What is it like to live in La Mesa, California?

Thinking about moving to La Mesa in San Diego, California? Read on or watch this video to learn all about what it’s like to live in La Mesa California

La Mesa is located just East of San Diego. It is the first city that you hit as you move East from the City of San Diego. It is located in the County of San Diego. It is considered the first part of East County, San Diego. East County, San Diego is made up of a number of cities and communities, including La Mesa, El Cajon, Santee, Lakeside, Alpine, Jamul, and a few others thrown in there as well. 

The main freeway to get to La Mesa from San Diego is going to be the 8 freeway. It cuts right through La Mesa and it’s border on the East by the 125 and by the 94 freeway to the South. And some of the main roads through La Mesa are La Mesa Boulevard, University Avenue, El Cajon Boulevard, those run East to West. And then you also have Lake Murray Boulevard runs through there and Spring Street. These are going to be some of your main roads getting through La Mesa. Also, Jackson Drive is a pretty big road right off the freeway as well connecting parts of La Mesa.

What is La Mesa Like?

A lot of people really love the Mesa because it’s super quaint and it’s a lot more affordable than the City of San Diego. Actually, what a lot of young professionals that are now turning into the young families are doing they’re moving from the City of San Diego out into La Mesa because there’s parts of La Mesa that actually feel a lot like North Park can kind of that Uptown area of San Diego, but without the sticker shock of North Park. That being said, La Mesa is certainly getting more expensive as the whole entire county rises in price. 

Home Prices in La Mesa

La Mesa has been kind of discovered a little bit more because of some of its affordability. Depending on where you are in La Mesa, the median price is going to vary a little bit. There’s a couple zip codes here. If you’re in the main part of La Mesa right now, the median price is just under $900,000. But if you’re more in the Mount Helix area of La Mesa, the median price is over $1.1 million. And realistically to buy a home in Mount helix, you’re going to be really paying anywhere from about $1.5 million on the low end, but really about $2 million on up for a home of Mount helix. And we’ll cover a little bit more about what Mount helix is in a minute.

Types of Homes in La Mesa

A lot of the homes you can find here are going to be 3 bedroom homes. A lot of mid-century homes that you’ll find here as well, but because like I said, it’s a lot like North Park in an Uptown area, there’s a lot of Craftsmen and Spanish style homes in the older part of La Mesa. Most of those homes were built 80 to a 100 years ago in the older part of La Mesa right around the Downtown La Mesa area. The rest of La Mesa was built out in the 1960s-1970s. 

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And so that’s where you get the more mid century homes. Now, what people really love about La Mesa is the Downtown La Mesa and people come of course, from all over La Mesa, but also from San Diego and other parts of East County to spend time in Downtown La Mesa or right around there.

Downtown La Mesa has La Mesa Boulevard cutting right through it.

Restaurants and Bars in La Mesa 

And it’s a really, really quaint area, but super cool restaurants and shops that you’ll find here in La Mesa. Some of the places that I really love going to are Hoffer’s, which is a cigar lounge and beer bar; absolutely fantastic beers that they have on tap. And if you like smoking a cigar or pipe, they have a back area, you can sit and do that as well. You don’t find that too often in San Diego is most people don’t smoke, but a lot of people do like to enjoy a cigar every once in a while.

There’s also City Tacos, which is a really great Mexican restaurant here. They also have craft beer on tap, but they’re really, really well-known for their tacos. And of course their burritos, they kind of put a gourmet spin on the typical Mexican fare. Another really popular restaurant is Farmer’s Table. It’s a farm to table fair, of course. And it is rather expensive. Be prepared for that, but people absolutely love that. And BO-beau’s Restaurant is also a fantastic restaurant, kind of a higher end restaurant as well, definitely worth checking out great wine selection and old fashioned that you’ll find there as well. 

And if you’re looking for a great breakfast or lunch spot, then you’ll want to check out Sheldon’s Service Station. It’s an absolutely fantastic breakfast and lunch spot, not open for dinner. And they converted an old gas station or service station into a little restaurant. Absolutely fantastic place to go for breakfast and lunch and enjoy a meal with a friend.

And another place that I really love going in La Mesa that’s right outside of Downtown La Mesa, but on La Mesa Boulevard still is called The Hills Pub. I’ve been going to this place for years and they have an absolutely fantastic happy hour from about 3pm-6pm.You can get $4 beers for happy hour. They might raise the prices soon, you never know, but right now, absolutely great happy hour and great appetizers. Just good pub food in a really, really fun environment. They really make a point to know your name if you go there regularly, But even if you just walk in for the first time, they’re going to ask you what your name is, and they’re going to refer to you by your first name, the whole time you’re there, which is really, really cool. They do a spin the wheel thing for happy hour for different specials. 

And they have a whole backyard area that they built in 2020 and 2021 during COVID. But fortunately they kept it open. So that provides an opportunity to enjoy the outdoors while you’re enjoying the beer, which actually in San Diego, believe it or not even with the great weather that we have, we tend to not have a lot of places that have patios. You can actually enjoy the sunshine while you’re eating or drinking. The Hills is definitely a spot worth checking out. My family, and I love to go there and I love going to meet people for drinks as well.

Activities You Can Do in La Mesa & Schools

La Mesa is right next to Lake Murray. So Lake Murray is an awesome lake. You can walk around. A lot of people walk, run, or bike it. You can’t go all the way around it, but you can do the loop and come back. And it’s about 5 miles in total. It borders Lake Murray and then just to the North of La Mesa is Cowles Mountain. Cowles Mountain is the highest peak in the City of San Diego. And you have a 360 degree view at the top. It’s about a 3 mile round trip hike, and people really love doing it just for daily exercise. My dad used to hike Cowles Mountain and regularly every single week, sometimes a couple of times a week. And people will use this mountain for training for other more strenuous hikes throughout the Sierras of San Diego. We are not in the Sierras, but people will train here in Iron Mountain to get ready for hikes in other parts of California. That’s just right outside of La Mesa.

La Mesa is also right next to San Diego State University. If you’re going to school there, you have kids that are going to school there, La Mesa is a great place to be cause you’re right next to it and can easily commute over. Or if you’re looking for rentals that would service the college area or the San Diego State University area, La Mesa is a great place as well. La Mesa really is a fantastic place for families. There are so many families that moved to La Mesa. As I mentioned, a lot of young professionals are moving from San Diego into La Mesa, but a lot of people grew up in La Mesa and just stay there because they absolutely love living in there. And it’s so family friendly.

There are some really good schools in La Mesa, Helix High School being a main high school there, and people have a lot of affinity for Helix High. That is definitely a fantastic high school.

Homes you can buy in La Mesa

Now, again, diving into some of the homes you’re going to find here, a lot of mid-century homes, as I mentioned. And you’re going to be finding a lot of 3 bedroom, 1 bath; 3 bedroom, 2 bath;  and some 4 bedroom, 2 bath as well. These are going to range from about $850,000-$1 million now. Again, prices are really moving around a lot right now, so it’s hard to dial in a bit right now, at this time in the video, that’s about the price that you’re going to be paying for a home. And again, a lot of these are going to be mid-century homes. 

If you’re looking for more of the Craftsmen style or the Spanish style and the older part of the homes, those are going to be breaching a million dollars. And then there’s the Mount Helix area. There is an amphitheater on top of Mount Helix. And so there’s a lot of plays that run throughout the year at Mount Helix. And the homes on Mount Helix tend to be much larger estates, typically a third of an acre, half an acre to an acre or so. You’re going to be paying a lot more for these homes and also much larger homes ranging from 2,500 on the low end, up to about 6,000 or 7,000 sq ft on the higher end. 

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And you’re going to find a lot of homes here with pools as well. Some with views, kind of rural so you can also have chickens here as well. I think you can have livestock on some of the properties, depending on exactly how it’s zoned. But if you’re looking for that kind of life where you’re still in the city, but have a little bit of land, this is the place to be. But these homes are going to be on the pricier side, be prepared to be spending about $2 million and potentially more as you get on Mount Helix. 

Now, another area of La Mesa that’s definitely worth checking out is called Fletcher Hills. Fletcher Hills is also shared with El Cajon. Depending on where you are, you might have a La Mesa zip code or an El Cajon zip code. And the top part of Fletcher Hills, not all the homes, but some of the homes do have some really incredible views to the East, overlooking El Cajon and looking towards Lakeside and Alpine and the mountains to the East, like El Capitan.

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These homes also are going to be right around in the $1 million price range now. But this is a really great neighborhood of La Mesa. Just to the North of La Mesa is a neighborhood called San Carlos. San Carlos is technically part of the City of San Diego, but it’s worth including here because a lot of the people that live in San Carlos kind of consider themselves La Mesan’s as well. A lot of people kind of go back and forth between the two. So San Carlos has a lot of mid-century homes and you’re going to find a lot of 3 bedroom and 4 bedroom homes also around the $1 million or so price point. And it’s right next to Grossmont Community College, which is a really great junior college or community college that we have here in San Diego.

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Shopping Areas in La Mesa.

We going to find most of your shopping, other than kind of the quaint areas of Downtown La Mesa is going to be off of Fletcher Parkway. And you’re also going to have it in Grossmont Center. You’re going to have your Costco’s, your Walmart, your Trader Joe’s, all your chain restaurants and the different activities that you’ll want to find like Jujutsu and boxing and CrossFit. You’re going to find more in these areas as well. That’s kind of where your main shopping area is going to be in La Mesa. If you want to be super close to it, then you’ll want to be closer to Fletcher Parkway or near Grossmont Center. But honestly, any of these shopping centers, if you’re in La Mesa, you’re going to be able to get to those in 5 to 10 minutes at the most.

That’s an overview of the city of La Mesa.

Curtis Chism, Realtor
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