What is the best and most affordable neighborhood in San Diego?

Question

My boyfriend and I are looking to move to San diego next fall when I graduate school. We are both 27. I will be going to grad school as well. We want an affordable area, near the beach, not a super young college crowd, but where the hospitality industry is still busy so that we can make money and go to school. I'm also a dog lover and have one dog, but will probably have two by next year. We love anything and everything outdoors! :) What neighborhoods would you recommend? School recommendations?

Answer 1

My husband and I currently live in San Marcos (North County), but we've lived in Mission Valley (South), Rancho Penasquitos (Central), and several cities in North County over the last 6 years.

South SD has UCSD (http://www.ucsd.edu/portal/site/ucsd) and SDSU (http://www.sdsu.edu/)

North SD has CSUSM (http://www.csusm.edu/) - we live literally 2 minutes from here actually.

All of them are great schools.

UCSD is closer to the beach, La Jolla, UTC, Torrey Pines are some cities around the area that are nice, but expensive.

SDSU is a further inland, about 20 minutes on the 8 Hwy.  The areas aren't as nice, but still pretty good.

If you don't mind a bit of a commute to school, Central has some nice places like Mira Mesa, Kearny Mesa, Clairemont, Carmel Mountain, etc. that are pretty close to the beach.

CSUSM is a bit inland, but about 10 minutes from the beach.  San Marcos is a great city that's pretty affordable.  Certain parts of Vista, Oceanside and Escondido are nice and affordable as well.

Unfortunately, San Diego is one (if not the most) expensive places to live in.  And the closer you get to the beach, the more expensive it is.  North County is less expensive to live in than South County.

The hospitality industry is busy everywhere no matter where you go in SD. There's a lot of people here and things are always happening where ever you go!

There's plenty of nature around as well, lots and lots of trails and hiking places and there is a Dog Beach in Del Mar.  There's lots lakes and lots of recreational places.

It's not called one of the best places to live for nothing!

Answer 2

I live in the Clairemont area of San Diego.  We are a five minute drive from the beach at La Jolla Shores (super clean family beach) and about a ten minute drive from downtown.  Clairemont is centrally located to just about everything.  Also, there are a lot of single family homes,a s well as apartments in the area.  Because it is away from the beaches, the housing rates are pretty affordable. San Diego is a military town, so that keeps prices fairly reasonable (for California, anyway).  Hope this helps!

Answer 3

You can have the best, or you can have affordable. But you can't have both together.

Affordable doesn't work with "near the beach" either. You best bet is to visit the MLS web site serving San Diego and see what's available.

Answer 4

the first answer is very true, San Diego is NOT know for being inexpensive, i think its like 6th most expensive, behind New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Honolulu, and Orange County.

It is a far safer city than New York and Los Angeles.

The second answerer is also right, Clairmont is nice.

You cant get to close to the beach without paying the price, furthermore, the closer you get to the beach the harder it is to get parking, and unlike New York, San Diego is the kind of place where you will at least one car.

You say you are looking for inexpensive? great...what does that mean to you? what can you afford a month in rent?