Moving to San Diego... Looking for AP-kid friendly neighborhoods

[zericha]

Hi! It looks like we are most likely moving to San Diego in the coming months. Being D.C. natives, we are used to living in a neighborhood where everything you need is in walking distance on a main street, mostly by local businesses. We are a crunchy family, musicians, not very wealthy, plan to unschool our child. What neighborhoods in San Diego might be most appropriate for us, where there are other families with kids, crunchy people and lots to do in walking distance?

San Diego is a big, sprawling city compared to D.C. We like the Ocean Beach vibe, but may not be able to afford it. Are there other crunchy zones you would recommend where I might meet other WAHMs and SAHMs and AP parents?

Thanks!!

[SunshineMW]

Hi! OB is definitely a good bet for a crunch neighborhood. Leucadia and Encinitas are also, though they are as if not more expensive. It seems that North Park is an area where many younger familes are moving. I suggest your join the yahoo group sandiegonaturalfamiles and do a poll as to where everyone lives to see where the greatest concentration is. San Diego is quite conservative but you always can find your tribe here through playgroups and meetups. SDNF has a lot of members and active playgroups
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SanDiegoNaturalFamilies/

[umbrella]

I don't live there, but Hillcrest seems like nice spot to live if you're wanting things within walking distance. Whole Foods and Balboa Park are both close.

[mamadonna]

Neighborhoods like North Park, University Heights and Normal Heights might be attractive to you and may not be quite as expensive as OB (also Hillcrest, but it's probably more pricey, too).

You might also check out La Mesa. If you live near the downtown area, there's a lot you can walk to and you're near the trolley as well. It might also be slightly cheaper (although still more expensive compared to other areas of East County).

[SDDoula]

Hi! I have lived in San Diego for almost all of my 29 years, and I have lived everywhere from East County to Ocean Beach, and everywhere in between. I can tell you a bunch of places that would be cool for you, but I tend to agree with everyone else here. You will want to stay central if you are trying to stay under/around $1000-$1500 rent a month. The further north you go the more expensive. The best place to find more information is to go http://www.city-data.com/ There you can go into forums and find out what cities are like. feel free to PM me for any more questions, I would love to help.

Also there is a Holistic Family Meetup group, that meets every month to talk about all things natural family. AP friendly for sure. http://moms.meetup.com/2685/ San Diego Holistic Family Movement Meetup

Hope that helps!

[Kimmie213]

I would say La Mesa would fit the most requirements.
San Diego has quite a bit of crunchy families, so you'll find them in any town IMO. You just have to know the right places to look.

[Jackies Ladybug]

north park, south park and hillcrest are awesome!
i would recommend all of them, and are very affordable!

I : north park and hillcrest, and then you would be close to me, and i am going to be unschooling my kids, as i accrue more!

[ZoeyZoo]

Many of the original suburbs around downtown are the crunchy areas (think about how far out these areas were in the 1920-1930s when most of the homes were built)... Mission Hills and Bankers Hill are other areas that are pretty crunchy "neighborhood" type place. They are west and south of Hillcrest (though they are usually more than some of the other areas mentioned like North Park). Kensington and Normal Heights may be options too. I see a lot of families walking and cycling around Kensington. Normal Heights is less than Kensington. There is also University Heights.

Someone mentioned North Park. While most of it is a nice neighborhood and there have been efforts to clean it up, it still has rougher areas.

The only area in north county that is crunchy is Encinitas. You will get more bang for your buck there too (i.e., 2,000 sq feet instead of 1,000). You will lose that neightborhood feel though with a lot of things in walking distance. It is more shopping centers and such in North County.

[Jackies Ladybug]

i live in north park and trust me, there are no "rough areas" anymore, the subway (sandwich shop, not public transport) has bulletproof glass, but that is just laughable.

i lived in ob for most of my life and the crime is MUCH higher there than anywhere else, but the crime here in san diego is so low its almost not even mentionable.
if you leave your ipod on your front seat, yeah someone might steal it, but that would happen anywhere.
i walk around my neighborhood at night and dont feel scared for my life or anything, i have great neighbors and its a pretty tight community.

[Jackies Ladybug]

oh, the area is notorious for having prostitutes, but the cops work really hard to patrol the main boulevard to make sure there are no problems.

to someone who has never lived here, that might seem scary, but trust me, prostitutes wont kill you. and there really arent creepy guys around here because the cops really deter that.

so yeah, if that was what pp was meaning by rough, i guess they are right. i have just gotten so used to it that i dont even see them anymore.

[zericha]

Moving to San Diego... Looking for AP-kid friendly neighborhoods

Thanks everyone for your help! DP is headed to SD the third week of Sept to scout out a home for us in Hillcrest, North Park or University Heights for Nov. 1 rental. I'm really looking forward to moving soon!

Can anyone recommend a cheap hotel/motel he might stay in near these neighborhoods so he can scope out rentals more easily without a car?

Are there great local spots to find rental listings, i.e. a local paper or a favorite coffee shop bulletin board?

Best,

Dawn

[Jackies Ladybug]

i would recommend craigslist, thats where most postings are, and good hotels are on hotel circle which while it isnt walking distance, a cab could drop him off in the area for around 5 bucks.

[mamadonna]

I've found my last 2 rentals on Craigslist. You might check backpage.com and the San Diego Union Tribune for online listings as well.

[natty529]

maybe the lafayette for a hotel...
as for coffee houses in the i would try twiggs in university heights or rebecca's in south park... also a good neighborhood (i live there

[jenleephotography]

Sounds like previous posters replied with some great areas! I just wanted to mention also that you can find more bang for your buck in the South Bay area too, it is probably not just what you are looking for, but we just moved here a few months ago from the East Coast and we live in the Eastlake area of chula vista. It's very suburban-planned-community type of place and you have to drive in order to get to most things (except our local starbucks) but it is the only place we could find a big house with a yard in a new-like neighborhood. Also, us "crunch-ish" people are all over I think Just may have to look more out here. Enjoy San Diego!

[tjlucca]

I finding this thread quite useful! We are moving back to Cali, this time it looks like San Diego. I am wondering how conservative it is!? Our DD was born in The Bay area. Could anyone compare/contrast San Francisco to San Diego for me. Conservative conventional consciousness is really what we're hoping to move away from (We are currently back in our hometown in Minnesota). DH, DD (almost 3) and I do yoga daily, bed share, want access to hiking trails and prefer to walk rather than drive. Is there a fitting community in San Diego?

[Jackies Ladybug]

i would really recommend ob, north park, south park, or hillcrest.
the rest is pretty conservative. there are a few other parts that arent really really conservative, but there is a lot of military down here and that usually ends up being a pretty conservative crowd i have found.

the areas above have the most crunch here, lots of baby wearing, cding and AP tactics in use.