We’ve lived in both north county and south county in our time here. I won’t cover what you’ve called obvious (commute time, closeness to border) but here are a few other things we learned in our 3 years in Chula Vista:

– Whenever San Diego has some public works or business they don’t want, they throw it in San Ysidro…prisons, junk yards, public dump, amphitheaters, you name it. Not to mention taking a trip to the beach in IB means wondering what impurities you’re touching from the outflow of the lovely TJ river. I’m not exactly a NIMBY, but I sure don’t want ALL the less desireable things in my neighborhood either.

– Crime is an issue, and that may or may not be related to the proximity to the border. There were helos with spotlights overhead at least a few nights a month, I heard a neighbor’s car disappear into the distance, car alarm wailing, one night. Another neighbor came by and asked if I saw what tow truck took his car. I asked how he knew it was a tow truck. He said because it had no engine. !!

– There aren’t many professional jobs available in the south bay. My wife and I have found much better pickins in north county.

– And sort of related to commute time but not really: Whenever we travel, we head north (family, Vegas, mountains, LA, etc) and never south to Mexico. Therefore, living in south bay was costing us TWO HOURS – one when leaving, one when returning – on every trip we made. We’d drive through north county on the way home each trip and think “if I lived here, I’d be home now!!” This was a very powerful motivator to move north.

I’m not dissin’ south bay…we liked it for the most part. But there are definite advantages to living elsewhere, at least given our circumstances.