nice towns besides carlsbad, del mar and encinitas? (San Diego, Oceanside: real estate, house)

[modernglobal]

Hi,
My husband and I are on our first exploratory trip to SD and are finding a dizzying number of towns/neighborhoods to consider. Ideally, we would like to select a town that we love and then find a house in it or within 20 minutes of it. We really like Carlsbad for the # of activities, so we we would like a town that has a downtown with lots to do and an active vibrant community. We are retired so we have flexibility, but would like to stay outside the city (don't have to be coastal). Any suggestions besides Carlsbad, Del Mar, and Encinitas for us to look at so we can experience some other towns as well? thanks!

[Cardiff Kook]

Just curious, but why would you want to live 20 minutes outside of a town you love? Why not just live in one of the towns you love?

I guess you could add Solana Beach and La Jolla to your list

[loveautumn]

20 minutes from one town and you'd be in another different town, they all run together. The only real true city we have here is San Diego and I'm assuming that's the "city" you are referring to. None of the towns you mentioned are anywhere near the City of San Diego. Encinitas is actually a designated city but not in the sense that you might be used to, it's really has the look and feel of a large town. I'd also check out La Jolla. Also Rancho Bernardo, which is inland, has a lot of retirees and a very nice area. If you can make it to Coronado, that is a beautify area too across the bridge.

[loveautumn]

forget to mention, all those towns are very expensive with high housing costs....Rancho Bernardo is probably the least expensive.

[LuvSouthOC]

Forgive me, but the entire premise of the post is a little odd. You are coming here to explore but you'd like ideas of where to explore and possible move thereafter? We have no frame of reference, what you like, etc. Moreover, we have no idea what your possible future budget might be.

Based only on vague similarity to the cities you've listed, I wanted to also suggest San Clemente, Dana Point and Laguna Beach.

[Snort]

It's all good.......................except for Oceanside.

[modernglobal]

Thanks for the recommendations. We will check out La Jolla and Rancho Bernardo. Any other ideas are welcome. The reason we wanted to consider living 20 minutes outside of the town is if the town itself is outside of our budget of 800-900k, we can move further out if necessary. For example, we often go to a nearby town for restaurants and nightlife where we live now.

[loveautumn]

I'd suggest reading the sticky on this forum re real estate and housing prices. It will have a lot of information that you'll probably find valuable.

[MarciaMarshaMarcia]

Try San Marcos, it has a retirement community around the lake. The Oceana area of Oceanside also is a retirement-designed area.

[ShelbyGirl1]

Originally Posted by loveautumn

I'd suggest reading the sticky on this forum re real estate and housing prices. It will have a lot of information that you'll probably find valuable.

^ this! On this budget, a single family home on the coast is not possible. Forget Carlsbad, LaJolla etc. you'll need to add, at the very least, a 1 in front of those numbers and even then it would be an older home, and certainly not coastal. Check out Rancho Bernardo.
Living outside of the City (San Diego) melts into many smaller little towns. Obviously, the further out( and basically, out of the comute zone), you will get more house for your money. But not 20 minutes. We live in Fallbrook... A very sleepy little rural town. In our neighborhood, lots must be at least 2 acres. We have almost 5, so we love that neighbors are NOT right next door. There are a few gated communities... And many retirees. But also the home to Jason Mraz and a few other celebrities. We're 45 minutes into San Diego(without traffic) and 15 minutes to the coast. We like the very small, hometown feel, but also love being able to get out to surrounding larger towns for restaurants and shopping.