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Where is the cheapest area to live in the San Diego area?

I am looking to move to San Diego area, where is a good place to live?

  • I've lived in the Chicagoland area almost my whole life (western suburbs) and am looking for a change. I love Chicago but as I graduate from college I think it's time for me to move on. My boyfriend and I really want to move to California, specifically San Diego. Can anyone recommend any nice neighborhoods or areas to move to? I have never been to Cali so any information would help, especially from people who live there. Besides a little research and a couple friends that live there, I know nothing about the area. Here are things that are very important to me: 1) Good, SAFE neighborhood with lots of things to do. 2) Trendy, fun areas for 20-somethings. 3) As I mentioned, we are recent college grads, so price is definitely a factor. We do not have a ton of money but will be working. I've heard California is really expensive, esp. compared to Chicago suburbs, so this may be a problem. We want to rent, probably something in the price range of $1,000-$1,300 a month and we really want a 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom apartment. 4) Somewhere close to jobs, no more than a 45 min commute. 5) A diverse atmosphere. This is really important, we do not want to live in a neighborhood that is all one race or one type of people and very segregated. 6) Convenience. Somewhere that is not too far from your everyday needs/errands (grocery stores, post office, restaurants, shopping mall, Wal-mart, Walgreens, DVD rental, places to get a cocktail/buy alcohol, bank, fitness center, etc.). 7) An esthetically beautiful area. I mean, this is one of the main reasons we are moving, California is so beautiful so who wouldn't want to enjoy it? Maybe, not too far from the ocean. 8) Somewhere in close proximity or driving distance to a good university. We both want to go back to school for advanced degrees, my Masters and his PhD or dual Masters. My expectations may be a little high, but I am just wondering if there is anywhere remotely close to this that would be a good match. We will be living on salaries of about $30,000-40,000 and $45,000-55,000. Is there anywhere that we could comfortably survive? We have no kids, but I have A LOT of student loan debt. Any suggestions and recommendations would be great! Thanks in advance!

  • Answer:

    Here is a quick summary of some of the areas in the city of San Diego. La Jolla and Scripps Ranch are upscale and wealthy. The nice middle class areas of town are Pacific Beach, Tierrasanta, Clairemont, University City, and Mira Mesa. Pacific Beach is a mixture of apartments with college students and young professionals, and single family homes. If you can afford it, it's one of the best places to live in the city. University City is near La Jolla and UCSD and is mostly upscale professionals. Clairemont is middle class single family homes and has a lot of military families living there. Mira Mesa has a large Asian population. Hillcrest is the center of the gay community. Mission Valley is young professionals and almost all condos and apartments. Ocean Beach is a lot of druggies, hippies, and beach bums. Mission Beach is the seasonal rental party animal types. Point Loma is a lot of retired military. The College Area is near San Diego State on the eastern edge of the city. Linda Vista is lower middle class and ethnically mixed. I recommend Pacific Beach http://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/neighborhoods/pacific-beach/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_Beach,_San_Diego,_California

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You're asking for everything, and of course nobody else wants that too. Good luck with that. As a high priority, I'd figure out where you're working first, then adjust living around what's available. You could have a hard time finding 2 bedroom 2 bath in that price range, too. Once you know your work, you can try to avoid a commute. As far as 20 somethings, you're probably looking downtown or in the Golden Triangle area, or maybe North Park or around the beaches. But so is everyone else. And your expense is going to be up in all those areas too -- as is your commute to many jobs.

Yeti

You are pretty much asking for an area that doesn't exist in San Diego, TBH. I don't know of any areas in the county that even meet half of those criteria with a 2/2 for under $1300 a month. My suggestion is to visit San Diego and explore it before you commit to moving here. You say that California is so beautiful but you've never been here - there are some areas of SD that are not beautiful, just like every other city. It's a huge area and there is a lot of diversity. "Somewhere close to jobs" doesn't exist unless you know where you are going to work. You could end up with a job in Carlsbad and have an hour commute from somewhere else in the county. There are jobs everywhere. If you already have significant student loan debt and want to get advanced degrees, it might behoove you to consider an area with a lower cost of living. It's very expensive here and the colleges, even public, have tuitions to match. Sorry to rain on your parade, but I've seen so many people move here thinking it's paradise, and then have trouble making ends meet even in a good economy.

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