Hopefully our experience can be of use to you in your decision making process. You have already received a lot of excellent advice here but thought adding to it a bit might help.
We are relocating to the North County area from S.Florida and have two young girls aged 6 and 8 who will be entering 1st and 3rd grades. School considerations and a ‘community’ feel were paramount concerns for us and when combined with my commute, Del Sur soon became our most attractive option. We have very close friends who have recently purchased an Estrella Plan 3 Lennar home at the Lakes and their experience thus far has been consistent with many of your concerns, particularly that of a less ‘neighborhoodly’ feel than hoped for. Indeed you are afforded the luxury of a gate, yet as others have mentioned, there are no parks, pools and I believe one trail.
When touring Del Sur we were particularly impressed with the number of kids we saw playing outside, walkability to Del Sur Elementary and the extensive network of trails, parks and pools. It was just more of what we were looking for. Our goal has always been to have our kids be able to grow up in a ‘community’ rather than be sequestered away in what might be the most luxurious house for us. We were rather disappointed in the lot sizes available in Del Sur compared to the Lakes but felt the ‘community ‘ tradeoff was well worth it.
We initially scoped out both the Marston development and Presidio and Sentinels but after considering the power lines and the fact that the Marston development was further away from the entrance to the hiking trails, parks and school we opted for the Presidio development. Our lot size is marginally smaller than the equivalent house we were evaluating at Marston, but will end up in a section that I am hoping will have more kids running around. We are facing the East canyon directly opposite Marston and have a power tower off in the distance, but plan to plant some trees to ameliorate that issue.
With options and upgrades , of which we purchased many, we are still well below any comparably sized house we could purchase in Cielo, RSH, Crosby or Santaluz. Inventory is that tight now.
In regards to the schools. There is a great thread on Facebook explaining the selection criteria and lottery system for the new K-8 DC39 school.
Essentially enrollment will be closed for 4s ( CFD 6 ) going forward unless someone leaves.
CFD 15 ( Del Sur East which comprises Presidio and Marston and the soon to be built Descanso) is only at 40% capacity and those that applied from this CFD this year got in. Those that apply in the coming years from 15 will likely be granted admission. This is because spots were reserved for this CFD understanding that build out is not yet complete.
I think with what we got on our Presidio Plan 3 ( 3950 sq feet) with decent view and backyard ( 60×50) we got a fair deal compared to what else is out there.
This was not an easy process as I had to fly back and forth twice and make a decision remotely but I’ve studied all pros/cons up the wazoo and hope my analysis helps you a bit too.
