As a matter of fact I live in Santee, and grew up here. Your perceptions are somewhat delusional. As everywhere there are drugs in Santee. However, Santee boasts one of the lowest crimerates in San diego county. We also have above average schools..

“No point in living 30-40 miles from the nice parts of San Diego. I betcha the commute on the 52 from Santee is an absolute nightmare. ”

NOPE, not really, there is traffic but it keeps moving.

The commute to downtown is like 20 minutes. La Jolla is 10 minutes. You don’t live here and you don’t have a clue to what you are talking about.

It’s desert hot, 2 months out of the year. It sucks! (You have to have air conditioning, and a pool.)

No place is perfect. For the money, it is in my opinion the best buy in the county. Good schools, safe neighborhoods, nice homes, short commute.)