San Diego Pelicans: Advice on these communities...

[Vipergrün]

Hello all.....

well, we are seriously looking to move back to CA now, specifically to the SD area.

We have been looking at several areas, which seem to offer good schools, good location, and housing which we could afford. I would appreciate any further info you all would like to share, positive or negative about these areas. In no particular order they are;

Scripps Ranch
Carmel Valley/Sorrento Valley
Rancho Bernardo
Encinitas
Carlsbad

I do not know where I'll be working yet, possibly from home, UCSD, or a local tech firm in the 'wireless corridor'.

Encinitas would be my ideal town, but I am concerned a bit about raising kids in a 'surf town'....maybe should not be a concern at all..

Thanks for your input and comments.

-Brad

[John Rogers]

I have lived in Chula Vista since 1969 and so far I love it. Several things to consider: closeness to sex offenders, crime rates, school rankings, commute times, home-owner associations, location of the home and there are probably more. If you check any of the San Diego are TV station or SD City web sites they list the on line sex offender maps and now also have very uptodate crime statistics maps (about a week old). Where the kids are raised is greatly influenced by the schools and how well they do. All the San Diego schools are better than they were 20 years ago I think. Commuting is a nightmare here now so if you have to go south on I5 or I15 in the AM or North in the PM it is TERRIBLE but getting better. You can check live traffic speeds on line for San Diego to get an idea of the impact. This is a result of Jerry Brown not spending any road money while he was govenor but the state is trying to catch up. Finally most locations you mention have home-owner associations and they are on the news once or twice a week for doing really stupid stuff such as law suites or weird rules they enact with no owner input! The size of the lot if you buy a home will shock you as to how small and if you are thinking condos there are many that do not allow children so be aware of that.

[Vipergrün]

Thanks John. We are very carefully looking at schools, specifically locations where there are very high API scores elementary thru HS, with high parental envolvement. We are leaning towards older nighborhoods for several reasons, including lot sizes, little or no HOA, no mello-roos, and established trees and neighbors. Looking at the Megans Laws maps is something we have done each time we start looking, both in Colorado and CA. Appreciate your reply.

[Vipergrün]

bump.....any others?

[Joeaksa]

You are talking about high rent areas there. Rancho Sante Fe is right in this area and is the highest per capita town in the entire country, so doubt you will be living there.

Have a friend working in Carlsbad but he lives 10 miles inland as he cannot afford to be closer, and he is a pilot making desent wages.

Look inland as anything close to the water will be expensive.

[Amail]

Originally posted by bb80sc
Hello all.....

well, we are seriously looking to move back to CA now, specifically to the SD area.

We have been looking at several areas, which seem to offer good schools, good location, and housing which we could afford. I would appreciate any further info you all would like to share, positive or negative about these areas. In no particular order they are;

Scripps Ranch
Carmel Valley/Sorrento Valley
Rancho Bernardo
Encinitas
Carlsbad

I do not know where I'll be working yet, possibly from home, UCSD, or a local tech firm in the 'wireless corridor'.

Encinitas would be my ideal town, but I am concerned a bit about raising kids in a 'surf town'....maybe should not be a concern at all..

Thanks for your input and comments.

-Brad

All these communities are very nice. Carlsbad and Encinitas are excellent coastal towns, and each has their own flavor. Encinitas is more into the surf scene, more laid back. Carlsbad is a little more touristy at the coast and is larger and more cosmopolitan than Encinitas. There is a lot of development happening in Carlsbad.

Rancho Bernardo is way inland and geared more towards the gray haired set.

Scripps Ranch and Carmel / Sorrento area are between RB and Carlsbad, albeit a bit south. Don't know a lot about these places, but they are definitely upper shelf communities.

I-15 traffic southbound is absouly terrible in the morning, especially north of Lake Hodges. If you consider Escondido or San Marcos, factor this in.

I-5 traffic is bad pretty much everywhere all the time.

If you can afford the coast, do it.

[Vipergrün]

Thanks for the replies. Luckily, we cashed out at the top of the market when we sold our house in Ventura 2 years ago and we can re-enter the CA market with a good chunk down. We have been looking at the 700K range, which will actuall buy a decent place, closer to 750K in Encinitas. Prices are dropping and we continue to see "new" listings, which are actually re-listings with price drops. We have seen 100K+ drops on a lot of properties and are seeing many more "make an offer" postings, even some desparation sales.

[therotman]

Originally posted by bb80sc


Scripps Ranch
Carmel Valley/Sorrento Valley
Rancho Bernardo
Encinitas
Carlsbad
[/B]

If you can afford Encinitas do it! It's a cool little beach community and does not have the same size drinking/drugs/party scene that the beach communities south of La Jolla have (PB, OB).

Carlsbad has some nice areas and some that are on the opposite end of the spectrum- it would depend where you live but there are nice places. Lots of Military families live here.

As said by someone else, Rancho Bernardo is a lot of older people, older homes and newer businesses.

Scripps Ranch, Carmel Valley and Sorrento Valley are in my mind all newer homes without much square footage or land but fairly nice neighborhoods- just watch out for fires! I live just south of here in Tierrasanta where the homes are a little older and have more space IMO (my tiny house community is the exception)

Of course where you work is important as you can be spending a lot of your life in traffic if you live in the wrong place. If you have enough money and can work from home live in Encinitas!

[nostatic]

Encinitas/Leucadia/Cardiff used to be my "dream" citites to live in. Now it would only be if I didn't have to commute. The I5 blows through north county.

Remember: there is no life east of the I5...

[lowyder993s]

Come on in the waters warm

Encinitas/Leucadia is a great place. I grew up in Chula Vista/Bonita in the 70's and 80's...surf tripped all the way to Encinitas when I was 16. Always knew I wanted to live there. Took the 90's stock market to get there, never looked back. Made a small investment in a former employee's family oil exploration business in Texas 2 years ago, paying off my mortgage and home equity LOC next month. During the summer I ride my bicycle from work Chula Vista to home...a nice way to unwind and get in a surf check. UCSD to Encinitas is a chip shot! Keep us posted!

[JavaBrewer]

I've been too busy to post on this topic to date. I'll add that Rancho Bernardo now has a newer community, 4S Ranch, were you won't find many gray hairs. Large development with many different neighborhoods - if that's your bag. It is South of the dreaded I-15/Lake Hodges parking lot which is good. Carlsbad is growing into a modern classic suburb with the requsite strip malls, starbucks, and sport marts. If you consider Carlsbad I'd highly recommend you also look at San Marcos. We're 9 miles inland from the coast and regardless of what you read (Todd) there IS a great lifestyle East of the I-5. The key is to stay West of the I-15. I'll post more later.

[1973911s]

Scripps Ranch
Carmel Valley/Sorrento Valley
Rancho Bernardo
Wife grew up in these area's very nice, large homes. Welcome back!

[Vipergrün]

Right on, good to hear these things...

As for life East of the I5, right now my family IS my life and good schools and a solid community are key.....If I were a bachelor with no responsibilities, things would be different..

[JavaBrewer]

I just caught your requirement for older-established neighborhoods and no/little HOA and Mello Roos. That pretty much wipes out the area's I was going to suggest.

Scripps Ranch (I lived there 8 years b4 moving to SM), Carmel Valley, RB, Poway all have good school districts but you have to move into the right neighborhood. For example San Marcos schools North of highway 78 consistently score 50% lower than the schools on the South side - which score in the top 5% of the state. So moving into the right area is important.

I think Rancho Bernardo and Poway are good bet's for what you are looking for. I really like Scripps Ranch but older homes there are small and are on small lots and will command ~ $650K. I would say the best option is to rent for 6 months and take your time to look around.