Oceanside, CA Living (Vista, Carlsbad, Encinitas: for sale, low crime, houses)

[ProgressofAll]

Greetings All,

I will be looking at Oceanside and surrounding areas as part of a job interview in the near future. The job is located in Oceanside. We will likely be able to afford approximately $450-$550K home. We are looking for the following attributes in our area of residence:

Very low crime
Privacy
Decent Shools
Half hour commute or less
Good weather, not to hot, etc.

Are there areas or cities that we should focus on or avoid?

Thank you!

[kathygrl]

Carlsbad, Fallbrook,Vista, Bonsall and of course, Oceanside all are within no more of a half an hour or less commute.....it just will depend on the type of lifestyle you enjoy and if you prefer more of a subdivision community or more rural feel. None of these areas will be as hot as Tucson but Fallbrook and Bonsall have a bit hotter temps than the others. Your price range is easily doable although our market is fairly low on inventory at the moment.....will just depend on what your specifics are as far as bedroom #, etc. Take a look at the public section of Sandicor MLS....pretty informative on areas, schools, etc.....this might help you get a better feel for the areas.

[janineg]

There's a small part of Oceanside that is in the Carlsbad school district. I saw one home for sale in that neighborhood to give you an example: 4028 Vista Calaveras St, Oceanside, CA 92056 | MLS# 120040168 . But with your budget, I'd bet you'd be able to live in Carlsbad itself. Otherwise, San Marcos does have good schools, too, but it's hotter than Carlsbad.

[loveautumn]

I'd vote for Carlsbad....good family area, close to ocean, great weather, nice small downtown, pretty low crime areaj, lots of shopping closeby. Oceanside has some gang issues, lots of young military (nothing wrong with that but just for information purposes). I think Carlsbad has a pretty good range of home prices.

[SDbeachbum]

I was born and raised in O'side.... my vote would be Carlsbad. Much better schools, and less gang problems.

[htnspz]

With that budget, I would consider Carlsbad and see if you can get into Encinitas as well. San Marcos does have some nice schools but it can get a little hot. In Vista, check out Shadowridge. You can likely afford a home with a view in that area and the schools are decent. The weather is very mild as it's only 5 miles or so from the ocean. The houses are a little close to each other, though, so I don't know if that's a consideration.