That's funny, I remember getting from North Park to Sorrento Valley being sheer, utter hell on earth, most of it spent crawling up 805 at a snail's pace.

Also, downtown (well, the gaslamp at least) is kinda meh but North Park, South Park, and Golden Hill are probably the best neighborhoods in the city, and about 2 miles from DT.

DT does have one advantage though in that you can take the Coaster to Sorrento Valley.