I live in Scripps Ranch and used to commute to my office in UTC area. Morning rush hour coming down Spring Canyon Rd and taking Mira Mesa and exiting Pomerado took me about 25 minutes. Coming home on the other hand can take up to an hour depending on when you leave. People that I used to work with in CVR and 4s/DS could take 15-25 minutes more on average.

Regarding the higher income and better coaching/academics, I’m pretty happy with what my daughter gets at Dingeman since they offer Gate Seminar program and the children there seem to come from very good backgrounds. Also parent participation at the school is very good. Regarding Montessori, check out Scripps Ranch Montessori. Similar program to the one in Mission Bay which is very good.

Like someone said earlier, regarding education and neighborhood you can’t go wrong with either; it’s probably more of a personal choice. Personally I went with SR because I really enjoyed the house we bought; we can walk my daughter to the elementary school; minimal HOA and no MR; closer to my office and many places we go to on Mira Mesa. Also not sure if it is more East than 4s/Del Sur, but the climate seemed a lot cooler when we were house hunting a couple years ago. Maybe cause we live on a plateau.

Does anyone know which area was more recession resistant during the last one? To me it seemed like we were able to find more inventory in 4s and Del Sur and pricing was more reasonable when we were shopping. It seemed like for the $850-$1MM price range we could get around 500-1000 sq ft. more.