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Congratulations! Its amazing how so many of us had the *exact* same experiences. And read the tea leaves correctly…

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I pretty much ride my bike most places. Errands are easy, as most car trips in the US are under 2 miles. My 10 mile commute from La Mesa is wonderful. I get to work energized, and get home having outpaced the worries from toils at the office. I don’t have to go in everyday, so its a nice break to walk into the Village a couple of times a week and work at a cafe.

I’m pretty out-of-touch with gas prices. In 2008, I drove to OB and was really low on gas, and I went to an Arco to fill up, and without really thinking I asked for “$5 on #8,” which is how I always used to pay cash for gas. THe fueling lasted about 25 seconds. I couldn’t believe it – about 1.3 gallons.

That being said, food prices will go up, since we have a petroleum-based agricultural system. Same with commodities, and a lot of people will be feeling it. But they’ll still get their $4 latte every morning from Starbucks (idling in the drive-thru).

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I had to run a bunch of errands around town on Monday, through many neighborhoods I haven’t ridden through lately. There was a lot of construction! From El Cajon Blvd. to Kettner… Just something I noticed.

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I would move here, rent, and apply to the charter schools and see where you get in. Einstein (Golden Hill), Co-op (Linda Vista), Museum School (Banker’s Hill) provide what the OP’s looking for. Then you might be able to live in an “urban” neighborhood in North Park/Normal + University Heights/South Park. These are good places for people who want the aesthetics of city life. Those neighborhood’s home prices are no where near rents, though. I think they’re really inflated.

That being said, I was very skeptical when we moved to La Mesa last year. And I’m surprised how much I like it – walkable downtown, custom houses, progressive community, Trolley, 10min. to downtown/airport, pretty much connected to the diverse urban core, but separate and quiet when you need it. Schools are excellent. I also like Allied Gardens, Rolando, and San Carlos in terms of value – but there’s little walk-ability there. Still great neighborhoods.

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Bold would be investing in infrastructure that makes our city more livable, and ultimately inviting to visitors: greenbelts, expanded trolley (and to the airport), bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure, small-business friendly density, investment in University and El Cajon Blvd. to help make these great urban avenues productivity engines. Each of these contributes to the “city of villages” our founders envisioned, and draws people into to both the place and the idea of the place.

What we need less of is crony capitalism that a stadium project represents. The Convention Center, I’m all for.

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Congrats on the growing family! Certainly clarifies some things. When rents begin to match mortgages for something larger with a yard, then it begins to make sense to me. Especially if its at least a 10-year residence. As has been and will be echoed here, pay for shelter, don’t invest. With cheap money, it can make a whole lot of sense.

La Mesa, in particular. Prices are very good, neighborhoods are quiet, tucked just outside the city proper, lots of families moving in as the original population ages. We wrung our hands over moving to La Mesa (coming from the coast), but we really like it. I’m surprised how much I like it. It helps that we found the type of house we liked (original mcm), but La Mesa has really grown on us.

Keep in mind that the yard, while a godsend for children (we have two little ones), will beg for money, time, and worry. At least in my case. I think about the yard *all* the time. There’s much I’d like to do, but it will be slow because of time and money.

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Why not just wait until popcorn ceilings become fashionable again?

I’m sure that sometime in the 2030s, 1980s pastels, white kitchen tile, and oak ‘n brass will be all the rage with currently rugrat hipsters.

[protorio]

Interesting this came up again, as I read this thread a few times as I was finally house shopping about a year ago. And we ended up in La Mesa. Near the village (on the south side of 8).

I won’t go much into it but its a long story, like most here: Years of bubble-watching, frustration at how my hometown seemed to change, friends thinking we were crazy for not getting in. We always liked uptown, but the prices remained out of our reach for anything but a teardown or an 800-sq. ft. 2br. We have two small children and I wasn’t going to get in a situation where I would grow out of a house in a few years.

So, we found La Mesa, or at least returned to it in our heads. With a home in the 300s in San Diego, there’s always give-and-take. Here’s what we love about it: quite, very few tracts, walkable downtown with independent businesses, large lots and relatively large houses, lots of craftsman and mid-century modern custom houses, trolley line to work, close to Downtown SD, great views in the hills, walking the hills in the morning, lots of life-long San Diegans, proximity to uptown and mid-city diversity (important to us).

Downsides is that it is really quiet – sleepy even. About 3 out of 10 houses are not kept up nice. University and El Cajon are not pretty streets, but if you like the hubub of urban life, they can be your lifeblood. Its quite warmer than OB, but not as hot as the rest of East County.

Schools are great. Cosmo’s rules. Riviera is a world-class hipster joint. 20-minute bike ride to Kensington. Terra moved from Hillcrest and is doing great. If you don’t think about housing costs, its easy to find fault with the town… but for us, considering bang-for-the-buck, it became hard to beat.

[protorio]

Interesting this came up again, as I read this thread a few times as I was finally house shopping about a year ago. And we ended up in La Mesa. Near the village (on the south side of 8).

I won’t go much into it but its a long story, like most here: Years of bubble-watching, frustration at how my hometown seemed to change, friends thinking we were crazy for not getting in. We always liked uptown, but the prices remained out of our reach for anything but a teardown or an 800-sq. ft. 2br. We have two small children and I wasn’t going to get in a situation where I would grow out of a house in a few years.

So, we found La Mesa, or at least returned to it in our heads. With a home in the 300s in San Diego, there’s always give-and-take. Here’s what we love about it: quite, very few tracts, walkable downtown with independent businesses, large lots and relatively large houses, lots of craftsman and mid-century modern custom houses, trolley line to work, close to Downtown SD, great views in the hills, walking the hills in the morning, lots of life-long San Diegans, proximity to uptown and mid-city diversity (important to us).

Downsides is that it is really quiet – sleepy even. About 3 out of 10 houses are not kept up nice. University and El Cajon are not pretty streets, but if you like the hubub of urban life, they can be your lifeblood. Its quite warmer than OB, but not as hot as the rest of East County.

Schools are great. Cosmo’s rules. Riviera is a world-class hipster joint. 20-minute bike ride to Kensington. Terra moved from Hillcrest and is doing great. If you don’t think about housing costs, its easy to find fault with the town… but for us, considering bang-for-the-buck, it became hard to beat.

[protorio]

Interesting this came up again, as I read this thread a few times as I was finally house shopping about a year ago. And we ended up in La Mesa. Near the village (on the south side of 8).

I won’t go much into it but its a long story, like most here: Years of bubble-watching, frustration at how my hometown seemed to change, friends thinking we were crazy for not getting in. We always liked uptown, but the prices remained out of our reach for anything but a teardown or an 800-sq. ft. 2br. We have two small children and I wasn’t going to get in a situation where I would grow out of a house in a few years.

So, we found La Mesa, or at least returned to it in our heads. With a home in the 300s in San Diego, there’s always give-and-take. Here’s what we love about it: quite, very few tracts, walkable downtown with independent businesses, large lots and relatively large houses, lots of craftsman and mid-century modern custom houses, trolley line to work, close to Downtown SD, great views in the hills, walking the hills in the morning, lots of life-long San Diegans, proximity to uptown and mid-city diversity (important to us).

Downsides is that it is really quiet – sleepy even. About 3 out of 10 houses are not kept up nice. University and El Cajon are not pretty streets, but if you like the hubub of urban life, they can be your lifeblood. Its quite warmer than OB, but not as hot as the rest of East County.

Schools are great. Cosmo’s rules. Riviera is a world-class hipster joint. 20-minute bike ride to Kensington. Terra moved from Hillcrest and is doing great. If you don’t think about housing costs, its easy to find fault with the town… but for us, considering bang-for-the-buck, it became hard to beat.

[protorio]

Interesting this came up again, as I read this thread a few times as I was finally house shopping about a year ago. And we ended up in La Mesa. Near the village (on the south side of 8).

I won’t go much into it but its a long story, like most here: Years of bubble-watching, frustration at how my hometown seemed to change, friends thinking we were crazy for not getting in. We always liked uptown, but the prices remained out of our reach for anything but a teardown or an 800-sq. ft. 2br. We have two small children and I wasn’t going to get in a situation where I would grow out of a house in a few years.

So, we found La Mesa, or at least returned to it in our heads. With a home in the 300s in San Diego, there’s always give-and-take. Here’s what we love about it: quite, very few tracts, walkable downtown with independent businesses, large lots and relatively large houses, lots of craftsman and mid-century modern custom houses, trolley line to work, close to Downtown SD, great views in the hills, walking the hills in the morning, lots of life-long San Diegans, proximity to uptown and mid-city diversity (important to us).

Downsides is that it is really quiet – sleepy even. About 3 out of 10 houses are not kept up nice. University and El Cajon are not pretty streets, but if you like the hubub of urban life, they can be your lifeblood. Its quite warmer than OB, but not as hot as the rest of East County.

Schools are great. Cosmo’s rules. Riviera is a world-class hipster joint. 20-minute bike ride to Kensington. Terra moved from Hillcrest and is doing great. If you don’t think about housing costs, its easy to find fault with the town… but for us, considering bang-for-the-buck, it became hard to beat.

[protorio]

Interesting this came up again, as I read this thread a few times as I was finally house shopping about a year ago. And we ended up in La Mesa. Near the village (on the south side of 8).

I won’t go much into it but its a long story, like most here: Years of bubble-watching, frustration at how my hometown seemed to change, friends thinking we were crazy for not getting in. We always liked uptown, but the prices remained out of our reach for anything but a teardown or an 800-sq. ft. 2br. We have two small children and I wasn’t going to get in a situation where I would grow out of a house in a few years.

So, we found La Mesa, or at least returned to it in our heads. With a home in the 300s in San Diego, there’s always give-and-take. Here’s what we love about it: quite, very few tracts, walkable downtown with independent businesses, large lots and relatively large houses, lots of craftsman and mid-century modern custom houses, trolley line to work, close to Downtown SD, great views in the hills, walking the hills in the morning, lots of life-long San Diegans, proximity to uptown and mid-city diversity (important to us).

Downsides is that it is really quiet – sleepy even. About 3 out of 10 houses are not kept up nice. University and El Cajon are not pretty streets, but if you like the hubub of urban life, they can be your lifeblood. Its quite warmer than OB, but not as hot as the rest of East County.

Schools are great. Cosmo’s rules. Riviera is a world-class hipster joint. 20-minute bike ride to Kensington. Terra moved from Hillcrest and is doing great. If you don’t think about housing costs, its easy to find fault with the town… but for us, considering bang-for-the-buck, it became hard to beat.

[protorio]

[quote=pemeliza] Here are some examples in Mt. Helix that blow away anything we looked at there a couple of years ago at similar price points:

http://www.sdlookup.com/MLS-110006266-9565_Alto_Dr_La_Mesa_CA_91941

http://www.sdlookup.com/MLS-100073352-4825_Mount_Helix_La_Mesa_CA_91941
[/quote]

The first one is by notable architect Robert Des Lauriers. Maybe Mt. Helix is where the deals are around this price (finding a bottom?). Coast and midtown seem unrealistically sticky to me, whereas many areas in the county are flirting with serious affordability.

[protorio]

[quote=pemeliza] Here are some examples in Mt. Helix that blow away anything we looked at there a couple of years ago at similar price points:

http://www.sdlookup.com/MLS-110006266-9565_Alto_Dr_La_Mesa_CA_91941

http://www.sdlookup.com/MLS-100073352-4825_Mount_Helix_La_Mesa_CA_91941
[/quote]

The first one is by notable architect Robert Des Lauriers. Maybe Mt. Helix is where the deals are around this price (finding a bottom?). Coast and midtown seem unrealistically sticky to me, whereas many areas in the county are flirting with serious affordability.

[protorio]

[quote=pemeliza] Here are some examples in Mt. Helix that blow away anything we looked at there a couple of years ago at similar price points:

http://www.sdlookup.com/MLS-110006266-9565_Alto_Dr_La_Mesa_CA_91941

http://www.sdlookup.com/MLS-100073352-4825_Mount_Helix_La_Mesa_CA_91941
[/quote]

The first one is by notable architect Robert Des Lauriers. Maybe Mt. Helix is where the deals are around this price (finding a bottom?). Coast and midtown seem unrealistically sticky to me, whereas many areas in the county are flirting with serious affordability.

[Author]

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