Mission Valley is the definition of convenient. You've got malls, restaurants, hotels, and quick access to the 8 and 805. If you need to run errands or kill time between plans, this is where you end up. Downside: it's basically a sea of shopping centers and parking lots. Traffic gets bad, especially around Fashion Valley and Friars Rd. Not much character or walkability -- you're driving everywhere. That said, it's central. You can get to the beaches, downtown, or the Zoo in 15-20 minutes. Tons of chain restaurants and some decent local spots if you know where to look. 3 stars because it's useful but not a destination. Good for shopping and convenience, not for vibes. read more

Mission Valley - Local Flavor Near Me

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I love Mission Valley. I've been hanging around this area since I was a teen. Mission Valley has everything here! From the San Diego River, malls, lots of diverse restaurants and close to the beaches. It's a pretty safe neighborhood, I have friends and family that lives here and I've been working in this area for years. It can get busy definitely on holidays, kids school breaks and weekends. Be prepared if you plan on hanging around this area on the weekends and holiday breaks; traffic can be hectic as well. Yes, you can fish at the SD river! Overall, mission valley is so beautiful and a great place to visit if you're from out of town. Happy Yelping! read more

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Mission Valley boasts a town that's centrally-located to everything. [*] It is within 10 minutes to swimmable and/or walkable beaches, including Pacific Beach, Mission Beach, Ocean Beach, and La Jolla beaches. [*] It boasts the Fashion Valley Shopping Mall, known for its outdoorsy mall-without-walls and designer shops and everything in-between. Nearby is Westfield Mission Valley Mall, which has major clothing and furniture outlets. [*] 'Hotel Circle', which encompasses 44 hotels, including Marriott and Hilton chain hotels, Gay Hotels (Hotel Palomar, from the Kimpton Hotel group), and B&Bs. [*] Downtown San Diego [*] San Diego International Airport (SAN) [*] Old Town [*] San Diego Zoo, located within Balboa Park [*] SDCCU Stadium, home of San Diego Aztecs (football), festivals, concerts and other sporting events. TRIVIA - It is the only stadium to host both a Super Bowl and World Series game in the same year (1998). [*] Riverwalk Golf Club, with over 200 acres, 4 lakes and the San Diego River within. [*] MISSION San Diego de Alcala [*] International Restaurant Row (in nearby Little Italy) [*] Mission Trails Regional Park, where you can hike up to Cowles Mountain and get 360° views including Downtown Skyline and The Coronado Bridge. I am sure there is a lot more I'm leaving out, but this should get you started on Things To Do in Mission Valley. read more

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A place to work, live, eat, shop, watch movies, and battle frustrating street traffic. Mission Valley has definitely seen better days. With the Stadium mothballed and the insurgence of homeless living along the San Diego river, it's on the brink of becoming one of San Diego's crappy areas. While luxury apartment complexes keep being built the traffic gridlock is some of the worst. I walk around Mission Valley almost every day and there's always something interesting, but not always is a good way. Homeless are everywhere but I've never been hassled. But they do leave a lot of trash and shopping carts around. They also steal dockless bikes and remove the locks in the canyons. The Good - Building more and more "nicer" apartment buildings. This brings in nicer restaurants and shopping opportunities. - Close enough to North Park and Little Italy to grab some good food. - Trolley Stations The Bad - Floods - Ikea on weekends - Random porn on the ground - Old waterlines that always break - Vagrant encampments everywhere - Meth RVs - Too many burger places that sell small hamburgers (Shake Shack and Little Big Burger) - Shitty old office buildings - Vagrants on stolen ofo bikes - Parking tickets read more

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WARNING: Do not venture into Mission Valley without first having had your coffee or swallowing and extra large dose of patience! Has everything, but the traffic flow stinks! From a 2-story Target, to a bustling mall complete with a handful of restaurants & a Nordstrom Rack to a larger then life Bed Bath & Beyond, a Food 4 Less, Nothing Bundt Cake, Corner Bakery, more coffee shops then one could ever need, a new Trader Joe's, Old Navy and the super yummy Habit Burger joint, and so much more Mission Valley is for sure a happening place. The unfortunate part of Mission Valley is the design. You really can't walk from place to place as it's just far enough apart, but it probably takes you 10 times longer to drive. read more

Well this is right in the Middle of San Diego and I notice it gets really Jammed up during traffic hours like 4:30pm - 6:30pm And there are plenty of eats and Restaurant here in Mission Valley !! Also it is located near the 8 West and 8 East Freeways !! Also close to the 805 Freeway !! Plenty of things to do in Mission Valley !! The Stadium SDCCU which use to be Qualcomm is the Stadium for the New Football team Called the Fleet !! Of Course The San Diego Fleet !! Lots of Shopping and Dave & Busters here in Mission Valley !! The Bad thing is Traffic but if there is no Traffic then perfect but it just takes some Patience and you can get through it . It is located next to Fashion Valley Mall also . Overall this is a good spot and I enjoy coming here !! Lots of things to do and I for sure will return and enjoy Mission Valley !! read more

I don't understand why so many people don't like Mission Valley (MV). They have a lot of shopping, restaurants, movie theaters and my favorite Nothing Bundt Cakes. Some of my favorite places are Macy's, DSW and the Mission Valley mall. OK so yes MV isn't for hipsters and there isn't a lot of mom and pop businesses in the area. If you're looking for basic things then this is a good spot. Stores like Target, IKEA, Costco and Lowes dominate in this area so keep that in mind. To me MV is a ok because they usually have what I need. read more

Ordered a Pella window for a bathroom remodel. No way to track the order, no way to see if the window was received on time. Was told window would arrive at store on Monday, no one could find it on Friday. There is no computerized system to track the window. They are entirely reliant on calling the manufacturer and then the trucking company. Even then they have no idea if the product was received or where it is. Poor/no tracking system for windows. Find another company to order your windows from. read more

You all can SUCK IT. Mission Valley is awesome purely because it has taken like, eight words from San Diego's history and turned them into 657 different condominium names. That's right- Shout out to my neighbors in Friar's Mission Rancho Trails Rio Padre Gardens! Oh and to Graham, you insensitive, cinnamon-covered dick cracker, YOUR WISH IS COMING TRUE. THANKS, ASSHOLE. read more

I don't live in San Diego, but it's pretty much my second home. I'm in the area about 1-2x a week. I usually don't frequent Mission Valley. I usually only go if I REALLY need to go to Target or if I'm craving some food. Mission Valley has a bunch of little restaurants around, usually busy, but a good variety to choose from. Maybe except for In N Out.. I would totally just avoid. The line is ALWAYS long, you have wait about 10 minutes to order then another 15 minutes to even get your food. I love shopping... But I'd recommend just go on weekdays and avoid holiday season.. During the holiday season because you'll never find parking. And the parking spots outside of Target are made for all compact cars or something. If you're not careful, you may come out with a small scratch or ding because of parking situation. Watch out for the traffic lights as well. Those can get a bit tricky. I usually try to avoid going through Mission Valley during traffic time,they have cameras (It's really hard to miss the cameras..) so don't try to run any lights! The traffic is always pretty terrible. Getting on and off the freeway is such a pain.. I'll still be back though. A good one-stop-shop area. You can pretty much shop, eat, and see a movie in one spot. read more

We had one of the maintenance team members "Carlos LeiJa", to provide minor maintenance inside our unit. He provided excellent service and gave an overview of the completed work requests. We had three work requests. Carols is kind and respectful. He take pride in his workmanship. The Village Mission Valley should be happy they have outstanding maintenance team members representing the Irvine Communities. Every maintenance team member I've encounter, has always provided outstanding service read more

There are few things I hate more than Mission Valley and today proved to me again why I hold this sentiment. Mission Valley is the pit of all that is overpriced, phony, congested, and commercial in San Diego County. I needed to pick up some ski poles today and so I tried Ranch Craft, Hangar 94, and Sports Authority in Grossmont to avoid the HELL of shopping in M.V.....and because I live in North Park, I deliberately went out of my way to steer clear of M.V. Mall. But today, against my better judgment, I thought, what the hay, it can't be that bad.... WRONG. So, in my futile effort to park near the Outback restaurant side of the mall (to get to the Sports Chalet) I encountered some of the dumbest asses I have ever seen in the world trying to park. Ordinarily I am a very civilized human and wait my turn. These idiots though, had EVERY single lane going either direction tied up while they were all, one by one, just SITTING in their cars in the middle of the parking lanes while waiting for God to grant them the absolute closest parking spot so they could go spend another life savings at Target or that disgusting steak house or whatever.... Why do people find it impossible to walk a little further distance and insist on parking their cars in the middle of the lanes, effectively blocking all other traffic from moving in any direction. If just ONE of these idiots would have moved their fat asses out of the middle of the road, I would have saved 20 minutes by passing them and HAPPILY finding a spot at the opposite end of the parking lot (which is of course, empty) and getting as far away from those peanut brained Mother F'ers as possible!! ARGGGHH!!! Go drop off the face of the earth Mission Valley... and take all your high-falutin Mission Valley-ers with you. read more

We booked a king bed in advance when we got to the hotel they overbooked and didn't have a king bed for us. They put us in a double queen, it was so dirty, bugs and smelled horrible. We had to leave and get our money back. Do not stay here!!!!! read more

I love Mission Valley. Yeah its busy but living here for a while, you learn how to get around the traffic. I love that everything is close by- from restaurants, shopping, trolley, parks and even the stadium. It is often clean and well maintained. The weather seems to be a little better being inland (less overcast/fog) and close to major highways for easy get up and go! read more

This is pretty much the main shopping district of San Diego, outside of the Gaslamp downtown. Traffic is usually a mess during rush hour and weekends due to the 5, 805, 163, 15, and 8 all traversing through the area. Lots of chain stores and restaurants, two malls (Fashion Valley and Mission Valley Mall), a chain of Hotels (known as Hotel Circle), and Qualcomm Stadium are home to this neighborhood. Naturally since this mainly a commercial and shopping area, living in this neighborhood is expensive. It is what it is. No need to complain or vent my frustation like a few of the other reviewers because it is not going to change so we all might as well learn to love it and deal with it. read more

1.-If you're at a green light and want to turn left, you have to wait for people going straight coming from the other direction - this concept is known as "left-turn-yields", it's what those signs mean. 2. If you're making a right turn and there are two turning lanes, you can't just drift into the second lane while you're turning (90% of cars turning from Camino de la Reina onto Qualcomm do this). Assholes. 3. Put down that "authentic" California burrito you're shoving in your fat face and use your FUCKING TURN-SIGNALS! read more

Ugh. What a waste of such a geographically beautiful area. A mess of freeways, boulevards, strip malls, big boxes, and parking lots. Absolutely no character. Horrible for cyclists, pedestrians, and bus riders. Traffic is miserable because there's no other way to get around than to drive, owing to the distance between stores, restaurants, and homes. read more

Mission Valley - San Diego Mission Valley viewed from University Heights park. - Local Flavor Near Me

meh...this town is full of traffic. It is super convenient, which is why it got 2 stars. But there are a shit load of bums and it has a bunch of chains and nothing original. I moved here from NJ, thinking that I was moving to a nice safe town conveniently located and full of things to do. The only things their are to do is spend money on bad food and the million stores it has. I wanted to ride my bike places...not really happening here....and I wanted a good local bar....not happening. The trolley is nice, and its centrally located so I'm pretty much anywhere I need to be within 10 minutes....but It's not worth it, not even a little bit read more

Mission Valley is one of my favorite places to shop. They have 2 shopping malls that I know of. And several smaller strip malls. They don't have a Sears in Mission Valley but that's okay there's one up in the UTC. I really enjoy driving over the 805 freeway and looking down through Mission Valley to see the sunset or looking East to see the sunrise over the mountains. Mission Valley has changed a lot over the years and it's very populated and it can be congested but it's never that bad. Mission Valley used to be all Farmland I hear, and there still an old farmhouse down on Camino Del Rio South you can see it when you drive past the freeway it's yellow and it looks very country read more

Living in the Mesas for 19 years, I have seen this area change and evolve. When I moved out here, MV had no Ikea, no Costco, no D&B, no Best Buy, and no big box stores. Mission Valley Center had a Big Boy, a Montgomery Wards, and a Newberry's. A little bit later when Hazard Center officially opened, Mission Valley had a total of 16 movie screens (among 3 multiplexes and two single-screen). There used to be the Earthquake Cafe where the Del Taco now stands. Also, there were some crappy nightclubs with names like Confetti and Maxx (now it's Club Rio and the favorite local honky-tonk, In Cahoots). Now it has gigantic strip malls, five Starbucks, a lot of fast food options, and 45 movie screens among 3 multiplexes. The hotel chains and car dealerships haven't changed a bit. Mission Valley's not that bad once you take the back road. read more

I agree with those that say Mission Valley is crazy overpopulated, it totally is. They cut down the hill/mountainside just to build more condos and apartments-ridiculous in my book. But, we don't have control over that so there's no good in us complaining. Aside from that, yes, traffic is bad during rush hour, but it's not the worst I've seen-try Phoenix during rush hour. YIKES!! My favorite Target is in MV and I frequent Denny's, Ralph's, Navy Fed, and TGI Friday's. I think the biggest downfall of the area is no one can understand that the area is cramped and can't learn to navigate the area appropriately while driving. They just seem to get stupid and incompetent which makes the problems that much worse. Ignoring the problems I had living in the apartment complex I did, I enjoyed living in Mission Valley. It's so central and convenient to get everywhere (access to the freeways in any which direction) and the luxury of not having to leave the area to get anything I may have needed if I didn't want to. Hop on Friars (east or west) and you'll reach pretty much anything you need; grocery stores, restaurants, hospitals, stadium, malls, pharmacies, and soooo much more. read more

I love Mission Valley - it's a great place to live. It's close to many restaurants and next to two large malls (though they do occasionally have some bad traffic) and the Chargers (though they too can cause some traffic) and 10 minutes from many other attractions - PB, downtown, etc. with plenty of trolley stops within Mission Valley itself to get there. There is easy access to 8 to get to the mountains east in Cleveland National Forest, too. read more

"Mission Valley" is Kumeyaay for "unavoidable retail slum." Poorly designed freeway interchanges ensure traffic jams and almost daily accidents. Also, once, a stray golf ball hit my car as I drove down Friars road. It was better as wetlands and pasture. read more

This is an important review...I mean it's a review of all of Mission Valley! I've lived in this area for 1 year now. I moved down from North County and seriously couldn't be happier. My work is also in MV so it's very convenient! Within 5 minutes is almost every major freeway dissecting San Diego County (8,15,163,5,805,94,52) and most merge together in a 2 mile span on the 8. There are SO many great restaurants and shopping centers from end to end. The San Diego River trail is absolutely breathtaking and there is a great park for families towards the West end of the valley. Traffic can be pretty bad but if you just learn a few of the back streets then you should have nothing to worry about. The green line trolley also passes through MV and I honestly haven't ever felt safer in a busy metropolitan area. Also, for a young guy like me there is an ABUNDANCE of successful, funny and of course beautiful women here. I'm not sure what is in the water but wow...I love the people and the area so much and I hope you like and respect Mission Valley as much as I do! read more

Mission Valley - Rio San Diego - Local Flavor Near Me

Good place in San Diego. Lots of store all together and great movie theatre. Don't go here when it rains because it becomes flooded and hard to get around. The library has a lot of homeless people. Costco and IKEA close. read more

I've lived in the area for a few years now and while it's not chock full of art, culture, and nightlife...it's safe, simple, and convenient. It's central to most areas of San Diego and you get easy access to all the major freeways. It's nice to come home to stability. read more

The worst thing about Mission Valley is the illusion that its a nice, safe area- when indeed, it is not. My car, my boyfriend's car, and my roommate's boyfriend's car have all been broken into in the area, bums beg on every street corner, and businesses like Jamba Juice get robbed pretty often. One of the good things about MV is that you can take the trolley to go from one disgusting shopping center to another. The second good thing about MV is that most of my friends live here. Too bad there isn't anything cool to do where we live... There are more cliche big box stores here than anywhere, and tons of mediocre chain sit down restaurants (Chili's, TGIF's, Applebees...etc) where you can pay twice the price for a sodium-packed, yet familiar entree. The MV mall is the worst mall in existence- the people, the traffic, the terrible stores.... just an all-around shithole. So by golly go to Hooters! Then InCahoots! Then IKEA, Costco, Best Buy, and Lowes and then shoot yourself in the face because if you spend too much time here you WILL want to die. read more

Mission Valley. Land of Condos and Shopping Centers. Yes, I could do without the traffic. Yes, I could do without the homeless. But it's pretty darn cool in the big scheme of things. I live here. I work here. And yes, I too drive to shopping centers and purchase things here. Eventually, I will move away from Mission Valley to a home where life will be a little more quiet, if that is possible with two children. But for now. I am a fan of this centrally located little valley in San Diego. read more

I want to love Mission Valley, I really do, but like most people I have a love/hate relationship with this area of San Diego in aspects whether you are living, working or visiting here. On the one hand you have sprawling malls with a massive selection of stores to fit every budget and taste. You have tons of movie theaters, restaurants and general activities for every budget and taste. Everywhere is accessible by public transit and by car, some areas are walkable. It's great to work in if you are in the retail or restaurant/food service industries as there is a plenthora of easily accessible spots to work at here across the 4 main areas of Mission Valley. It's great to live in if you can afford to and don't mind living in a condo/townhouse community. It's great to shop in, go to movies and some other attractions as you have an asssinine amount of choices to pick from that are relatively easy to get to. But on the other hand the whole are is hugely congested with traffic most of the time when most folks are available to shop, dine, entertain, run errands, etc. Only parts of Mission Valley are easy to get to on foot. Much of Mission Valley is disconnected from public transit (i.e. all of camino del rio south). Much of all the well paying jobs are off roads that are inaccessible by foot or under-serviced by public transportation, leaving you with traffic to deal with. Plus the freeway and river cut through half of Mission Valley longways and not many connection bridges/roads exist to connect the south end from the north end. There is also no housing on the south that easily connects to the basics easily without doubling your trip and having to go around to the nearest connection road. There are some businesses and jobs that aren't food service and retail near the trolley stations but nearly all of them are at least a half mile walk from public transportation and in areas where drivers spend 10-20 minutes of traffic going a half that from residential areas, when it should take 5 minutes. Also when it rains parts of Mission Valley still haven't been reinforced from the river and it floods over onto connecting streets, properties (the golf course doesn't have a problem with it for obvious reasons, but Qualcomm is out of business because of it), and much of the area needs rescuing because folks are stuck with no way other than the trolley to get out of the area. Also there are landmarks or places of cultural interest in Mission Valley (aside from maybe the Mission de Alcala and USD which bookend Mission Valley, and of course the events at Qualcomm). There's nothing of Mission Valley specific culture (other than big box corporate malls, which seems to be what Mission Valley's current identity is all about) that would drive anyone to come here. What's sad is they have this great River with an amazing ecosystem that could be a focal point for the area and huge amount of history to the area that isn't being widely shared. Because of all of that I think Mission Valley grew too quickly to keep up and has hurt much of what benefits the place as a result. I think Mission Valley would improve hugely if it fixed some of its infrastructure and included attractions, landmarks, museums, whatever about it's history and area, instead of behaving like a huge capitalistic leech to the area. The need to make a levee on either side of the river to protect the banks from floods and find a better way of disposing waste/runoff. They also need to elevate their roads that are in the flood plains and create more connecting bridges from the south and north part that don't interfere with the freeway that go above the river so that when it does flood and to connect workplaces, residences and retails stores on either side and lessen the amount of distance one would have to do. They also need to beg and plead MTS to improve transit here, making lines more frequent on its side roads to alleviate traffic concerns and it would be nice to have shuttle services picking people up or having pedi-cabs or something or encouraging people to use bikes to get around the area by putting in bike lanes and bike safe areas (a levee would work in this case). Mission Valley also lacks local government offices as well...heck even a visitor center would be enough. A neighborhood needs to have more than just big box stores, chain restaurants and movies to get me to visit often. And when so many other parts of the county and neighboring areas have similar amenities with less of the headache, Mission Valley really needs to step it up a notch and bring folks in to stay there with something unique to the area that no one else has. Even if they just made it affordable or designate one area (hazard center would be perfect test) for small businesses to come in as an alternative to the big box places and include some local highlights. As a result of all of the above, the bads outweigh the good for me. read more

A valley with more malls and hotels then missions, but Hotel Mall Valley doesn't have the same ring to it. Also, Mission Valley Mall would be Hotel Mall Valley Mall. Slippery slope. Let's just keep it named Mission Valley. read more

I feel bad for the people that live here. It's a flood plain. They're all going to get washed away during the next 100-year flood. Mark my words. read more

Having lived in San Diego for 11 years, I love mission valley. You can pretty much get anything you need in this central spot in San Diego. I live in Mission Valley, and its so nice to be 5 minutes from any store or restaurant I wish to patron. read more

nice town as everything you need withing 5 mile around ....yeaaa traffic is bad but not if you have a motorcycle:) lots of people comes here so real busy so if you into IN and OUT kind of place NOT GOING TO HAPPEN mission valley take time....but is fun read more

Is it my favorite here? No. I usually end up leaving with a headache. There are so many things you need here though it is a necessary evil. One good thing is that it is generally clean and you can go to like 500 places in a 3 block radius. Avoid this place during rush hours and days because it can get really stressful. I have left nearly in tears because between whatever shopping I had to do and the traffic it was all too much. I hate shopping. The mall here is dumb although for some reason I find myself here often. It is not like a regular neighborhood here so everything is new and kind of plastic. No cute Mom and Pop places and lack of regular neighborhood stuff. Like mixes of old and new sort of thing. It is very sterile here. I think there is club Miami for nightlife and that is it so don't even think you are coming to MV for fun. Planned parenthood express is here and I do love them! You should also check out Frederick Michael salon. read more