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. 


Family Beach Town

The Best Thing About Carlsbad?

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. 


The Tourists 

The Worst Thing About Carlsbad?

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. 


Lifestyle of Carlsbad

Carlsbad is a top-rated public school district and scores and A+ on [**niche.com**](https://www.niche.com/k12/d/carlsbad-unified-school-district-ca/). 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**](https://www.niche.com/k12/sage-creek-high-school-carlsbad-ca/) and [**Carlsbad High**](https://www.niche.com/k12/carlsbad-high-school-carlsbad-ca/) both ranking up to A+ on niche.com.

Schools in Carlsbad

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. 


Why You Should Move Here Now?

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](https://www.carlsbad-village.com/events/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. 

Families/Young Professionals/Retirees

Carlsbad Village

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**](https://www.carlsbadca.gov/Home/Components/FacilityDirectory/FacilityDirectory/10/7417) which is quintessential Southern California, with a skatepark, aquatic center, and doggo park.  Locals shop at the [**Bressi Ranch Village Center**](https://bressiranchvillagecenter.com/) 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.  


Families

Bressi Ranch

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. 


Old Carlsbad

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**](https://www.carlsbadca.gov/Home/Components/FacilityDirectory/FacilityDirectory/16/7400). 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**](https://wildlife.ca.gov/Lands/Places-to-Visit/Carlsbad-Highlands-ER) 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. 


Calavera Hills

Carlsbad

**can anyone tell me what it’s like living in carlsbad/oceanside area? do u like it, how are the schools, etc? thanks!**

I lived in Carlsbad so can give you my 2¢.

Carlsbad is clean, well built, and posh (not quite La Jolla posh but still posh). Has an upper middle class suburb feel that's right next to the beach. Very family friendly. Downtown Carlsbad is pretty fun for night life too.

Oceanside is few degrees grittier, def more younger people. Seems like lots of coffee shops and restaurants are opening there as of late, so seems more dynamic too.

Can't comment on schools but I'd imagine Carlsbad High is solid given the affluent neighborhood.

**Moving to Carlsbad! Any advice?**

Traffic is not bad, unless you are accessing the I-5 during rush hour. If you live and work in Carlsbad, it's not bad.

I don't think there are any bad neighborhoods in Carlsbad. It's a fairly rich city with a large retiree population. Montecito and Windsor are two apartments I can think of off the top of my head that I've heavily considered. It won't be a huge deal if you're just here for the summer.

California lacks proper public transportation. The roads in Carlsbad are very bike friendly though. On a sunny weekend you'll see dozens if not hundreds of bike riders roaming the city, especially near the coast.

Very safe community. Quite the rich suburbia. The best way to describe the community is Beach Town. If you like the beach, you'll fit right in to the vibe. Downtown Carlsbad is the main night life spot. It's a really nice place by the coast, but not very hardcore. There are bars and restaurants, but nothing's really open past 8. I stand corrected (to my pleasure).

Summer - to die for. Fall too. Incredible sunsets over the ocean that make you feel lucky to exist here. If I ever need a mood booster after work I take a drive along the coast.

People are generally reasonable and vaxxed. The pandemic is still a thing but SD county is very lax about it compared with the rest of California. You could almost forget we're in a pandemic. Bars and everything are open. It helps that much of the recreation here is outdoors.

There are cool events that happen though you'll need to look out for them. We're a stone's toss and a half away from San Diego proper, and you can certainly find events there. The public rail infrastructure for getting there should be decent. I'm trying to figure it out myself.

In case you're working for a certain satellite company, feel free to dm me.

**Carlsbad vs Encinitas?**

Answer 1: Wow what a coincidence. My wife and I just moved to Carlsbad from Santa Monica last year. We bought a house in La Costa (south Carlsbad), so we feel like we get the best of both worlds. We do tend to spend more time in and around Encinitas than Carlsbad Village, but both are easy to access from our place.

We have a young son, so the schools were a big reason we settled in La Costa (they're supposed to be some of the best around). Our neighborhood is perfect for young kids. They are everywhere!


Answer 2: La Costa is the correct answer if you can't decided between Carlsbad and Encinitas. It's the best of both worlds. Carlsbad parks, libraries, etc. can't be beat, and you'll be far enough south that most of Encinitas is within a ten minute drive.


Answer 3: This is it! I also live in La Costa, and I agree with another poster that Encinitas is older and crunchier, and Carlsbad feels more like a planned community. La Costa is full of planned neighborhoods with quiet residential streets. The kids can actually go out and run around with other neighborhood kids, and there are a ton of kids! Carlsbad is a great place to raise kids. But Encinitas is a lot of fun for shopping, and they have a lot of specialty shops, so I love living nearby.

Carlsbad, California

Titanium Valley

Looklyloo Score: 87

We're on it!