Welcome, and I hope you are another Browns/Buckeyes fan we could always use more. I moved to Encinitas from NE Ohio in 2005. My wife is still mad at me. She didn’t even want to go back and visit over the holidays for fear jealousy would kick in, as she terribly misses the old huge house on 3 acres.

Me I don’t care, my house is small and crappy but it’s all we could afford (rent I mean).

An area I’d consider for a family is the Village Park area or better yet, the neighborhoods east of El Camino Real from Manchester on up. The reason I say that is you get good bang for your buck, good neighborhoods, etc. Many parts of Village Park allow you to walk to do some of your shopping, though it’s a bit of a stroll. In the Cardiff area you can sometimes pick up a nice rental in Park Place which is very family oriented.

The schools are excellent, however this year my kids transfered to a private school (where mom teaches). They went to Cardiff Schools for two years and due to Little League and getting to know a lot of kids, they fit in almost instantly. I didn’t really see any awkward transition from Ohio.

My wife’s had a harder time getting close to anyone and having any really good friends out here. It just seems like people are so busy running their kids from this lesson to that lesson, to this practice to this game, that people in our circle don’t hang out and socialize as much. However I don’t cast a broad brush because other circles might be totally different, but we are knee deep in kids activities, travel ball, guitar, etc.