Doyle is a very good school. I’ve rented quite a while in UTC area – now in La Jolla COlony area nearby, and if we don’t buy, my daughter will go to Doyle and I am now perfectly fine with that. I am also looking to buy in PUSD but in no hurry, I think it’s more prudent to let the mess sort itself out, prices may go down, I may save more for downpayment etc. In the mean time, I am still looking, because it is hard to find something you really like – and if we do, we will jump in.
My advice is to look around but continue to rent until the oldest one is close to middle school. Middle and high school in UC are decent. I’d say from others experience that PUSD is better. But even there it depends on the schools – for example Mt. Carmel high is not rated as high as Westview, but both are good.
I wanted to correct the impression that you may get from BG’s comment. There are plenty of places in PQ that are older, quite a bit was built in 70s – therefore no Melo-Roos!!!, unlike its newer neighbor Carmel Mtn Ranch or parts of Sabre Springs. (MeloRoos appeared sometime in mid80s). Even newer PQ like some south of 56 (e.g. Pipilo street) built in mid 80s DON’T HAVE MeloRoos. Probably some do , especially in Park Village and Torrey Highlands, but you probably won’t find what you want there. But most if not all the smaller places you look at under 500K (detached) will not have MRs and many don’t even have HOA, or if they have one, is like less than $50 a month. I have looked at MANY places in PQ, although at slightly higher price point than yours.
Mira Mesa has no MRs – the demographics is heavily Asian and Phillipino as you probably know – more than PQ – and the recent school scores are very good for many of the schools, including middle and high.
BTW, I’d personally rate the Scripps Ranch schools as great, and if I’d buy a townhouse I’d be hard press to choose between UC (which doesn’t have many townhouses, BTW) and SR (longer commute though).
You may want to consider the townhomes in La Jolla zip code across I-5 like Southpointe and Woodlands. For NOW they go to Torrey Pines elementary, and go on to La Jolla High which are excellent. I don’t see any reasons that will change in the future, but who knows. They could end up going to UC high in that case.
With 2 kids, I’d go for more space in the house i.e. PQ.
