I would not go for the town house. The HOA fees will add at least another 20% to your monthly payment. So, if you could afford to get a $360K town house in SR then you could certainly afford a SFR somewhere else without MR and HOA fees for about $430-440K.
For your situation I would definitely add the Mesa College area (92111 & 92117), as someone pointed out in an earlier post, to the search. I also would throw in Birdland and Serra Mesa (92123).
