My wife and I recently bought a gorgeous home in the northern, Victoria neighborhood of Alpine and are extremely happy with it. For the past 7 years we have lived in Sunset Cliffs and always thought we would stay there. Interestingly, I have a better view of the ocean (and whole city) right now than I used to living one block from the ocean.
What I like about Alpine is the quiet country atmosphere. I know I am going to get a lot of slack for this from other posters, but it reminds me of a less developed Rancho Santa Fe. I think Alpine is “in the path of progress” and might not turn out to be a bad investment long term. Remember what they used to say about Santee, etc… Right now prices are shockingly low compared to SC prices. When we went into escrow, I was prepared to get lots of comments from friends about Alpine, but have instead been surprised to learn how beautiful everyone thinks it is, and several people seem envious.
In the meantime, I get land (3 acres) 4,000 sq w guest house, pool, orchard, room to build and a million dollar view. Not bad for a quiet country life.
I think if you don’t mind living away from the beaches, its a great place to look. Plus, I would rather go east-west twice than go north-south to my office downtown.
