Quote:
Originally Posted by eburress
I happen to like Golden Hill, Southpark, and if it's not too far for you, Pt. Lomas a lot. They're all more my speed than National City or Chula Vista. You might also have some luck in Banker's Hill, but it's been a while since I've looked at rents there.
The rail system works pretty well for events but it doesn't yet go where most people need it to go. Hopefully its usefulness will increase with its current expansion.
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Some of the North County cities are (relatively) more affordable. Not Del Mar or Solana Beach, but places like Oceanside, Vista, San Marcos, Escondido and even a few parts of Carlsbad. For affordable beach towns, Oceanside is (relatively) cheap; in south county there is Imperial Beach, but they frequently have sewage spills from overflows from Tijuana so the beach is unusable lots of the time. Before you rent or buy, research crime and homelessness. In some of the towns, it is an annoyance or worse. But in general, the San Diego area is somewhat safer than most big cities. If you like cool ocean breezes and overcast weather in summer ("May Gray", "June Gloom"), try to live within 5 miles or so of the coast. If you like summer heat and lots of sun, go inland.
As far as rail transit goes, the Coaster commuter rail has pretty frequent train service from Oceanside to San Diego. Bus service is widespread and frequent, but often slow because of traffic. The Sprinter light rail connects Oceanside, Vista, San Marcos and Escondido. The San Diego trolley (light rail) connects many of the south and east county communities, but will only extend significantly northward in 2021, when the extension to La Jolla and UCSD opens. There are no current plans to extend the trolley north beyond this point, but the Coaster train (and Amtrak) does make the connection. If you want to learn more about light rail service in the area, go to Wikipedia.com and type in "Coaster Commuter Rail", "San Diego Trolley" and "Sprinter light rail".