San Diego vs. Portland?
I have family in northern San Diego county (Encinitas). They, admittedly, live in a fairly well-off neighborhood, but other parts of Encinitas and surrounding areas are fine and a bit more affordable (though “affordable” by SoCal standards is expensive compared to most places). For what it’s worth, the kidlet has been in public schools in Encinitas for all of her almost 15 years and she’s doing just fine – the schools in her area are pretty decent. I’d say stick with the north county beach cities, as opposed to downtown, and spend some time around there figuring out if you like it.
California schools are crap, and living in one of the few recommended school districts will cost you. The housing market has cooled somewhat and I’m seeing lots of houses hanging on the market but they’re still all overpriced. You might like the northern beach areas, like Encinitas/Leucadia; they’re more relaxed there, it’s right on the coast so you can get a decent amount of fog, and there’s a light rail commuter train that runs along the coast, so you can get to work without driving. As a rule, expect about a degree increase in average daily temp for each mile you go inland. Coastal areas are generally cool and moist year round, as you go inland you get sweltering summers and occasional ice on your car on a winter morning. Downtown is going through a significant wave of gentrification. It’s all very modern and homogenized now; funky old buildings are razed to make room for “lofts” that are decorated with Laura Ashley furniture. It’s very un-Portland. San Diegans have a strangely smal
On preview: -urban sprawl, making it nearly impossible to live without a car This is almost absolutely true. -ungodly traffic/commutes Traffic here is light years from “ungodly”. We have rush hour, and that’s pretty much it. If you work downtown and have to commute to north county, then yeah, you’re fucked. So, don’t do that. Until recently, I had a 15 mile commute that took me 20 minutes to complete, which isn’t a bad deal at all. LA, where you can get caught in traffic almost anywhere going to anywhere else at almost any time, is ungodly. We’re merely “inconvenient”. Maybe “bad”.
