Now you are in my wheelhouse. SB has three distinct parts.
1) The beach area west of the freeway,
2) The older/tract neighborhoods east of the freeway and North of Lomas Santa Fe
3) The custom areas east of the 5 and south of Lomas Sante Fe
There is plenty of shopping and great restaurants nearby. In fact one of the top rated restaurants in the country (Mille Fleurs) is in adjacent Rancho Santa Fe. There are great places all over SB and DM also. Secondary schools are tops (San Dieguito Schools feed into Torrey Pines and Canyon Crest for HS).
It is a safe area but for kids playing outdoors I would say options 2 and 3 are more kid friendly.
I would stay away from the beachfront condos as a very high percentage are short term vacation rentals and not where you would likley want to live year round.
Do you know where you will be working? The length of a commute (if you have one) and your tolerance for the same may open up some other great options also.
