Author Topic: Seeking San Diego advice  (Read 4659 times)

yuka

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Seeking San Diego advice
« on: January 10, 2018, 12:55:34 PM »
My wife and I  (and our dog, a black lab) are going to be moving to San Diego in a few months, and I realized I hadn't yet asked the MMM community for advice! How silly of me.

We're trying to figure out where to live, and we'd also love any recommendations for where my wife should work. She's finishing up physician assistant school in March, and she's most excited by working in an ER, though she's pretty flexible.

With that in mind, my job will be on point Loma, and hers will be wherever we find it. I would really love to pare down to a single car, and since my wife would potentially be working odd hours and thus not be comfortable walking/biking home, she'll probably be the one stuck driving while I get to walk/bike to work. With that in mind, we've been looking for a place on point Loma (anywhere there should be a reasonable bike ride for me) that would be reasonably close to somewhere where we could take the dog to run/play/swim.

Budget is flexible. I'd probably go as high as $3300 if the house were really really exciting, but I'd be more comfortable staying below $2800. If there's a strong value proposition for living elsewhere, I could be tricked into keeping both cars. Also, we're hoping for a decent kitchen, because my biggest hobby is cooking/baking. (As a sidenote, I've seen almost exclusively gas-burning stoves on Point Loma, and a lot of electric stoves elsewhere. Am I just seeing anomalies, or do certain areas not use gas?)

I'd appreciate any advice about good neighborhoods, neighborhoods to avoid, tips for finding places, or anything else you can give me. And, of course, any tips on good medical workplaces in the area for my wife.

nemesis

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Re: Seeking San Diego advice
« Reply #1 on: January 10, 2018, 01:21:42 PM »
I recommend on posting on City-Data.com in the San Diego sub-forum. You should get a lot of good local help.

I love San Diego but it's far too expensive to live, and the weather can get gloomy and depressing at times. Enjoy your time there!

yuka

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Re: Seeking San Diego advice
« Reply #2 on: January 10, 2018, 01:24:05 PM »
I recommend on posting on City-Data.com in the San Diego sub-forum. You should get a lot of good local help.

I love San Diego but it's far too expensive to live, and the weather can get gloomy and depressing at times. Enjoy your time there!

Thanks, I'll check that out!

GnomeErcy

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Re: Seeking San Diego advice
« Reply #3 on: January 10, 2018, 01:46:32 PM »
the weather can get gloomy and depressing at times.

Clearly you've never lived through a Midwest Winter. :) Coming from the Midwest, San Diego weather is a dream year-round. It's all about perspective I guess.
« Last Edit: January 10, 2018, 01:48:34 PM by GnomeErcy »

nemesis

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Re: Seeking San Diego advice
« Reply #4 on: January 10, 2018, 01:55:08 PM »
the weather can get gloomy and depressing at times.

Clearly you've never lived through a Midwest Winter. :) Coming from the Midwest, San Diego weather is a dream year-round. It's all about perspective I guess.
Just came back from a few weeks in Chicago.  Boy it was cold at -6 degrees, but it made me appreciate San Diego weather. :)

I still stand though that San Diego weather is more hype than reality.    I do enjoy the changing weather of Chicago.

GnomeErcy

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Re: Seeking San Diego advice
« Reply #5 on: January 10, 2018, 01:56:45 PM »
the weather can get gloomy and depressing at times.

Clearly you've never lived through a Midwest Winter. :) Coming from the Midwest, San Diego weather is a dream year-round. It's all about perspective I guess.
Just came back from a few weeks in Chicago.  Boy it was cold at -6 degrees, but it made me appreciate San Diego weather. :)

Yeah the winters can be brutal up here for sure. San Diego you'll get June Gloom but honestly it's a nice change of pace compared to the always sunny weather, if you're used to (and like) the season changes.

soccerluvof4

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Re: Seeking San Diego advice
« Reply #6 on: January 10, 2018, 02:04:46 PM »
the weather can get gloomy and depressing at times.

Clearly you've never lived through a Midwest Winter. :) Coming from the Midwest, San Diego weather is a dream year-round. It's all about perspective I guess.
Just came back from a few weeks in Chicago.  Boy it was cold at -6 degrees, but it made me appreciate San Diego weather. :)

Yeah the winters can be brutal up here for sure. San Diego you'll get June Gloom but honestly it's a nice change of pace compared to the always sunny weather, if you're used to (and like) the season changes.


I'm in the Artic Midwest as well and I lived in Coronado for a year. I dont remember the weather EVER being not nice. What is June Glume? I must be getting old!

Sayonara925

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Re: Seeking San Diego advice
« Reply #7 on: January 10, 2018, 02:09:19 PM »
OP...have you scoped out Mission Valley that is adjacent and just east of Point Loma.  Within biking distance to some parts of PL.  The green trolley line runs through the valley and would come in handy for a one car situation.

June gloom is the marine layer that tends to sit over the city mainly around June/July.

GnomeErcy

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Re: Seeking San Diego advice
« Reply #8 on: January 10, 2018, 02:09:48 PM »
the weather can get gloomy and depressing at times.

Clearly you've never lived through a Midwest Winter. :) Coming from the Midwest, San Diego weather is a dream year-round. It's all about perspective I guess.
Just came back from a few weeks in Chicago.  Boy it was cold at -6 degrees, but it made me appreciate San Diego weather. :)

Yeah the winters can be brutal up here for sure. San Diego you'll get June Gloom but honestly it's a nice change of pace compared to the always sunny weather, if you're used to (and like) the season changes.


I'm in the Artic Midwest as well and I lived in Coronado for a year. I dont remember the weather EVER being not nice. What is June Glume? I must be getting old!

I lived in LA for a few years and we had June Gloom either early or late every year :) Never in June. Basically a couple days of overcast & marine layer, and that's about it. That happens (well, not the marine layer) like every week in the Midwest.

From what I can find, the average number of sunny or partly sunny days in San Diego is ~263 compared to 189 in Chicago. That's a full 2 months and then some of extra sunshine.

yuka

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Re: Seeking San Diego advice
« Reply #9 on: January 10, 2018, 04:23:40 PM »
OP...have you scoped out Mission Valley that is adjacent and just east of Point Loma.  Within biking distance to some parts of PL.  The green trolley line runs through the valley and would come in handy for a one car situation.

June gloom is the marine layer that tends to sit over the city mainly around June/July.

No, I hadn't actually looked there yet. What makes you recommend it?

Looking at Google maps, I'm trying not to instinctively hate it over all the perfectly good green space being wasted on golf.

Scortius

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Re: Seeking San Diego advice
« Reply #10 on: January 10, 2018, 05:22:48 PM »
I lived in Mission Hills (overlooking Mission Bay, near Clairemont Dr, north of the 8) for a couple of years a while ago. It's a decent place to live and somewhat centrally located (north of the city, south of the UTC area). Even back then it was pretty expensive though. It's not too far from the Point Loma area, but honestly I would really recommend you try and find a mediocre place pretty close to work rather than a nice place somewhat close to work.  San Diego has HORRIBLE traffic and parking. In the spirit of Mustachianism you are going to have a much better quality of life if you can minimize your commute and overall driving. If you can find anything affordable south of Ocean Beach (OB) such that you can avoid the 8, Nimitz Blvd, and North Harbor Dr, you will save yourself a ton of time.  It's quite touristy and pretty expensive in there, but it's probably worth it if you're working in Point Loma.

I know you wanted to stay lower, but something like this may be a great option:

https://www.zillow.com/homes/for_rent/San-Diego-CA/house,apartment_duplex,mobile_type/2091623840_zpid/54296_rid/1.5-_baths/1500-2700_size/32.745811,-117.170348,32.682188,-117.26459_rect/13_zm/

or cheaper but smaller:

https://www.zillow.com/homes/for_rent/San-Diego-CA/house,apartment_duplex,mobile_type/2092036101_zpid/54296_rid/2-_beds/0-850635_price/0-3200_mp/32.743158,-117.214186,32.711351,-117.261307_rect/14_zm/

San Diego is beautiful and I never had any problems with the weather. You get early morning ocean fog that burns off everyday by noon.  Temps in the 70s year round.  If it rains for an hour, expect your driving time to triple as there will always be at least one rollover on the freeway though.

In summary, my best advice is to pay a bit more to drive less.

FireHiker

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Re: Seeking San Diego advice
« Reply #11 on: January 10, 2018, 05:40:32 PM »
Another vote for living as close to work as possible and paying more/driving less if at all possible. Scortius is 100% correct about the impact of (rare) rain on traffic here. I am up in inland north county and live 2 miles from work. I have a co-worker who lives in Point Loma (because his rent is super, super cheap) and OMG the commuting woe that I hear about from him! Going east just a bit towards Mission Valley might split the difference depending on where your wife finds employment (Kaiser Zion and Sharp Mary Birch are on the other side of Mission Valley more or less, and there are medical facilities with emergency I believe in Hillcrest). But, I would probably stick with as close to your work as possible. Trulia has a ton of listings in Point Loma. Rentals are super hard to come by up in my area, so I was surprised to see so many down there.

Good luck!

ixtap

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Re: Seeking San Diego advice
« Reply #12 on: January 10, 2018, 05:48:33 PM »
There only two roads out of Point Loma. Couple that with the university and the Navy base and traffic can be horrrrrrrid.

nancy33

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Re: Seeking San Diego advice
« Reply #13 on: January 10, 2018, 05:51:52 PM »
My son had surgery at Scripps Green hospital in LaJolla and that place is amazing. Staff seemed quite happy.

Pylortes

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Re: Seeking San Diego advice
« Reply #14 on: January 10, 2018, 06:27:04 PM »
There only two roads out of Point Loma. Couple that with the university and the Navy base and traffic can be horrrrrrrid.

Yes, this is what I hear.  I have family right near Point Loma and one who lived in Point Loma for many years until just recently and he complains about the traffic making it dang near impossible to deal with if you want to come or go from the area around rush hour. I think this favors you renting in Point Loma to avoid the traffic.  Of course your wife may have to fight the traffic if she gets a job in another part of town.

As for the June gloom, yes it is real and it probably has a bigger impact in Point Loma than other areas of San Diego seeing as how you are surrounded by water on three sides. The top of Point Loma is like 400 feet above sea level.  Why do you think they had to stop using the old lighthouse at the top and build a new one down by the water? It was always fogged in during certain times of the year.  Still it’s a nice place to live and if I were to move back to San Diego, Point Loma would be on my list of neighborhoods to consider.

Villanelle

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Re: Seeking San Diego advice
« Reply #15 on: January 10, 2018, 06:48:10 PM »
PL is expensive, even by San Diego's crazy standards.  And if your wife works outside that area, she's still going to be dealing with the awful traffic, so it seems to me you'd be better off living somewhere cheaper.  yes, it would all but require having two cars, but in the long run I suspect it would be cheaper.  Consider Tierrasanta.  It's very suburbia, but it's a bit older so it tends to be fairly cheap (relatively!) for something still fairly close to the action.  We left there in 2010 and I'm sure traffic has gotten worse, but we generally found that traffic backed up just north of us in the morning and evening, so we rarely had to sit in it.  (Husband drove to North Island.) 

This would be an easier question to answer if you knew where your wife would be working, but the odds are against it being in PL since most of the large medical compounds are elsewhere (La Mesa, La Jolla, Hillcrest), so someone is going to sit in traffic, most likely.  That seems to be a neutral issue then, in which case it makes sense to head somewhere cheaper. 

(One caveat is that the further east you go, the cheaper things get.  But it is also a lot hotter so in addition to more commute expense, you are going to have larger electric bills in the summer.  Many houses at the beach don't even have a/c, though the last few years have had more heat advisory days with school canceled, making it somewhat uncomfortable for short periods.  But further east, even just Mission Valley but especially La Mesa, El Cajon, etc., it can frequently be in the 90s. 

MerryMcQ

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Re: Seeking San Diego advice
« Reply #16 on: January 10, 2018, 09:41:15 PM »
For your wife, I would encourage her to consider the Sharp network of hospitals/clinics. They’re quite excellent and have a strong employee culture. I would avoid Kaiser... they have pretty high turnover for their medical providers, even though they offer good wages and great benefits. They tend to burn thru their staff.

Stachless

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Re: Seeking San Diego advice
« Reply #17 on: January 10, 2018, 09:54:19 PM »
I advise you that you'll be surprised the impact all this nice weather and sunshine will have on the quality of your every day life.  I moved here from Chicago 20 years ago and still can't believe how nice it is. Now that our annual rainfall has passed it will 80' again this weekend.   YOU'RE GONNA LOVE IT ! ! !

eaknet

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Re: Seeking San Diego advice
« Reply #18 on: January 11, 2018, 02:52:46 AM »
San Diego is awesome. I love that place. I lived just north of LA for ten years with awesome weather, and I still loved going to SD. Plus the culture is great. If I ever move back to SoCal, SD will be high on my list of places to consider.


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dude

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Re: Seeking San Diego advice
« Reply #19 on: January 11, 2018, 08:40:06 AM »
One of my favorite places on earth.  Lived in OB back in the day. Perfect weather, chill, crazy (in a good way) people, and just endless things to do (surf, bike, hike, swim, climb, ski -- the mountains are not far away). Miss that town a lot. Perfect place to commute by bike if you live within biking distance.

Sayonara925

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Re: Seeking San Diego advice
« Reply #20 on: January 11, 2018, 10:03:10 AM »
OP...have you scoped out Mission Valley that is adjacent and just east of Point Loma.  Within biking distance to some parts of PL.  The green trolley line runs through the valley and would come in handy for a one car situation.

June gloom is the marine layer that tends to sit over the city mainly around June/July.

No, I hadn't actually looked there yet. What makes you recommend it?

Looking at Google maps, I'm trying not to instinctively hate it over all the perfectly good green space being wasted on golf.

Yeah there is that one really old grandfathered in golf course at Hotel Circle.

Mission Valley, Mission Hills, or the area just north/adjacent Mission Valley near the USD campus are all nice and close proximity to PLoma.  Bay Park is a bit further north, also nice.  You would be a very short distance to amazing Mission Bay open space.  Mission Hills is near many hospitals and doctors offices (Scripps, UCSD medical center, etc).

There's also Liberty Station right there in PLoma, but be careful with the traffic congestion... there are only a few routes in/out of PL since it's basically a peninsula and the beaches/harbor draw in a lot of visitors in addition to residents. 

If trying to do this with one car, I'd study bus/trolley routes to/from work/home and see if I could make that more feasible.  Public transport is not great (getting better), but there's probably somewhere this would work out pretty good.  Just a thought.

yuka

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Re: Seeking San Diego advice
« Reply #21 on: January 15, 2018, 06:13:15 AM »
Thanks everyone for the advice so far! It does seem quite possible that we'll end up off point Loma if we know where my wife will be working. Before we know where she'll be though, my inclination is to shoot for somewhere near the north of PL, where we'd be close to highway entrances but where I could still bike without trying to get around highways.