Questions about Carlsbad, Ca (San Diego, Oceanside: crime rate, new home, neighborhoods)

[kelmic]

I'm preparing to move to Carlsbad, Ca. I currently live in a town that only has a pop. of 15,000 and I've lived here all my life. I'm curious as to good and bad parts of Carlsbad. I don't want to move to a dangerous or scary part of the town. I have an 8 yr. old son and desperatly need to know about the schools in the area. Please help give any information. Good or bad, just be honest.

[smu7070]

i live in carlsbad. let me give you some information about it. i'll provide links so that my information is credible.

whether or not you would like carlsbad depends on what you look for in a city. there are some nice parts, and there is a not so nice part; but that too depends on your perspective.

the violent crime rate in carlsbad is about 3 per every 1,000 residents. see this link for the info:

http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/cius_04/offenses_reported/offense_tabulations/table_08.html (broken link)

(to get the crime rate, i divided the number 1,000 by the population and multiplied it by the number of violent crimes.)

3 violent crimes for every 1,000 residents is not bad; but you can certainly do better for the same amount of money.

as far as schools go, they are okay too, but they are not the best. carlsbad high school currently has an academic performance index (api) of 768. the state goal however, is actually 800. so that particular high school is not quite up to par with state goals, and most of carlsbad's population attends carlsbad high. i went to carlsbad high for about a year and i did see a few fights. i don't know if that's normal. here's the link with info about the school:

http://www.greatschools.net/modperl/achievement/ca/5866

it is worth noting that the carlsbad unified school district offers an independent study program called carlsbad seaside academy (it used to be called carlsbad alternative school). that program does, in fact, meet state standards. here's the link for that school:

http://www.greatschools.net/modperl/...ement/ca/11124

it has an api of 820. the carlsbad unified school district, as a whole, meets state standards, but that's mostly because the elementary schools do well. the high schools don't do quite as well as the elementary schools, for now.

i don't recommend moving to southeast carlsbad. they attend san marcos high, which has a pretty bad reputation.

back to the issue about "bad" and "good" parts of town: it mostly depends on what you are used to. the area between the northern border of carlsbad, the I-5 freeway, Carlsbad Boulevard, and the Agua Hedionda lagoon is the worst part. economically, it's about average with the united states. the southern parts of the city and newer sections in the east are more upscale. here's a map of the city by per capita income:

http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet...ng=en&-_sse=on

it's also worth noting that downtown carlsbad is located in the "worst" section. it's currently being redeveloped.

if you like open spaces, you'll find carlsbad really attractive: the city currently has quite a bit of land preserved. they are building a lot of homes though; so some of it will be gone in the future; but i don't imagine all of it will.

the shopping mall is not looking so good...at least plaza camino real isn't. it's one of the worst malls in southern california. there are plans to remodel it, but no date set yet.

to be honest, unless you value carlsbad's unique amenities (history, location, open space) you'd probably be better off in south orange county. the cities there are very safe (the most dangerous city, dana point, has only about 2/3 of the crime carlsbad does) and the schools are usually quite good. irvine has wonderful schools and the crime there is less then 1/3 of carlsbad's. it is a little bit more expensive though, but it seems to satisfy your needs a lot better. also, south orange county is newer, and many areas are planned, making some parts very attractive. it is a little bit more crowded though.

let me know if you need any more help.

[sharee]

Wow I'm not sure if the person above even lives in carlsbad. Because carlsbad is an great place to live. You cant realy go wrong in any area of carlsbad. I live here with 3 kids 1 in elem. 1 in high school and 1 now in college.And I've have never had any problems with the schools they are all great. I live 1 block from the beach west of the 5 and I love it here. The areas nice because it has alot of different housing from big track homes to small apts to older unique homes.the newer areas are quite boring looking houses. And I would never recommed living in orange county unless you love driving for hours just to get somewhere. And it is pretty much the same as far as schools and housing. I dont know if you relize how expensive carlsbad is but the medium price for a home is around 700,000 [moderator cut]

[Roman11]

I'm with you sharee.

I don't live in Carlsbad but I do work there. It's also known by most of us here in San Diego as a great place to live. Of course Carlsbad is very expensive but most all areas along the coast are but it does have everything you need. Shopping, nice new homes as well as older ones, clean and a very diverse community.

Good Luck

[chirs]

Hi everyone -

I will be moving to the Oceanside area in a few months. I am also looking for a good school for my son. He'll be attending 8th grade this next school year. I heard Carlsbad had good schools and while I was looking around the net I came across this forum
Since I'm in Germany it makes the search a bit harder.
I'm willing to drive to San Diego if I have too. My son speaks German, French and English. I already looked into private language schools, but the tuition is just a bit too much for me.
I'd appreciate any information.
Thanks

Chris

[LCINTHEOC]

My brother has lived in Carlsbad for quite some time now, and it is beautiful there! He loves it! Has never had problems with neighborhoods, nor schools. It is a great place to live, assuming you can afford it. I live in South Orange County (Aliso Viejo) with my son, and it is awesome here. My son attends in the Capistrano ("Capo") Unified School District, and the schools are top notch. We have great public schools here, and some pretty nice private as well. Everything is close by.. you don't have to drive very far. I feel that I am in the middle of L.A. & San Diego. I can go in either direction and run into alot of wonderful areas. I recommend either Carlsbad OR South Orange County. I believe either city/county you go, you won't have a problem. Good Luck!

[justron]

Stats Lie like a rug.
I have used, the red light logic for years.
Stats say , this or that and take with a grain of salt.
Oceanside Is about $100,000 plus cheaper than Carlsbad
North Carlsbad and South Carlsbad are more expensive than MIDDLE Carlsbad.
Now red lights tell you where the action is. Oceanside and middle Carlsbad.
Its against the law to profile

[smu7070]

Originally Posted by justron

North Carlsbad and South Carlsbad are more expensive than MIDDLE Carlsbad.

That's not true at all. North Carlsbad is actually the most inexpensive part. "Middle Carlsbad" can actually be quite expensive, especially with the new Bressi Ranch, La Costa Greens and Canterbury developments.

On a side note, I'd like to add that even though Carlsbad does have it's shortcomings, people seem to be able to overlook them very easily. In fact, the majority of the residents do seem to like it here a lot. Perhaps more so then in surrounding communities.

[kimmer]

Carlsbad is a nice place to live! If you can afford west of El Camino Real (the street), you'll find it has a more "small town" feel, especially the areas closer to the beach. The newer areas are more "stucco hell" (lots of cookie-cutter houses built 3 feet apart from each other, and everything is finished with a slightly different shade of beige stucco).

Oceanside is cheaper, but you get what you pay for. Lots of documented gangs in Oceanside. I try to avoid driving through O'side much less live there. I'm too afraid I'll get car-jacked, shot or robbed.
Check on-line, but I don't think the schools in O'side have a good reputation. Not sure if there are any good private schools, or not.

[Woof]

I haven't lived in Carlsbad or Oceanside, but the impression I had as a resident of San Diego who would often wander around the coast was that Carlsbad was almost all rich people, but also had a number of illegals living there on the street, which is where I suppose most of the violent crime comes from. Of course in Carlsbad violent crime could simply be spitting on the sidewalk or making a homophobic comment.

There seemed to be a definite thuggish element to Oceanside, but the beach and pier seemed very nice. There are a lot of Marines around there also, sometimes spoiling for a fight.