These San Diego Areas and Neighborhoods Might NOT Be For You If…

It sounds like some people missed the point of this video - the point here is to mention the cons of most cities in San Diego. It’s not intended to say any of these cities are bad…just letting people know the pros and cons before moving here. In fact most of our videos are about the pros, so give em a watch 🤘🏼

San Diego is a lot more expensive than the average USA city. Many newcomers learn that the hard way. I moved to San Diego when I was in my 20s "just to try it". I only lasted a year and moved away because it was too expensive. I noticed most home owners either inherited their home or bought their homes years ago. It did not seem like many working class people owned their house outright (unless they wanted to have constant roommates for the next 17 years). San Diego should be seen with the same lens as Hawaii. It looks pretty, it is a dream location, but unless you are earning way above the average salary, it will only be vacation or a short stop before it is time to move. I miss the beaches, but now I own my own house on a large lot. It is boring where i live, but I will never trade home ownership just for better weather. In fact, I would think that families might start leaving San Diego when they realize they need a bigger home for their growing families and cannot afford the ever increasing rent in sD

This guy hit every nail on the head. He was accurate with everyone of those neighborhoods. His take on Oceanside is modest, the amount of work that's going on near the pier is crazy.

I have lived in SD my whole life, in the same house 40 years. Our landlord has sold the property, and while this won't help us be unhomed, it provided helpful information and understanding the different areas of town. Thank you!

Vista, I grew up there during the 50s and 60s. Not a happy time. All I remember is the poverty and brutality of a fatherless home. Oceanside at that time was a two bit GI town lined with grungy bars and pawn shops. The work that was done on that town has improved it well.

…it’s a wonderful city surrounded by lots of great small towns. Got me a condo back in 1998 at the Meridian that my Great Aunt was done with. Even with my most my Father side of the family living in the Rancho Santa Fe and Golden Hill area, I just could not get into the city’s groove. Gave it a year but eventually moving to Mercer Island near Seattle and renting out the unit which has luckily been occupied by a series of long term renters. My visits have not been too often lately since I’m now retired and lazy in my Grandmother’s old house in Atherton in the Bay Area. Glad to hear San Diego is still thriving for it is one of the finest cities.

This is super helpful for those that don't know San Diego. Even I did not know some of these things as a SD native. 🧡

It ALL looks like paradise to me!

He's definitely right about Pacific Beach. In general, the closer you are to the ocean, the more expensive it will be. Duh! I live in Poway, and he's right about the heat in the summer. However, the Poway Unified School District is the highest rated in the County. Living in Poway can have a country feel, though, because there are a lot of working farms and orchards here, and many lovely horse trails for horeseback riders and residential lots perfect for horse owners. Rancho Bernardo was originally developed to be a haven for retirees, which is why there is a lot of over-55 housing, but there are also many communities predominantly serving families---really nice suburban-style single family homes. The kids go to Poway Unified School District schools, so that's attractive. And many defense industry companies (and their business providers) are located there, so those employees like to live in or close to their workplaces. Don't dismiss it out of hand. Unfortunately, there's a decent amount of gang activity in Vista and Oceanside, so another reason you might want to avoid those places if you have school-age kids and/or your budget forces you to live in lower income housing. The closer you live to your workplace, the better in terms of traffic, which has become ridiculously congested just over the past five or six years, with morning and evening rush hours lasting longer and longer every year.

Excellent video! You did a good synopsis of each town to avoid for a specific reason. I have lived in San Diego 45 years and have seen tremendous growth and skyrocketing housing, rent and cost of living here. San Diego is a great place if you are very rich, or you are a highly paid peofessionally, making well over $100k a year. If you are retired with a modest retirement, or making under $100k a year. San Diego will be too expensive to have a good middle class lifestyle. Also, be prepared for high density living and horrible traffic. Over 40 years ago, San Diego was an incredibly beautiful city, not crowded, and a great place to retire. Now, its becoming too expensive and crowded like LA. Yes, you can't beat the weather, but you pay a price for it.

I like your show, Nick. San Diego born and raised and am now semi-retired. I love the diversity of the entire county - especially the beaches. Thank you for dissuading people from moving to Vista. I live here and love it for the reasons you send people away from it. I enjoy where rural meets contemporary, having the choice of buying my eggs from the local egg farmer or from one of the countless grocery stores available throughout the area. I came from Ocean Beach (loved it) - except for having to pause phone conversations while the airplanes passed over my living room LOL- to Shadowridge (loved it) - a pretty, well-maintained area, complete with golf course - and am now where the sidewalks are a little more scarce. (and, yes, love it) I am saddened by the deterioration of much of San Diego County, as we see in so many areas everywhere, but I still have hope that so much can be improved. Thank you for your videos.

I live very close to Poway and I’m really love it! Temperatures are a little bit higher or lower than DT but not so bad. Traffic is not as bad as the south SD. Rents are expensive but all SD rents are not cheap!

4:20 Homes built in the 1960s and 1970s may require upgrading depending on one's tastes, but (1) they are solidly built and often have fewer structural and foundational problems than newer homes, and (2) in most cases they weren't built on tiny lots so that you are 15 feet away from your neighbor's bathroom, looking directly into it, and you have very little yard space. La Mesa (and nearby areas) is centrally located with respect to freeway access, parks, shopping, and so forth. The area is also quiet compared to other areas.

University City is the hidden undervalued gem 💎

This guy is a real estate agent but he says to not move anywhere in San Diego County. Isn’t that counter intuitive? Then he describes all the great things in the various communities yet he tells you to not move there. WTF? I’m a native San Diegan and most of the places he said not to move to are the only places you want to move to in San Diego County…if you can afford it. Basically you don’t want to live anywhere that is south of the I-8 freeway, because that’s all the ghetto areas with a couple of exceptions, like the Mount Helix area, or Mission Hills, or Bankers Hill. Even when considering La Mesa. You don’t want to live in La Mesa south of the 8, but north of the 8 is nice. And in North County almost anywhere south of the 78 is fine, but north of the 78 is more ghetto. Oceanside, Vista, San Marcos, and Escondido are semi-ghetto, but there are some pockets of good areas. And the very far reaches of North County are fine, like Fallbrook, Valley Center, San Pascual, etc., but very far away from the action. If you can afford it, any of these North County areas are great, such as Del Mar, Solana Beach, Encinitas, Carlsbad, La Costa, Rancho Bernardo, Sabre Springs, etc. The city beach areas such as PB, OB, Point Loma, Mission Beach, etc., are too crowded and pretty expensive. Lots of younger people with lots of open-air bars and a lot of drunken idiots around. The most expensive places which none of us can afford are places like Coronado, La Jolla, Mission Hills, Rancho Santa Fe, 4S Ranch, etc. Great and safe places, but only for the super rich. So overall, the best places to live that are safer areas and barely affordable, because most anywhere in SD County is barely affordable, are the communities of Clairemont, Bay Park, Allied Gardens, Serra Mesa, Tierrasanta, Mira Mesa, Los Penasquitos, UC, Carmel Mountain, Torrey Highlands, Carmel Valley, Santee, Lakeside, East El Cajon, Jamul, Alpine, Ramona, Rancho San Diego, Poway, Sabre Springs, and maybe a few others. But now the cost of living in San Diego is the highest in the nation.

EL CAJON (THE BOX) - BIG NO NO

Great Video! Very informative. Subscribed

This guy is 100% spot on!....

Nick I like that you are pointing out some of the good school districts

I can't help but laugh at this video. He recommends NOT living in 94% of San Diego. Seriously, 94%.