Hi, I'm about to rent a condo for a week in San Diego. It's on Imperial Beach. Who can tell me if it's a good spot to be with family (good, bad, noisy or not, etc.)? Or, should I stick with Mission Bay? Maybe you can give me a good advice on a good condo in San Diego 09/15-22/2002. 6 people including 5yrs old child. Thanks!

Imperial Beach-IMO in just O.K. If given a choice between the 2 I would choose Mission Bay area. I think it is a nicer location. Not sure if being close to the beach is your top priority, if it is than Pacific beach would be a better choice. Also Mission Bay is in a better proximity to other activities.(Sea World, zoo, etc.)

I'm sure IB is the cheapest. I grew up there. It's far from everything but the beach hardly gets crowded. IB is the most southwesternly city in the US. It's safe and quiet. They've made renovations over the last couple of years so it's really nice around the pier area. IB outside of the beaches is pretty boring and the housing reflects the income levels which are below average for all of SD. IB is a quiet little beach town. Your kids will not notice the difference other than it being less crowded than most SD beaches. Ten miles up the road is Coronado with all of it's restaurants and shops where you can go for entertainment outside of the beach.

Thank you very much - your answers helped me a lot!

mission beach would be my choice although granted, much busier the IP. the other reason is pollution from mexico. if there's a problem there, IP beach sometimes gets "closed". but, much cheaper then san diego.