# Help! Relocating to San Diego



## wendyt (Feb 24, 2011)

My husband has just accepted a relocation to San Diego, this has all happened within the last two weeks, so understandably we are in panic mode. We are flying out next week to look at Rentals and Schools, we have two boys 10 and 13. My first question if anybody can help is.... Should we look at houses in 'cheaper' areas or 'Condos' in more expensive areas?


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## ijsacks (May 28, 2009)

I live in Southern California and have some knowledge of the San Diego area. First...its a very large geographic area with several different school districts. Some areas are to be avoided, others are highly desired and expensive. Housing is also very expensive. But to begin your school search try looking up the San Diego Unified School District on Wikipedia...it offers a wealth of information including the national ranking of all public schools in San Diego. That's a good indication of a school's academic standards. Also visit the Coronado school district (a very expensive neighborhood) at the following site: edline.net. Then there is the SD school district site: sandi.net. They post a lot of data about each school including national test results. Don't know how helpful reading all those reports will be but perhaps you can contact someone at the district offices to guide you. There are public, private and charter schools, so you will have a lot to search through. 
I think the internet is going to become your best friend. You can look at census data which will indicate neighborhoods by wealth and ethnicity and there are also sites for real estate sales as well as apartment rentals. Good Luck and welcome to paradise...you will love the weather, the beaches, the lifestyle and you're close to Disneyland and a million other places of interest and fun in Southern California!


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## wendyt (Feb 24, 2011)

Thank you so much for your reply. I think we are slowly figuring out the district thing and you are quite right about the Internet. I have lost so many hours to it this week though that my eyesight is frazzled  
I think we have worked out that we would love to be in Carmel Valley but it is probably rental costs are too expensive for our budget, so have been focusing on Bernardo Ranch, Scripps Ranch and Powey, any guidance/ opinion/ tips on these areas will be greatly appreciated.


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## ijsacks (May 28, 2009)

wendyt said:


> Thank you so much for your reply. I think we are slowly figuring out the district thing and you are quite right about the Internet. I have lost so many hours to it this week though that my eyesight is frazzled
> I think we have worked out that we would love to be in Carmel Valley but it is probably rental costs are too expensive for our budget, so have been focusing on Bernardo Ranch, Scripps Ranch and Powey, any guidance/ opinion/ tips on these areas will be greatly appreciated.


Dear Wendyt; You got it right, my dear, without any help from me. Those north county communities are the best places to live. By the way, it's called Rancho Bernardo and it's a planned community...all very neat and tidy. This is the community that burned in 2007, if you remember. You can research that on the San Diego Union Tribune newspaper site. But all is well there now. 
Just curious about where you husband's job will be and what he does. Welcome to California :welcome:


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## wendyt (Feb 24, 2011)

Ijsacks, thanks again. Yes we read about the fire, but have been assured all is okay now. I keep going through phases of excitement and the feeling of being so fortunate to have this opportunity then within hours I'm thinking is it too late to back out! I suppose after out visit next week I shall be sure either way... More likely to have more questions I expect  
My husband will be an Operations Director in Chula Vista working for the same employer as here in England.


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## Crawford (Jan 23, 2011)

Husband and I moved to Poway from Surrey, UK in 2002. 

Poway is a mid size city approx 25 north and slightly east of San Diego City. It has lots of single family homes, good rental apartments, a great school district and plenty of amenities and outdoor activities. Also a good selection of shopping areas. South Poway is where the town originated and it now has a North Poway where houses and lots are larger. You can get to the beach from Poway in about 20 to 30 mins; Central San Diego in about 30 to 35 minutes. I would compare it to Guildford, Surrey - but without the lovely town centre.

Rancho Bernardo is similar to Poway, although it is in the San Diego City environs. Rancho Bernardo also has an older population being one of the original planned communities and having several 55+ (only people over 55) areas. However good schools and amenities.

Carmel Valley has grown considerably over the past few years with a huge development program so there is a good selection of new properties in that area - Milto Keynes comes to mind.

If you are considering purchasing property you will not have sticker shock if you come from the South or Mid England. Property prices have dropped considerably in the San Diego area.

Other areas that you might consider are Del Mar, Carlsbad, Encinitas - these are nearer the coast. Also Escondido, just North of Poway might be worth looking at.

You say your husband is going to work in Chula Vista. This is South of San Diego downtown, so he would be commuting quite a way from anywhere in the North of the County. Take this into consideration when looking at properties.

Let me know if I can be of any further help


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## wendyt (Feb 24, 2011)

Hi Crawford, thank you for your advice it is very helpful. We have looked at a few of the areas you mention, I just feel totally daunted by it all. Poway does seem very popular, and is definitely a consideration. My husband currently has an hour drive to work and would obviously prefer this to be reduced we will just have to balance it with all of the other considerations  I hope you don't mind if I ask you a few questions and apologise in advance if any of them are ignorant or vague. I suppose the first one is 'any regrets?' I have two boys and the 10 year old although bright is dyslexic do you have any idea how this would be supported? As you can probably imagine I am petrified! Lol, so any tips or advice would be great 


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## Crawford (Jan 23, 2011)

Hubby and I had visited the West Coast many times for vacations and my brother in law has lived out here for 30 years. We had always expressed the desire to live and work in the US.

So when the opportunity came for a job transfer we jumped at it, sold up everything in the UK, spent two years in rented accommodation in both Silicon Valley and St. Louis Missouri and then purchased a home in San Diego. We came over in our early 50's - I had a job to come to and hubby took up a job some months after we arrived.

We have never regretted it, although come Christmas and Holidays I do miss my sister and her family. Neither hubby nor I have any other relatives in the UK. The biggest regret I hear from other expats is that they miss their families. So if you have a close/large family you should take this into consideration. 

We do not have children so this might have made it easier for us to make the move. Sorry I can't help with the dyslexia question; although I could not see this not being handled by any good school district over here.

For my transfer we made sure we had medical insurance with the company (this is very important) and reasonable allowance for removals and set up costs. The company also paid for a rental car and rental apartment for two months. Since we were pretty sure we would be staying permanently we also had a clause which said the company would assist us in getting us our Green cards. The company agreed that if I was laid off within 18 months - and we did not have our Green cards by then - they would pay expenses to get us back to the UK.

Good luck with the rental and school search. I have an acquaintance who used to work in Chula Vista and commuted from Poway, so I have written to her to find out about the commute. Will let you know if and when she responds


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## Crawford (Jan 23, 2011)

Just found out that the commute from Poway to Chula Vista is approx 45 to 50 mins; sorry, have to put in the phrase 'depending on traffic'. That's on the freeway and my friend said that she left Poway at 07.30.

Something to keep in mind when looking at properties.


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## wendyt (Feb 24, 2011)

Thank you Crawford, that's a big help. I think we've sort of discounted Poway now but have it as a back up ?? We are having a visit soon and plan to look at the high schools and middle schools at Scripps Ranch, Carmel Valley and Rancho Bernardo as a starting point, so we'll hopefully have more of an insight then and will obviously have a clearer idea of where we'd like to/ need to be! Everyones help has been invaluable. It is a very difficult decision because as you mention family and mine are very close I see my parents two sisters and nieces and nephews here in England almost daily  but we don't want to have regrets and know we would.


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## wendyt (Feb 24, 2011)

Oh My Gosh  The HR dept of my husbands company in America called several schools for us today (Middle and High) so we can have some idea of where we need to find a property. Now call me niave but the schools for the children is the biggest decision we have to make! But incredibly all of the schools contacted have said we can not go and look around or even meet with them!!  
The most they have said we can do is look through the railings... unbelievable or niavity on our part. Please help, is this the norm or do people really choose schools on results and other peoples opinion. A very shocked Mum and Dad


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## Crawford (Jan 23, 2011)

Friends I have spoken to have never heard of this......they say that most schools are only too happy to show you around.

However, same as in the UK, you do need to be living in the district in which the school is. Maybe they are not willing for you to go see because you might not be living in that area? 

Personally I would contact the schools you are interested in (in the areas you are most likely to be living in) when you visit here.


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## wendyt (Feb 24, 2011)

Thanks Crawford, that is reassuring. From what I've read on the Internet, you go and visit once you are living in a schools district. Which kind of defeats the object of choosing where to live for the school. We are actually visiting this Wednesday, and my husband will be moving permanently this month, and us potentially mid august. I think whilst we are there this week we'll perhaps knock on doors??? How do you think they'll receive us? Thanks again Crawford


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## wendyt (Feb 24, 2011)

Forgot to say, in the UK I know when we moved into our current house, we went to see various schools to get a comparison, we just said we were considering the area and needed to be sure 
And also when it came to my eldest moving up to Secondary school we looked at many out of our area well in advance so we could be prepared to move house if we needed. I knew this relocation was never going to be easy, and everyones advice has been invaluable :-D


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

In the US, the real estate agents have lots of information about the schools - and can tell you which school district a given house is located in. (The price of the house will also reflect how good the local schools are.)

I suppose the schools are getting wary of having "visitors" based on budget cut-backs and security concerns. (Who's to say you aren't scoping the place out for the next "incident"?) 
Cheers,
Bev


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## wendyt (Feb 24, 2011)

Yes Bev, your quiet right and though our realtor is excellent and the Internet has every statistic and opinion out there. I still passionately believe that each child is individual and we feel best placed to judge the the school to suit our children's needs, that and the fact that having never been in, seen or experienced an American school, without seeming like a drama queen without these viewings/ chat we can't make an informed decision on wether It's for us  
We did consider the security issue which was the reason for handing the organisation to my husbands employer. I do think it's partly my naivety thinking that this would be a similar process to England, perhaps all the schools in a similar socially economic area are the same, I just don't want to lulled into a high rent area if ultimately the schools don't fulfil our childrens needs.... Wow I sound like an obsessive compulsive mum! Lol


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## JohnSoCal (Sep 2, 2007)

We lived in Poway and San Diego for 20+ years. The Poway school district is very highly rated which is the reason why so many professional athletes live there. Our son went to school in Poway. The Poway School District includes Poway, Rancho Bernardo, and Rancho Peñasquitos. Poway is actually a separate city whereas Rancho Bernardo and Rancho Peñasquitos are both part of San Diego.

It sounds like the job is in Chula Vista which makes for a long commute and the traffic is terrible during commute time. Our niece and family lives in eastern Chula Vista which is a very nice area. Parts of Chula Vista aren't the best.

The San Diego area is a great place to live.


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## wendyt (Feb 24, 2011)

Hi johnsocal
Thank you for your reply, I've been over whelmed with the help given, wow thank you  
We just had a short visit to San Diego and have finally decided that we are going to look to rent in Carmel Valley. Being a City person who needs amenities I ridiculously felt a little too far out in Rancho Bernardo/ Poway. The houses and scenery on the drive out there were stunning, however with the commute to Chula Vista and my aversion to being away from 'City living' we are concentrating our search on CV even though we clearly get a lot less for our dollar. We managed to speak to the administration at several schools and were reassured with what we saw. I think I feel that this is a great opportunity to sample a different 'life' and after spending the last two / three weeks analysing every aspect of the move and worrying myself sick, I think it's time to just roll with it, for my own sanity


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## JohnSoCal (Sep 2, 2007)

wendyt said:


> Hi johnsocal
> Thank you for your reply, I've been over whelmed with the help given, wow thank you
> We just had a short visit to San Diego and have finally decided that we are going to look to rent in Carmel Valley. Being a City person who needs amenities I ridiculously felt a little too far out in Rancho Bernardo/ Poway. The houses and scenery on the drive out there were stunning, however with the commute to Chula Vista and my aversion to being away from 'City living' we are concentrating our search on CV even though we clearly get a lot less for our dollar. We managed to speak to the administration at several schools and were reassured with what we saw. I think I feel that this is a great opportunity to sample a different 'life' and after spending the last two / three weeks analysing every aspect of the move and worrying myself sick, I think it's time to just roll with it, for my own sanity


Carmel Valley is a long way from Chula Vista and is no more City Living than Rancho Bernardo/Rancho Penasquitos. By City Living, what are you actually looking for? To me City Living would be downtown San Diego. I used to work right by Carmel Valley.

As I said, the eastern part of Chula Vista is pretty nice.


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## wendyt (Feb 24, 2011)

I suppose the thing I preferred in Carmel Valley was it's proximity to the beach and the fact that it was a shorter commute to San Diego and for my husband for work. By City living I mean theatres, museums, restaurants, shops. Strangely I prefer to look at buildings than mountains. We found RB just a little too north and Poway that little bit too far in. Yes we have realised that there are pockets of good in Chula Vista and it was a consideration, but on the whole the schools in CV won, but hey we are only renting so if we get it real wrong on the first go then I guess we can move. The difficulty is that I love the uk and specifically where I live and I'm naturally objective. I think ultimately if nothing else career wise this is a must for my husband. San Diego here we come


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## dongringo (Dec 13, 2010)

Take a look at Imperial Beach. It's across the bay from Chula and really a very nice laid back community with a great ocean and lots of rentals.


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## wendyt (Feb 24, 2011)

Thanks for that guidance  however my husband will be turning done the offer tomorrow so the roller coaster ride is over! It has been a real tough decision and we know we are so so very fortunate to of been given the chance. But after long discussions and reflections we have decided that we are happy in England and feel very 'rich' with our situation here. So the dream/ journey/ dilemma is over. Thank you so much for everyones help and support though it s definitely invaluable


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## twostep (Apr 3, 2008)

These decisions are not easy to make. Maybe you will be able to vacation here.


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## Russell26 (Apr 1, 2011)

as one dream comes to an end, another begins. Thank you all for contributing to this thread and my wife and I have certainly learned alot as we are both protective parents and schools are the driving force to where we live. Carmel valley sounds perfect for us, though I will be working from home so it doesnt matter where it is other than being in a good school catchment area. 

We too will be renting for a while and i am keen to learn more about Poway and Carmel valley if you feel you have anything else to add. Our son is 11 and will be 12 when we move. I will try and check on the schooling you enclosed in this thread.

I look forward to anymore advice you have for us to use.


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## Guest (Apr 2, 2011)

Here is one local magazine's guide to San Diego-area private schools:

Private School Guide - January 2011 - San Diego Magazine - January 2011 - San Diego, California

Same magazine's ratings of San Diego area's public high schools (but I realize that won't be for a couple of years for your son):

Great Schools - San Diego Magazine - July 2006 - San Diego, California


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## JohnSoCal (Sep 2, 2007)

If you check the links in the previous post you will see that all of the High Schools in the Poway School district are on the top 8 list. Poway's Middle Schools also rank very high. I wouldn't place too much importance on minor differences in scores. Often that is because of the demographics. There is only so much that we can tell you. You will have to discover the area on your own when you are here. There are other factors to consider other than schools not the least of which is climate. The climate changes considerably as you go farther inland. I prefer the hotter drier climate inland but some people feel just the opposite.


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## Russell26 (Apr 1, 2011)

JohnSoCal said:


> If you check the links in the previous post you will see that all of the High Schools in the Poway School district are on the top 8 list. Poway's Middle Schools also rank very high. I wouldn't place too much importance on minor differences in scores. Often that is because of the demographics. There is only so much that we can tell you. You will have to discover the area on your own when you are here. There are other factors to consider other than schools not the least of which is climate. The climate changes considerably as you go farther inland. I prefer the hotter drier climate inland but some people feel just the opposite.


Thank u all for this great information and poway is definitely somewhere we will look into.


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## Russell26 (Apr 1, 2011)

*Imperial beach*



dongringo said:


> Take a look at Imperial Beach. It's across the bay from Chula and really a very nice laid back community with a great ocean and lots of rentals.


Does anyone have any knowledge of this area? Schools are important to us but trying to find a agent to help us is becoming hard. 

Also, how does it work with property over int he USA? Do we find an agent and that agent has access to ALL properties available for rent or do we have to trawl through all the agents as we do in the UK? 

Grateful as ever for assistance.

R


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## Russell26 (Apr 1, 2011)

Russell26 said:


> Thank u all for this great information and poway is definitely somewhere we will look into.


thank you so much for this. Is there a local agent we can contact to help us try and find property int he local area? If you have any information that would be great. I am always very grateful for help and i hope one day i can buy you a beer to say thanks

Russell


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## JohnSoCal (Sep 2, 2007)

Russell26 said:


> thank you so much for this. Is there a local agent we can contact to help us try and find property int he local area? If you have any information that would be great. I am always very grateful for help and i hope one day i can buy you a beer to say thanks
> 
> Russell


All Realtors have access to the same properties via the Multiple Listing Service "MLS" with a few exceptions. The best way to find local agents is just do a search for "location real estate", i.e. "Poway CA real estate". You will come up with links to several Realtors in that area. For rentals, do a search for "location rentals"


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## JohnSoCal (Sep 2, 2007)

Russell26 said:


> Does anyone have any knowledge of this area? Schools are important to us but trying to find a agent to help us is becoming hard.
> 
> Also, how does it work with property over int he USA? Do we find an agent and that agent has access to ALL properties available for rent or do we have to trawl through all the agents as we do in the UK?
> 
> ...


 Imperial Beach is definitely not an area I would live in, especially with children.


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