I started this forum 1.5 months ago and recently just bought a single detached house at the Stoney Creek community in Riverwalk and got a very good deal (sorry I won’t reveal any more details regarding price since I have not close escrow yet) Here are some of the “negatives” of the neighborhood and my take:
Small Lot
My home is only about 42’x85′ and the backyard is only about 15′ deep. But that’s OK with me, as I used to live in a house with a 1 acre lot and that was very exhausting to maintain. The backyard is big enough to hold family BBQ gathering and for my dog to relieve himself. That’s all I need.
Weather
Santee is indeed hotter many most other places near central SD. When I was there 2 weeks ago, it was noticeably hotter than Serra Mesa and Mission Valley. Thankfully the home has excellent dual-pane Low E window (I verified) that can block out most of the Sun’s intense heat.
Proximity to Airport
There is a local airfield about 1.5 miles south, and we all know about the recent tragedy in University City. However the airfield is civilian and the runway can only support landing of small/light planes. Also the runway stretches east-west so the community is not in its takeoff/landing pattern.
Proximity to Park
YMCA and Santee sport complex park is right across the street. Some concern that this will bring additional traffic to the Riverwalk Drive and noise. I can deal with the traffic, being used to live in NYC and I think noise from kids playing sports is really not noise at all.
Proximity to Woman Detention Center
It’s a 1.5 southeast. Fortunately it’s only a detention center and woman escaped fugitive doesn’t sound as scary as male fugitive on the run.
These are about all that I can think of. Overall, the goods far outweigh the bads, such as price, location, near shopping and within 20 minutes to downtown, La Jolla, beach, etc. If you’re considering the Stoney Creek houses, act fast because it’s almost sold out. We didn’t get our first pick and had to settle for the backup pick. If you’re eyeing the Canopy Park townhouse, there should still be plenty left, with another phase not yet built.
