Chula Vista better schools and newer construction

[Scarlett]

[quote=SkyRanchOwner]Scarlett,

What did you end up doing/buying?[/quote]

Haven’t bought yet and probably will still wait a year or two…

Theoretically Chula Vista is not yet off the table, nor is San Marcos. We can swing our commutes to avoid rush hour and maybe work some from home. We are trying to get something nice and cheap(er)…so we could subsist on a single salary for a while – which seems to be in the cards sometime in the future…sigh. So we will sacrifice the commute for the price. But good schools is a requirement. San Marcos has the advantage of close proximity to biotech companies and such where one of us may end up working.

Note: We haven’t started to look physically into any other area beside PQ – we are just thinking aloud…I am sure to post more when we narrow down our search area.

[KIBU]

A few points:

Traffic on the 52 west in the morning rush hours is bad, and terrible on 52 east in the afternoon rush hour to santee.

Clairemont’s schools are questionable. Last time I check they sucked at the elementary level.

Tierrasanta’s schools, last time I checked, are not that great.

Miramesa has some good schools and worth a look.

Chula Vista has many great elementaries, diversity of people, new infrastructures and is greener than many areas in the north…..but due to your commute, I don’t recommend it unless you can change your work hours to non-rush hours. Commuting can be crazy. Plus consider if your friends/family are located in the north, then it will be hard for them to visit you. Well, forget about the commute, it’s may not be worth it and I know it’s a hard decision.

San Marcos’s schools are not great and may have a little more crime (?)

Conclusion: Maybe, miramesa will give you the best mix.

[KIBU]

A few points:

Traffic on the 52 west in the morning rush hours is bad, and terrible on 52 east in the afternoon rush hour to santee.

Clairemont’s schools are questionable. Last time I check they sucked at the elementary level.

Tierrasanta’s schools, last time I checked, are not that great.

Miramesa has some good schools and worth a look.

Chula Vista has many great elementaries, diversity of people, new infrastructures and is greener than many areas in the north…..but due to your commute, I don’t recommend it unless you can change your work hours to non-rush hours. Commuting can be crazy. Plus consider if your friends/family are located in the north, then it will be hard for them to visit you. Well, forget about the commute, it’s may not be worth it and I know it’s a hard decision.

San Marcos’s schools are not great and may have a little more crime (?)

Conclusion: Maybe, miramesa will give you the best mix.

[KIBU]

A few points:

Traffic on the 52 west in the morning rush hours is bad, and terrible on 52 east in the afternoon rush hour to santee.

Clairemont’s schools are questionable. Last time I check they sucked at the elementary level.

Tierrasanta’s schools, last time I checked, are not that great.

Miramesa has some good schools and worth a look.

Chula Vista has many great elementaries, diversity of people, new infrastructures and is greener than many areas in the north…..but due to your commute, I don’t recommend it unless you can change your work hours to non-rush hours. Commuting can be crazy. Plus consider if your friends/family are located in the north, then it will be hard for them to visit you. Well, forget about the commute, it’s may not be worth it and I know it’s a hard decision.

San Marcos’s schools are not great and may have a little more crime (?)

Conclusion: Maybe, miramesa will give you the best mix.

[KIBU]

A few points:

Traffic on the 52 west in the morning rush hours is bad, and terrible on 52 east in the afternoon rush hour to santee.

Clairemont’s schools are questionable. Last time I check they sucked at the elementary level.

Tierrasanta’s schools, last time I checked, are not that great.

Miramesa has some good schools and worth a look.

Chula Vista has many great elementaries, diversity of people, new infrastructures and is greener than many areas in the north…..but due to your commute, I don’t recommend it unless you can change your work hours to non-rush hours. Commuting can be crazy. Plus consider if your friends/family are located in the north, then it will be hard for them to visit you. Well, forget about the commute, it’s may not be worth it and I know it’s a hard decision.

San Marcos’s schools are not great and may have a little more crime (?)

Conclusion: Maybe, miramesa will give you the best mix.

[KIBU]

A few points:

Traffic on the 52 west in the morning rush hours is bad, and terrible on 52 east in the afternoon rush hour to santee.

Clairemont’s schools are questionable. Last time I check they sucked at the elementary level.

Tierrasanta’s schools, last time I checked, are not that great.

Miramesa has some good schools and worth a look.

Chula Vista has many great elementaries, diversity of people, new infrastructures and is greener than many areas in the north…..but due to your commute, I don’t recommend it unless you can change your work hours to non-rush hours. Commuting can be crazy. Plus consider if your friends/family are located in the north, then it will be hard for them to visit you. Well, forget about the commute, it’s may not be worth it and I know it’s a hard decision.

San Marcos’s schools are not great and may have a little more crime (?)

Conclusion: Maybe, miramesa will give you the best mix.

[Scarlett]

Thanks KIBU, I heard from my co-workers that actually 52 rush hour traffic got worse since they opened that extension.

Changing commute to non-rush hour is doable, but even so we are talking 45′ door to door for me and maybe 40′ for my husband (from Otay Ranch). On the other hand, PQ/Sabre Springs commute got worse according to my co-workers.

I disagree about San Marcos schools. The high school has improved substantially – API the same as the Carlsbad ones. I don’t remember the other schools. Commute – like Chula Vista more or less (+/- 5′ at non-rush)

Clairemont – let’s say you manage to choice the kid into UC schools – which is still a hassle and UC schools are not exceptionally great, except perhaps Curie. Still for the age of the houses and the school quality I think it’s still too expensive.

Mira Mesa is of course, still on the table due to the shorter commute and lower prices. Still, we did not like the general area, beside the Calle Cristobal one – that is pretty limiting to a small area. We will revisit it though, for sure.

I know, very hard decision! Maybe the prices will go down more by the time we have to buy….

[Scarlett]

Thanks KIBU, I heard from my co-workers that actually 52 rush hour traffic got worse since they opened that extension.

Changing commute to non-rush hour is doable, but even so we are talking 45′ door to door for me and maybe 40′ for my husband (from Otay Ranch). On the other hand, PQ/Sabre Springs commute got worse according to my co-workers.

I disagree about San Marcos schools. The high school has improved substantially – API the same as the Carlsbad ones. I don’t remember the other schools. Commute – like Chula Vista more or less (+/- 5′ at non-rush)

Clairemont – let’s say you manage to choice the kid into UC schools – which is still a hassle and UC schools are not exceptionally great, except perhaps Curie. Still for the age of the houses and the school quality I think it’s still too expensive.

Mira Mesa is of course, still on the table due to the shorter commute and lower prices. Still, we did not like the general area, beside the Calle Cristobal one – that is pretty limiting to a small area. We will revisit it though, for sure.

I know, very hard decision! Maybe the prices will go down more by the time we have to buy….

[Scarlett]

Thanks KIBU, I heard from my co-workers that actually 52 rush hour traffic got worse since they opened that extension.

Changing commute to non-rush hour is doable, but even so we are talking 45′ door to door for me and maybe 40′ for my husband (from Otay Ranch). On the other hand, PQ/Sabre Springs commute got worse according to my co-workers.

I disagree about San Marcos schools. The high school has improved substantially – API the same as the Carlsbad ones. I don’t remember the other schools. Commute – like Chula Vista more or less (+/- 5′ at non-rush)

Clairemont – let’s say you manage to choice the kid into UC schools – which is still a hassle and UC schools are not exceptionally great, except perhaps Curie. Still for the age of the houses and the school quality I think it’s still too expensive.

Mira Mesa is of course, still on the table due to the shorter commute and lower prices. Still, we did not like the general area, beside the Calle Cristobal one – that is pretty limiting to a small area. We will revisit it though, for sure.

I know, very hard decision! Maybe the prices will go down more by the time we have to buy….

[Scarlett]

Thanks KIBU, I heard from my co-workers that actually 52 rush hour traffic got worse since they opened that extension.

Changing commute to non-rush hour is doable, but even so we are talking 45′ door to door for me and maybe 40′ for my husband (from Otay Ranch). On the other hand, PQ/Sabre Springs commute got worse according to my co-workers.

I disagree about San Marcos schools. The high school has improved substantially – API the same as the Carlsbad ones. I don’t remember the other schools. Commute – like Chula Vista more or less (+/- 5′ at non-rush)

Clairemont – let’s say you manage to choice the kid into UC schools – which is still a hassle and UC schools are not exceptionally great, except perhaps Curie. Still for the age of the houses and the school quality I think it’s still too expensive.

Mira Mesa is of course, still on the table due to the shorter commute and lower prices. Still, we did not like the general area, beside the Calle Cristobal one – that is pretty limiting to a small area. We will revisit it though, for sure.

I know, very hard decision! Maybe the prices will go down more by the time we have to buy….

[Scarlett]

Thanks KIBU, I heard from my co-workers that actually 52 rush hour traffic got worse since they opened that extension.

Changing commute to non-rush hour is doable, but even so we are talking 45′ door to door for me and maybe 40′ for my husband (from Otay Ranch). On the other hand, PQ/Sabre Springs commute got worse according to my co-workers.

I disagree about San Marcos schools. The high school has improved substantially – API the same as the Carlsbad ones. I don’t remember the other schools. Commute – like Chula Vista more or less (+/- 5′ at non-rush)

Clairemont – let’s say you manage to choice the kid into UC schools – which is still a hassle and UC schools are not exceptionally great, except perhaps Curie. Still for the age of the houses and the school quality I think it’s still too expensive.

Mira Mesa is of course, still on the table due to the shorter commute and lower prices. Still, we did not like the general area, beside the Calle Cristobal one – that is pretty limiting to a small area. We will revisit it though, for sure.

I know, very hard decision! Maybe the prices will go down more by the time we have to buy….

[bearishgurl]

[quote=Scarlett]Thanks KIBU, I heard from my co-workers that actually 52 rush hour traffic got worse since they opened that extension.

Changing commute to non-rush hour is doable, but even so we are talking 45′ door to door for me and maybe 40′ for my husband (from Otay Ranch). On the other hand, PQ/Sabre Springs commute got worse according to my co-workers.

I disagree about San Marcos schools. The high school has improved substantially – API the same as the Carlsbad ones. I don’t remember the other schools. Commute – like Chula Vista more or less (+/- 5′ at non-rush)

Clairemont – let’s say you manage to choice the kid into UC schools – which is still a hassle and UC schools are not exceptionally great, except perhaps Curie. Still for the age of the houses and the school quality I think it’s still too expensive.

Mira Mesa is of course, still on the table due to the shorter commute and lower prices. Still, we did not like the general area, beside the Calle Cristobal one – that is pretty limiting to a small area. We will revisit it though, for sure.

I know, very hard decision! Maybe the prices will go down more by the time we have to buy….[/quote]

Scarlett, you are correct that the commute from Chula Vista to/from LJ/UCSD is 40-45 mins in the non-rush hours. In the rush hours, I would add 10-15 mins to that, barring any accidents. However, this time frame is only applicable to/from 91910 and 91911. These two zips (except for a small pocket of 91911) DO NOT have “newer” (>=year 2000) construction. The other 3 Chula Vista zips will take longer for your commute, unless you each pay the approx $88 month to use the SR-125 toll road to SR-54, SR-94, I-8 or SR-52 … or commute to work together to save one monthly toll.

I wouldn’t count on being able to “choice” into UC schools as a Clairemont resident unless your children qualify for VEEP status or a magnet program (into Spreckels, NOT Curie). If you want Curie for your kids, you will have to move into its attendance area, IMO.

Chula Vista Elementary School District IS a very good district. It has many top-rated schools. Sweetwater Union HS District ALSO has several great schools. In addition, SUHSD has a partnership with SDSU called “Compact for Success.”

See: http://coe.sdsu.edu/compact/partners.php

The compact guarantees admission to SDSU to an incoming freshman from SUHSD with a HS GPA of 3.00.

[bearishgurl]

[quote=Scarlett]Thanks KIBU, I heard from my co-workers that actually 52 rush hour traffic got worse since they opened that extension.

Changing commute to non-rush hour is doable, but even so we are talking 45′ door to door for me and maybe 40′ for my husband (from Otay Ranch). On the other hand, PQ/Sabre Springs commute got worse according to my co-workers.

I disagree about San Marcos schools. The high school has improved substantially – API the same as the Carlsbad ones. I don’t remember the other schools. Commute – like Chula Vista more or less (+/- 5′ at non-rush)

Clairemont – let’s say you manage to choice the kid into UC schools – which is still a hassle and UC schools are not exceptionally great, except perhaps Curie. Still for the age of the houses and the school quality I think it’s still too expensive.

Mira Mesa is of course, still on the table due to the shorter commute and lower prices. Still, we did not like the general area, beside the Calle Cristobal one – that is pretty limiting to a small area. We will revisit it though, for sure.

I know, very hard decision! Maybe the prices will go down more by the time we have to buy….[/quote]

Scarlett, you are correct that the commute from Chula Vista to/from LJ/UCSD is 40-45 mins in the non-rush hours. In the rush hours, I would add 10-15 mins to that, barring any accidents. However, this time frame is only applicable to/from 91910 and 91911. These two zips (except for a small pocket of 91911) DO NOT have “newer” (>=year 2000) construction. The other 3 Chula Vista zips will take longer for your commute, unless you each pay the approx $88 month to use the SR-125 toll road to SR-54, SR-94, I-8 or SR-52 … or commute to work together to save one monthly toll.

I wouldn’t count on being able to “choice” into UC schools as a Clairemont resident unless your children qualify for VEEP status or a magnet program (into Spreckels, NOT Curie). If you want Curie for your kids, you will have to move into its attendance area, IMO.

Chula Vista Elementary School District IS a very good district. It has many top-rated schools. Sweetwater Union HS District ALSO has several great schools. In addition, SUHSD has a partnership with SDSU called “Compact for Success.”

See: http://coe.sdsu.edu/compact/partners.php

The compact guarantees admission to SDSU to an incoming freshman from SUHSD with a HS GPA of 3.00.

[bearishgurl]

[quote=Scarlett]Thanks KIBU, I heard from my co-workers that actually 52 rush hour traffic got worse since they opened that extension.

Changing commute to non-rush hour is doable, but even so we are talking 45′ door to door for me and maybe 40′ for my husband (from Otay Ranch). On the other hand, PQ/Sabre Springs commute got worse according to my co-workers.

I disagree about San Marcos schools. The high school has improved substantially – API the same as the Carlsbad ones. I don’t remember the other schools. Commute – like Chula Vista more or less (+/- 5′ at non-rush)

Clairemont – let’s say you manage to choice the kid into UC schools – which is still a hassle and UC schools are not exceptionally great, except perhaps Curie. Still for the age of the houses and the school quality I think it’s still too expensive.

Mira Mesa is of course, still on the table due to the shorter commute and lower prices. Still, we did not like the general area, beside the Calle Cristobal one – that is pretty limiting to a small area. We will revisit it though, for sure.

I know, very hard decision! Maybe the prices will go down more by the time we have to buy….[/quote]

Scarlett, you are correct that the commute from Chula Vista to/from LJ/UCSD is 40-45 mins in the non-rush hours. In the rush hours, I would add 10-15 mins to that, barring any accidents. However, this time frame is only applicable to/from 91910 and 91911. These two zips (except for a small pocket of 91911) DO NOT have “newer” (>=year 2000) construction. The other 3 Chula Vista zips will take longer for your commute, unless you each pay the approx $88 month to use the SR-125 toll road to SR-54, SR-94, I-8 or SR-52 … or commute to work together to save one monthly toll.

I wouldn’t count on being able to “choice” into UC schools as a Clairemont resident unless your children qualify for VEEP status or a magnet program (into Spreckels, NOT Curie). If you want Curie for your kids, you will have to move into its attendance area, IMO.

Chula Vista Elementary School District IS a very good district. It has many top-rated schools. Sweetwater Union HS District ALSO has several great schools. In addition, SUHSD has a partnership with SDSU called “Compact for Success.”

See: http://coe.sdsu.edu/compact/partners.php

The compact guarantees admission to SDSU to an incoming freshman from SUHSD with a HS GPA of 3.00.

[bearishgurl]

[quote=Scarlett]Thanks KIBU, I heard from my co-workers that actually 52 rush hour traffic got worse since they opened that extension.

Changing commute to non-rush hour is doable, but even so we are talking 45′ door to door for me and maybe 40′ for my husband (from Otay Ranch). On the other hand, PQ/Sabre Springs commute got worse according to my co-workers.

I disagree about San Marcos schools. The high school has improved substantially – API the same as the Carlsbad ones. I don’t remember the other schools. Commute – like Chula Vista more or less (+/- 5′ at non-rush)

Clairemont – let’s say you manage to choice the kid into UC schools – which is still a hassle and UC schools are not exceptionally great, except perhaps Curie. Still for the age of the houses and the school quality I think it’s still too expensive.

Mira Mesa is of course, still on the table due to the shorter commute and lower prices. Still, we did not like the general area, beside the Calle Cristobal one – that is pretty limiting to a small area. We will revisit it though, for sure.

I know, very hard decision! Maybe the prices will go down more by the time we have to buy….[/quote]

Scarlett, you are correct that the commute from Chula Vista to/from LJ/UCSD is 40-45 mins in the non-rush hours. In the rush hours, I would add 10-15 mins to that, barring any accidents. However, this time frame is only applicable to/from 91910 and 91911. These two zips (except for a small pocket of 91911) DO NOT have “newer” (>=year 2000) construction. The other 3 Chula Vista zips will take longer for your commute, unless you each pay the approx $88 month to use the SR-125 toll road to SR-54, SR-94, I-8 or SR-52 … or commute to work together to save one monthly toll.

I wouldn’t count on being able to “choice” into UC schools as a Clairemont resident unless your children qualify for VEEP status or a magnet program (into Spreckels, NOT Curie). If you want Curie for your kids, you will have to move into its attendance area, IMO.

Chula Vista Elementary School District IS a very good district. It has many top-rated schools. Sweetwater Union HS District ALSO has several great schools. In addition, SUHSD has a partnership with SDSU called “Compact for Success.”

See: http://coe.sdsu.edu/compact/partners.php

The compact guarantees admission to SDSU to an incoming freshman from SUHSD with a HS GPA of 3.00.

[Author]

Posts