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Terry Koyama (tkoyama@uhunix3.uhcc.Hawaii.Edu) wrote:
: Does anyone know of any URL's or internet sites where I can get information
: on apartments in San Deigo?  Can anyone give me suggestions on where's 
: good and not so good places to live in San Deigo?  Thanks in advance!

Well, I've lived in San Diego *all* my life (a whole 20 years), and can give
you an idea of what the local "perceptions" are.  I don't want to insult
anyone who lives in certain areas, but I'll just be candid.  Please remember
most of all that there are always exceptions, and things change while public
perception may change more slowly.  That said....

San Diego is didvinded up into four main areas:  North County, East County,
Downtown/San Diego-proper, and South Bay.  Each has its own reputation,
good/bad areas, and character.

I grew up in East County, so that's what I'm most familiar with.  East County
includes the cities of La Mesa (sometimes), El Cajon, Santee, Lakeside, and
Alpine, plus some places really in the middle of nowhere.  East county has a
reputation for being kinda' a "hick" place. Y'know, like cowboys and country
music... but I can tell you that definitely isn't true of *everyone*, just
most.  :)  La Mesa is closest to downtown, so less hick'ish.  El Cajon isn't
too bad.  Lakeside I think is the worst.  Santee is doing a *lot* of
inprovements now, and is shaping up nicely.  East county also includes the
unincorporated areas of the county - no sidewalks or stop lights, for example.
Mostly, El Cajon, et al, are known for more apartment complexes than anywhere
you'll ever see.  East county also includes Mt. Helix, which is really nice.

Do you have kids?  That will make a big difference in how you look at an area.
Let me know if you do.

South Bay includes cities like National City, Chula Vista, Bonita.  It's the
area of the county closest to the border.  It's got a less positive reputation
than most of the rest of the county.  There are some really nice areas
around/in Bonita, I'm told.  Mostly the reputation is for car sales ("The
National City Mile-of-Cars") and gangs.  Gangs are *just* starting to be news
in East County, while they've been high-profile in South Bay for a while.  The
ocean water is supposedly not as nice because pollution drifts up from
Tijuana, too.  Don't know if that's true.  Plus, there's a pretty negative
attitude towards Mexican immigrants on the part of a lot of people, and South
Bay tends to have more immigrants than most areas.  Just proximity, I guess.
There are some beautiful areas of So. Bay in the less-developed sections, I
think.

North County is the penultimate "master-planned-community".   If you like
everything the same peach/beige color, you'd love No. County.  It includes
areas like Poway, Rancho Penasquitos (needs a tilde), Carmel Mountain Ranch,
Miramar.  Miramar is home to "Top Gun", without Tom Cruise, alas.  That means
lots of planes flying overhead, but I don't think they do at night.  North
County is still "filling-in".  It's soooo new, sometimes I think it's too new,
if you know what I mean.  Oceanside is a well-kept secret of San Diego, I
think.  Nice beach community, if you don't mind being so far from the rest of
San Diego.

The rest of San Diego (most of it, actually) is divided up into neigborhoods,
each with its own *very* distinct character and reputation.  Some standouts
include Ocean Beach, Hillcrest, North Park, La Jolla, Torrey Pines, Centre
City (Downtown), East San Diego, and a bunch more I can't think of now.  All
of these are part of San Diego proper, not their own cities, like El Cajon or
Oceanside.
  Some profiles:  Ocean Beach is where the 60's long-boarders,
Greatful Dead fans, pot-smokers, surfers, bead-makers, and skateboarders all
hang-out in perfeect harmony.  Oh, and *don't* forget the environmentalists.
A friend of mine jokes about "The Republic of OB".  They are very
community-centric there, to the exclusion of the rest of the *world*.  :)
It's a wonderful place to live, if you're not too uptight - and don't mind
potholes.  Some of the best beaches there.  Also home to Dog Beach, where I
love to take my dogs to run around a while.  The sterotypical
Birkenstock-wearing, granola-eating California beach neighborhood.

  Hillcrest has done some major upgrading over the last five years.  Lots of
coffeeshops and hole-in-the-wall diners next to the hottest new bistro.  Neat
combination of old and new.  Brand new (last 2 years) commercial/medical/movie
theatre complex.  Hillcrest has a reputation for being the "gay" area of town,
but there's also lots of college students and old-timers.  It's a pretty
affluent area, but close enough to downtown that you don't really want to walk
alone at night.  Close to Balboa Park, too, which is nice.

  East San Diego is a lot like East LA or East Oakland.  Not such a nice place
in general, although there are some nice pockets here and there.  High-crime
area.

  La Jolla and Torrey Pines are right next to each other and right on the
coast.  Most expensive real estate in San Diego, I think.  Certainly has the
reputaion of a snobby, upscale Beverly Hills type area.  Torrey Pines also has
a lot of students, since that's where UCSD is.  Soledad Mtn is here, too.



Well, if you've gotten this far, I'm impressed or you really have nothing
better to do....  :)  Anyway, this is woefully incomplete, so I hope some
people who live in San Diego will correct my mistakes and fill in my blanks.
Of course, maybe I should just tell you to stay out - we have enough people
here already.  but, since my brother is in real estate, I really can't.  :)
If you have any specific questions about San Diego (especially East County or
San Diego-proper) feel free to e-mail me.

Hope this helps!

-=*=- Jessica -=*=-
:)