What other areas are like La Jolla?

[Fedup]

This is close to where we used to live, downside is the HOA.
https://www.redfin.com/CA/Laguna-Niguel/34-Chandon-92677/home/5388109

This is the Bear Brand area, a bit newer and closer to the ocean. Some houses in this neighborhood are facing the ocean.
http://www.redfin.com/CA/Laguna-Niguel/46-Cameray-Hts-92677/home/5387014

This is in much older neighborhood, no HOA
http://www.redfin.com/CA/Laguna-Niguel/25042-Monte-Verde-Dr-92677/home/4879459

This is also much older neighborhood, more of middle class
http://www.redfin.com/CA/Laguna-Niguel/25311-Hugo-Rd-92677/home/4880266



Aliso Viejo, neighboring city, I don't know it as well as Laguna Niguel, but more affordable houses
http://www.redfin.com/CA/Aliso-Viejo/1-Edgewood-Ct-92656/home/5612530


http://www.redfin.com/CA/Aliso-Viejo/7-Songbird-Ln-92656/home/4851650

 

[daylatedollarshort]

Condo/townhome living is such a gamble to me. You could live next to or under a nice, quiet elderly lady or you could get a family with 4-kids who are all musicians who have no regard for how their noise impacts neighbors.

If it were me, I think I'd prefer to live more inland in a single-family home and drive to the beach instead.

There are always going to be pros and cons to condos vs single family homes. You just have to do whatever fits your lifestyle the best. We're looking forward to having more free time, realizing there may be some trade offs. Between garage bands and barking dogs, SFH aren't always noise free either.

 

[skyvue]

I recently spent a month staying in the LaJolla and surrounding areas due to a project for work. I tried several different hotels in different areas to scout out potential retirement destinations. As a few others mentioned, I think there are communities just north of LaJolla that certainly had a more laid back feel. I did not price real estate though, just scouted out areas where you could bike to the beach without paying really big bucks to have the view. I think Solana Beach, Encinitas and Cardiff are all places to check out.

 

[dvalley]

Have you looked in and around Santa Barbara? Personally, I'm tired of the mainstream areas here...too many crowds, hectic lifestyle, traffic, road-rages etc. To me the central coast would be a nice area to live in especially in or near retirement. 2hrs from either SF or LA, not to mention the beautiful Sierras in the east etc.

 

[someguy]

Santa Barbara is really nice and laid back. I think you will pay more and get a less nice place (vs. SD) and SB is pretty tiny. The latter could be a pro or con depending on what you want.

 

[AllDone]

Santa Barbara is small, isolated, and rich and a lot of doctors don't take Medicare. Primary care is available, but specialty care isn't. It's a long way from LAX and the real estate is sky high, but it is gorgeous. We're visiting next week. Couldn't live there, though.

Right now there are several condos in Point Loma(nearly as nice as LJ) with bay views in the upper $500s. They're smallish. Pick a budget and find the balance point between size and proximity to water/downtown.

Our HOA is $35/quarter. They actually manage to take care of the greenstrips quite well on that amount. I still wish that I could talk DH into a lock and go condo.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

The traffic here can be wall to wall cars on the freeways or main streets during rush hours but not 10 - 2pm or after 7pm weekdays so we just do our errands and day trips then. Maybe LA or SD is worse, but here the traffic is not bad if you don't have to drive during commute hours. I guess that part we will have to test out for ourselves.

I haven't been to SB. SLO is nice to visit but we are probably more used to a living in bigger cities. I think a walkable area in an urban environment would probably suit us best.

 

[AllDone]

I don't know them well, but Camarillo and Ventura might be worth a thought.

Right now in Solana Beach the sun is out, there is an off-shore breeze, it's 75 degrees and it's raining. It's delightful.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

I don't know them well, but Camarillo and Ventura might be worth a thought.

Right now in Solana Beach the sun is out, there is an off-shore breeze, it's 75 degrees and it's raining. It's delightful.

Sounds like perfect weather. We're looking forward to our next house hunting trip and will be sure to check out Ventura as well. DH thought there might be more hiking up that way. Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[AllDone]

It would put you close to the central coast for hiking and such, but with a not unreasonable drive to LAX or Long Beach.

 

[explanade]

Define "not unreasonable."

I was looking at a Santa Barbara property. Looked like about 2 hours each way to LAX, without traffic.

There was a bus service but it was $86 (don't recall if that was one-way or round trip) but it was 2.5 to 3 hours each way.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

Define "not unreasonable."

I was looking at a Santa Barbara property. Looked like about 2 hours each way to LAX, without traffic.

There was a bus service but it was $86 (don't recall if that was one-way or round trip) but it was 2.5 to 3 hours each way.

Santa Barbara is not in Ventura County. Camarillo is only around an hours drive to LAX according to Google maps. I think you might be looking farther north than Alldone suggested.

If you have a condo or townhouse now, you also may not see as great a savings from moving. We have the family size house with a yard to sell so we're downsizing as well as moving to a relatively lower COL area. It might not be worth it for you to move without the downsizing part in the equation.

 

[explanade]

I'm not that familiar with SoCal in general.

But intrigued about buying at much less $ per square feet.

Zillow lists my townhouse at as much as $600/sq. feet.

I was wondering about access to airports, esp. for international flights. Presumably you'd have to link up to LAX anyways if you fly out of SAN?

 

[daylatedollarshort]

I'm not that familiar with SoCal in general.

But intrigued about buying at much less $ per square feet.

Zillow lists my townhouse at as much as $600/sq. feet.

I was wondering about access to airports, esp. for international flights. Presumably you'd have to link up to LAX anyways if you fly out of SAN?

There are some pretty nice places to live S Cal for under $600 sq foot! Actually I think there are nice places to live in the Bay Area for less than that as well, especially if you are willing to live further out from city center.

I don't know anything about the flights out of SAN. That is a good question. Maybe the locals can answer that.

 

[CaliforniaMan]

I'm not that familiar with SoCal in general.

But intrigued about buying at much less $ per square feet.

Zillow lists my townhouse at as much as $600/sq. feet.

I was wondering about access to airports, esp. for international flights. Presumably you'd have to link up to LAX anyways if you fly out of SAN?

From my experience, I travel to U.S. destinations directly out of SAN, with connections to Europe through various eastern airports. To Asia we always have had to fly through LAX. I used to take a connecting flight SAN to LAX but found for me it is easier and faster to take a "limo" (I use GO SEDAN). They pick you up and drop you at your home, wait for you with your name on a sign on return, and no connecting or going through security a second time, waiting for the local flight, making it to/from the international terminal etc.

Turns out to actually be faster and cheaper than flying SAN to LAX if you live in North County, Oceanside, Carlsbad, Vista and environs, especially if there are multiple travelers.

 

[califdreamer]

When flying out of SAN to go to Europe, the connection can be LAX, SFO, JFK, Newark, Atlanta, etc. depending on the carrier. If you are in North County you can fly out of Carlsbad and connect to LAX for an international flight. Also nice that there are non stops from SAN to Maui.

 

[explanade]

OK, so international flights seem workable.

But here's the real key. Which NFC games do they show on Fox? Or NBA games for that matter?

 

[AllDone]

OK, so international flights seem workable.

But here's the real key. Which NFC games do they show on Fox? Or NBA games for that matter?

I have no clue, but in San Diego you can just buy a ticket and go to the football game yourself. No one else does.

My husband likes to go to the baseball games. It's a nice ballpark even if George Will doesn't think much of our fish tacos.

 

[kramer]

I have flown to Asia starting from my mom's home in North San Diego County each of the last 8 years. Each time I have had to go to LAX. Unfortunately for international travel purposes, San Diego metro area (3 Million) is located in a corner of the country and is located "close enough" to a much larger metro area, Los Angeles (13 Million). If I recall, for my flights to South America, I normally had to leave from either John Wayne (Orange County) or LAX. I only flew via SAN when I was making my own itinerary (e.g., flying one domestic itinerary and a separate international itinerary from, say, Florida).

On the bright side, the international LAX terminals were abysmal and absolute bottom of the barrel before 2013 but are gorgeous now after the upgrade was finished last year.

The good thing about San Diego's location is for travel to Mexico via Tijuana Airport. Flights to/from Mexico are way cheaper when flying from Tijuana. And, in a major new development, there is a pedestrian bridge being built at the border where folks going to the airport will get their own border crossing:

Cross-border pedestrian bridge linking San Diego with Tijuana's airport set for opening in next summer. | UTSanDiego.com

A cross-border pedestrian bridge linking San Diego with Tijuana’s A.L. Rodríguez International airport is set to open next summer, the project’s U.S. developer announced Monday.

The privately funded and operated $120-million project would create a port of entry limited to toll-paying airline passengers that is unique on the U.S. border. It consists of an enclosed 390-foot-long bridge with divided north/south corridors that will allow passengers to walk across between the United States and Mexico, avoiding lengthy lines at the San Ysidro and Otay Mesa ports of entry.

A news release from the developer, Otay Tijuana Venture, LLC, said the project will be named “Cross Border Xpress.” The statement did not discuss the price of the toll, but previous estimates have ranged from $13 to $17 per passenger.

The bridge would connect the airport to a 65,000-square-foot structure on Otay Mesa that would include “indoor and outdoor patio areas for passengers and guests, retail, food and beverages, fully bilingual customer service and short- to long-term parking,” according to the statement.

It would also include an area where U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers paid for by Otay Tijuana Venture would process passengers.

PS: Edited to add that SAN is only a single runway airport.

 

[explanade]

Should proximity to the nuclear plant be an issue?

Looks like the southern parts of Orange County are closer to the plant site than even Oceanside.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

Should proximity to the nuclear plant be an issue?

Looks like the southern parts of Orange County are closer to the plant site than even Oceanside.

Good question, though I do not know the answer. The only active nuclear power plant in CA seems to be near SLO. I am not sure how safe or unsafe the offline ones would be to live near:

Nuclear Energy in California - California Energy Commission

 

[Surfdaddy]

As another posted, you could try Camarillo - safe, an hour to LAX and a lot cheaper than OC. A bit cooler days, colder nights. 15 miles from the beach.

Also a bit further inland in Ventura County - Santa Paula, Moorpark, Thousand Oaks, Simi Valley. Not cheap but cheaper than OC. Simi and Moorpark are a bit less $$, Thousand Oaks a bit more $$. Entire area is very low crime. Weather is pretty close to perfect. Out of the LA area traffic for the most part, but LA is an hour away if you need/want city life and entertainment.

 

[explanade]

Still haven't been down there for a visit, though I meant to do so.

Bay Area and Northern California was drenched this past weekend. Southern California meanwhile has still been suffering a dry spell:

As the state faces a possible fourth year of drought, Northern California is enjoying a healthy wet winter so far, with rainfall levels at 100 percent of their historic average or above in nearly every city, and reservoirs, while still not back to normal, steadily filling. But rainfall totals in the south are anemic, and falling further behind as each major storm only drenches the northern part of the state, leaving the south dry.

If the trend continues, this summer there may be two droughts in California: a mild one in the north that most residents barely notice, and a far more severe one in the more populated southern half of the state with more fire risk, smog, desperate groundwater pumping and more strict water rationing.

California drought: Northern California getting much more rain than Southern - San Jose Mercury News

Also happened to see a House Hunters from May of last year where a couple looked at properties in San Diego. First one was a view of the bay but not on the water like the husband wanted, the second was a home in Cardiff, pretty close to the water and the third was a home inland in Carlsbad.

They were all around $700k and all of them needed various forms of renovation, with the Carlsbad one being the biggest and least old (but still needing upgrades of the kitchen and baths).

Well it doesn't seem like the dollar goes that much farther than it would up in the Bay Area, though you often see properties being valued at $600-700 per square foot or higher up here.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

Well it doesn't seem like the dollar goes that much farther than it would up in the Bay Area

We have been for a visit. I do like Southern California. It has always been on our short list of places to live. We drove around many of the areas listed here (thanks all!). But after checking out some of the places we saw online, I think we came to the same conclusion - not a huge enough dollar savings real estate-wise to make a move worthwhile, and we are already living here in Nor Cal and enjoy the area. And even if we moved it would not change our overall net worth.

We're staying put for now and see where the kids settle, since they will be the ones that need to live near where their careers dictate and we will be more mobile ones.

 

[explanade]

Still haven't gotten down there, mainly browsing Redfin now and then. Came across this article, not sure if those who live in the area would agree but gives some interesting stats about towns and neighborhoods in the SD area:

The Best Places to Live in San Diego