Calavera Hills high school and Carlsbad neighborhoods (El Cajon, August: sale, loft)

[Gabhail]

Why would you want to avoid the downtown area of Carlsbad? I would think living close to the beach and all the shops and restaurants sounds ideal.

[moved]

It's not always sunny and warm. We do get rain, and sometimes it's cloudy and overcast.

[SanDiegoDude]

Can't go wrong in Carlsbad, but for $450,000 you will scraping the bottom of housing choices unless you go condo.

Calavera Hills is nice and just a mile or two down El Camino Real is Sage Creek High School, which just opened this year. Calavera Hills is probably 3-4 miles from the beach (and subsequently, 3-4 miles from the Coaster station). I typically drive to the Carlsbad Village Coaster station and take the train to work. Beats the traffic anyday.

Sage Creek and Carlsbad High are the two high schools. Carlsbad High has been around forever and the town loves it. Sage Creek opened under a lot of controversy because the town didn't think it needed 2 high schools. I think just the freshman class is at Sage Creek this year.

Sage Creek is a beautiful campus from the street anyway. I run the Calavera Hills trails all the time.

[Gabhail]

Thank you for the info. We just got back from our visit and think we will be continuing to focus on Carlsbad. We saw a bunch of properties. Some of the townhomes we can afford are really nice. I'm still a bit confused about the high schools. I'm hearing the San Dieguito high school serves parts of La Costa and I should focus in that area? My daughter will be starting 8th grade in California, so the middle school is important too.

[SanDiegoDude]

That's true, the high school is La Costa Canyon. Very good high school. Not sure about the middle schools in that area.

I know the Carlsbad school district has a good boundary map on its website.

Whether it's the Carlsbad school district or the San Dieguito school district, you're in good hands.

[sdhkshdcny09]

Originally Posted by Gabhail

Thank you for the info. We just got back from our visit and think we will be continuing to focus on Carlsbad. We saw a bunch of properties. Some of the townhomes we can afford are really nice. I'm still a bit confused about the high schools. I'm hearing the San Dieguito high school serves parts of La Costa and I should focus in that area? My daughter will be starting 8th grade in California, so the middle school is important too.

It's not just the San Dieguito District that serves La Costa. About 1/3 of La Costa is served by San Marcos Unified. Be aware of the boundaries. A huge canyon divides the San Marcos and San Dieguito districts, but the distinction between Carlsbad and San Marcos districts is property specific in certain neighborhoods. For instance, about half the residents at the end of La Golondrina Street attend Carlsbad, while the rest of the neighborhood attends SM.

La Costa is a nice place to live because it is safe and (in my opinion) is in a sweet spot for San Diego weather. Close enough to the coast for nice breezes and moderate temperatures, but far enough away to avoid the heavy marine layer.

[NorthSDLifer]

Originally Posted by Sdguy92101

I used to live in Calavera Hills and recently moved to downtown SD.

The area is very nice and quiet if that's what you are looking for. We own some property over at Mystic Point and it was really nice and quiet when we lived there. A little too quiet for me and that's why we moved to SD; we are closer to all the action now. Here is a townhome that just listed for sale in the same community that we live, it is right around your price range.

3744 Jetty Pt, Carlsbad, CA 92010 | MLS# 130060050 | Redfin

I believe that people who live in the 92010 attend either Calavera Hils Elementary (CHE) or Hope Elementary. The middle school is Calavera Hills Middle School (Attached to CHE / same area). They just finished building a brand new High School and that's where my daughter will be attending in a few years. I believe it is called Sage Creek High School; it is a brand new school so there is not much data/scores on that's school since they are on their first year.

I rode the Coaster up and down when I lived there; takes right around an hour for a full trip from Carlsbad Village to Santa Fe Depot (Downtown); its about $5 bucks or something.

Carlsbad life is your typical suburban life; quiet and boring. There are a few good restaurants in the village but the whole area is pretty much dead around 9 PM. There are some good malls and outlets but that's about it. Outdoors: you can either go to the beach or hike around the reserve area just east of College Blvd and Tamarack Road.

Again, Calavera Hills is a nice area with low crime but really not much going on. There is one Jazz festival every year; every week, jazz musicians play at different parks throughout the city. There's a park in Calavera Hills that gets packed when this event goes on. Any more questions, just let me know.

You could do worse at quiet and boring than Carlsbad. Besides the fact there are decent waves to ride -- more than we can say in San Marcos -- the aformentioned TGIF Jazz in the Parks series is quite the feather in the cap for a suburb. The Dove library also gets some quality world/folk/classical concerts. There are a few museums, such as the Museum of Making Music, which I can't believe I still haven't been to. Plus, the Carlsbad Music Festival in September brings legit contemporary classical music to downtown. Not too shabby. (I'll be waiting for my visitor center commission now.)

[Gabhail]

Right now we live in a really boring town in NJ (currently 27F..brrrr) that barely has a downtown area. It is about 20 minutes from everything. Being closer to some shops, decent restaurant, the beach, and a few bars that have live music is enough to keep up very entertained. We will also have a whole new area to explore. This is our last Winter and I couldn't be happier. It was so cold outside today it made my teeth hurt!

As far as the schools, I guess when we find a place we will confirm with the school that it is definitely in the district we want before signing anything. I have heard about some gang activity in the San Marcos schools. Not sure if it's true, but scares me nonetheless.

Whats the deal with the marine layer. Is this just some morning fog that burns off in a few hours, or does this make for whole days of crappy weather close to the beach??

[SanDiegoDude]

San Marcos has really good schools, so don't sweat that.

In North County, Carlsbad, San Dieguito and San Marcos have really strong schools. Vista's are pretty average, and Oceanside and Escondido are a notch below that.

[Coastal_Mama]

We moved to Carlsbad almost 2 years ago and love it! My hubby and I are Southern California natives and moved just 70 miles south from Long Beach. We wanted to buy a home in Calavera Hills in 2006, but it was the peak of the housing bubble and his job was further away. I'm glad we waited because he had a position come up in Oceanside and we bought a new home in The Foothills, we are right below Calavera Hills and across from Sage Creek High School. My daughter is a freshman this year at Sage Creek and she loves it. We wanted a quiet beach town with less people, new homes and newer commercial areas, cleaner air, and a great neighborhood and we found it all in Carlsbad.

That being said, prices have climbed considerably over the past two years and what $450k could buy then, it cannot buy the same home now. In terms of newer homes in that price range Calavera Hills is your best bet. Downtown Carlsbad is older, has a "barrio" section, but even there a home is $500k+. Olde Carlsbad has older homes on huge lots with ocean views, but nothing in your price range. Aviara and La Costa are much more upscale and it reflects in price, you would get more home in northern Carlsbad. Carlsbad schools are average and over crowded. My daughter attended Calavera Hills middle school, Aviara Middle School is better and the district lets you attend anywhere in the district if the school has room. The high schools are both good, with Carlsbad being established and having longevity, it's track record is "proven". Sage Creek has a great principle at the helm,the teachers are great so far, but class selection is currently limited. Campus is gorgeous.

Schools in San Dieguito, Encinitas, Del Mar, and even Carmel Valley seem to be all on par, but just like Carlsbad, suffer from inadequate funds and over-crowded classrooms, if you want a superior education for your kiddos, private school may be the only option. My two younger children attended a private school in Encinitas last year and are now in a charter school, but we have to homeschool 3 days a week, but they have special needs. Hope elementary is mostly raved about by my friends and my older son attended their for 2 months, but he was the 33rd kid in that class and needs a small class size.