Poway was built mostly in the 1970’s and 1980’s, so you’ll find plenty of ranch style homes, larger properties, mature trees. Poway has maintained an extensive system of horse trails, and most neighborhoods, even the high-end ones, are zoned for horses. Lots of open space and preserves. I go running in the trails in the hills behind my house (the hiller, the more I love it). Poway is known for its schools, and the City of Poway has a budget surplus. No traffic congestion, except 2 main roads get a little backed up at rush hour. An excellent place for families, although the pricing has resulted in eliminating younger families and elementary school enrollment keeps dropping. About 1/3 of Poway is low-income, thus you see the low median price in the DataQuick results; those houses are in South Poway and their schools’ test scores are lower than the rest of Poway. We moved here for the schools, and we couldn’t afford the higher prices in Carlsbad, DelMar, and other good school district. You can find rentals in any neighborhood, as investors have bought houses all over town. We rented a 2500 sq ft house on 1/4 acre in a very desirable part of Poway, for $2500/month. So the prices are less than on the coast. We were the only renters on that street. Everyone else had lived there forever.

I am reading this for fun, and we plan to buy when the market hits bottom. My daughter is upset that she’ll have to go through high school living in a rental. I am interested in shorting housing futures, and am on their mailing list. I am also waiting for a good time to make a transfer in the retirement brokerage account, from the money market to some stocks. The stock market multiples are too high.