Moving from Chicago to Carlsbad, CA with child (Los Angeles, San Diego: new home, school districts)

[Sun Lover]

We are in the middle of weighing the advantages of moving from Chicago to Carlsbad due to a job opening.

We currently live in Chicago and have one child who will start kindergarten in the fall. We lived in Los Angeles for 7 years, and we are both familiar with the differences in culture and lifestyle between Chicago and Los Angeles.

But Carlsbad and San Diego area are different from West Los Angeles, where I lived, right?

Does anyone who moved recently from Chicago to Carlsbad or San Diego have any thoughts about adjustment to public school, and transitioning life with kids in the area?

Thanks!

[SDrelocate]

Here's some info on Chicago vs San Diego.

A note to all considering move from Chicago to San Diego

All kidding aside, Carlsbad is great place to raise kids. I'm not sure what area of Chicagoland you live in or city proper. Carlsbad and Encinitas San Dieguito school districts are considered very good. Lokking at the greater San Diego area, there is wide variability in Quality-of-life, socio-economics , etc across San Diego. Relatively large difference from La Jolla to Chula Vista, as there is from Lincoln park to South side in Chicago.

Best advice is spend time scoping out areas, take an extended vacation out here and scope out in person, some recommendations on things to see, especially if you have kids.

Good luck!
Top recommendations: Things to do when visiting San Diego


Best advice is to do some more

[SDrelocate]

Hey Sunlover,

Here's another thread on move from Big City (in this case NYC) to San Diego Carlsbad.
Make sure you read the "is the grass always greener" thread. Take it with a grain of salt, just some of my observations after being around the block a few times.

Thinking of a move to Carlsbad -- SCHOOLS?

[cruitr]

Carlsbad is nothing like West LA. Carlsbad is a nice family beach town with highly-rated public schools.

Housing will probably be your biggest cost. The closer you live to the water, the higher that cost will be.

[~JenLei~]

I live in Chula Vista (Otay Ranch/Eastlake area) and I'm actually from Chicago... I would not compare CV to south side Chicago at all.

[derobinson]

We moved from the ChicagoLand area to Carlsbad back in 1999 when my kids were in 1st and 5th grades. It was a great move as the education system was really not any different and so easy to adjust to. Best part of all for the kids---they could play outside year round! As much as we liked living in Chicago, we are happy and kids adjusted well to San Diego/Carlsbad. I can help you find a home in Carlsbad as I work with a wonderful realtor who has been selling homes in the NOrth County area for nearly 10 years and knows the housing market extremely well. Leave a post if you are interesting in our help with your new home search.