San Diego COTHers: suggestions on areas to live

[thehorsedream]

Hi there! So with the coming year, there is a good chance that I will be moving down to San Diego. I’ve only visited once and grew up in the Sacramento area so I have no knowledge of good places to look for housing.

I’ve seen the threads for barns and have started to do my research. But I was hoping to get some suggestions on safe/moderately nice places to look for housing. My husbands new job will be in the northern part of the city, off Mira Mesa so ideally we would be looking at a reasonable commute from there.

Thanks in advance for suggestions!

[Write_amp_Ride]

You’ll be close to lots of reasonable housing (as far as San Diego can ever be reasonable) - Rancho Penasquitos would be a good place to start. Some parts aren’t so great but there’s definitely good neighborhoods within the 92129 zip code. A little east of the I-15 you have Carmel Mtn area and Poway. 92131 and 92064. Plenty of places to board depending on what discipline you do. There are options for trail riding, too. Canyonside Stables is next to the Penasquitos Preserve.

[MissAriel]

Hi, there.
I live just north of Mira Mesa, commute to the coast (Torrey Pines/UCSD) and board in Del Mar. DH commutes to Kearny Mesa. Traffic isn’t too bad if you don’t mind leaving by 7-7:15. After that it gets substantially worse.

Are you looking to buy or rent? There are lots of options in Mira Mesa over a pretty wide price range depending on renting/buying and condo/apt vs house, and location/condition. If you want, I can pm the names of some realtors I know in the area. In general, prices go down if you go north or inland.

Depending on your riding discipline and goals, there are a number of places that can be readily reached from Mira Mesa. A little more about your horse needs would help with recommendations in that area. Carmel Valley/Del Mar/Lakeside/Poway are all possible.

[thehorsedream]

MissAriel: We are currently looking to rent. We do plan to buy but it’s not in our finances right away. Plus, we would like to get to know the area and such before we decide on a house. Thanks for letting me know about where the prices go down.

As far as the barn, I’m looking for a more private barn rather than show barn. I ride English with a bit of jumping. I’d like to do more so I’m looking for places that have a hunter/jumper trainer as I won’t be able to easily haul to lessons.

Write&Ride: I’ll keep those zip codes in mind when doing my search. I appreciate the help!

[katenreno]

I think my first question would be what is your ballpark budget, both for rent and for board? Some of the areas can get quite pricey, and if you’re not able to accommodate that, it will leave you feeling discouraged. Knowing the traffic and commute patterns helps too, because some places look like they’d be just as close, but by the time you factor in rush hour traffic they take twice as long to get there. Having lived in the Mira Mesa/Scripps Ranch area myself, I can tell you that anything requiring travel along Mira Mesa Blvd, Miramar Rd, or the 15 at most times of day is maddeningly slow. But I think budget is the most important factor to start with here, so let’s go from there.

[thehorsedream]

Our upper limit is along the $2000 dollar range. It looks to be (from a brief zillow search) possible in many places to get a 2-3 bed place for that much.

[mypaintwattie]

As far as boarding goes Del Mar and the surrounding areas are top dollar. Same with housing. The further east or south you go the more affordable it becomes. But with affordable comes dealing with a longer commute. We are in the South Bay area, housing is affordable and board runs me less than $500 a month.