One of the reasons why Mission Valley condos are so popular is because Mission Valley is centrally located in San Diego.

Within a thirty-mile radius of your Mission Valley condo is about 80% of everything that San Diego has to offer:

1. Go north, and you'll find Quail Botanical Gardens, Legoland, the Carlsbad Flower Fields, the San Diego Wild Animal Park, the Torrey Pines Gliderport and the Torrey Pines Golf Course, home of the 2008 U.S. Open Golf championship. You'll find La Jolla and about 200 seals at the Cove, surfing in Encinitas and Carlsbad, the San Diego County Fair in Del Mar, and sailing with the Camp Pendleton marines in Oceanside. Go to the top of Mt. Soledad and enjoy some of the finest views of the coast.
2. Go south, and you'll find the Tijuana River Estuary, the Chula Vista Nature Center, Balboa Park and its many museums, the San Diego Zoo, downtown San Diego, professional baseball at Petco Park, the San Diego Bay and Convention Center, Seaport Village, the USS Midway Museum, the Hotel del Coronado, and, of course, Tijuana, Mexico.
3. Go east and you'll find Qualcomm Stadium and the East County communities of La Mesa, Lemon Grove, El Cajon, Santee, and Lakeside. Once out of the East County communities, you'll come to the mountain community of Alpine. Each community offers an abundance of things to do if -- if, I said -- you need a break from San Diego itself. Head on up to the top of Cowles Mountain in San Carlos, the highest mountain within the San Diego City limits, and Mt. Helix in La Mesa, for unmatched views of the East County city, San Diego mountains, and the desert and Mexican mountains.
4. Go west and you'll find Sea World; Mission Bay Park; Mission Beach and its famous Boardwalk and the Belmont Roller Coaster; Ocean Beach, Sunset Cliffs, and the longest pier on the West Coast; Point Loma and the historic Point Loma Lighthouse. Take a trip to Point Loma National Monument for the absolute best views of downtown San Diego, the Bay, North Island Naval Station, and the Pacific Ocean. Point Loma also has a national cemetary along part of the peninsula.

Mission Valley condo living in San Diego offers you the fast-paced living that Mission Valley has come to be known for. You can find:

1. Shopping at Fashion Valley Mall, Mission Valley East and Mission Valley West malls, Fenton Parkway, Rio Vista, Hazard Center, and more.
2. Restaurants throughout Mission Valley -- just because you can eat in your Mission Valley condo doesn't mean that you have to. There are national chains and local mom-and-pop restaurants, some open 24 hours a day.
3. Movies -- If you want to see a movie, you can't go wrong. There is the AMC Fashion Valley 18 and the AMC Mission Valley 20, but if you just have to go somewhere else, there are 18 theaters in Mira Mesa (northeast San Diego), 12 in La Jolla, 15 in Rancho San Diego, 18 in El Cajon, and 8 in Del Mar, all within a 15-minute drive from your Mission Valley condo.
4. Things you never thought you'd do -- Jet skiing on the Bay, sailing on an America's Cup yacht, a harbor dinner cruise on the Hornblower, paragliding above Blacks Beach, a hot air balloon ride or racing with the horses at Del Mar.

If you would like to buy a starter home, or a second home, in San Diego, it's hard to go wrong by buying a Mission Valley condo. Contact me for your own personal showing, and when you close escrow, I'll even play docent for a day to introduce you to all that San Diego has to offer. Until then, enjoy the slide show below (if it doesn't work on your computer, click here to go directly to slide.com to watch it in a new window).