We may be moving to San Diego next year with my DH's job and are trying to work out the best area to live in.
We would only have one car so need to be within easy access of the city where DH would be working.
I know there are quite a few expats on Coronado but I have heard it is very expensive so our place we rent would be quite small.
Do you know of other areas that are family friendly, with good schools and within easy distance to the city?
I think I would prefer a house over an apartment but I guess it depends on how expensive it all is.

Mer

Hi There,

I have not been however just want to wish you well. I hope to get there next year while we are living over here.
I am sure the weather is a lot better than in New York LOL

Have a look at a site; city-data.com


It is a US site that is a wealth of that kind of info.
jump onto the forums, people are very willing to answer q's.

I have used it heaps of time researching our move to US.

Good Luck

Thanks Hutais. Can't wait to head to New York for holidays if we move.

I'll check out that web site coopersmum. Where are you off to?
I had a quick check but will need to get my suburb bearings worked out so I have some idea what suburbs we are interested in.

If you go to realtor.com you can search the city (its an American site) and then refine your search to "include surrounding areas" and its a good way of being able to see what the surrounding suburbs are if its not an area you already know.

I stumbled across this blog a while ago:
http://kennyanderin.blogspot.com/

The family and writer are just beautiful. They live in San Diego and it looks like a fantastic place to live. Lucky you!

Erin seems like a lovely person, maybe you could email her through the blog and ask for her advice?

My brother has lived in San Diego since 1995 and I've been there 5 or 6 times to visit for extended periods of time.

Its a lovely city with a similar feel, size, climate and ambiance to Brisbane. The suburbs are quite spread out and like any city it has it's good and bad areas. My brother has just moved to Poway from Escondido to be closer to his work, friends and the city. Poway is a northside suburb/city in it's own right. Many of his/our friends live there and the area is tidy, well kept and seems quite safe. He has also lived in University Heights which is much closer in to the city centre itself and you could walk to Balboa Park etc. and attractions.

Living along the oceanside is quite expensive, and yes Coronado would almost be the most expensive real estate in the whole place (but still a nice place with a seaside feel). The whole city has a heavy Spanish influence in the architecture of course being so close to Mexico.

Trains are good inner city but not so great further out. They do run frequently however and are cheap and easy to catch etc. They have an ok bus system but I found it hard to integrate the timetables etc. Mind you I was only visiting if I lived there I would persevere. I disliked the public transport because Americans (as a rule) seem to have much less of a sense of personal space than Australians which I found intrusive! This is the only bad thing I have to say about Americans though, you can forget every stereotype you ever saw about them and I have never had one bad experience interacting with the locals in all of my visits.

If you can afford it, there are apartments that are both child and pet friendly right in the city itself. I'm not sure what they cost to rent but I have been to one and it was beautiful (I will ask brother to ask his friend). Not large, but secure and tidy and right on the edge of downtown.

I will have a look and see if I can get some local info from my friends. Have a look at www.signonsandiego.com if you want a feel for the city, this is like a news site and will link you to more local sites for different things.

Thanks girls and an added thanks to mondayschild for taking the time to write all of that.

Finding the site city-data.com great too. Thanks again coopersmum.

I have spoken to a friend who just got back from San Diego and she said that if she went back she would only stay on Coronado. It works perfectly for DH's work as he can cycle to the ferry to get across to where he will be working. She also said schools are great and being able to walk everywhere means we wouldn't have to use the car everyday. Our rent will be subsidized by the embassy so we won't have to add too much of our money to it to get a nice place.

Now to wait till September to see if he get's the job...... such a long wait.....

Application is in and we have a 1 in 5 chance of getting the job. Hope we find out next week or at least early September. Can't wait to know what is going on for us next year.
.

Good Luck!!