Why is Carlsbad more expensive than San Diego proper?

[TacoSoup]

Originally Posted by silverkris

Do understand that San Diego city limits can be very vast. For example, the San Diego Wild Animal Park is close to Escondido and Vista, well to the north of downtown San Diego, but is within San Diego city limits. So is Rancho Bernardo, Mira Mesa, Rancho Penasquitos which all have San Diego, CA addresses to the best of my knowledge.

OTOH, La Jolla is also within city limits but its address is La Jolla, CA rather than San Diego, CA.

Exactly. Kinda hard comparing a town of 115K mostly on/near the coast with a city of 1.4M. If you were to take the dimensions of Carlsbad and place it over the coast from La Jolla to Point Loma and however far inland you’d get a much different home price. Apples to oranges comparison.

[unique234]

Originally Posted by TacoSoup

Exactly. Kinda hard comparing a town of 115K mostly on/near the coast with a city of 1.4M. If you were to take the dimensions of Carlsbad and place it over the coast from La Jolla to Point Loma and however far inland you’d get a much different home price. Apples to oranges comparison.

I agree with this. Carlsbad is an extremely small community to compare with San Diego proper. If you just compared Carlsbad to Ocean Beach, that would be a better comparison. Carlsbad is expensive because people choose to pay higher prices for things (houses, food, cars, etc) and it drives the price of everything up. Anywhere on the coast will be expensive. I think what makes Carlsbad more expensive than Ocean Beach is good urban planning and the reputation it has established. Ocean Beach is known as the alternative scene that attracts homeless people, has a funky arts/music scene, and has a surfer vibe. It is close to a college and has a younger crowd. Carlsbad is seen as more sophisticated, rich, and has more space between houses. Although Carlsbad has more people, they're not trying to cram as many people into their community as Ocean Beach. The lot sizes seem a lot smaller in Ocean Beach. Also, Carlsbad has developed an industrial business park to attract more businesses. I haven't seen Ocean Beach stepping into that arena. They focus on the food scene.

[Axxlrod]

Originally Posted by unique234

I agree with this. Carlsbad is an extremely small community to compare with San Diego proper. If you just compared Carlsbad to Ocean Beach, that would be a better comparison. Carlsbad is expensive because people choose to pay higher prices for things (houses, food, cars, etc) and it drives the price of everything up. Anywhere on the coast will be expensive. I think what makes Carlsbad more expensive than Ocean Beach is good urban planning and the reputation it has established. Ocean Beach is known as the alternative scene that attracts homeless people, has a funky arts/music scene, and has a surfer vibe. It is close to a college and has a younger crowd. Carlsbad is seen as more sophisticated, rich, and has more space between houses. Although Carlsbad has more people, they're not trying to cram as many people into their community as Ocean Beach. The lot sizes seem a lot smaller in Ocean Beach. Also, Carlsbad has developed an industrial business park to attract more businesses. I haven't seen Ocean Beach stepping into that arena. They focus on the food scene.

Houses are def more expensive in Carlsbad than OB, but food? How are you basing this?

And I do not see how cars can be more expensive. There are probably more euro cars (expensive) on the roads in carlsbad than in OB.

[TacoSoup]

Originally Posted by Axxlrod

Houses are def more expensive in Carlsbad than OB, but food? How are you basing this?

And I do not see how cars can be more expensive. There are probably more euro cars (expensive) on the roads in carlsbad than in OB.

Yeah OB probably wouldn’t be the strip of San Diego I’d compare when you have La Jolla and Point Loma within it’s city limits, but it does have many great restaurants.