What are some good neighborhoods in San Diego to raise a family?

Question

I may be moving to the San Diego area with my family this summer. I have two small children (both under age five), and want to find a town or neighborhood that is safe, has good schools, and has plenty of age-appropriate activities and spaces to play in. Could someone recommend some towns or areas that might be suitable?

Here are some more details:

-I need to be within a reasonable commute of both La Jolla and downtown San Diego (say, a max of 45 minutes during rush hour).
-I am looking to purchase a 4+ bedroom, 2+ bath house at around the $600,000-$650,000 range (I'm assuming that nothing will be available at less than that in this area).
-The area should definitely have good schools, with plenty of extracurricular activities available, preferably through the county or municipality (such as ballet and swimming).
-I'd prefer to live in an area where college-educated white-collar professionals (lawyers/scientists/etc.) with families tend to live.

Thanks for any advice!

Answer 1

San Diego, CA 92110
MLS ID#: 061084990

OR
CLAIREMONT, CA 92117
MLS ID#: 066091800

OR
San Diego, CA 92111
MLS ID#: 066100227

That is it that is available that meets your criteria. And you will be moving into a 50s ranch that needs updating.
I am a San Diego native & mom with large family, my family many generations Southern CA ( brought the railroad to Los Angeles ;)
I reccomend renting, the San Diego real estate market is in a slump. Property is overvalued. If you wait two years to buy, you can get into a nicer home for cheaper then right now.
We have had property in Bay Park, MB, & Hemet area. If you rent you can live by UTC or UCSD, or USD all those areas are what you want if you have kids that age and you will find many people that are college educated white collar types. Be really careful to throughly check out the neighborhoods in SD.
Do not trust a realtor, stuff is sitting on the mls longer then usual right now& they will lie to you and give best showing times on homes to move them.
You can go two blocks from really nice homes and be in the barrio/ghetto or partycollege kids rentals.

Answer 2

Well, my family and I are moving to San Diego the first month of February. My dad talks to people are his job about areas because we are trying to be safe. We have a 5 year old and a 3 year old. Plus a 5 month old baby. Then my sister and brother who are 12 and 13. Well I'll tell you this, do not move to FallBrook and Oceanside, we wanted to move there but Fallbrook high school has a gang and Oceanside has gangs. Well other than that is ok. We are looking at San Marcos or Escondidos, Vista or Poway. We are also looking for a 4 bed 2 or 3 bath and the max of 2000. San Marcos Escondidos Vista Poway Santee some of those areas are very safe and nice, which we are looking at.
Hope this helped.

Sincerely,
Sydney

Answer 3

Hey Cathy! I was raise and grew up in Poway too! Yes, I definitely agree that Poway / Rancho Bernando area is a wondeful place for family living. Plus, Poway United School District is one of the best districts out here in California.

Poway has lots of recreational areas. Poway has a community center with an olympic size pool and there are plenty of swim teams there. Nearby the community center is a small skate park too. There's a sports park in the northern Poway Businesspark Area which there are lots of softball/baseball fields and other sports recreation there. There's another sports park which is a soccer park. Near Poway High School, there's Poway Lake which you can hike around the lake and go boating, have picnics and there's also baseball fields out there.

The price range in certain areas of Poway is very reasonable. My friend sold her 4 BR 2 BA house for 500k in Poway 2 years ago.

Also, you may want to look into Scripps Ranch and Carmel Valley. They are are generally in the North Inland part of San Diego. About 15-20 mins to downtown or La Jolla.

Answer 4

Either way, there's going to be rush hour traffic around 4-7pm. Sometimes there are days where traffic is light, and others can be a parking lot traffic. San Marcos has major traffic on Hwy 76 because there are people commuting SD to LA or Vice Versa. Plus there's CSU San Marcos which can stir up some traffic as well. From La Jolla to Poway area, getting out of Downtown La Jolla will be congested. The traffic to Poway is normally light but it thickens when it's more after 5pm. There are a lot of optional back roads to choose from to avoid traffic though. I go through a lot of back roads at ease, and trust me... I get panic attacks and anxiety in traffic so I avoid it in any way I can by taking other routes. :)

Answer 5

I grew up in a town called Poway. It is in North County, but inland. The schools are top-rated. The high schools especially have many extra-curriculars- athletics, chorus, drama, band. It is a clean city with nice people. There is a range- trailer parks to mansions. You should definitely be able to find a house in your price range.

There are buses (park & ride) that will take you downtown. You will have traffic during rush hour, otherwise Poway is about 20-30 minutes to downtown.

Rancho Bernardo and Rancho Penasquitos also are similar areas with schools in the Poway district. (They are technically considered city of San Diego)

Answer 6

The girls maybe right about Poway, except 4br 2ba homes are
typically $1,000,000 and it is more like an hour commute.
I was going to propose my very own San Carlos (92119) where
my daughters are raising their boys meeting all of your criteria.
However after much web searching you might want to consider
Scripp's Ranch (92131). See sources below:

Answer 7

Eastlake in Chula Vista & Otay Ranch....these neighborhoods are very quiet & they have neighborhood watch. It's not ghetto. They have very nice houses, all new. Good for children to grow up in. You will not regret it. San Diego is the best!!!!

Answer 8

I would say San Carlos, I think it's San Diego best kept secret it's safe, quiet and in your price range.

Answer 9

id say san marcos - great schools, and lots of fun stuff to do - mabye look in san elijo hills