Considering Carlsbad

114,160

Population

Sunny Days: 263

85100 Affordability

100100 Schools

75100 Diversity

100100 Safety

See all the facts!

LookyLOO Review of Carlsbad

Family Beach Town

Yes, Carlsbad is home to Legoland but before that, it was known as a quaint, sleepy beach village on sea cliffs and sloping sandy beaches surrounded by golf courses and easy access to Del Mar, San Diego, and La Jolla (including train) with low crime. The schools are excellent and the homes beautiful which means if you’re a family and have the resources to buy (or rent) a home, and want to live in in one of the most beautiful beach towns on the west coast then Carlsbad should be on your short list.

There is a heavy-duty influx of tourists in the summer and the bucolic town you loved for 9 months becomes pretty crazy until fall. If you dislike crowds just avoid the beaches and downtown for a few months till they clear out in the fall.

Lifestyle

Carlsbad is an exurb of San Diego where master-planned suburbs climb up into the hills overlooking the waterfront with a mix of beachy locals, well-off second-home retirees, young families, and tourists. Everyone loves The Village (a block from the beach) with street tacos gastropubs fine dining and karaoke. The local scenery includes a huge flower field and strawberry fields for picking in the spring. Carlsbad is an upscale suburban scene that rolls down to lovely California beaches (Ponto State Beach, Carlsbad State Beach, and a beach called Warm Waters.) Beyond all that, Carlsbad is the Golf Capital of Southern California; people are serious about golf here, and there are a lot of opportunities to play; both high-priced and cheap.

Schools

Carlsbad Unified School District is a top-rated public school district receiving an "A+" on niche.com. It comprises 9 elementary schools that feed into three middle schools, and two high schools. All the schools perform well but the high schools in particular are strong with Sage Creek and Carlsbad High both ranking up to A+ on niche.com.

Why You Should Move Here Now?

It’s hard to quibble with year-round sunshine, beautiful beaches, great schools and a quaint village. Suburban homes/yards and amenities combined with a beach town vibe is hard to resist.

Reviews of Carlsbad from Locals

The Tourists

NoPianist1658
1y ago
🦉🦉🦉

I relocated to CA right before COVID hit in Sep 2019 from AZ where everyone was moving TO AZ. I’m a single mother with no child support. Certified Pharmacy Technician. We moved here for quality of life. It’s all about QOL for me. California as a whole has SO much to offer. You don’t even need to technically leave the state to travel and take your kid or kiddos around. Carlsbad has a highly rated school district. I live in San Elijo a community within San Marcos right on the border of Carlsbad. Also close to Encinitas, Del Mar other parts of San Marcos, a hop skip and a jump from La Jolla etc. The areas are super safe and well planned. North San Diego County is kind of covetted even when I visit Orange County other people speak highly of this area. It’s clean, nice and new. I currently work remotely but I didn’t always I commuted all over San Diego when I first moved to California. There’s countless museums, activities, events. People are nice and friendly. The drivers are the best. You can have sun, surf, sand, snow, rain all of it in California. It’s easy to make friends out here. People are super nice and I feel like people are happier in this part of California. Sunshine and sand are good for the soul. Very supportive to parents and single parents alike. I would highly recommend it if it’s your vibe. There’s a lot to do out here. People always say “Oh, but California’s expensive.” And I would say back, “Yeah but you get what you pay for.