housing cost - 1/5/2008

housing is very expensive for quality.

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Carlsbad, CA Scores a 10 in Family Quality of Life - 12/30/2007

There is simply a plethora of things to do, mostly taking advantage of the 320 days of sunshine and temps always around 65 degrees +/- 15 degrees. Festivals, outdoor concerts, sports, surfing (not a sport - a religion), skateboarding, hiking, hang gliding, kite flying, soccer, shopping, and just lovin' the scenery. Legoland, Seaworld, 45 mins to Disneyland, Wild Animal Park and the World Famous San Diego Zoo (with 16 ft. tiger enclosure!. And every home with a view or a short walk to the largest waterpark in the world...The Pacific Ocean! Grab your kids and let's go!

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yearround climate - 10/13/2007

best overall climate in u.s., other than that you can have kallifornia!!

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CARLSBAD CA GREAT CITY - 10/12/2007

Carlsbad is a great city with happy people. The only drawback is the traffic everything else is wonderful.

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Living in Carlsbad, Ca - 9/25/2007

I love living in Carlsbad. I am from here. I stay because the weather is perfect. We do get "Santa Ana" winds from the Santa Ana mountains. It's a little dry. I started getting allergies from the "Santa Anas", but it's not that bad. It's about 72 degrees year round. I also stay because the schools are great. People I went to school with are teachers here. Yes it is expensive. You pay for good weather and the beach. Maybe if we all stop demanding expensive houses and move where it's a little cheaper the housing prices will go down. I don't have to make a huge profit off my house. I just want something affordable in a low crime area.

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Continued Comments from 2/25/07 - 8/13/2007

Housing: Forget about it. Not affordable by any means. Enough said. Move on. Entertainment: If you like to golf, surf, run, walk, bike then you’ll be very happy. If you like nice modern upscale restaurants, go elsewhere. If you like a large selection of nice clean updated movie theatres, go elsewhere. If you like to stay out late looking for a good time, go elsewhere. There is no “nightlife” in Carlsbad except for a few popular watering holes located in downtown Carlsbad. Weather: The weather is the real reason 99% of people move here. The climate is really good. There is plenty of sunshine for most of the year. The summers are warm, NOT humid, very few bugs, and mild evenings; The fall is a joke. Don’t expect multi-color sugar maple leaves falling on your car or yard. Shopping: Yuck. If you like outlet stores, you’ll find plenty at the Carlsbad Outlet Center. Carlsbad has plenty of strip malls and one or two actual malls. Carlsbad offers a lot of commercial retail outlets. It’s very commercialized to say the least. The Forum outdoor mall is a very nice new edition. Utilities, etc: Electricity, water, trash, sewer, natural gas, auto fuel is very expensive. The local state sales tax is 7.75%. This number includes San Diego County and Carlsbad. Animals: Carlsbad is dog friendly, as is San Diego as a whole. Everyone has pets here. I wish Carlsbad had more off leash dog parks available but it doesn’t. So people always ask me one question at the end of the day: Why do you continue to live here? Simple answer: I really like my job.

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Schools - 8/7/2007

Carlsbad is a safe but expensive place to live. However, the school system is poorly funded.

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Beautiful to live...to expensive though - 6/28/2007

I love living in Carlsbad but renting a detached condo is $2000/month. Beautiful weather and great temps most of the time but too expensive

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Continued Comments about Carlsbad from 2/25/2007 - 5/18/2007

Soccer Moms/Stay at Home moms: This group of people are found everywhere in SD, but especially in Carlsbad, You can easily spot 'em driving the kids around in a 30ft Cadillac Escalade with 22" chrome rims, Ford Excursion, Ford Expedition, GMC Yukon Denali, Chevy Suburban or the infamous minivan. I don't even know how some of these people see over the dashboard. Steer clear of these people, on the road and in parking lots. The women who drive such large metal beasts can't control such vehicles, and usually are distracted by a ringing cell phone, wild toddlers, or a loose dog. GenX: Disheveled, long, puffy, uncombed hair and surf all day is a good way to describe the look of Carlsbad Gen Xer’s. To some people, at first glance, one might think they’re homeless. It might sound crazy, but its very true. There are a lot of skateboarders as well. Don’t get me wrong, Carlsbad has some overachievers who probably spend more time at the library, and not the skate park or at the beach, but I haven’t seen ‘em. Clothing styles: You’re either IN or you’re OUT! If you’re from the east coast or grew up in a major city, you’ll experience some nasty clothing trends here in Carlsbad and other towns. Do the words frumpy, sloppy, outdated and tasteless ring a bell? Welcome to San Diego! Retired Folks/Assisted living folk: In abundance, just look for the Toyota Camry, or some luxury sedan and you will spot the blue hair crowd. I’m starting to believe that retirees are migrating from Florida to California. I think many Floridians are just outright disgusted with the climate in Florida, from humidity to bugs to hurricanes, to tornados. Restaurants: In two words-not good. If you like Mexican food then you've found heaven. There are so many Mexican restaurants here it is overwhelming. North County San Diego has very few dining options for decent quality food. Most of the restaurants here are expensive too. For the most part, you don't get what you pay for. Everything is expensive here!! Everything!! The sunshine tax is not a myth. I've had many bad meals here, ranging from poor quality food to small portions to really bad lazy service. If you're in a rush-forget about it. This is "manana" land. If you're accustomed to big city life or east coast style of living then you're in for something bad. The restaurants usually serve no later than 9pm during the week and maybe 10-11pm on the weekends if you're lucky. The better restaurants are located further south of Carl

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Air quality - 5/11/2007

If you are looking for high air quality, as I am, this is not the area. Is there a way on this site to get air quality information for all the cities included without going to each individual city link?

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Great Place to Live, But not to Retire - 4/23/2007

We relocated to Carlsbad/San Diego 8 months ago for my husband's job. We previously lived in the DC area, but mainly lived in Texas and Florida. We like the beaches, the relaxed casual atmosphere of the beach communities (Carlsbad, Encinitas, Solana Beach). Schools are excellent (we are in the Encinitas and San Diegueto districts). The mix of people (transplants from east coast and midwest plus different nationalities) makes life enjoyable. Things we don't like are the high utility bills, multiple road construction projects, high taxes. We're used to the gulf of mexico beaches, so the water here is too cold even in summer. We're also used to year round fishing and don't want to travel to Mexico for it. The beaches here while beautiful just don't compare to the white sandy beaches we grew up with. So we're good for living here for now. I'll be encouraging my kids to look for colleges out of state. Non-resident tuition at a state school in Texas or Florida is less expensive than in-state tuition at any CA university! As soon as my husband retires, we'll be moving to a place that's friendly to our retirement dollars.

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Have A Nice Life in Carlsbad - 3/26/2007

I've lived in Carlsbad for more than thirty years, owned a business here for more than fifteen years. At one point, until about 1985, this area was the best place on earth to live. Not any more. You'll pay more than you can afford to live in a half million dollar tract house. Schools are overcrowded and broke. A city with homes that average $800K spend less on students than most of the other cities in the USA. Beach living? As long as you get there before 7AM to beat the other two million people headed there as well. If you get a parking space, you can relax on the beach(sand dredged out of the power plant cooling lagoon) and enjoy the deep brown sea(thanks to the wastewater treatment plant). Traffic is out of control. Every freeway, street and parking lot is gridlock. Drivers are stressed out and rude. Hit and run accidents are a daily occurrence. Your whole life will revolve around traffic. Worst of all, Carlsbad has the most corrupt city government in the United States. City officials serve life terms, developer and special interest money crush any election opponents. Public opinion is controlled by the brutal and corrupt Carlsbad Police. Speak negative to the media or at City Council meetings, you'll be getting a visit from Carlsbad's municipal gestapo, none of whom live in the community; a 100% mercenary "security" force. Crime statistics are manufactured, police refuse to accept complaints on most property crime and events where the city might be liable for lawsuits. Carlsbad is a nice place to visit, but unless you are a snob who thinks he/she is oh, so cool, you like sitting in traffic and have lots of money to burn, then move right on in. It will be great at first, then get worse every day until you leave.

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Welcome to Carlsbad - 2/25/2007

I've lived in Carlsbad since 2003. Prior to moving to Carlsbad, I visited twice a year since 1997. A lot has changed in Carlsbad over the past ten years, some good and some bad. I have a lot of opinions about Carlsbad and of course San Diego in general. Living in North County San Diego is an experience. I've arrived at the conclusion that visiting a city on vacation is a much different experience vs. a local resident. Carlsbad is a city of about 100,000 people and growing rapidly. If you're looking to move to Carlsbad, please visit on a number of occasions before relocating, it will make a difference in the long run. If you CAN deal with the following comments then you will enjoy a happy life in Carlsbad. People: Too too many people for the overall infrastructure to handle. People seem to move here in droves. Many hail from in state and many from out of state flock to Carlsbad looking for that sunshine life. Lines are everywhere! Lines in/at restaurants, banks, traffic lights, retail stores, supermarkets-you name it there is a line to had here. The people range from very friendly to downright rude-aka a-holes. I would say a good amount of the people are truly nice people with good hearts. On the other hand, some of the so called friendly people are fakers and just pretend to be nice. Everyone here has the "no worries" attitude about life. No worries No worries. Wake up and smell the roses people!! Life is full of hardship and tragedy-don't play it off without any worries. On the other end of the spectrum the rude people are just plain rude. Don't expect many waves of "hellos" from passerby’s in cars and walking down the street or someone to hold a door for you. Don’t expect many people to compliment you either for whatever reason. I also find that many people in this town like to talk about themselves a lot, rather than ask you questions about your life or listen to what you have to say. Courtesy is non-existent here. If you sneeze, just God bless yourself and call it a day. For a place with so many "laid back people" everyone is in such a rush to go places. Where 'ya goin'??? As far as people diversity goes, I've met people from all walks of life, many religions and many ethnic backgrounds. Soccer Moms/Stay at Home moms: This group of people are found everywhere in SD, but especially in Carlsbad, You can easily spot 'em driving the kids around in a 30ft Cadillac Escalade with 22" chrome rims, Ford Excursion, Ford Expedition, GMC Yukon Denali, C

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Sleepy town where I grew up, now I can't afford to - 1/17/2007

Absurdly expensive!

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San Clemente - 6/25/2006

San Clemente is a coastal town. It is a good place to live. It is a family oriented city.

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Recreation - yeah right! - 6/19/2006

If you like outdoor recreation, forget about Carlsbad (and most of Southern California, for that matter). Down here, "park" means a 10 acre plot with a baseball diamond and tennis court. Open space is a joke. If you want to bike, hike, camp, etc, there is nothing worthwhile within 200 miles. The eastern Sierra are great, but you have to travel 300 miles and wade through L.A. traffic to get there. If you like surfing, there is plenty of ocean down here, but good luck finding parking in the summer. It's awfully expensive to live here given the dearth of recreation. Maybe all the sun makes people crazy.

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san diego coastal climate living. - 5/24/2006

great climate,great people,more congestion than ideal,but can't have it all.

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Traffic - 9/30/2005

I grew up in Carlsbad, late 70's early 80's. I'm here visiting my family. It went from a small surf town to a tourist town, not a bad thing if you have adequate public transportation, but as it is, to many cars=awful congestion, and this is the off season (Oct).

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