I don’t mean to upset other people. It’s only my own opinion.
michael! Generally speaking, Carlsbad has better school & better neighborhood. It’s more expensive than other choices, but it is cheaper than Pasadena. If you want to keep your standard, Carlsbad is more compatible to Pasadena. If you want to down garde, you can consider other choices that are more compatible to Whittier or Norwalk in LA County. It’s your choice. Here is the web page for the API scores of schools in SD:
