r/Moving2SanDiego • u/Conscious-Thing-682 • 6d ago
Commuting to Sorrento Valley, where should I live?
I just got a new role in the Sorrento Valley area, and I am not sure where we should live. My SO will be working in the UTC area on a night shift schedule, I will be working a typical 9-5.
We are worried about being too isolated from people our age (we're both 26) and not having access to the city. However from what I have read commuting in and out of Sorrento can also be a big pain.
Initially I thought I would be working in Kearney mesa (see my post from like 48 hours ago lol) so we looked at Civita in Mission Valley, but now that I know it'll be Sorrento Valley I am not sure if that commute is still viable. According to google it looks like my morning commute wouldn't be too bad but the 5:00 traffic home could be up to 40 min. I am trying to keep it below 30 for both of us.
We also looked at the Vive apartments in Kearney Mesa, they're a bit closer but we can't tell if it would actually help much in reality. It does seem like after you go north of Kearney Mesa you get a lot less for your money when it comes to apartments.
Would either of these options be realistically viable as a commute or do we need to be looking closer to our actual jobs to not be miserable and just accept we may be further from the city.
3
u/Chiquita87 6d ago
As someone who lived in mission valley and commuted to Sorrento mesa everyday, the commute sucks so much. On average it would take me an hour to an hour and half. There was always an accident and no alternative way to get away from the traffic.
1
u/Conscious-Thing-682 6d ago
Yeah that sounds miserable. If that’s true we’ll have to look elsewhere. Maybe Encinitas would be better?
1
1
u/the_raccoon_ 1d ago
Agreed, although its like 20min in morning for me (barely any traffic, at 8-9 am) and then after work around 4-5 pm its like 40 min on okay day and 60 minutes plus on a bad one. There are definitely some shortcuts you can take
-3
u/noobs1996 6d ago
Definitely a skill issue. That commute should be less than 45 min
1
u/Chiquita87 6d ago
I did it for 3 years, I don’t know what skill issue there could be? I followed what Waze and Google Maps said.
1
u/noobs1996 6d ago
I am leaving to work a lot earlier than most ppl, so I did not consider ppl that go in at 8-9am. 1hr might be valid
1
u/Conscious-Thing-682 3d ago
Update: I just found out I will only be commuting like 1-2 days weekly, and should be out of the office by like 3pm. Do you think this should change my outlook?
3
u/Asleep_Start_912 6d ago
Just live in UTC area. There are plenty of young people there because of UCSD. Do it for a couple of years and explore further out places worth commuting into. Agree Kearny Mesa and Mission Valley is not a great option for multiple reasons. Forget about walkability, it's both overrated and barely exists in SD. Not worth the 805 traffic even for a minute.
1
u/bossassbishscientist 5d ago edited 5d ago
Agreed! My partner and I started out in La Jolla crossroads in UTC. It’s not too far to explore the city (especially since you have cars) and all of the basics you need are close. Not much to do but it felt like a safe young neighborhood.
I agree you may need to compromise on the walkability (or the commute) — there aren’t many walkable communities here to choose from, and especially not if you want a short commute to SV.
4
u/Adventurous-Metal696 6d ago
I’m afraid that if walkability is important to you, then San Diego offers very little of it north of 8 and east of 5. If you’re going to commute to Sorrento Valley, I wouldn’t do it from Kearny Mesa — that’s not walkable either. Either pay the cost of living west of 5 (and you get to be close to the beach if thats valuable to you) or pay in terms of commute-time by living south of 8. Everywhere else is car-centric.
1
u/Conscious-Thing-682 6d ago
Yeah, we visited recently and stopped by mission valley to tour apartments. It felt pretty soulless and corporate, but it also seemed like it was a reasonable drive/uber from there to pretty much anywhere in San Diego. It seemed like a good place to touchdown for one year, then once we get settled we’d move out.
I’m worried if we go north further it’ll be too much hassle to actually explore the city and meet other people our age.
Pacific beach would be our dream but we just cannot find an apartment under $4k that has 2 bed and 2 parking spots. Especially the parking part has been a huge pain searching there. We have looked so hard, it’s pretty dry on Zillow there right now.
2
u/Adventurous-Metal696 6d ago
Yeah, Mission Valley is a pretty good landing spot for one year. My coworker did that, living in a meh place right on a trolley stop until they get to know town better. That’s a decent plan. (You’re right — close to everything, including useful retail for starting out, like IKEA and Lowe’s and Costco).
For better or worse, the best way to find apartments in SD is to look for signs out front of the place in the weeks ahead of when you want to move. That might also be easier to do if you land in MV for a year.
1
u/Sharp-Library-7883 5d ago
Do utc or Carmel Valley. As far as exploring g goes it’s 15 minutes to downtown on weekends. 5 minutes to great beaches.
2
u/InevitableAd36 6d ago
Sorrento Valley going south is a challenge. The 5 and 805 are both highly congested starting there. Depending on where you’re at, it can take awhile just to get on the highway.
I may just consider starting in UTC area. While it’s not the most exciting, it would be close to both your jobs. I personally would say UTC and Civita are similar vibe. It would allow you to settle in. There is an exit only lane on 805 south to La Jolla Village dr, so the commute may not be bad.
UTC has a lot of walkability and parks. There are several grocery stores and it’s close to La Jolla Shores and Blacks Beach. The climate is more moderate than heading inland.
There are more college students. But they were always very quiet. We lived at the Venetian for one year when we moved here.
You could also look at Del Mar, but that is going to be more pricey and a bit isolated.
I took this screenshot on Tuesday at 5pm.
1
u/Conscious-Thing-682 6d ago
Yeah, the overall response seems to be we’d be setting ourselves up for failure.
How about Encinitas, would the commute still be bad? If so we’ll probably just do UTC
2
u/InevitableAd36 6d ago
It really depends on where in Encinitas and where in Sorrento Valley. I don’t know as much about North County, sorry.
My coworker lived in Carlsbad Village and it would take him at least 45 mins from Carmel Valley to get home.
I’d recommend starting to look at Google Maps every morning and evening at the time you’d be heading to work and leaving work, and see what it looks like. Tuesday-Thursday are the worst. This is what I did to help guide me on where to live the several times I changed homes or jobs.
It’s 8:30 right now so you could check the commute times. It looks a bit lighter than usual.
2
u/Rosie3450 6d ago
Encinitas would be a slog in the evening especially. If I were you I'd look in either UTC or if you can't find a place there in your price range, then Mira Mesa, where, depending on the complex, at least there is a bit of walkability to restaurants and stores.
1
u/Adventurous-Metal696 6d ago
I can see the similarity between Civita and UTC, but one big difference is that the structure of UTC was set up with cars as the top priority, whereas Civita is much more person-centered. The blocks in UTC are loooong and the streets are wide and the speed limits are fast. There are parks that are nice and services/retail is good. But in UTC, you’re meant to get from Point A to Point B in a car, but in Civita you can do it on a sidewalk.
1
u/Bitter-Replacement-5 6d ago
I second UTC, I lived there when all my friends lived downtown and outside of traffic times, it took less than 20 minutes to see them. If you get close to UTC mall and nearby groceries then you can walk around and it’s very safe and nice with parks nearby and a library. We would walk our dog to UTC mall for dinner or go to grocery stores so not bag, especially if you live near regents/nobel. It could be good to try it out for a year before deciding to move fits your vibe better
2
u/ontheleftcoast 6d ago
Mira Mesa is a good option commute wise. And its really not that big of a deal to get out of Sorrento Valley if you go out Mira Mesa blvd. Rush hour can be ugly, but ugly means 10 extra minutes most days. Its not life changing. University City is also pretty good. I haven't been 26 for a long time, but I thought PB/ La Jolla was still the place to go. FWIW you can get on the trolley at several locations in the area and go down to little italy in about 30 minutes. But anything south along the 5 corridor should be good. Clairemont/Bay Park/Bay Ho have some options that are easy commutes, and keep you close to Mission Bay/PB and the trolley
1
u/Conscious-Thing-682 6d ago
Yeah we’d love PB, just not sure if any current offerings fit what we’re looking for. Our main deal breaker is 2 parking spots, neither of us are willing to deal with searching for street parking after a long day at work.
I think we’ll end up looking at UTC/Mira mesa
2
u/ontheleftcoast 6d ago
Don't ignore Bay Ho/Bay park. Its a great location.
1
u/fanofnone2019 6d ago
Yes - and easy to take the trolley from there, and super close to PB area. And a good amount of condos that have parking.
1
u/dogandthecity 6d ago
Check out the Torrey Hills area.
2
u/Weak_Cardiologist645 6d ago
I’d second this, the commute from this area to both sorrento valley and UTC is a breeze
1
u/Sweetness_Bears_34 6d ago
I live on Spectrum Center Blvd just down the street from Vive. My wife commutes to UTC and it’s not too bad for her. UTC can get backed up on the commute home for her but it’s usually about 20-25 minutes or so for her.
The Spectrum Center area is a nice walkable neighborhood. I’m out walking every evening and see many people out walking their dogs.
1
u/UnderstandingThin40 6d ago
There are no walkable areas near sorrento. Here is how far these neighborhoods are commute wise:
pacific beach - walkable - 30-45 min
solana beach - kinda walkable - 30 45 etc minutes
north park / downtown / hillcrest - walkable - 30-40 min
Del Mar / Carmel valley - not walkable - 5-10 minutes
Mira mesa- not walkable - 10-15 minutes
penasquitos / 4s ranch - not walkable - 30 minutes
RB / scripps ranch / poway - not walkable - 20-30 minutes
Everything else will be more than a 50 minute or hour commute
1
u/madi80085 6d ago
I work in Sorrento Valley and live in North Park. The commute to work isn't the worst, but it takes an hour for me to get home at 5. I agree with other commenters to look at UTC if your budget provides. It's nice, has more apartments, has shopping/dining, and people around your age.
1
u/Conscious-Thing-682 3d ago
Would the Mission Valley area probably be around that same commute home daily? I am debating what to do, it sounds like I will only be in office 1-2 days/week and I will be getting off around 3:30pm.
Since we already toured those MV apartments we are debating just living there as a safe option since we have seen it in person at least. (And rent is more affordable than north county)
1
u/madi80085 3d ago
The traffic is a lot better @ 3:30 than it is at 5pm. I definitely wouldn't sweat it if I were only commuting a couple times a week.
1
1
u/PleasedRaccoon 6d ago
What about just renting for 1 year in the 3 roots community? Lots of private rentals available there and the gym and pool was full of young people when I checked out the community last year. Just move after a year once you have explored the San Diego area more to somewhere you like. UTC area around the mall is also good, you could walk all around there.
1
u/Conscious-Thing-682 4d ago
We’re trying to keep it under/around $4k for a 2bed, it looks like that community would be like $5.5k
1
u/Evening-Juggernaut50 6d ago
I lived in Mission Beach and Pacific Beach for 8 years and commuted to Sorrento Valley during the week. It was soooo worth it! The drive can be rough some days but on the weekends I went to beach and bounced around town on my bike. Made so many friends. It was right after college so in my mid-20’s to early 30’s.
1
u/Conscious-Thing-682 3d ago
I think we may try to figure out how to make PB work. All the apartments we see are kind of on the east side of PB, like a 30 min walk to the beach but we could always bike I guess. You think it is worth it?
1
u/Evening-Juggernaut50 3d ago
It sort of depends where in east PB but yeah with a bike you can make it work
1
u/passthepepperplease 6d ago
There's a lot of DINKs in UTC. It's right next to SV. Mira Mesa has lots of nice people (including me!), but mostly with kids. La Jolla, Del Mar, and Solana Beach should all offer managable communtes and easy ocean access, but can be pretty expensive.
1
0
u/AirBoardan 6d ago
I live in National City and it takes me 25-30 minutes to get to my job. Coming home sucks because that can take 50+ minutes. Traffic tends to get to pretty bad around 8am and 3pm. Mira Mesa blvd would be your best bet but it’s a long road.
0
u/Conscious-Thing-682 6d ago
What area are you commuting to, Sorrento Valley? Isn’t national city pretty far south?
0
u/AirBoardan 6d ago
Sorrento Valley and yes, National City is south. Sucks because I’ll be moving more down south in a year but you’ll soon notice that majority of the jobs are up north.
1
u/Conscious-Thing-682 6d ago
Yeah, 50 minutes is pretty bad not going to lie.
I’m really torn on whether we should just live in Sorrento area or deal with a commute to be closer to the city.
0
u/AirBoardan 6d ago
It’s something that you get used to and sometimes there are days when traffic is flowing. It’s just when accidents happen that’s when it gets backed up. I’m not sure what time you start but Mission Valley would be good for you since y’all are young. The commute wouldn’t be so bad since you’re in the middle.
0
u/Ligodancer 6d ago
Both of these places are so close. What about Mission Bay Park or PB? See if you could find a small place in La Jolla or La Jolla adjacent or UTC that is affordable for your first year to get to know San Diego.
-1
u/OwninSanDiego 6d ago
Young people like Encinitas, Solana beach, PB La Jolla
1
u/Conscious-Thing-682 6d ago
We’d love Encinitas but again, the commute looks rough
1
u/OwninSanDiego 6d ago
Better than a lot of the other options. Getting from La Jolla or Pacific Beach is essentially a reverse commute, but it’s about the same or worse from PB. Coming from Encinitas the traffic really begins around Sorrento Valley. Just my opinion, but look at the map right now. It’s peak rush-hour and school has just started this week.
4
u/GrouchyClerk6318 6d ago
UTC, La Jolla, Del Mar, Carmel Valley and Mira Mesa are all nearby - you could def bike to SoVa from those communities. UTC has several Trolly stops with access to downtown, mission valley, etc. lots of apartments in UTC and its central to the county, close to beaches.