MH, we are retired USMC couple living in Penasquitos. When we retired and moved back to SD after Yuma, we looked at the same areas. La Costa/Carlsbad has some great areas, but you have to be careful about schools, some are San Marcos, not as good as Carlsbad/La Costa. Look up the API scores of the areas you are looking at, we found PQ to be the best for us. For the “800” club for high schools (best scores, see San Diego Mag. for info) three of the four were in Poway Unified, the fourth was Torrey Pines. PQ is great for sports (we have three boys), wrestling, baseball, football, softball, a great sports town. See http://www.pqsports.com if you don’t believe me. I found that the coastal areas were in general less diverse than PQ, if that means anything. Lots of military and former military here. I found LC/Carls to be a bit snootier, more BMWS and Mercedes, and the only military I ran across (a very limited search when we were looking) was a navy doctor. Another great thing for PQ is the canyon. The PQ park is a great place to experience the natural beauty that is CA. We both run through the canyon daily. We hike with the kids, walk the dog, etc. Being close to the canyon (we are renters) is something we are greatful for and when we buy, we will stay here. Great Schools, Great people, Great place!
