Speaking as someone who has lived in the urban core for years but comes from hicksville, I’d say density is best.
First your current job is never permanent. The job centers for most of San Diego are centered around the 56-8-5-15 corridor. Second costs of commuting will increase. Third if you take a minute and think about how much time commuting takes from you, posters here being ok with an hour commute 1 way! Holy titty fucking christ! Thats around 10 hours a week spent driving. You’ll never get those back and they aren’t optional. Will the bigger space, for the few hours you get to enjoy it, be worth it?