Townhouse close to work or house in the ‘burbs?

[SDEaves]

My wife and I have been following this site for advice for quite some time now.
We have looked at townhomes close to my work in the Scripps Ranch/Tierrasanta areas(less than 5 mile commute each way). These townhomes offer a small yard/patio as well as access to pools, playgrounds, and parks.
For the same price, we have also looked some SFRs in San Marcos.
Thank you!

[all]

1-2h in traffic every day sounds worse than few minutes walk to the park.

[no_such_reality]

This one is easy.

It depends on you and your spouse.

Do you want a large yard so your kids can play in it among themselves or would your rather have access to communal playgrounds that you can escort your children to?

Frankly, I hate commutes. Commutes are evil and suck the life out of life. The general rule of thumb I use is the commute time is 2-3x the commute distance. That San Marcos property, comes at a price of 2-3 hours/day you lose with your family. Every working day you live there.

The next thing to think about is future energy prices. Over the next five years, unless America sinks into a dystopian recession, I suspect you will see dramatically higher energy prices in California.

I’ll go on limb, by election time in 2016, California will have seen $8/gal gasoline. And your electric rates will be 50% higher.

[bearishgurl]

From the choices you gave, I’d consider to La Mesa (91941), to get a bigger lot, a charming, very possibly “custom” home and avoid HOA dues AND a fwy commute. 91942 may be a little higher-priced with more larger tract homes.

With San Marcos, you will be getting into both HOA and possibly Mello Roos (MR), not to mention a ridiculous commute.

Several of the Elementary schools in LM are very good, with Lemon Ave being the best, I think.

I believe a couple of the Elementary schools (Gage?) and Lewis Middle/Henry High in San Carlos (SD) are good schools also. You would likely get less house and a smaller lot than LM for the same price there, however, if you can even find something you like in your price range. This area would also involve only a surface st commute to Tierrasanta.

Good luck! I don’t know what is out there on the market right now.

[Essbee]

[quote=bearishgurl]I believe a couple of the Elementary schools (Gage?) and Lewis Middle/Henry High in San Carlos (SD) are good schools also. You would likely get less house and a smaller lot than LM for the same price there, however, if you can even find something you like in your price range. This area would also involve only a surface st commute to Tierrasanta.[/quote]

I can’t think of any way to get from any of these areas to Tierrasanta without going on 8W -> 15N, or possibly 125N -> 52W -> 15N. The only alt route would be Mission Gorge -> Friars and then presumably he would still need to get onto 15N. There is really no way to get over Mission Gorge/Mission Trails to the Tierrasanta area on only surface streets.

To the original poster, if you have checked out Scripps Ranch, have you also checked out Poway, Rancho Bernardo, Rancho Penasquitos, and 4S Ranch? The commute would be a lot better than San Marcos for probably a similar feel. Some have HOA and Mello Roos, and some don’t. The commute on 15S can be bad, but you could always consider a Fast Pass carpool lane option. Might not be too expensive if its not too far.

[spdrun]

What about an west-east commute and a home in one of the beach cities? If you’re going to live in SD area, do it right 😉

[paramount]

Townhouse.

[bearishgurl]

[quote=Essbee][quote=bearishgurl]I believe a couple of the Elementary schools (Gage?) and Lewis Middle/Henry High in San Carlos (SD) are good schools also. You would likely get less house and a smaller lot than LM for the same price there, however, if you can even find something you like in your price range. This area would also involve only a surface st commute to Tierrasanta.[/quote]

I can’t think of any way to get from any of these areas to Tierrasanta without going on 8W -> 15N, or possibly 125N -> 52W -> 15N. The only alt route would be Mission Gorge -> Friars and then presumably he would still need to get onto 15N. There is really no way to get over Mission Gorge/Mission Trails to the Tierrasanta area on only surface streets.

To the original poster, if you have checked out Scripps Ranch, have you also checked out Poway, Rancho Bernardo, Rancho Penasquitos, and 4S Ranch? The commute would be a lot better than San Marcos for probably a similar feel. Some have HOA and Mello Roos, and some don’t. The commute on 15S can be bad, but you could always consider a Fast Pass carpool lane option. Might not be too expensive if its not too far.[/quote]

Essbee, my bad … I did not consult a map. I just consulted a more recent Thomas Guide and it appears that Tierrasanta Blvd is not yet connected over the SD river to Princess Del Cerro 92020. Obviously, the Navy golf course (Admiral Baker Park) in the southern edge of Tierrasanta will never be connected to Tierrasanta, due to its topography.

It appears the best way to Tierrasanta from LM is SR-125 to SR-52 (fwy but short commute).

I did not mention the areas you did to the OP because he stated that they were considering condos in Tierrasanta and SR. Therefore your suggestions (above) and spdrun’s coastal suggestions would likely be out of their price range.

The SR-52 is akin to driving on the moon. There are few exits and little vegetation.

[moneymaker]

How about Clairemont/Linda Vista right around Mesa College. Nice homes when I was driving through there yesterday. Didn’t see too many for sale and not sure of the price but seemed really nicely kept for middle class neighborhood.

[The-Shoveler]

I vote San Marco’s Burb,
You never know where you will be working in 10 years,
What if you get a job in OC or Carlsbad 5 years from now ?
What if you get a Job where you can work from home ? (that extra space will be nice then)
Also JMHO but I think you will get more appreciation in the Burbs over time as the city continues its enviable sprawl err aah, I mean expansion.
(Believe it or not It is unlikely you will see 5000 high rise condo’s popping up in the city to handle the next 20 million population growth expected in SoCal by 2050)
But I kind of like my quite time in the car with the radio blasting stuff I can’t do at home so much, and driving in traffic only gets to me when I am late for something so I am weird that way.

Also I think 50-100 MPG cars will be very common 10-15 years from now, gas or some synthetic will not be that big a part of the middle class budget IMO (minimum wage yea it becomes a big deal).

[svelte]

Well, we are biased here since we did buy in San Marcos and I’ll tell you our reasoning:

– Access to SD, LA and Riverside county job markets (as The-Shoveler points out)
– Shorter drive from up north (before we moved to SM and lived further south, we would drive home from LA or other areas further north and invariably say “you know if we lived along the 78, we’d be home now!!”)
– Closeness to the coast (I think because 78 bends northward, most ppl don’t realize SM is only 10 miles from the coast…which is perfect for us! Not too close, not too far)
– Bang for the buck (yes, we enjoy living in a bigger house)
– Great school district (debated infinitum on this site)
– Suburban feel (we hate feeling boxed in, and we definitely feel relaxed in the SM area)

Yes, future gas prices and commute distance are a concern for sure, but if push ever comes to shove we can both easily get to our jobs using public transportation. The Sprinter followed by The Coaster or Express bus will get you to a wide variety of job sites.

On top of that, more and more jobs are becoming work-from-home (thank you internet!) and ours are about to turn that way too. So our commute could be going to zero anyway, no matter where we live.

And the 15 express lanes? Heaven on earth! We can now get to anywhere north of 8 – during rush hour – in about 1.5 minutes per mile. You can do the math for your situation.

Finally, after many years of driving I can tell you our threshold is about a 1 hour commute one way. That’s where it gets painful. But 30 minutes? I can do that easy and actually enjoy it if traffic is moving. It gives me a buffer zone to think about my upcoming day (going in) or family things coming home.

[svelte]

[quote=bearishgurl]
Essbee, my bad … I did not consult a map. I just consulted a more recent Thomas Guide…[/quote]

They still make those things?

I thought they would all be in museums by now. We cleared them out of our cars years ago.

[bearishgurl]

[quote=svelte][quote=bearishgurl]
Essbee, my bad … I did not consult a map. I just consulted a more recent Thomas Guide…[/quote]

They still make those things?

I thought they would all be in museums by now. We cleared them out of our cars years ago.[/quote]

LOL, I have several which are all for SD County. I still have (a thin) one dated 1977 :=0

I also have an interesting Thomas Guide “Census Tract Edition” dated 1992.

I just checked to see that my former fav longtime map store in North Park (SD) went by the way of the dodo bird…

http://www.utsandiego.com/uniontrib/20080827/news_1m27braun.html

My 18+ yo vehicle doesn’t have any fancy tom-toms or NAV systems. I have a bunch of paper road maps but the places I usually travel to I have been to dozens of times so don’t need road maps, unless I am in an unfamiliar city.

For south county, metro SD and most of east county (SD), I envision street routes and landmarks in my head, so don’t really need them anymore, except for *newer* neighborhood detail.

Thomas Guides are fascinating to compare to one another over the years … to see how Big Development has managed to (insidiously and completely) decimate every available hilltop in this county (buried ordinance, pesticides and radon be damned).

We all have our elected officials to thank for continuous gridlock and 1+ hour commutes. The gridlock even exists within the urban core as those suburban and exurban commuters have to go thru it to and from work.

Urban sprawl affects EVERY urban county dweller’s quality of life, no matter WHERE they live and is VERY detrimental to quality of life of county residents and also the environment :={

[bearishgurl]

SDEaves, the Piggs would need to know your price range to help you better. If you COULD qualify to purchase near Cowles Mtn (92119), LM/Grossmont (91942) or Fletcher Hills (92020) to get a (larger) 2000+ sf two-story on a bit larger lot, these tract homes are better for families and are very accessible to SR-52 which would make your “commute” very short.

You need to figure out how much more house $200-$300 month in HOA dues will buy and add it to the mtg amt that you already qualify for. If handled and presented to your underwriter correctly by your loan officer, you might be able to get more living space WITHOUT a long commute.

The schools in San Carlos, LM and FH are far preferable to those in Tierrasanta, IMHO, and all of those communities have several well-known parks and trails that YOU, as a homeowner, won’t have to pay for every year in the form of MR.

[bearishgurl]

[quote=moneymaker]How about Clairemont/Linda Vista right around Mesa College. Nice homes when I was driving through there yesterday. Didn’t see too many for sale and not sure of the price but seemed really nicely kept for middle class neighborhood.[/quote]

Agree, MM. This area is very convenient but may be priced too high for the OP, unless they buy a fixer and/or 2 bdrm. The commute to Tierrasanta from this area is via surface street for a few miles. Aero Drive accesses Linda Vista (via Kearny Villa Rd and Mesa College Dr) and Tierrasanta (crossing over I-15 to Santo Rd).

SDEaves, you may be aware that the weather is generally more mild in Linda Vista/Clairemont than the areas you are considering :=]

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