Artifact. You are right I did forget that. I had to commute downtown from time to time from CV and it took around 20 min. Again, I did so before peak hrs so it would be longer during peak hours.
The commute from Encinitas would be a nightmare though. My wife used to live near there and had to come down the 5 and was bumper to bumpter for a good part of it until the fairgrounds and then almost immediately once she got past CV to La Jolla.
With your observation in mind though, perhaps a place south of La Jolla would be better after all.