I really appreciate any info anyone can give me here..... I have been all over Cali but never to SD. My wife and I have to move to San Diego area for a job related move (my wife's) and we want to rent an apartment. She will be working mainly in the Solana Beach/Del Mar area. I have been online looking at Craigslist, forrent.com and alike. All I can find everyone saying about living anywhere in SD county, whether north or south is that "you will get mugged, you will have your car keyed or broken into, and your house/apt will be burglarized" and "it's not a matter of if it will happen but when" Is it really that bad. According to all the reviews of apartment complexes I see online everyone posts that they had their cars vandalized or stolen, and that all apartments are filled with ants, roaches, and mice. I am lost and don't know what to do. Is there an area that is "safer" than others, or areas to avoid? Is it better to rent in North County? or is it "ok" to rent close to PB, La Jolla, UTC area and be able to walk to stores/shopping/cafes??? Is is just me or is all of San Diego just crime infested? I have a friend that lives out near Poway and she loves it. Just seems that Poway is too far from everything and I also read online that "the center of Poway has just as much crime as the worst areas of SD county" Any info is greatly appreciated here as I am stumped as to where to get the correct info.... Can anyone guide me in the right direction???? BIG THANKS!!
I don't know what to tell you about the rest of San Diego, but for the most part it's pretty clean and nice. I just made the move out here from New York about 4 months ago so I only have a limited amount of exposure to here. San Diego is nice, your description makes it sound like East LA. I live in Pacific Beach which is about 20 minutes south of Del Mar. You should check out La Jolla, it's just south of Del Mar and it's a really nice area. It might be a little expensive but I never really looked around there. Not sure if I was any help but good luck with your move. When you get here and experience the nice weather and scenery, you will thank your self for it.
Solana Beach and Cardiff by the Sea are some of the most beautiful places ever. SD has no more crime than LA or SF. I used to live in OC and visted SD a fair amount of times, never a problem. The gas lamp district is a blast. Use your common sense. If it looks bad then don't walk there at night with your wife. I accidentally walked thru a bad looking part of downtown by the jail in SD with my wife, while visting, and the only problem I had was harrassment by bums. I told the guy to take off before there was a problem and he did. Without sounding racist, you may have a bit more crime due to illegals because of the border, but not that much. Get a club if you are worried about your car or a starter kill system. Have fun it's a nice place and the ppl are nicer than OC and LA. Check the demographics on bestplaces.net.
ive lived here 21 years and some joker tried to break into my car once, but i dont usually even lock it. traffic is a real problem - Poway is out of the question, unless you work along I-15, which you wont be! plus its 10 degrees hotter (at least) in the summer compared to the coast - maybe your friend likes horses? the I-5/I-805 merge is a real bottle neck, so if you are gonna work in S.B. or D.M., why live in La Jolla, which is well south of the traffic crunch? even the coast route is a bitch, but it has a nice view while you're parked in traffic. in the '80's i rented a house on the bluff in leucadia (100 LF of bluff frontage) for $650/month - and drove to del mar to office in like 10-15 min. those days are long gone. i had an office in D.M. in the '80's - fair and racetrack traffic suck, but you work around it for liek 8-10 weeks. Carmel Valley has some nice apt projects' its east of I-5, but if you are gonna live in that area and can afford it, i'd suck it up and get close to the ocean. my secy is selling her TH w/in 1 mile of the beach & across from the racetrack; they are 2br/2bth + loft (3rd BR or Den) and i think she said they rent for $2,250/month - they are priced at over $600,000, so renting aint all bad?. inland north county homes, Vista, S.M., escondido in the 1,500 sf to 1,700 sf range could be expected to rent for $1/sf/month; but thats ballpark number.
thanks for the help all I am originally from NY and moved away because I couldn't take the crime factor any longer. The last thing I would want to do is move back to an area that was just as bad. Thanks again
I live in rancho penasquitos -- in north county square between Poway and Del Mar, and find it a nice safe place to live. Used to have a condo in Carmel Valley as well. Its really not that far from downtown - just take the 15 to 163 south and you're there in 20 minutes. Not as hot as Poway, Escondido, etc. There is no crime problem (at least violent crime) to worry about - but petty car related crime is pretty common ... people like to do annoying things like steal wheels. Happened twice on a Honda Civic of mine - and I've only lived here 4 years. If you don't drive a honda civic, I think you'll be fine. Southern california is built on an anthill - so you'll have to get used to the ants. Not a big deal, and nothing some chemicals can't take care of. You quickly learn not to leave food out.
Thanks for the great info I am just online trying to find a decent rental community to live in right now and it seems they are all over priced for what you get relative to a private owner rental. Know of any decent rental communities or should I stay private? thx
whats your price range? I am pretty knowledgeable on real estate, rentals, etc. here.. (hah. you can't live in SD for long and not be)
Well, we first wanted to get a 6 month lease for as cheap as possible so we can decide on an area we like better. Then upgrade after we move again once we have found the area we want to live. We are currently looking for a 2bd/2bth under 1800 for the first 6 months. Thanks again to everyone for the great info!!
check out the groves in carmel valley -- relatively cheap, nice aesthetic, great location .. you can rent a decent 2-3 bed for 1500-2000/mo. go to craigslist and do it there. you'll find something. http://sandiego.craigslist.org/cgi-...eviation=hhh&minAsk=min&maxAsk=max&bedrooms=2