“Walkability” has become a main priority for most people today who are looking for a home to buy or rent. This is a big shift from the old mindset of people moving out from the metropolitan areas into the suburbs, where you have to drive every time you want to shop, eat out or even get a coffee.
Over the decades in most large cities across the nation, high percentages of people wound up moving out of the metropolitan areas as new development and housing moved to the suburbs, also known as the “burbs.” Locally, typical examples were our metropolitan and downtown areas. As places like Mission and Fashion Valley were being developed and new housing developments were being built, large numbers of San Diegans began moving out of the older communities like North and South Park, Hillcrest, University and Normal Heights, Mission Hills, Kensington and all of the metropolitan area to relocate to the suburbs. Over the years as the flight to the suburbs continued, the older neighborhoods slowly deteriorated and became less than desirable. But one big problem to living in the suburbs is that you typically have to get in the car and drive to go anywhere or to do anything. In the last couple of decades that mindset has shifted and now people want to be in a neighborhood where eating out, getting a coffee, shopping or just people watching can be in walking distance. This shift in the mindset has made the metropolitan areas in San Diego and throughout the nation very desirable. Here in San Diego our downtown and metro area, which are basically all the older neighborhoods surrounding Balboa Park, have become super-desirable because you can walk everywhere and as a result, you do not have to be so reliant on your car.
In addition, most new developers in the last twenty years have copied the old European village style, which is typically built with retail shops on the first level and residential condo units above. One of the first developments in San Diego to be built with this design was the Uptown District in Hillcrest on University Avenue. At the time it was being built, in the late 1980s, it was considered revolutionary. And although it took time to be completed and the units to be sold, it has become one of the most popular and sought-after complexes in the entire metropolitan area and has been used as an example for other developers locally and throughout the nation.
So whether you live in an urban area or the burbs, enjoy getting out and walking in our beautiful and amazing city.
Until we meet again, enjoy your home life.
Trent St. Louis is a licensed Real Estate Agent and a member of the National, California and San Diego Associations of Realtors. You can reach Trent at The Metropolitan Group at 619-300-1621 or at SpecialAgentTrent@gmail.com CADRE#01273643.
