best/safest neighbourhoods for family? advice please (San Diego, Carlsbad: apartment, rentals)

[ausmum]

Hi all,

We may be moving from Australia to San Diego very soon and need some advice on the best neighbourhoods to live in for a family with a child just starting school (6 year old).

DH will be working in San Diego city area but is happy to drive around 30 - 40 mins to work if necessary.

Looking for a great area for families, good schools, safe, preferably <20 minutes to the beach and with a rental of under $2000. We're predominantly looking northern side of the city.

Is this possible and, if so, could anyone give me any advice?

Thanks!

[supagyrl88]

San Diego city area---still very big. Any idea of the zip code? If you are looking up north, maybe rancho Bernardo, 4s ranch, Carmel mountain, Encinitas, solana beach

[ausmum]

We've heard Encinitas is good, Carmel Mountain, Clairemont, Solana Beach, Cardiff, Poway are all pretty good so around these areas is where we're looking. La Jolla keeps coming up but I'm not sure if that's a families area and whether it may be too pricey?

I guess anywhere from SD city centre up to Encinitas and out to Poway would be the sort of broad area we're looking in...

[supagyrl88]

Encinitas, Solana Beach, Del Mar, Cardiff and Clairemont are all close to a beach (probably 10-15min). Poway is big and inland, gets hot, not too close to the beach but is known to attract families for their school district. If you want to be more central, UTC is good with good schools too. Are you looking at house/apartment? The new family community is Del Sur, but not sure there are any rentals.

[AADAD]

Poway. 56 to 5 beach is 25 minutes. Very good schools. Warmer quiet.

$2K. You probably won't find that most places though it depends on what you want.

[lrmsd]

Top school districts in SD: Carmel Valley [south of del mar, north of la jolla-a few miles from Torrey Pines state park/beach], Poway [inland off the 56/15] and parts of Carlsbad. San Elijo Hills district includes part of San Marcos and part of Carlsbad-I"m not sure of the exact boundaries but you can look them up. SEH is a good district, and you should be able to find housing in San Marcos for your budget. Otherwise, for 2k, you are looking at a nice condo rental in the other areas. [poway, carlsbad, carmel valley, encinitas, etc]
Also, Encinitas schools can be hit or miss. Rancho Santa Fe border side of Encinitas has great schools; this is also a very pricey area, though.
Carmel Valley is great for families; a few miles to beaches, very centrally located-off the 56, 805 and 5-you can be further north or central sd or la jolla, etc. in 20 minutes or less, most of the time. CV has most amenities within walking distance or short drive: health food and regular grocery stores, boutiques, restaurants, pharmacy, library, lots of parks and trees, clean, wide sidewalks, etc.

Also, for commute: The 'SD city area' is huge! SD is a spread out series of suburbs. Not sure if you meant downtown SD [this is NOT where most jobs are located, though. The jobs are spread out in SD, based on industry, etc]. San Marcos is further inland and further north than the other areas suggested. Though, even when traveling to and from CV, Poway, etc, it really depends on where exactly your husband's job is, and what time of day his commute will be.

Carmel Valley, Poway or Carlsbad would probably suit you well. If you want to rent a house instead of condo, check San Marcos. My 2 cents for you. Good luck!

[Pedro2000]

As others have chimed in, it depends where he works. If he is really working downtown, living in places like Carlsbad, Encinitas, Poway are going to be nightmare commutes. Honestly commuting from North County to downtown is going to be a pain.

People have different thresholds though. I spent a lot of my younger years commuting for hours. There were times where a 10 minute drive would take 90+ minutes. San Diego traffic isn't as bad as LA or DC or NY or Seattle, but it's been slowly declining. If you are stuck near the 805/5 interchanges, or 15/163 it can be painful at times.

And with gas prices starting to become astronomical again, you really should consider how far away you are willing to live from work? I understand the concept of good schools, safe neighborhoods, and so on, but at the same time if you are spending almost two hours a day commuting and doing that five times a week, that becomes very very draining.

[Encinitan]

Originally Posted by Pedro2000

As others have chimed in, it depends where he works. If he is really working downtown, living in places like Carlsbad, Encinitas, Poway are going to be nightmare commutes. Honestly commuting from North County to downtown is going to be a pain.

Not true! If he has an office/desk job or work that is confined to the downtown area, the Coaster train (to the trolley if necessary) is a great option. Even depending on the time of his commute, earlier in the day (7 am, etc) getting down the 5 to downtown from Encinitas or even Carlsbad does not approach "nightmarish" standards.

[Pedro2000]

Originally Posted by Encinitan

Not true! If he has an office/desk job or work that is confined to the downtown area, the Coaster train (to the trolley if necessary) is a great option. Even depending on the time of his commute, earlier in the day (7 am, etc) getting down the 5 to downtown from Encinitas or even Carlsbad does not approach "nightmarish" standards.

Like I said, San Diego isn't terrible compared to other cities when you have to commute. But sitting in traffic is still sitting in traffic. And there are certain times of the day where going from Solana Beach to La Jolla or vice versa is a pain in the neck on the 5. I've had certain days where it took over 30 minutes to go from Del Mar to UTC. Is that a nightmare? No, but it sure isn't fun.

I do agree taking the Coaster is a good option, but you are limited to living close to the coaster. If you live in the eastern part of Encinitas out past the target and all, driving to the coaster isn't exactly just a hop skip and a jump away. And there are always cars and lights on those roads that slow you down. Plus if you have to get to work by 7 or 8am and can't be late, you're getting to the train station before 6 or 7am. I sure would not have any desire to leave my house at 530am to go catch a train by 6am to get to work by 7am.

Again it depends on your threshold. There might be days where driving from Encinitas to downtown is a breeze. There are other moments where it's a pain in the neck and you will curse the drive. I've dealt with that crap years ago, these days I would rather it take me 5 minutes to get to/from work. Wasting time driving to work is just not that fun. And while the Coaster/trolley are options, they really are limited to a few places. Otherwise you start to get into commute to the train station, wait for the train, get off train, figure a way to get to where you work.

[Pedro2000]

I grew up in the NY/NJ area. There were plenty of people who took the train from Princeton and so on to Newark and NYC every day. It was like a 90 minute ride. Not bad, but a lot of people had to leave their houses before 6am, get to work by 8 or 9am.. Get home late at night. True it wasn't you driving your car, but train rides are train rides. And crowded rides are even worse. Do that long enough and you really spend most of your time working at work or on a train. If it's about making big bucks and living in a big house with great schools, great. But being gone from 6am till 7-8pm at night isn't exactly a great work/life balance. It sure would suck even more if you weren't making big bucks.

ANd while San Diego doesn't have that 90 minute commute, if you take the coaster from Carlsbad or encinitas to downtown, you are spending a lot of time 'working.' Being gone from 6am till 7 or 8 pm at night takes its toll. Doesn't matter if you are driving your own car or taking a train.