Carlsbad Village
Carlsbad Fall Village Faire
Carlsbad Flower Fields
The Crossings at Carlsbad
The San Diego region in many ways is defined by our relationship with the ocean. It’s our front yard and a beautiful playground for families and visitors - Scott Peters
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 by 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.
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 to gastropubs to 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 really like golf here and there are a lot of opportunities to play; both high-priced and cheap.
Carlsbad is a top-rated public school district and scores and 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.
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.
Carlsbad Village is the spiritual center of the city. It’s the oldest section and for those who like to go out, the most fun part of the city. The restaurants, bars, cafes, and shops are walkable and even better they're right next to the beach!
The oldest homes in the city are here and these include beautiful Victorians, as well as more beach-type cottages, Craftsmans and bungalows. There are also plenty of condos and apartments filled with younger professionals and retirees who like being near the social scene and the beach. This is also where the hotels, bars and nightclubs are so expect lots of tourists in the summer months. The State Street Farmers’ Market is also here, open from March through October, every Wednesday.
Plenty of families that appreciate proximity to beach and a walkable social life live in the Village neighborhood and the smaller footprint homes are a bit more affordable than some of the more suburban neighborhoods with more mcmansion style homes. Median home price is $1.44m and median monthly rental price is $2.8k.
Bressi Ranch is the ideal suburban neighborhood in the southeast corner of the Carlsbad area. One part of the appeal is how it sits east of the fog belt so if you dislike “June Gloom” consider Bressi Ranch. It’s a master-planned community, with 180 acres of open space for outdoor play including paths for running, hiking and biking. There are also tons of parks, including the massive Alga Norte Community Park which is quintessential Southern California, with a skatepark, aquatic center, and doggo park. Locals shop at the Bressi Ranch Village Center which has two grocery stores (Trader Joe’s!!!) along with plenty of other family restaurants and shops. Homes and yards are newer and bigger in Bressi Ranch and come with a median price tag of $1.5m.
As the name implies, Old Carlsbad is one of the older sections of the town. Homes are primarily older ranch-style homes, although there is a newer section of the neighborhood in the northwest section with much bigger, contemporary homes.
Families love the fact they live on the beach and that they also have great parks in the neighborhood including, [Hosp Grove Park](https://www.carlsbadca.gov/Home/Components/FacilityDirectory/FacilityDirectory/36/7400), a 5.5-acre park with playgrounds and picnic areas and beautiful trails amidst groves of eucalyptus trees. Kids who grow up here will often walk to and from the beach and enjoy surfing after school. Sounds pretty good. The smaller footprint homes means lower price tags at media home price of $1.4m.
Calavera Hills is just east of downtown and is known among locals for newer beautiful homes, excellent schools and amazing outdoor spaces and parks galore for the kiddos and doggos to play. The “center” of the community is the Calavera Hills Community Park. The park has 21-acres of green spaces, tennis courts, basketball courts, playgrounds, bbq/picnic spots park and performing arts spaces and events at the Calavera Hills Community Center.
Right next door to the park is the Calavera Nature Preserve -- 110-acres of stunning countryside for hiking and biking as well as Mount Calavera. It also includes the 400-acre Lake Calavera Reservoir. South of the preserve is the 473-acre Carlsbad Highlands Ecological Reserve that is home to an incredible variety of bird and animal species for the wildlife lovers in the community.
Homes are a mix of newer homes and homes built in the original development of the 70’s and 80s. Median home price is just north of $1m. Schools in the neighborhood include Calavera Hills Elementary School and Calavera Hills Middle School, both A-rated schools.
