San Diego (/La Jolla) moms?

[Minniebees]

How do you like La Jolla for families, especially the schools? We're moving back to SD this summer, and we're thinking about where to live. Dh will be working at Balboa Naval Hosp, and works long hours, and a lot of overnights. We want a neighborhood as close to Balboa as possible, with great schools and a low crime rate. We have 4 kids, so we need a big house.

I have one special needs kid, so I really need a school full of really nice kids, since ds tends to get picked on and bullied.

I was thinking of RP, Carmel Valley, Scripps, but the commute is longer than ideal. I'm wondering if we can find what we want in La Jolla or Point Loma. Looking at houses for sale, we can afford it, but I worry a lot about crime and schools. We have no plans to move again.

Originally Posted by kaydove I'm in Rancho Penasquitos!

We used to live there! We were in the neighborhood right by the Vons. We loved RP. Too bad the houses aren't bigger. At the time we had 2700 sq feet, and it was huge for us, but now I can't picture 4 teenagers in that house.

[keen1981]

I have friends in both! Considering how e pensive housing in our there, their crime rates are pretty low! Schools are some of the best!!

[Janine]

What people call Point Loma is a rather large area, and the neighborhood really varies quite a bit by where you are in Point Loma. I'm in Ocean Beach which borders one of the fancier sections of Point Loma. The schools here receive top marks, but there is a bit of property crime in the area. Nothing huge, but bikes, lawn furniture, yard decorations, etc. have a tendency to walk. The views on this part of Point Loma are gorgeous, but the prices match the view. Houses vary from $600,000 on the low end to several million dollars. Areas near Rosecrans are also sometimes called Point Loma, but those are a whole different ball game. I don't have much information on the schools there.

[Minniebees]

Originally Posted by keen1981 I have friends in both! Considering how e pensive housing in our there, their crime rates are pretty low! Schools are some of the best!!

It is expensive, and I don't know if a mortgage company will loan us enough to buy into that neighborhood, even though I think we can afford the payments. Mortgages get into all sorts of weirdness when you're talking about jumbo loans, but I guess in California, loan companies are used to it.

I have no clue where we are going to end up. It would be nice if dh had a 20 min or less commute, but finding that with great schools and low crime seems to be a challenge.

Originally Posted by Janine What people call Point Loma is a rather large area, and the neighborhood really varies quite a bit by where you are in Point Loma. I'm in Ocean Beach which borders one of the fancier sections of Point Loma. The schools here receive top marks, but there is a bit of property crime in the area. Nothing huge, but bikes, lawn furniture, yard decorations, etc. have a tendency to walk. The views on this part of Point Loma are gorgeous, but the prices match the view. Houses vary from $600,000 on the low end to several million dollars. Areas near Rosecrans are also sometimes called Point Loma, but those are a whole different ball game. I don't have much information on the schools there.

I was told to stay away from north PL because of the airplane noise, so I was mostly looking south, La Playa, Fleetwood, The Woods, etc.

[keen1981]

Yup. Here they will loan you an inane amount of money. Seriously, weight approved for 3x what we should have. Actually we could get a house out there. But not actually live there because we'd need to eat.... Lol. They have different loan calculations here. DH is enlisted, so we don my make a lot. So if your DH is a doctor- yiu'll get approved for a huge sum of $$

[Minniebees]

I think so. It makes me nervous because we have never maxed out what they would give us before, we've always lived beneath our means, so I really don't know how much they will give us. I think it is not unreasonable to pay 40% of our pay on a home in San Diego, especially since dh will be getting 3k a month more within 2 years of buying the home, so $ will be tight for a couple of years, but fine after that. We don't plan on moving again, so I think it would be smart to max out as much as we can now and buy our forever home, rather than buy something cheaper that we won't be happy with in the long term, KWIM?

I'm super nervous about this move. I think because we're taking more of a financial risk than I am used to, and we are not moving again. I've moved about my whole life, this is going to be weird.

Houses in Eastlake look nice, but I worry about the traffic and mello roos and the quality of the construction (we have had major issues with our Centex home in Central CA because of shoddy construction). I tend to like older homes, but then I worry about the crime and schools. Part of me wants to be near the ocean, for better weather, but then part of me thinks we should go inland so we can swim in our pool. Blech! I just don't know what I want. I'm having commitment issues.

[keen1981]

Rent for 6 months!!!

This is too big a choice to decide! SD has great communities! Give yourself time to scope it out yourself! I love eastlake. Sure mello Roos suck. But our communities are stunning. The rec centers free to use. Bathrooms CLEAN at the playground. Trails for biking/running/walking that are clear/clean and safe. So it balances for me. Hate to pay those and HOAS but love the amenities. Plus the for closures here are killer on the huge huge houses. The ones that are humongous that overlook the lake here, have enormous pools and overlook the running trails. Many are empty! Privacy and a good steal! Idk would be hard to move in your budget and not see it all first!!! Living near the beach would be nice! But I'm not a fan of traffic and tourists. Lol

[Janine]

Originally Posted by Minniebees I was told to stay away from north PL because of the airplane noise, so I was mostly looking south, La Playa, Fleetwood, The Woods, etc.

All of Point Loma is going to have noticeable airplane noise, in my opinion anyways. Maybe it is because I'm from a rural area 5 hours away from an airport, but I hear the planes even by Pt. Loma Nazarene. Point Loma is pretty short north to south, so there isn't really a way to avoid it. Planes even fly over the government section which is as far south as you can go. About 50% of the airport noise complaints that the airport receives every year come from Point Loma, and they are not even under the flight path. There has been a constant battle with the airport deviating from their stated flight paths. If you want to avoid airplane noise, I would stick with north-east of downtown because even La Jolla is under the flight path. Although I don't know for sure, I imagine that the La Playa neighborhood would have decent schools. It is one of the most expensive neighborhoods in San Diego.

You can watch the flights coming and going in real time here if you want an idea of the actual flight paths: http://webtrak.bksv.com/san

[Minniebees]

Originally Posted by keen1981 Rent for 6 months!!! This is too big a choice to decide! SD has great communities! Give yourself time to scope it out yourself! I love eastlake. Sure mello Roos suck. But our communities are stunning. The rec centers free to use. Bathrooms CLEAN at the playground. Trails for biking/running/walking that are clear/clean and safe. So it balances for me. Hate to pay those and HOAS but love the amenities. Plus the for closures here are killer on the huge huge houses. The ones that are humongous that overlook the lake here, have enormous pools and overlook the running trails. Many are empty! Privacy and a good steal! Idk would be hard to move in your budget and not see it all first!!! Living near the beach would be nice! But I'm not a fan of traffic and tourists. Lol

We're definitely going to rent! That's why I'm stressing over neighborhoods now. I need to start looking towards getting a rental, and I want to choose the neighborhood we are most interested in buying in, so we can try it out. We loved Penasquitos, so I thought Carmel Valley would be a good fit for us, but the commute is a bit much. Penasquitos wasn't bad, and I liked the house a lot, but there was only one bathroom upstairs (besides the master) and the thought of 4 teenagers getting ready for school in the morning with one bathroom gives me nightmares.

I've heard great things about E Chula Vista, and it sounds like you really like where you live! I just don't know what I want for the next 10-15 years plus.

Originally Posted by Janine All of Point Loma is going to have noticeable airplane noise, in my opinion anyways. Maybe it is because I'm from a rural area 5 hours away from an airport, but I hear the planes even by Pt. Loma Nazarene. Point Loma is pretty short north to south, so there isn't really a way to avoid it. Planes even fly over the government section which is as far south as you can go. About 50% of the airport noise complaints that the airport receives every year come from Point Loma, and they are not even under the flight path. There has been a constant battle with the airport deviating from their stated flight paths. If you want to avoid airplane noise, I would stick with north-east of downtown because even La Jolla is under the flight path. Although I don't know for sure, I imagine that the La Playa neighborhood would have decent schools. It is one of the most expensive neighborhoods in San Diego. You can watch the flights coming and going in real time here if you want an idea of the actual flight paths: http://webtrak.bksv.com/san

We live in the flight path for Lackland now, and it doesn't bother me at all. but having a plane 50 feet over my house top every 2-3 mins all day and most of the night would be hard to live with. Some of the houses advertise some quiet house thing, I guess that is soundproofing. We'll have to hang out and see what we think. We've spent quite a bit of time on NAS North Island, and there's a lot of flying there, and it wasn't an issue for me, personally.

What do you think of the Loma Portal? There is a house there that looks quite nice, but I'm not familiar with that particular section. I've mostly driven around Sunset Cliffs and gawked.

Dh says he hasn't "been impressed" with the neighborhood there, but S La Jolla and North Point Loma have a commute he would be impressed with, I think. Really, the shorter the better, he hates commuting, and I don't want him stuck in the car for an hour or more a day hating life. But with ds's issues in school, we really need to get in to a good school.

[keen1981]

What's tough is everywhere is awesome! Lol! I never wanna leave!