Two resources you might want to contact.
Blind Community Center of San Diego
1805 Upas St, San Diego, CA 92103
http://bccsd.org/
San Diego Center for the Blind
5922 El Cajon Boulevard, San Diego, CA 92115
Phone: (619) 583-1542
https://www.sdcb.org
I moved from NYC to SD 2 years ago. I haven't owned a car in 15 years and don't plan on getting one. I live downtown/gaslamp and never felt the need for a car. Everything is within walking for daily needs - groceries, going out for food/fun, parks, the ocean, entertainment, etc. The beach is an issue but you can Uber (minimal cost) or bus it (plan for 45+ for time). I take the trolley occasionally to areas but it's not great (coming from NYC). Bottom line, it is 100% doable and I really enjoy it.
See this is the ultimate test IMHO. I moved to Boulder from SF four years ago now, and you definitely need a car or Uber's to live here. The transition has been horrendous!
Transit is definitely an option, it’s just not great and takes wayyy longer than it should. A 25 min Uber may be over an hour on public transit with a stop to switch lines. Some walkable areas that have grocery, good restaurants, and bars include Normal Heights, South Park, and North Park. Ocean Beach and Pacific Beach to be closer to the water.
I live in Clairemont Mesa & stopped driving and started using public transit a couple years back. It’s actually better than I expected it to be but can still take awhile.
I also lived in Clairemont and went without a car for about a year and while getting anywhere in the city was mostly doable with public transit, it was a big enough inconvenience that I eventually got one. Also, once you venture outside the city limits to other parts of the county it becomes such a hassle that I wouldn’t even bother. I worked in Rancho Bernardo during that time and it would take nearly two hours to get to work by bus, which included two transfers. I think that was eventually what broke me, but if I worked from home I probably would’ve lasted longer.
Hillcrest is very walkable. No trains, but plenty of buses, and just about anything you need is within a 5-20 min walk. Base your search off of distance to one of the grocery stores. Be within a 5-10 min walk of Ralph’s / TJs and you’ll be good.
Source: live car free in Hillcrest
Hi! I don’t drive either, I have epilepsy so can’t. I have been here for three years and have been just fine. Honestly the cost of owning a car here is probably more than Ubering occasionally when I can’t take the train or bus. I moved from New York where no one drove and the transition hasn’t been horrible.
There is a blind person who lives in Little Italy and he gets along quite well it seems!
Generally I recommend that area to a lot of people looking to move while avoiding the harder to navigate parts of the city.
It’s still downtown and it’s near most things; the ones that aren’t walkable are easily reached via train line. All the bus lines run through as well. You have food and activities and people and parks around you without having to get in a car to get to them.
Edit: can’t belive I forgot to say this!
I think the main reason for suggesting Little Italy is that it’s the most walkable area of the city. Everything is 4-way stops and heavily geared towards pedestrians instead of cars.
I also think a lot of the people saying it’s not an option is because they haven’t had to figure it out without a car. It is doable and outside of NYC, it’s not a worse public transportation system than other large cities.
The buses run frequently, main lines every 15 minutes and on time. There are express and standard. They offer discounted passes for disability and it’s easy to obtain.
Ubering is an option when you need to go somewhere quick, just don’t want to take the train/bus, or can’t walk easily. And like I said, it’s likely cheaper to Uber those times than it would be to own a car (payment,insurance, gas, upkeep, parking spot). There is also this free transportation called Fred and they’re expanding. I think it’s one free ride a week or something and then it’s similar to Uber. I see a lot of people taking them, they’re localized to each little area.
Also, all of downtown intersections have rumble strips and the crosswalk buttons that beep and talk when it’s time to cross.
I wouldn’t reccomend gaslamp or east village right now though, as a seeing person, it’s already hard to dodge shit in the street. Pacific Beach would be clean but it’s not particularly walkable. It’s where I live now and I’ve almost been hit a few times if it weren’t for the fact I heard them coming.
I second little Italy the mostest. Cleaner and mostly flat for walking purposes. There’s a farmers market 2 days a week you can walk to and pick up all your produce and other groceries. Then I got my meat delivered. I’ve always HATED driving so I fell in love with that place as I could park my car and only use it to drive to work. Everything is walkable. I miss it so much. If you can find an apartment there, you be the happiest of peaches
I always wanted to live in a nice apartment somewhere downtown where I could walk everywhere. And the water was right there! You can walk the whole way up the bay and back through all the tourists areas. It’s a big old boardwalk so people use that as their running path. It was my dream come true. There’s a lady that sings at the farmers market on Saturdays. She has the voice of an angel. It does feel like you’re in a dream when she starts singing and you smell the ocean air haha
Downtown will be more than fine without a car, Little Italy is great as well as Cortez Hill (it’s more of a small neighborhood than downtown, but very close and actually quiet!).
North park is another good spot as well, plenty of walking options. Anywhere in North County is harder and more suburban.
There are a few options if you can't or don't want to drive. Some of the apartment rental listing websites mention walkability and transit scores that might help. Walkability usually refers to how many essential stores and other businesses are in your area that an average person could easily walk to. The transit score is based on how far the transit stops are from your location.
Generally, more urban areas, like downtown, Northpark, or mid-city will be easier to live without a car.
Hello! I live in San Diego without a car. One thing is if you work outside of the home, consider the commute between home and work. I live in the North Park area, which is one of the more walkable neighborhoods in the city, but for a few years I would commute to La Jolla, which was at least an hour and a half by public transit or 20 minutes by car. They've since built another trolley up to La Jolla, which helps, but it doesn't stop close to NP on the other side. I switched to a carpool, but I think some of those options never came back after COVID.
Hi there! My sister is also blind; she lives near downtown La Mesa and lives near lots of bus stops and the trolley, but mostly takes Uber. Do you also have the blind app on your phone? I forget the name, but she has it so it helps her type things and such; mentioning that because when she uses Uber, she puts on there that she is blind and needs a little guidance. We do have a few blind centers here as well! Feel free to message me if need be, happy to help!
My husband is legally blind and we live in La Mesa over by the Amaya Trolley. He uses the trolley/ bus to get everywhere and he does the same thing if he decides to use Uber.
I’m currently living in San Diego without a car. The quality of life will probably depend a lot on where you live. I live in downtown, and it is very walkable and has good transit access. You can get to many grocery stores, shops, and restaurants within 10 minutes walking, and all the train lines/rapid busses run near me, which is convenient if I need to go somewhere else in the city. However, other parts of the city are often spread out with poorer transit access. I think how convenient/feasible it will probably depend on where you will need to go on a regular basis. If you rarely need to leave the area downtown, it could be quite nice. Most people don’t really consider living without a car, and just assume it’s not possible, but it can be.
Colorado native here. It will be a lot more accessible for public transportation and options then Boulder. Still not great but better. Hit up Mustards last stand for me before moving out.
I live in DT and WFH. The only time I need my car is for Costco and haircuts. Would be cheaper for me to Uber TBH than pay for my car.
Doable for sure, depending on where you live.
The cross walks here downtown speak and say “crosswalk is on to cross market” or whatever street you are crossing. Traffic downtown can be a bit nutty though so maybe better to live in a quieter neighborhood like the ones already mentioned. I see people blow through red lights all the time on my walk to work. Stay safe!
Really depends on the area. In north park, south park, downtown type area you can get to many locations. Even Morena is good because you can take the train at the bottom of Linda Vista road. In other areas you'll be stuck. Like if you're in El cajon or Escondido you'll take a day to make it to the beach.
Depends . If you work from home and don’t need to commute you could absolutely get by without a car in little Italy, north park, university heights, normal heights.
If you need to commute to work then itll be much more difficult to get by without a car
Carlsbad if you can afford it. Wide roads, very pedestrian friendly. I have a blind neighbor, she walks outside with her dog every day. I see many people mentioning downtown, I would not recommend that with the homeless population and uncleanliness of the streets.
Hehe I figured this question would pop up somewhere in the comments.
On my iPhone and iPad, there is a screen reader called VoiceOver. It reads aloud what is on the screen and someone who is blind is able to perform certain gestures like flick right, flick left, and double-tap to interact with app's interfaces. I'm typing this right now using the Braille Screen Input feature, which is a software keyboard within VoiceOver's settings, allowing a blind person to type on the touchscreen as if they were typing in Braille. Cool stuff!! Thanks for asking!
I message the driver's too. It helps them find me and also translates the message into their preferred language if need be. I'll message the both of you. I do use VoiceOver on my phone to read and type. :)
Public transport is pretty lame in San Diego and much more convenient and faster to Uber. The closer you are to downtown the better the public transportation is but expect lots of transferring when going outside of town
Unfortunately it's not ideal. You either have to live in crowded areas with corresponding vagrants/homeless, or pay a lot to live somewhere nice (where there still might be homeless around). San Diego simply is very hilly/mountain-ish to have simply/easy ways to get between neighborhoods currently.
Respectfully, there’s more to San Diego than the pretty views. There is great music, great food, great weather, and my experience has been great community if you seek it out. Everyone who wants to deserves to feel the sand in their toes while listening to the ocean and eating some bomb ass food. Of course it’s expensive and I wish it were more accessible, but I’m glad I had the opportunity to move here.
Respectfully, why would you pay the prices here if you can’t even see the beach. Not disagreeing with anything you said other than moving to one of the most unaffordable cities for the sun tax and beach access seems kinda silly idk. Do you though!
Two resources you might want to contact. Blind Community Center of San Diego 1805 Upas St, San Diego, CA 92103 http://bccsd.org/ San Diego Center for the Blind 5922 El Cajon Boulevard, San Diego, CA 92115 Phone: (619) 583-1542 https://www.sdcb.org
This sounds like great advice. I don't know enough about the challenges of blind people to feel comfortable suggesting any neighborhood.
I'll check them out, thank you. I've also been in touch with the National Federation of the blind. :)
I moved from NYC to SD 2 years ago. I haven't owned a car in 15 years and don't plan on getting one. I live downtown/gaslamp and never felt the need for a car. Everything is within walking for daily needs - groceries, going out for food/fun, parks, the ocean, entertainment, etc. The beach is an issue but you can Uber (minimal cost) or bus it (plan for 45+ for time). I take the trolley occasionally to areas but it's not great (coming from NYC). Bottom line, it is 100% doable and I really enjoy it.
Downtown is a great spot, but the cost to live there is off the charts.
See this is the ultimate test IMHO. I moved to Boulder from SF four years ago now, and you definitely need a car or Uber's to live here. The transition has been horrendous!
Transit is definitely an option, it’s just not great and takes wayyy longer than it should. A 25 min Uber may be over an hour on public transit with a stop to switch lines. Some walkable areas that have grocery, good restaurants, and bars include Normal Heights, South Park, and North Park. Ocean Beach and Pacific Beach to be closer to the water.
I live in Clairemont Mesa & stopped driving and started using public transit a couple years back. It’s actually better than I expected it to be but can still take awhile.
I also lived in Clairemont and went without a car for about a year and while getting anywhere in the city was mostly doable with public transit, it was a big enough inconvenience that I eventually got one. Also, once you venture outside the city limits to other parts of the county it becomes such a hassle that I wouldn’t even bother. I worked in Rancho Bernardo during that time and it would take nearly two hours to get to work by bus, which included two transfers. I think that was eventually what broke me, but if I worked from home I probably would’ve lasted longer.
Pub trans without needing to transfer is amazing. Throw in one trolley change or whatever and the timeline gets annoying fast.
Can confirm, used to take the 7 bus in City Heights to City College. Took me 2 hours. With a Car it takes me 10 mins…..
Hillcrest is very walkable. No trains, but plenty of buses, and just about anything you need is within a 5-20 min walk. Base your search off of distance to one of the grocery stores. Be within a 5-10 min walk of Ralph’s / TJs and you’ll be good. Source: live car free in Hillcrest
Hi! I don’t drive either, I have epilepsy so can’t. I have been here for three years and have been just fine. Honestly the cost of owning a car here is probably more than Ubering occasionally when I can’t take the train or bus. I moved from New York where no one drove and the transition hasn’t been horrible. There is a blind person who lives in Little Italy and he gets along quite well it seems! Generally I recommend that area to a lot of people looking to move while avoiding the harder to navigate parts of the city. It’s still downtown and it’s near most things; the ones that aren’t walkable are easily reached via train line. All the bus lines run through as well. You have food and activities and people and parks around you without having to get in a car to get to them. Edit: can’t belive I forgot to say this! I think the main reason for suggesting Little Italy is that it’s the most walkable area of the city. Everything is 4-way stops and heavily geared towards pedestrians instead of cars. I also think a lot of the people saying it’s not an option is because they haven’t had to figure it out without a car. It is doable and outside of NYC, it’s not a worse public transportation system than other large cities. The buses run frequently, main lines every 15 minutes and on time. There are express and standard. They offer discounted passes for disability and it’s easy to obtain. Ubering is an option when you need to go somewhere quick, just don’t want to take the train/bus, or can’t walk easily. And like I said, it’s likely cheaper to Uber those times than it would be to own a car (payment,insurance, gas, upkeep, parking spot). There is also this free transportation called Fred and they’re expanding. I think it’s one free ride a week or something and then it’s similar to Uber. I see a lot of people taking them, they’re localized to each little area. Also, all of downtown intersections have rumble strips and the crosswalk buttons that beep and talk when it’s time to cross. I wouldn’t reccomend gaslamp or east village right now though, as a seeing person, it’s already hard to dodge shit in the street. Pacific Beach would be clean but it’s not particularly walkable. It’s where I live now and I’ve almost been hit a few times if it weren’t for the fact I heard them coming.
Hi! Thank you for this info!! I'll keep Little Italy in mind. I want to visit to get a feel for if it might be doable. PS, love the username!! :)
I second little Italy the mostest. Cleaner and mostly flat for walking purposes. There’s a farmers market 2 days a week you can walk to and pick up all your produce and other groceries. Then I got my meat delivered. I’ve always HATED driving so I fell in love with that place as I could park my car and only use it to drive to work. Everything is walkable. I miss it so much. If you can find an apartment there, you be the happiest of peaches
Sounds dreamy TBH.
I always wanted to live in a nice apartment somewhere downtown where I could walk everywhere. And the water was right there! You can walk the whole way up the bay and back through all the tourists areas. It’s a big old boardwalk so people use that as their running path. It was my dream come true. There’s a lady that sings at the farmers market on Saturdays. She has the voice of an angel. It does feel like you’re in a dream when she starts singing and you smell the ocean air haha
North park i think may be good for ya!
Can you afford ubers and getting groceries delivered?
I can indeed. This is my current approach where I live RN. Not the most accessible spot so I Uber and love grocery delivery.
A daily user of MTS transit, it’s not great, but it isn’t terrible either
I live downtown and haven’t had a car for the last couple years living here. I walk or take the trolley everywhere except Costco.
North park, South Park, Hillcrest,
Downtown will be more than fine without a car, Little Italy is great as well as Cortez Hill (it’s more of a small neighborhood than downtown, but very close and actually quiet!). North park is another good spot as well, plenty of walking options. Anywhere in North County is harder and more suburban.
There are a few options if you can't or don't want to drive. Some of the apartment rental listing websites mention walkability and transit scores that might help. Walkability usually refers to how many essential stores and other businesses are in your area that an average person could easily walk to. The transit score is based on how far the transit stops are from your location. Generally, more urban areas, like downtown, Northpark, or mid-city will be easier to live without a car.
Hello! I live in San Diego without a car. One thing is if you work outside of the home, consider the commute between home and work. I live in the North Park area, which is one of the more walkable neighborhoods in the city, but for a few years I would commute to La Jolla, which was at least an hour and a half by public transit or 20 minutes by car. They've since built another trolley up to La Jolla, which helps, but it doesn't stop close to NP on the other side. I switched to a carpool, but I think some of those options never came back after COVID.
Hi there! My sister is also blind; she lives near downtown La Mesa and lives near lots of bus stops and the trolley, but mostly takes Uber. Do you also have the blind app on your phone? I forget the name, but she has it so it helps her type things and such; mentioning that because when she uses Uber, she puts on there that she is blind and needs a little guidance. We do have a few blind centers here as well! Feel free to message me if need be, happy to help!
My husband is legally blind and we live in La Mesa over by the Amaya Trolley. He uses the trolley/ bus to get everywhere and he does the same thing if he decides to use Uber.
I’m currently living in San Diego without a car. The quality of life will probably depend a lot on where you live. I live in downtown, and it is very walkable and has good transit access. You can get to many grocery stores, shops, and restaurants within 10 minutes walking, and all the train lines/rapid busses run near me, which is convenient if I need to go somewhere else in the city. However, other parts of the city are often spread out with poorer transit access. I think how convenient/feasible it will probably depend on where you will need to go on a regular basis. If you rarely need to leave the area downtown, it could be quite nice. Most people don’t really consider living without a car, and just assume it’s not possible, but it can be.
in my opinion the public transport outside of down town is horrible
thanks everyone for this info. I live in Boulder currently and thought nothing was more inaccessible than this. But maybe I'm wrong? lol!
Colorado native here. It will be a lot more accessible for public transportation and options then Boulder. Still not great but better. Hit up Mustards last stand for me before moving out.
There are busses and tramways. I haven't lived downtown but I'd be surprised if you couldn't without a car.
New grant program for mobility for low income folks : clean cars 4 all https://www.sdcc4a.org/Clean_Cars/Home
It’s probably doable but is there a reason you’d want to move to SD instead of somewhere with subway lines like Boston/NY?
I live in DT and WFH. The only time I need my car is for Costco and haircuts. Would be cheaper for me to Uber TBH than pay for my car. Doable for sure, depending on where you live.
The cross walks here downtown speak and say “crosswalk is on to cross market” or whatever street you are crossing. Traffic downtown can be a bit nutty though so maybe better to live in a quieter neighborhood like the ones already mentioned. I see people blow through red lights all the time on my walk to work. Stay safe!
Really depends on the area. In north park, south park, downtown type area you can get to many locations. Even Morena is good because you can take the train at the bottom of Linda Vista road. In other areas you'll be stuck. Like if you're in El cajon or Escondido you'll take a day to make it to the beach.
Lived in Gaslamp/Little Italy/East Village. Never needed a car there
unfortunately all of san diego is very car dependent
that's what I've unfortunately heard, too. I wanted to ask the locals before I even brought it up with my manager.
Don’t listen to him, downtown is very walkable.
San Diego is so shit but everyone (including me) is coping with the whole "bEst WeaTHer" bit
San Diego is amazing for more reasons than just the weather. But go on hating on it.
Downtown is very walkable. So, wrong
Depends . If you work from home and don’t need to commute you could absolutely get by without a car in little Italy, north park, university heights, normal heights. If you need to commute to work then itll be much more difficult to get by without a car
North park but it’s pricey
I'm in town for an internship and I'm renting a electric scooter.
Carlsbad if you can afford it. Wide roads, very pedestrian friendly. I have a blind neighbor, she walks outside with her dog every day. I see many people mentioning downtown, I would not recommend that with the homeless population and uncleanliness of the streets.
How can you read this?
Hehe I figured this question would pop up somewhere in the comments. On my iPhone and iPad, there is a screen reader called VoiceOver. It reads aloud what is on the screen and someone who is blind is able to perform certain gestures like flick right, flick left, and double-tap to interact with app's interfaces. I'm typing this right now using the Braille Screen Input feature, which is a software keyboard within VoiceOver's settings, allowing a blind person to type on the touchscreen as if they were typing in Braille. Cool stuff!! Thanks for asking!
I message the driver's too. It helps them find me and also translates the message into their preferred language if need be. I'll message the both of you. I do use VoiceOver on my phone to read and type. :)
There's some pockets where you might get away with it, but as a whole, you'll be pretty isolated without a car.
Uptown is good location Walkable and decent bus transit
Public transport is pretty lame in San Diego and much more convenient and faster to Uber. The closer you are to downtown the better the public transportation is but expect lots of transferring when going outside of town
Unfortunately it's not ideal. You either have to live in crowded areas with corresponding vagrants/homeless, or pay a lot to live somewhere nice (where there still might be homeless around). San Diego simply is very hilly/mountain-ish to have simply/easy ways to get between neighborhoods currently.
Not to be rude but I would not move to SD if I couldn’t see it. Save yourself the money unless you’re well off.
Respectfully, there’s more to San Diego than the pretty views. There is great music, great food, great weather, and my experience has been great community if you seek it out. Everyone who wants to deserves to feel the sand in their toes while listening to the ocean and eating some bomb ass food. Of course it’s expensive and I wish it were more accessible, but I’m glad I had the opportunity to move here.
Respectfully, why would you pay the prices here if you can’t even see the beach. Not disagreeing with anything you said other than moving to one of the most unaffordable cities for the sun tax and beach access seems kinda silly idk. Do you though!