[quote=ctr70]…San Diego just has so many blighted, dingy, dumpy neighborhoods. Just square mile after square mile of drab, characterless tracts of home with unsightly strip centers posing as downtowns full of gas stations and chain stores (the 7/11 is the “anchor boutique store” of the downtown!)…pretty much most of East and South County, a lot of Central SD and Vista, Escondido, Oceanside. I’m not saying that to rip on it, it’s just the truth. As the poster said, SD just really lacks the interesting tree lined handsome neighborhoods with character like a Portland, Minn., Seattle, Boston, Austin. Places you want to live and would be exited about buying a home and living in. San Diego is a paradox, it is a place with an incredible gift of weather & landscape, but with a lot of terrible architecture and dumpsville USA neighborhoods. And everyone going 90mph on the freeway tailgating you in their gigantic 6 mpg Escalade or Expedition (waiting to get home to their 150 inch flat screen TV, all the while their bank account likely runs on fumes).
I have driven 91910 extensively, and I just don’t see it. It doesn’t seem like the quaint, interesting neighborhood I would dream and strive to live in one day and own a house:)
And in the more upscale newer areas in North County, it is sterile cookie cutter car culture suburbia. There are some exceptions of course in north county with the coastal beach towns west of 5. And for central SD… North Park/Univ Heights/Bankers Hill/South Park/Kensington/Hillcrest…are the most “Portland or Boston-like”. But even these areas have a lot of really dingy creepy sections.
OK…I gotta cut back on the caffeine now:)[/quote]
ctr, it’s a free country. That’s why I advocate Denver for you, specifically 80209 and 80210. We were just there last month combing those areas. It’s “expensive” but fixers are still widely available! You get lots of sf for the $$ (due to basements) and LOTS of character. Walk the Gaylord Street shopping area, ride the light rail and visit Washington Park. If you don’t have a dog, get one! There is the DARK, THICK beer at Larimer Square to sample, major league sports abound and the coffee’s great there, too at the Tattered Cover (multi-story) bookstore!
It’s 1-3 hrs from GREAT skiing! And only 5-6 hrs from your rental property in ABQ! Denver’s got your name all over it. I’m not kidding … airline fares are going down as I write this ….
Better yet, DRIVE there and stop in Glenwood Sprs to take a long swim in the natural hot springs and don’t forget to eat at the brewery:
