At your budget you will find a little nicer/newer/larger homes in Mira Mesa than in PQ, from what I can see (I am also looking in both MM and PQ). Mira Mesa schools have become very good, many of them better actually than University City ones. The API scores are now close enough to the PQ ones.
North-West Mira Mesa around Calle Cristobal is especially nice area. It all depends what you want. Where do you have to commute to work? Do you have school-age kids?
