I have lived in San Diego for most of my life and over all I believe it is one of the best cities to live in. You have the beach, the mountains and the desert close by. What more could you want? Choosing the perfect neighborhood can be difficult so I will give you the run down on the best neighborhoods and the areas to stay away from.
My top three neighborhoods would be the College Area, Allied Gardens and Del Cerro. Del Cerro is a bit more pricey than the College Area and Allied Gardens which are more reasonably priced, but the three are fairly very close to each other. The College Area is close to SDSU and great restaurants. There are many little neighborhood communities with in it, such as Rolando that are fairly priced and have some unique, quaint homes. Patrick Henry High School and Lewis Middle School are close by and are extremely great schools to attend. If you do not want your children to attend these schools, these neighborhoods are still close to other great schools. The reason why these neighborhoods are on the top of my list is because they are central to everything, yet decently priced and low in crime. It takes about 15 minutes to get to the beach, six minutes to mostly all of the malls and about ten minutes to downtown San Diego.
Mission Hills is another great neighborhood. It is on the pricey side much like Del Cerro, but the neighborhood is beautiful and close to Balboa Park, Old Town, and downtown San Diego. It is also close to the 8 freeway which takes you to pretty much everywhere, the malls, the beaches etc… This neighborhood is also close to great schools.
La Jolla is another great neighborhood which is one of the most pricey neighborhoods in San Diego. Katherine Zeta- Jones has her summer house here. Again it is close to the beach and some what tucked away. The 5 freeway runs right to there which will take you to downtown San Diego. La Jolla High School is a great school and this neighborhood is low in crime. There are many shops around and plenty of places to eat. This neighborhood also has the famous La Jolla Playhouse.
Any neighborhood close to Lemon Grove, which is considered southern San Diego, I would not recommend. Chula Vista borders the south of San Diego as well. These neighborhoods have much more crime and poorer schools near by. East County, or El Cajon is a place I would stay away from. The landscape is drab, it is hot and muggy. The people and schools are not that great either.
Neighborhoods like North Park have been getting much cleaner and new shopping centers have been built. However, El Cajon Blvd runs by there and it is known for crime and prostitution. I would stay away from the west side of El Cajon Blvd. If you like North Park I would also check out the cute neighborhood called Talmage. It is close to almost everything and reasonably priced.
I hope this has given an idea of what neighborhoods are best and I hope you enjoy beautiful San Diego.
