaches, etc.).

I know alot of people my age, as they retire, will leave SD because we can't afford to live here based on an average retirement income. fFor example, if you pay $1400 for an apt, and move to a city where you can pay say $1000, that's $400 more a month to pay other bills, etc. which for a retiree is alot of money. And state taxes/fees are getting out of control.

Honestly, I think SD (and California) has seen it's best days, and I base that on alot of factors that I won't go into here. But it's still a relatively new city/county, so it doesn't have alot of the blight of many other places, but that will come because the $$$ to keep up appearances here is not available any more. Downtown for example is deteriorating rapidly in alot of sections.

It's a very diverse place in this way...most cities, say for example Pittsburgh, most people are in the same socio-economic range, of course with some exceptions, but I'm speaking of the majority. Here you have the very very rich, the doing very well crowd, and then people who are barely making it.

I mean, I have travelled thru the US and there are good and bad in every place...so much depends on one's personality, age, income, what stage they are in life.

This is a great post!

I have always loved San Diego ever since I was going to school up at CSUN and one of my first friends there (from SD) would have us down to his parents' pad (Rancho Bernardo).
This was back in 1987 at age 18...after graduating I moved briefly to SD and lived there until 93.
Rented a dump apartment on El Cajon Blvd, but all the tenants were college kids (Buck O' Nine Singer too!) and it was a blast!

Came back in '98 and stayed until 2002 (up in Laguna Beach at the end) and left once again due to job layoff...

Now, married, and looking to have kids, I need to think more of raising a family and being able to afford it (unlike Octo Mom!) so we moved to CO.
When it's not snowing the weather is alot like SD...sunny with no humidity (I've lived in MD and GA/TN so I know humidity!)

It's just a matter of where you are in life (like loveautumn said)...if you are young and single, San Diego is great.
If you're very wealthy, it's great.
If you don't care about living in a 900 sq ft house, it's great.

Now if I could just win the lottery!

[washington2009]

Hi there,

Could you please let us know the situation now in 2 years after your posting? The rent? The house pricing? Any updated pros and cons? Thanks!

Originally Posted by SiddharthaGautama

I moved to SD about 4 months ago from the midwest. From an outsiders perspective this is my take on SD.

Pros:

1. Great weather
2. Good amount of outdoor activities

Cons:

1. Job market
2. Overcrowded
3. Terrible roads
4. Everything is over priced


The one thing I can't get over is housing and rental prices. I live in a small 3 bedroom house that goes for $500,000. In most places in the midwest this same house would cost you about $65,000.

[jkoz]

Originally Posted by SiddharthaGautama

IThe one thing I can't get over is housing and rental prices. I live in a small 3 bedroom house that goes for $500,000. In most places in the midwest this same house would cost you about $65,000.

I always call this the "litany" - hearing this "litany' here is as common as fish tacos.

You know when you come that you're not going to get a home for the same money that you do in the midwest--generally, that's common knowledge for most before making the move, yet I'm always shocked at the number of people who recite this "litany" as if it's some great revelation that they've been the very first to discover.

Yes you can get a bigger home cheaper in the MIDWEST, but it's the MIDWEST, it ain't CALIFORNIA. Either California/San Diego is worth sacrificing the deluxe size laundry room and kitchen, or it's not. Everyone has to decide that for themselves.

[MantaRay]

Originally Posted by loveautumn

well, honesty, if you ask a thousand people in SD where they would prefer to live (in SD), Chula Vista probably wouldn't get mentioned. I work with a lady who has lived in CV for 25 years and her beautiful street is going downhill, if you get what I mean. So she and her husband are moving to North County this summer.

I mean, it sounds good on paper, but it's really not that great a place to live compared to so many other areas in SD County.

Are you saying that CV crime is getting a lot worse? Are people not taking care of their home? The portion of CV I've been scoping out is the Otay Ranch/Eastlake eastern part of CV. Are all those new homes and beautiful new parks really deteriorating and becoming crime-ridden? Or does she live closer to downtown CV? This sort of information is really important for me.

I can't find anywhere else in metro SD that has the number of new homes with parks intersperced and outdoor shopping/town center AND extensive bike trails. Is there somewhere else in the metro that I've missed that has all that? There's no way I could afford to live in a condo near Westfield Horton Plaza and the Bay downtown or in the (Balboa) Park West area where I could walk to Horton or bike along the Bay. I'm assuming prices there are much higher than eastern CV.

Where are the town centers in North County? Carmel Mountain Ranch Town Center? No bike trails around the homes in that area that I can tell. Maybe a condo in University City where I could walk to University Town Center. But if I hopped on my bike in that area, would I get creamed by traffic? If I could even get a 2 or 3 BR condo between $350k and $550k. I don't know. I do know that wherever I move in the US, I'm not sacrificing quality of life. I'm going to have to have some kind of town center within a 2 mile or so walk and ample bike trails which I can easily access from where I live without getting in a car. If somebody has other recommendations in metro SD, I'm all ears.

[JakeInSoCal]

I love San Diego & would never move unless it was to somewhere else in CA. But if I was very rich have houses in other places.

[cvlp]

Originally Posted by MantaRay

Are you saying that CV crime is getting a lot worse? Are people not taking care of their home? The portion of CV I've been scoping out is the Otay Ranch/Eastlake eastern part of CV. Are all those new homes and beautiful new parks really deteriorating and becoming crime-ridden? Or does she live closer to downtown CV? This sort of information is really important for me.

Where are you moving from? Do you speak Spanish?
The majority of Chula Vista is Hispanic and Spanish speaking. I have lost three jobs in the past year or so due to the economy and because I am not bilingual I cannot get a job anywhere near my house. So I must travel a bit....and I still don't have a job.
Point? I don't know - most of this area, I live near Hilltop and it is decent but not as nice as Otay Ranch/Eastlake but it is going downhill rapidly. I don't know why to be honest.
Just give Otay Ranch/Eastlake a few more years and I am sure they won't be as nice as they are now.
OH and I am pretty sure Chula Vista is raising taxes another 1% - is that right or does anyone know?

I am not that far from retirement, maybe 10 more years give or take and Chula Vista and San Diego are not areas I would consider unless I won the lottery and could live in one of the nice beach areas north of here.

just my thoughts.

[MantaRay]

Originally Posted by cvlp

Where are you moving from? Do you speak Spanish?
The majority of Chula Vista is Hispanic and Spanish speaking. I have lost three jobs in the past year or so due to the economy and because I am not bilingual I cannot get a job anywhere near my house. So I must travel a bit....and I still don't have a job.
Point? I don't know - most of this area, I live near Hilltop and it is decent but not as nice as Otay Ranch/Eastlake but it is going downhill rapidly. I don't know why to be honest.
Just give Otay Ranch/Eastlake a few more years and I am sure they won't be as nice as they are now.

Moving from the southeastern US. I've lived in Florida, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, and Tennessee. I do not speak Spanish now, but once I retire (which is a ways off anyway, a ways further with this economy) I'll have all the free time I need to learn Spanish, and actually I was planning to learn Spanish sometime anyway. I may use my kid taking Spanish in school as an excuse to start learning. Right now my top 3 on my retirement list are Chula Vista, Denver (Westminster, Stapleton, or Aurora), and Nashville (Germantown, the Vanderbilt area, or Mt. Juliet). I can live near a village/town center (close enough to walk) and also have ample bike trails and good year round weather to enjoy them in, and can drop a kayak in without worrying about gators. (St. Pete, FL would fit all my qualifications except the kayak + gators thing which admittedly is my own assumption about St. Pete without due diligence on the actual presence of gators there).

When you say "going downhill rapidly" are you referring to people not maintaining their homes and allowing them to fall into disrepair, the city not maintaining parks and other amenities, or increased property crime and violent crime? Or all of the above?

[cvlp]

Originally Posted by MantaRay

Moving from the southeastern US. I've lived in Florida, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, and Tennessee. I do not speak Spanish now, but once I retire (which is a ways off anyway, a ways further with this economy) I'll have all the free time I need to learn Spanish, and actually I was planning to learn Spanish sometime anyway. I may use my kid taking Spanish in school as an excuse to start learning.

When you say "going downhill rapidly" are you referring to people not maintaining their homes and allowing them to fall into disrepair, the city not maintaining parks and other amenities, or increased property crime and violent crime? Or all of the above?

I would say all of the above.
I grew up in FL and I can tell you the lack of humidity and roaches the size of Texas are incentives for moving here.

[DjRey]

Originally Posted by sav858

was this post actually serious?

Heavily partisan politics, one thing I definitely DO NOT miss about the Bay Area .

Bro, I agree. I cant wait to get away, I need a new scenery for real..