I've been thinking about pubs lately. Proper ones. The sort where you walk in, the carpet's a bit questionable, there's a dog under someone's chair, and the barman already knows your order. That kind of place.
Look, I'm British. I say this with full awareness that it colours how I see things. And what I've noticed, after twenty years of selling property in San Diego, is that Mission Valley has become genuinely good for food. The stretch near Camino de la Reina has more dining options now than it did even five years ago. Korean, ramen, proper tacos, the lot. Brilliant.
But there's no pub. Not really.
There are bars. Sports bars, cocktail bars, hotel bars with too much chrome. Those are fine. I'm not having a go at them. I'm talking about a pub. Somewhere you'd sit for three hours on a Sunday afternoon with one mate and two pints and absolutely no television playing American football at full volume. Somewhere the food is simple but done well. A pie. Maybe a ploughman's. That sort of thing.
I bring this up because I spend a lot of time in Mission Valley. I'm there showing flats (sorry, condos) near Friars Road, walking investors through buildings off Mission Center, talking to sellers about what their two bed is actually worth right now. MLS data from this spring shows the median condo price sitting around £550,000. Sorry. $550,000. Old habits.
The point is, I'm in this neighbourhood constantly. And the dining scene matters to buyers more than most agents give it credit for. My background is in financial planning, so I understand the numbers side of a purchase. But I also know that people don't just buy square footage. They buy a life. They want somewhere to walk to on a Wednesday evening. Somewhere that feels like theirs.
Mission Valley's getting closer to that. The development along the river, the new mixed use projects. It's shifting from a place you drive through to a place you stay in.
It just needs a proper pub. If anyone's looking for a small commercial space and fancies pulling pints, I know a few spots. Ring me.