At the risk of putting Santaluz residents off, here are my thoughts, based on the fact that you did ask for “views and tidbits” in addition to experiences of those living there –
Everytime I see the name Santaluz, I have to chuckle to myself because my husband and I used to refer to it as “Stand-To-Lose” when we first moved here in 2003.
At the time, our poor tortured realtor was trying to get a sense of where we really wanted to live…we were a lot like you, Raptor, in that we looked at hundreds of houses in many different areas – RSF, Santaluz, Del Mar, Solana Beach, and made unsuccessful bids on several. All the time, we felt the San Diego market was way too red hot and must be at or near its peak. We were reluctant to buy anything, but everytime we’d get into a good-natured debate w/the realtor about how the market was headed down, she’d tell us how Santaluz was different from other places, basically saying that it should hold its value and even continue to appreciate. Having lived through several real estate cycles in various areas around the country, we just didn’t see it and thought that the homes in Santaluz were poised to eventually take a dive. Anyway, after we confessed to her that we’d been calling it “Stand-to-Lose”, which was probably a clear indication that our chances of ever buying there were almost nil, she finally got the message and crossed Santaluz off the list. To this day she still loves Santaluz (and believe it or not, she still talks to us)!
Actually, as it turned out, the joke was on us for a few years since those Santaluz homes were still selling like crazy for at least a couple years after we started calling it that.
Our snide nickname aside, I can only give you my honest reaction to Santaluz although clearly I don’t have nearly as much credibility as someone who lives there. We do know one family who lives there and they seem to like it, but honestly, I don’t hear raves from them. I know that the mom complains about driving everywhere, but they like the schools and they like the rec trails/facilities.
When we were looking at homes there, in the “plus column” was the fact that Santaluz has all those great recreational facitilies, relatively large lots, and a more natural look and feel to the community than other planned communities. I also like the “big sky” feel of the landscape. In the “minus column”, it’s way too far out (where do people go for groceries? Doesn’t going up/down the 56 to go anywhere become a major hassle?), it’s still a little too cookie-cutter looking for us (I know they say the homes are custom, but it doesn’t look that way to me in most areas), and then you have those terrible HOA/Mello Roos fees.
One more issue that weighed on us as a negative (and could just as easily be a positive for others) is that we don’t care for the whole concept of having a built-in social community…heck, we have a hard enough time finding time in our schedule to hang out with our dearest friends and family and we don’t want to feel pressure to attend gatherings in the Santaluz clubhouse. We’re at an age (late 40’s, early 50’s) where we’ve had enough of the country clubs. Also, the whole gated community exclusivity concept also does not sit well with us…we always wonder, who would we be trying to keep out? We try our best to embrace the concepts of diversity and expanding our little worlds, not limiting our relationships to those of the “same kind” and we also try to model this for our kids. This is not always easy here in SoCal, and yes, we could take this to the nth degree and move to an area that is truly totally diverse…we’re not going to do that, but on the other hand we think that gated communities are kind of the ultimate in shutting yourself off from the world (and not in a good way).
So, now you can see how we are not a good fit for Santaluz, nor are we probably their target market.
To give you the final snapshot of how different our tastes and needs are, we ended up buying in Del Mar village, which I think shows that we were/are really at the other end of the spectrum from Santaluz. Here in Del Mar, we have small-ish houses, no amenities, no community gates, no golf courses or rec facilities (well, besides the beach). It’s not for everyone, but it suits us well.
In re-reading my post, I wish I could’ve offered you info that might have been more helpful to your own personal situation…I realize now in writing this all down that our needs and lifestyle may be so different from yours that my thoughts don’t even apply to your situation, but there they are! In any case, I wish you and your family all the best.
