BG may rub some people the wrong way but I believe that there is some truth in what she says.
However … BG you seem to be referring to an era in SD when housing close to downtown SD was much more affordable. When you could buy an old house close in to SD for 150k-200k that had good bones and a great location, that was certainly an attractive proposition for a middle class family. These days that same house is 600-700k and frankly for that kind of money most people are not looking for a “project”. BTW, those same families that bought when prices in SD were dirt cheap are also some of the main benefactors of prop 13 and have ridiculously low property tax bills now compared to what today’s family is looking at.