Jumby the diversity in neighborhoods even within 20 minutes of downtown is substantial! You can choose from beautiful views looking east from Shelter Island, (this would be the high end of your range… and needs some more depreciation to come down to 1M) to coffee houses in Hillcrest or Mission Hills… to lake views up top of Del Cerro… to looking over Mission Bay in Baypark…I could go on and on…
Same with the quality of schools, the quality and age of the homes, lot sizes etc… It is really a tough question to answer. Even within localized areas there are differences. For instance Kensington and Normal Heights share 92116 but are quite different. They border Hillcrest and Mission Hills and those areas are quite different from them. Schools vary widely as well.
Can you perhaps list a priority of what is most important?
Also even with that priority list I could not advise anything more then to live in San Diego for awhile before you even consider buying. Rent for a year and spend a few months checking out potential neighborhoods for your purchase.
