Personally I prefer South Carlsbad/Encinitas a mile or two east which has the same great sunny weather, is in the same 2ndary school district as Carmel Valley, high test scores, more diversity (which is one of the major reasons why average test scores are a bit lower than CV) a very educated population, great high tech/bio tech jobs in the Palomar Airport business park area, great beaches, people from CV routinely drive up here to go shopping because there isnt much in CV, is very safe, has higher quality home construction with a variety of builders (CV is virtually monopolized by Pardee), larger lots, mature trees and a true community feeling with a history more than 25 years old that is lacking in CV.

If you hate to drive, CV does have a much shorter commute.