Moving to San Diego
 

Looking for info on the schools in san diego. I am an RN and my husband is a cath lab tech..we have one son, age 12. Will probably be working at one of the Scripps hospitals, either Memorial or Green. We have been researching rental properties online and have found that we can get a decent place for between 2500-3000 a month. We want to be in a safe area with good schools and not a horrific commute..I realize that traffic is a problem and I don't mind 30 min or so. I will be coming as a travel RN so I will get about 3000 a month for housing. Looking at La Jolla, Coronado, Misson Beach and Solana Beach. Any info greatly appreciated. Respond here or email me at [email protected].

Thanks!

From you list, La Jolla, Coronado and Solana Beach have the best schools.

You should also look at Carmel Valley and Del Mar. Same school district, San Dieguito, as Solana Beach and a convenient commute for you.

A little further inland, but easily reached by freeway or surface streets, is Rancho Penasquitos. Different school District, Poway Unified (http://powayusd.sdcoe.k12.ca.us/), also very good.

Although Coronado is a lovely place to live, I would put it last because the other options are much better commutes..

All these areas are safe.

HI..
I would do either Solana Beach/Del Mar/La Jolla or the Poway area which has outstanding school districts..For $3K a month you should get a nice home as a rental but the market is coming down a bit so maybe investing down the road would be wise. Do not go to Mission Beach or Pacific Beach! I love Coronado but the commute would be tough to LJ..
Encinitas is a great beach town with great beaches and good schools too.
I am a native SD and yes the traffic can be bad but only at certain times of the day..(rush hour am/pm)
You are going to love my wonderful city and Scripps is one of the best to work for!

Thanks for all the great tips! I have been checking the school sites and they all seem to be good. What do you know about Pinnacle at Carmel Creek..the apts look great online and it seems like only a 10 min commute per mapquest. I have also been checking out rentals on signonsandiego.com..some of them list timeshares/condos so I am not sure if they are only short term rentals or not..need to get more info. We are going to make a trip out in March to canvas the areas and make the commute during normal am/pm hours. It has been a dream of mine to live in SD..my sister was stationed there with her husband and said it was like heaven on earth..great weather and great people! Our son is a bit hesitant to move but I'm sure once we are there he will love it. He is a big baseball player and loves to be outdoors so the weather will be a big draw for him. Thanks again for all of the info!

Hi...
This is a great area because everything is fairly new and you are central to everything and your son is going to love it! Did you know that SD is one of the best places to be for baseball when you are young..
Padres.com (Petco Park)
Del Mar/Sorrento Mesa area is perfect for you and your family until you can find a place to own. Torrey Pines High is considered one of the top high schools in the country..
Also, check out Craigslist.org SD on the apts/housing.. some real estate agency handle rentals for long term. check out the La Jolla Light online.. they have some nice homes/condos for rent for around $3K+
I am so excited for you because even though it is expensive to live here it is so wonderful. The people are really nice and the weather is awesome and we have great restauants and so many things to do.
I am happy to answer any questions that you might have..
Best to you!

Little League and Pony Baseball are big here, and there are many traveling teams for more dedicated players (and parents!). Competition is fierce for places on high school teams.

I don't know what those specific apartments/condos are like, but the commute sounds about right. You don't have to go on a freeway at all and you'd drive right past Torrey Pines State beach every day. In fact, you'd be about five minutes from the beach, so that's where your son would be all summer-there or Del Mar!

If I were you (I hate it when people say that LOL) but I would stay anyplace in those selected areas that was closest to the beach. A 12 year old will love it. I would choose that versus any inland places. I think you will LOVE it. I was raised there and left in my mid 20's so I just took it all for granted when I grew up there. You will be surpised how quickly your 12 year old will adapt. Where are moving from?

We are originally from PA and had lived in Raleigh, NC for 7 years. We recently moved back to PA so that my husband could go back to school. He will be done in May so we are hoping to make the move over the summer so Nick will have time to meet friends and get used to the area before school starts. Nick has played travel ball since he was 9 and we love it..we actually played against the San Diego Stars at the 9 year old National tournament in Disney. Right now he hates the thought of leaving his friends but I know that he will love it. Again, thank you so much for all of your tips...keep them coming.

Pa. is where I moved TO after leaving S.D. I live in the suburbs of PHL. It was quite an adjustment let me tell you. A great idea to let your son get use to the new area in the summer. I think that is a difficult age to have to move to a child. Do you have family where you presently live? I know this is tough but sometimes just to relieve the anxiety you could just say if he hates it after giving it a try, he could move back with "so and so." If he thinks he had a choice in the matter if may help but stress he needs to at least "give it a try." Well best of luck to you and your family. I am sure it will all work out well.

Diann's right about beach access, but she probably left here before State Route 56 was completed a couple of years ago. It goes from Poway to I-5 at Carmel Valley and has made beach access much quicker for us all!

Like Diann, I'm going to use "if I were you"(!) and suggest that you look at houses to rent rather than condos. You will get a lot more for your money if you rent a house.

You mentioned that your son will get to know other kids during the summer. He probably won't get to know many during the summer. It's during school time that kids mostly meet new people. During the summer, many are away on vacation, or they just don't live near you, or whatever. But he's 12, so still young enough to do YMCA summer activities. You might look into those soon, as you have to book some of them as soon as they're available because they're very popular. One thing he might like is Surf Camp. This would be one way for him to actually meet and get to know new friends.

I lived in Del Mar for ten years int he 80s and 90s, during which the whole area east of I-5 (where Carmel Creek is) went from very rural ranchland to very suburban condos. The 56 freeway was a winding country road that became dirt after 5 miles or so (with a sign: "end of county maintained road"), El Camino Real was a narrow little potholed country lane, it's now a 6 lane suburban route lined with big shopping centers. For a few year the 56 freeway dropped you off on that dirt road, so you had the experience of taking a high speed freeway for five miles, then a rutted 15mph dirt road the rest of the way to I-15.

You'd be just across I-5 from Torrey Pines State Reserve and Beach, probably the most scenic area on the San Diego coast. 300 foot cliffs along the beach, with a large marsh (Los Penasquitos), behind. Great ocean views in the park on top of the cliffs, some mild kayaking in the marsh, (I've seen deer in there, found some shed antlers once, but lots of ticks along the marsh trail--not a problem in the main part of the park above though), wonderful wildflower displays in the spring (which starts in February).

The biggest commute problem will be at the I-5/805 merge just south of the 56, coming north in the afternoon/evening rush hour, it's jammed every day. It's probably even worse now that 56 is complete, but when I was there it was about five or ten minutes of stop and go until everybody got onto the 5, when freeway speeds resumed.

But if you work at Scripps Green Hospital, you will not be taking the freeway anyway, you'll be going along Carmel Valley Road to the beach then up the mesa through Torrey Pines park, to the hospital a bit further south on the mesa. Scripps Memorial is, I believe, at the junction of I-5 and Genesee Avenue, you could take the freeway there, or take the beach route, a bit more roundabout, but probably faster when the 5/805 merge is jammed.

Oh, I should mention, the very worst jams occur around the Fourth of July, when the Del Mar Fair is in swing. This is when you run into really bad traffic, it's stop and go even along the beach, your ten minute commute will turn into an hour or so of stop and go all the way from Green Hospital to Carmel Creek. I imagine that the 56 will also be jammed at this time now that it's completed all the way out to Mira Mesa/Scripps Ranch. But this is only a week or so, and if you have to be in a horrendous traffic jam, this is just about the most scenic place you could hope for.

Actually, the 56, which does not go to either Mira Mesa or Scripps Ranch,wasn't backed up during the Fair. it does get very backed up going east, with people merging on to I-15N, but that wouldn't affect the OP.

Before it was completed to Carmel Valley, the 56 ended at Black Mountain road in Rancho Penasquitos. This is not a dirt road, although you used to get to the dirt road via Black Mountain Road. The dirt road was closed years before the 56 was completed as homes were built where it used to go.

Also, the road by the beach has been widened up to the City of San Diego boundary to four lanes.