I would say both CV and 4S is both nice communities.
Personally, the thing that I don't like about 4S though are
1) I think it's pretty hot there ( no, I'm not talking about the women). I mean the weather is warm. I recall driving through there in the summer time, and for awhile I use to work near there. When it was 95 there, it was about 89 where I live (at least according to my outdoor temp gauge in my car).
2) 4S (and Del Sur and new parts of CV off 56) are new of a community that came to life around this real estate bubble. To me, this is a haven for overleveraged, stretched buyers, and could spell potential for an issue. CV is overpriced, and there are a lot of new buyers that probably are stretched too, but I would say there is also a fair share of older residents too. I like living in an older community right now, because I sort of think the people around me will probably we around for a lot longer. I like consistency in a neighborhood.
While I do hope real estate comes down so that as a rental for us or first home for others is doable, I don't like the idea of being in a new neighborhood, because who knows what kind of financing those new people have. For that reason, I'd be leary of living in some of the Pardee communities in Carmel Valley, as I suspect you have a lot of first time buyers who overstretched or overpaid or both (IE Carriage run, Saratoga, Derby Hills,etc).
As far as construction quality. I'd say it's a wash. Stucco boxes are stucco boxes wherever you may live.
That said, if raw sqft matter more to you, you'll definitely get more in 4s for the same money.
It's a really personal decision. I'd recommend you live in both places as a renter to figure out which you like better. You shouldn't feel like you're in a rush to buy right now anyway.
As far as people being superficial material etc. Well, a couple of things
1) We live in Southern CA. Duh!
2) If every american had the opportunity to flaunt wealth or perceived wealth, I would say most would do it. I recall a few people posted here about how superficial people in Temecula had become during the heydays of the real estate boom. Bimmers, fake you know whats, etc. There were people from Santee saying the same thing, and people from Otay Mesa saying the same thing. It doesn't matter what area you live in. When most americans "feel" rich, they'll let people know that. The only difference now versus before is that with the RE implosion, a lot of people who shouldn't have had access to so much liquidity got their sausages chopped off in the process. So you'll probably see a lot less flaunting in certain areas versus the other. When recession hits, I'm sure you'll see a decrease in the flaunting in CV too. However, certain areas like La Jolla Shores, Del Mar,etc, you'll still get the "look at me" type people. Oh well.
You want to see pretentious people, go to La Jolla Shores at night. Come on, the food is good down there, but not that good. Everyone thinks their dining like they live in NYC or SF.
I've dined in pretty much every restaurant there for business. I sure as hell would never eat there on my own money personally.
