scottyvisa

Hi all,

My wife (USC) and I (UKC&USC) are moving to San Diego this summer and I'm looking for any advice on best areas to rent. My wife will be working in Balboa Park, and I'll be working from home with travel (mainly flying) once or twice a month.

Our wish-list of sorts is; 30ish minutes drive from Balboa Park and Airport (non-peak at least, I understand traffic can get bad!) and a 1000+ sqft house with fenced in yard, in the $3-4k a month range. Ideally it would be in city limits. On Zillow we are seeing good options in the east area, mainly Rolando and College Heights areas, plus some in Clairemont, are these all good places to live, and is there any other areas we should consider? It's 4 months before we move, but just trying to get ahead with the planning.

All suggestions welcome

Thanks!

Scotty

sherbert

North Park is super hip and has a lot going on, 20 mins to the airport and Balboa Park. South Park, University Heights, Kensington are nice. Bird Rock, Coronado and La Jolla if being near a beach is important.

scottyvisa

Thanks! La Jolla or Coronado would be the dream but would also break the bank, especially as we have a big dog and want a house. North Park looks great.

robin1234

Sorry I don’t have specific advice. Just want to say, good luck with the move, and I envy you both! What a lovely city, and Balboa Park is an amazing and beautiful resource.

Very good to have the Amtrak service up to OC, LA and beyond, too.

scottyvisa

Thanks, we're really excited. We live in VA right now, so planning an epic road trip too, will have to make a separate post about that for advice. I've been once before and absolutely loved Balboa Park, and took the train up to LA for the day too which was super easy. Think I'm going to adjust well!

ddsrph

Scotty
Is there a Navy connection here? Virginia and Balboa park have strong Navy ties. I have never been to Balboa Naval hospital but understand it’s actually in the park.

scottyvisa

Yes exactly, my wife is a Navy Doc. The hospital is indeed in the park, which is pretty awesome!

ddsrph

Thats great. The Navy has acquired some great real estate over the past 250 years. Check out the Hale Koa in Honolulu. Would be a great cheap vacation from west coast.

scottyvisa

Oh that looks awesome! We have some good friends in Hawaii too, will definitely add it to our list! Thanks :-)

sherbert

San Diego is possibly the best place in the US to live: you will enjoy it .

gad33

three thousand thumbs up!

scrubbedexpat091

Disclaimer: I am biased as San Diego is my home town, and while I no longer live there, I will always be biased in San Diego's favor, haven't lived anywhere yet that comes close to what San Diego offers amenity and activity wise.

park99

Never been to VA, so no comparison, but this one sounds like a no brainer: two incomes, both USC... no requirement for good school areas so your choices of areas are not limited.

Balboa park is very impressive - I think it's the best part of SD downtown. Parking can be difficult.

scottyvisa

I hear that a lot!

scottyvisa

VA is ok, it's grown on me, but nobody would call it exciting (although northern VA does have Nando's)