If you could pick anywhere to live between Los Angeles and San Diego, where would it be? We are looking for the Southern California wonderful weather (living in NYC now & so over the cold, depressing winters). Neither one of us is in the entertainment industry.. We will have to rent (or buy a condo, cannot afford a home) & hate a long, congested commute. We don't mind living in the burbs, but want it to be a well established community with plenty of restaurants and parks to explore, great jogging paths would be a fabulous bonus. We are weekend warriors and can't wait to take weekend trips, to the mountains, vineyards, the desert, etc. We are in our "early 30's" and no children yet. We've been exploring online for awhile now & don't feel any closer as to where to narrow down our top 5, San Clemente looks pretty, any dish on this area?
2007-01-15 12:22:38 · 11 answers · asked by PuglovaNYC 1 in Travel ➔ United States ➔ San Diego
San Clemente is boring, and from anywhere north of San Clemente you're going to have a terrible commute. I would stay as close to San Diego as possible and I would also look for something around North Park or Hillcrest or Little Italy. East Village, maybe even. Our downtown has a condo boom and lots of jobs down there as well and the tolley lines are being expanded, so there is more public transportation available now as well from downtown. Lots of restaurants in the Gaslamp Quarter, as well as Petco Park. Look for a conda South of I-8 and north of Coronado Bridge. The Balboa Park area is a gerat place for joggers.
2007-01-16 07:29:32 · answer #1 · answered by MEW 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Between LA and San Diego you have pretty much 1 choice, Orange County. San Clemente is great but it does have some disadvantages. It does not have a lot of paths but they do have beaches. The only direction you can really go for anything to do is North. Directly South is Camp Pendelton which is about 20 miles of Marine Base until you hit Oceanside in San Diego County. Since this is a very nice beach area you will be paying a premium for housing because of this.
There is also Mission Viejo or Irvine, both of these places are well established with a lot of things to do. They are more inland and about 10-20 miles north of San Clemente.
Others you can look at is Aliso Viejo, San Juan Capistrano, Laguna Niguel/Dana Point.
As for the Commute it really depends on where you are going as to how bad it will be, but in general South Orange County is better than LA or San Diego.
2007-01-15 13:54:19 · answer #2 · answered by OC1999 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Dana Point is in between Laguna Niguel and San Clemente. It offers a campground right on the beach (have to book well in advance) rental prices there are about the same as San Clemente and San Juan Capistrano. If you don't like train noise, DP, SC and SJC have a track running through the middle of and you would want to stay away from rentals that are close to it.
Lots of parks and trails in Laguna Niguel. More shopping in Mission Viejo along with a junior college. All of these cities can be accessed via the 5 freeway and are just minutes from each other. There is a commuter train that runs to LA and San Diego, a popular choice with gas hovering around $2.60 a gallon.
For vineyards, Temecula is the closest choice (north of SD on the 15 freeway about 60-80 minutes)
2007-01-15 20:12:14 · answer #3 · answered by SoCalMom 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
San Diego
2016-03-28 23:25:26 · answer #4 · answered by Beverly 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
San Clemente is an absolutely gorgeous Beach Community.
One of the most expensive areas in So. Cal.
Have you tried going onto best places.net to get a good feel for each of the cities? I personally would stay out of Oceanside. We rented a house there while my husband was stationed right next door at Camp Pendelton. Looked great in the daytime, 2 days after we moved in there was a gang stabbing on my driveway.
San Clemente and Oceanside are separated by the huge USMC base (Camp Pendelton)
The downsides to this area for me are... air pollution, traffic congestion, crime rates and high cost of living.
The upsides: BEACHES, and great weather plus palm trees everywhere! Good luck...
2007-01-15 12:35:29 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Julian. In North San Diego County.
2007-01-15 12:27:32 · answer #6 · answered by chieromancer 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Orange County would be the best. I advice that you see for yourself personally between Irvine, Alisso Viejo, Laguna Niguel. These are quiet communities.
I had taken a ride by Greyhound and Amtrak from San Diego to LA and Irvine County.
2007-01-17 02:40:30 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Check out Orange County, its between SD and LA and is established. It has some pricey areas but I'm sure there are also more affordable areas in the burbs.
2007-01-16 03:00:19 · answer #8 · answered by miss m 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
North San Diego County; oceanside, carlsbad, del mar, et al.
2007-01-15 14:45:39 · answer #9 · answered by eclecticmoon 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Oceanside/Carlsbad/San Marco area!
2007-01-17 09:50:02 · answer #10 · answered by Dizney 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋