When I lived in Carmel Valley, it was the ultimate family kingdom and I worked in La Jolla at the time, near UTC and had a 5-10 minute commute max. It seems every house in CV has kids in it. Great family community and homes not that expensive (relatively speaking). The schools are the best in San Diego county from what I could tell and still are I believe.

I don’t know what $550k will get you there. Probably an under 1,800sf 2 or 3 br town house or nice condo. I think a detached house would probably run more like $700k, but I don’t know in this market. Perhaps you can now find something for $550k under 2,000 sf and 2 or 3BR. That would surprise me, but this market is dropping by the day. I would think SD Realtor, Rustico, or SDR would be able to tell you with certainty.

Poway also has good schools from what I can tell and lower prices than CV.