We’ve owned in the La Jolla Country Club area since the 80’s, and picked up rentals in both LJ, Del Mar and CV along the way.
Personally, I think each of these areas are fantastic places to live. Friends and family who live in Del Mar and CV are not La Jolla “wannabes.”
They can afford La Jolla, but they live in those locations because they “want” to live there, and I think that’s true for many people who live in those areas.
If my kids weren’t entrenched in La Jolla schools, I’d move to Del Mar in a heartbeat, and my wife and I plan to in years to come.
I work in Hollywood, so we can live wherever we want.
Del Mar and CV are definitely as “nice” as La Jolla, in their own way. It really is a matter of “to each his/her own.”