is San Marcos nice? (San Diego, Carlsbad: best neighborhood, HOA, houses)

[cMedic1]

I am wondering is San Marcos is a nice place to settle down and raise a family. I will most likely be looking to move to the northern San Diego county from Northern Virginia/DC area in the next few years. I would like to slow the pace down a lot. San Marcos seems nice and it seems to be bit cheaper than the areas right on the coast, but is still pretty close. The pics look good of the area overall I think. I hear the schoosl are kind of iffy in some spots though. Does anybody know what private schools costs these days? Also does San Marcos have mello roos in all the ares or just some. I don't care about nightlife being a family man but would like good outdoor activities for the fam. Just your overall opinions of San Marcos and some answers to those questions would be very appreciated. I'm craving some opinions so feed me some please!! Thanks

[parker]

The schools on the south side of the 78 tend to have better API scores. We looked at Carlsbad and ended up south of the 78 because, in the areas we could afford in Carlsbad, the API scores were higher at the school we chose to send our girls to. The children's elementary school's API scores were 947 this year. Here is the link for CDE to access API scores: Accountability Progress Reporting (APR) (CA Dept of Education) Access under "API Reports...School Level Data" then it will take you to a page that allow for input of partial school name and it will bring up the API info for that particular school.

We are in an area that does have Mello Roos...I think the newer areas tend to as the Mellos assist in building the new infrastructure to the area (could be wrong on this).

Finally, we tend to access, due to our location, Carlsbad and Encinitas for all of our shopping, dining, etc.

Good luck!!!

[justdance7]

San Marcos is a great place to live - especially for a family. Agree that South of the 78 freeway is best - with one decent area north of it (in Santa Fe Hills). Everything else, stay South of the 78 and East of San Marcos Blvd and you will be happy, happy. What to expect:
- hiking / biking trails interconnected throughout the city.
- "some" shopping / restaurants, but very close to amazing amenities in Carlsbad / Encinitas
- affordable homes (compared to anything else decent in San Diego area)
- good schools, getting better. New San Marcos High School under construction.
- Double Peak -http://storify.com/Leslie_Weller/san-marcos-california
- If you want to avoid Mello Roos / HOA - then you can't beat Discovery Hills neighborhood for quality, value, convenience - especially if you plan to purchase a home and live here for the long haul...building out a brand new downtown San Marcos over then next decade with very cool, modern "walkable city" type plans.
-Many love San Elijo Hills - and it is beautiful, but be aware, it was build on top of an old dump (literally) so you never know what the long term toxins / effects of that might be for little ones.

Hope this helps and welcome to San Diego / San Marcos. Your research had steered you well.

[parker]

San Elijo is NOT literally built on the old dump site. The site is west of Elfin Forest and is currently not in use and has not been built on. For an aerial view, visit this site: http://www.sdcounty.ca.gov/reusable_...Aerial_Map.jpg

[rhanifin]

south san marcos is definitely a nice place to settle down.
- Great parks, trails and outdoor activities. There actually adding another park: "South Lake Park"
- Relatively affordable and a good price for the quality of living
- Schools are good
- Area is safe
- Close to the ocean/ weather is nice

overall, I think it's a good choice.

As aforementioned, the 'best' parts of san marcos are south of San Marcos Boulevard all the way to the 78, and then from there stay south of the 78. However, there are plenty of nice areas in the north. Twin Oaks valley is more rural and is very nice. Santa Fe Hills is probably the best neighborhood to the north, however.

Here is my response to another person on a SM-related thread:

San Marcos Preschools and Elem. Schools

hopefully it helps! feel free to PM me

[parker]

San Marcos High was rated number three in the state and number 11 in the nation (out of 21,776 schools)! San Marcos High School in SAN MARCOS, CA | Best High Schools | US News

[rhanifin]

Actually, the report was based on inaccurate numbers. The number of seniors/juniors is wrong, which skews the data. Despite this, the report takes into consideration the number of disadvantaged students as well- which bodes well for SMHS' rankings regardless. SM High is one of the top schools in the county, but top of the nation is a stretch.

[GMUAlum08]

we are looking at houses in the San Elijo hills area...seems like a nice area