Encinitas Schools (Vista, Carlsbad: homes, neighborhoods, buying)

[newgensandiego]

Originally Posted by Encinitan

Um, having lived in Village Park for 10 years, I don't agree with your "it's not walkable" assertion. It's actually really walkable, with the stores and restaurants along the El Camino Real and Encinitas Boulevard corridors right close by.

The definition of walkable is not simply "has sidewalks". There is a certain level of convenience and pedestrian comfort that contribute to walkability.

The El Camino Real and Encinitas Boulevard corridors are heavily trafficked, auto-centric corridors. You literally have to cross seven travel lanes to get across El Camino Real at most points- at the intersection with Encintas Boulevard it is 9 lanes!

Pedestrian routes between residential neighborhoods and retail are circuitous and all storefronts are set back from the street, requiring patrons to walk through a parking lots to get to the entrance. This corridor is the definition of auto-centric suburbia. Let's not sugarcoat it.

WalkScore misleadingly says it is walkable because the algorithm favors a mix of uses (retail next to residential). On the ground it is obvious that this area is designed for cars.

[Encinitan]

Originally Posted by newgensandiego

The definition of walkable is not simply "has sidewalks". There is a certain level of convenience and pedestrian comfort that contribute to walkability.

The El Camino Real and Encinitas Boulevard corridors are heavily trafficked, auto-centric corridors. You literally have to cross seven travel lanes to get across El Camino Real at most points- at the intersection with Encintas Boulevard it is 9 lanes!

Pedestrian routes between residential neighborhoods and retail are circuitous and all storefronts are set back from the street, requiring patrons to walk through a parking lots to get to the entrance. This corridor is the definition of auto-centric suburbia. Let's not sugarcoat it.

WalkScore misleadingly says it is walkable because the algorithm favors a mix of uses (retail next to residential). On the ground it is obvious that this area is designed for cars.

Whatever. I’m going for a walk!

[ye_ye]

Some great info here, thank you. Is there any particular reason Village Park is $$ while the rest of Encinitas is $$$? How far are most parts of Village Park realistically from the beach? Is it possible to bike/walk to the beach? Any info on Leucadia and Cardiff?

Originally Posted by Encinitan

So, I responded to the comments here in reverse order, sorry about that! But I'd focus on Village Park. It has great schools (Flora Vista and Park Dale Lane elementary, Diegueno Middle School and either San Dieguito Academy or La Costa Canyon for high school). It also has a great family vibe (lots of kids, parks, swimming pools, etc in the community).
I don't see a price range you provided, but while the rest of Encinitas is $$$, Village Park is only $$

[newgensandiego]

Originally Posted by Encinitan

Whatever. I’m going for a walk!

Take a few nice pictures of the parking lots and traffic.

But seriously, at least three pedestrians have been killed since last fall along the Encinitas Boulevard corridor alone.

[Encinitan]

Originally Posted by ye_ye

Some great info here, thank you. Is there any particular reason Village Park is $$ while the rest of Encinitas is $$$? How far are most parts of Village Park realistically from the beach? Is it possible to bike/walk to the beach? Any info on Leucadia and Cardiff?

VP is cheaper, but not cheap, because it's further from the beach. The lots are bigger than you'll find along most of the coast, but it's not walk to the beach close. From Village Park, it's a 10 minute drive (about 4 miles) straight down Encinitas Boulevard to Moonlight Beach. Add 5 minutes to Cardiff or Leucadia beaches. You can ride a bike from VP to the beach. Walking would be a stretch. It's not a flat ride to the beach (Encinitas Boulevard is a fairly steep hill between El Camino Real and Balour) but you could do it. It'd probably take 30 minutes to bike to the beach from here.
Leucadia and Cardiff are great, but they're also crowded and noisier and not as well planned. The streets are narrow, no sidewalks in most areas, and street parking is the norm, making for some crowded streets that aren't great for walking or cycling.
But, it's beach close. Which is what drives prices not just in Encinitas but all over California. The closer you are to the beach, generally speaking, the more you're going to pay. Still, in Village Park, a 4 bedroom 2 bath house that's 2,000 square feet on a quarter acre (8,000 square feet), you're going to pay nearly $1 million. At the coast, the same would be $1.5mm or more.

[Snort]

Originally Posted by ye_ye

Anyone care to provide a guide to Encinitas schools? Which are the good/better elementary schools? Same for middle and high schools. Paul Ecke, Ocean Knoll, Park Dale, Capri are all rated 7 on greatschools and Flora Vista is 9. I know ratings are not all that matter. Is Carslbad much better? El Camino Creek and La Costa Heights are 9, Mission Estancia and Olivenhain are 10. Solana Beach and Del Mar worth considering?

For reference, we are a family of 4 with a 5yr old and 3yr old, hoping to make a move from the East Coast to San Diego in the next few years. We have loved visiting San Diego over the last 2 decades and while the city has grown in population and housing prices risen a lot, it still appeals to us. Coastal parts of North County seem ideal, although housing price West of the I-5 are very high and we are not sure if living West of the I-5 is ideal long term, it sure is nice on a short visit with the proximity to the beaches.

This website used to be the best source of info for school performance, but they haven't updated it in a decade, unfortunately. It can, however, give you a sense of where things might be nowadays:
California School Performance Maps

I'm going to add this link because it will give you more current info (districts are always looking at their API scores to measure themselves by), but this data will be harder to interpret for your basic question:
https://www.caschooldashboard.org/#/Home

[ye_ye]

What are the demographics like in Village Park? What do people do for a living?

Originally Posted by Encinitan

VP is cheaper, but not cheap, because it's further from the beach. The lots are bigger than you'll find along most of the coast, but it's not walk to the beach close. From Village Park, it's a 10 minute drive (about 4 miles) straight down Encinitas Boulevard to Moonlight Beach. Add 5 minutes to Cardiff or Leucadia beaches. You can ride a bike from VP to the beach. Walking would be a stretch. It's not a flat ride to the beach (Encinitas Boulevard is a fairly steep hill between El Camino Real and Balour) but you could do it. It'd probably take 30 minutes to bike to the beach from here.
Leucadia and Cardiff are great, but they're also crowded and noisier and not as well planned. The streets are narrow, no sidewalks in most areas, and street parking is the norm, making for some crowded streets that aren't great for walking or cycling.
But, it's beach close. Which is what drives prices not just in Encinitas but all over California. The closer you are to the beach, generally speaking, the more you're going to pay. Still, in Village Park, a 4 bedroom 2 bath house that's 2,000 square feet on a quarter acre (8,000 square feet), you're going to pay nearly $1 million. At the coast, the same would be $1.5mm or more.

[Encinitan]

Originally Posted by ye_ye

What are the demographics like in Village Park? What do people do for a living?

Well I don't have stats, but generally White, some Hispanic/Latinos mixed in. Ages range from young families to retirees. It's an older community for So Cal standards, built in the early 1970s, so some original owners remain (lucky bastards, paid $35,000 for their houses!).
As for careers, it's a mix. We have neighbors who are retired, teacher, school admin, doctor, professionals of all sorts. I work for a digital marketing agency, my wife is a work-from-home freelance writer and editor.
It's like the rest of Encinitas, but not as trendy and flashy as the coastal strip, which is more popular with the "new money" types who drive an Audi and moved here from somewhere else after "discovering it" during college or a vacation. VP residents are more down to earth, working class folks.

[ye_ye]

Makes sense why VP is a little cheaper then. How often do people visit the beach from Village Park? With one of the best beaches on the West Coast nearby, I'd imagine at least once a week with the kids? When I visited Encinitas, the coastal part west of I-5, I found people to be quite friendly and down to earth, of course there were more surfers too. Any other neighborhoods closer to the beach worth considering, with my wants? Being close to the coast, I'd be more concerned about excessive noise, slightly worse schools. The cost, square footage and demographics might be a slight concern, but that I'd be OK with that given the benefits of being able to walk to the beach almost daily. About price range, I haven't decided on that yet. It depends on employment, how much we can save in the next few years, yearly housing expenses like taxes, insurance, HOA, etc., ability to rent out for vacations (I assume you can't do this in VP realistically), state of the national and local economy, etc.

Originally Posted by Encinitan

Well I don't have stats, but generally White, some Hispanic/Latinos mixed in. Ages range from young families to retirees. It's an older community for So Cal standards, built in the early 1970s, so some original owners remain (lucky bastards, paid $35,000 for their houses!).
As for careers, it's a mix. We have neighbors who are retired, teacher, school admin, doctor, professionals of all sorts. I work for a digital marketing agency, my wife is a work-from-home freelance writer and editor.
It's like the rest of Encinitas, but not as trendy and flashy as the coastal strip, which is more popular with the "new money" types who drive an Audi and moved here from somewhere else after "discovering it" during college or a vacation. VP residents are more down to earth, working class folks.

[anita house]

I can weigh in on Carlsbad if needed. Great schools (both my kids have gone through elementary, middle and are now headed to or in high school-man, time flies!). Walkability is good depending where you want to live--- West of 5 will give you newer and about a 5 minute walk to the beach. Just East of 5 is highly regarded and takes maybe 15 minutes to walk to the beach. The further into Carlsbad you get, will get you walkability to stores, restaurants and shopping but it just depends on what is most important to you-- Bressi Ranch (Inland), Waters End (coastal) are just a couple of the neighborhoods. Robertson Ranch is a new development and nestled in with great schools, too. I hope this helps....! Good luck! Not an easy decision...