[quote=westwood]I really don’t have an opinion about which demographics are making La Jolla the priciest area in San Diego; just noting that many families can’t afford to live there and therefore, look elsewhere.[/quote]
westwood (are you living in LA, by chance?), I agree that LJ is too pricey for the vast majority of families. Even the ones than CAN afford to buy there generally will not because they want a larger house for the money. The homebuying demographic in “family-raising mode” today want size over all other considerations so I disagree with carli in that size does matter (pun intended).
[quote=carli]. . . To say it’s about square footage when a family chooses Carmel Valley over La Jolla is skipping over a lot of other factors and oversimplifying the typical family’s home buying decision. . . [/quote]
[quote=carli] . . . this is a little bit of a chicken and egg discussion as the Pardee marketing people did not design the 3500 sf Carmel Valley houses just for kicks but because they saw a need in the marketplace – families moving to Carmel Valley for the schools, not just to live in 3500 sf houses.[/quote]
carli, I understand the other factors that you mentioned regarding your perception of CV as “Familyville” but I feel there are dozens of communities all over the county which are more of an ideal “Familyville” than CV, LJ being one of them.
A boomer, WWII Gen or Greatest Gen member would have raised a family of 4-6 in 1500-2300 sq ft. Today’s family who has an income of ~$150K typically believes they need 3000-4000 sf to raise a family of four or less. Also, the prior generations of parents valued room on the lot to park toys and work on their own vehicles, as well as to have their own swimming pool and play equipment for the kids. Most LJ SFR’s have those lot sizes but the vast majority of CV properties do not. Most of the current contingent of SoCal parents-of-minors do not care about lot size. Not only do they NOT want to care for that lot or pay someone else to, they don’t want to pay the now-exorbitant water rates five months per year to keep all its (expensive) plants/trees from dying. And newer vehicles are not as easy for the DIY’er to work on as vehicles of yesteryear were. They require expensive tools and equipment that can only be found in a commercial repair shop.
The majority of today’s younger Gen X and Gen Y homebuyer set just want a concrete covered rear patio and a sidewalk poured around its 3-4′ wide side yards, so that’s what builders have been giving them (in all price ranges) since about 2000. If there is any grass at all in most of these newer-tract subdivisions, each lot can be trimmed with a weedeater in five minutes. Today’s parent-buyers would rather pay HOA dues and use a community park and pool for their kids that someone else is maintaining than deal with these maintenance chores themselves. These are the type of SFR’s that are offered in CV in all but its most expensive subdivisions.
Nazzy, In CA coastal counties, the value is in the location first (view location included), lot size second and custom house design third, all of which LJ has and CV does not. In areas like LJ, it doesn’t matter what, if anything, is currently standing on a lot. Even a vacant lot in LJ has a very high value, whether zoned residential or commercial.
The way I see it, it just depends on how small of a house you would be comfortable with or how much work you are willing to do (obviously some work could be done after move-in if you won’t undergo a major remodel) in order to get a suitable SFR in LJ for <=$1.2M.
As SK noted, the public schools in CV and LJ are comparable to one another, LJ is definitely more walkable and is world famous for its unmatched natural beauty. CV cannot compete in this area and for this reason a SFR in LJ, no matter what its size, is a much better investment in the long term, IMO. You also have to think about where and what you would want to live in after your kids leave for college.
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The OP hails from Boston, MA (NOT Montana or Wyoming) which is (200+?) years old, is highly integrated and always has been (Nazzy, pls correct me if I’m wrong here). I just don’t see them being that concerned about their kids having classmates who may possibly be “of color” and (gasp!) “disadvantaged.”
A family of four does not need 3500 feet to live in, IMHO.
