I think the keeping up with the Joneses mentality exists a bit pretty much everywhere and it really only affects you if you buy into it. I find that the people who tend not to care about keeping up find each other and have a great time.
Poway has a bit of a country feel to it, which I don’t really like. If you have some cowboy in you, then it may appeal to you. It doesn’t appeal to me and it is frigging hot out there. Seriously, I would rather get more home for my money and live in Phoenix than in Poway. Not kidding. Not an exaggeration.
I don’t know much about Rancho Bernardo. I have always thought of it as a community of older folks who’s kids have moved out. Too far from anything interesting. Very boring. I could be wrong.
I think you could be very happy in Carmel Valley. I have alot of friends up there and the range of classes is surprisingly wide. There are families living in 2 BR condos just so they can get into the district, and there are $5M homes. Given that, you have all kinds of folks with money who don’t flaunt it, people with money who do flaunt it and middle class folks – some who try to keep up and others who are just there for the schools. It is a bit stale, from an architecture standpoint, and you probably get more for your money in Poway but it is, overall, a pretty nice environment for families. Plus, it’s close enough to the coast that it isn’t hot.
Some parts of Rancho Penasquitos are pretty interesting.
Between Rancho Penasquitos and Carmel Valley lies Santaluz, which is a very new development that I’m not a fan of.
