Why I Like Living in Carlsbad CA

It’s easy for me to help buyers who are moving to Carlsbad, because I know the community well.

But I also like living in Carlsbad, a lot, so it’s easy to be enthusiastic about all the great reasons to live here.

So that, in many ways, is at the basis of how I choose what to write about - to share what I love, the things I enjoy doing, and what I think others will find interesting, whether they live here or not. If you were considering moving to Carlsbad, wouldn't you want to know why people enjoy living there?

When I relocated from Boston to the West Coast in April 2005 we had lots of choices of where to live in coastal San Diego. After quite a bit of researching on line for a year, and touring around a couple of time we chose Carlsbad.

So here are my reasons why I like living in Carlsbad.

WEATHER

What else can I say about the weather except that it’s great – not too hot and not too cold. They don’t calling living here “paradise” for nothing.

Yes, it will get into the 40s at night in the winter, and on rare occasions even the high 30s. But you will get days of temps in the 60s or even 70s. And in the summer it’s rare to get over 80 except when the Santa Anna winds blow. We do get occasional, usually brief, heat waves in the 90s. While some complain about humidity from time to time I can say it does NOT compare to places I have lived - like Minneapolis, Boston, Philadelphia, and Washington, DC.

EDUCATION

There are 3 school districts for children living in Carlsbad depending on where you live. School rankings are high in general (check out SchoolDigger.com) with a number of award-winning schools – Carlsbad Unified School District, Encinitas Union/San Dieguito Union, and San Marcos Unified School District.

Check out the school district maps to see the areas they cover when searching for a home if a particular district, or school, is important to you. 

DINING

There are numerous dining options in Carlsbad...dozens and dozens...varying from budget and fast food to upscale/high-end restaurants, with a broad range of food types, and places with some great views and ambiance.

Restaurants come and go - the good ones tend to hang around - and in recent years we have seen a lot of new dining options in Carlsbad, especially in Carlsbad Village. We even now have a Michelin 1-star restaurant in the Village - Jeune et Jolie!

THINGS TO SEE AND DO

You likely won’t run out of things to do and see in Carlsbad. We have 7 miles of great beaches so you can enjoy all that beach life has to offer – surfing, boogie boarding, kite flying, swimming, building sand castles, beach volleyball, stand-up paddle boarding, walking, bird-watching, sunning yourself, and al fresco dining.

Like to hike and walk? There are about 67 miles of hiking trails in Carlsbad. Trails vary in distance and difficulty so you are sure to find the right one for you. Watch for rattlesnakes in the spring and summer, however.

Check out the 3 lagoons with visitor centers and walking trails - Agua Hedionda, Buena Vista and Batiquitos. There's a water sports equipment facility at the Agua Hedionda Lagoon.

There are multiple arts and crafts fairs, multiple golf courses, world-famous Legoland, the Flower Fields, the Museum of Making Music, 2 terrific libraries, the city-owned Cannon Art Gallery with multiple exhibits each year, the free TGIF Jazz in the Parks 9-concert series in the summer, plentiful shopping, multiple art galleries, and the list goes on. You WON'T get bored

 PROXIMITY

Carlsbad is on the coast with a major north-south freeway, the 5, providing access to San Diego (30 – 45 minutes, non-rush hour) and Los Angeles (about 2 hours). You can get to the California desert cities in about 2 – 2.5 hours, to Mammoth and Big Bear in less than 4 hours, and to Las Vegas in about 5 hours.

TRANSPORTATION OPTIONS

Car (with plenty of good commuting routes including easy access to the 5, 15 and 78 freeways); the Coaster commuter rail running between Oceanside and San Diego with 2 stops in Carlsbad; the Breeze, a public bus system; Amtrak (The Surfliner) to Los Angeles (the stop is in Oceanside). And of course you have your feet, surfboards, skateboards, in-line skates, bikes and e-bikes, scooters, wheelchairs, and even a few horses.

AND OF COURSE HOUSING

There is a wide range of housing in Carlsbad to suit every taste and budget, from bungalows to condos, and from townhomes to master planned communities to oceanfront homes. There are homes for seniors, too. The housing market is always shifting, and has done so in particular in recent years, and prices have changed dramatically from when this article was first written (especially in 2021 and into 2022).

For CURRENT information on inventory and housing pricing, please call or text me at (760) 840-1360. Or use the link below to search for Carlsbad homes for sale and learn more about pricing and availability. I'm here to help when you are ready to talk about buying a home and/or selling one.

Whether you want a primary home, a vacation home, or a rental/investment property, you are sure to find it here in Carlsbad, our paradise by the sea in Southern California. You can search the homes for sale in Carlsbad using this link, or call me to get on a customized home search emailing based on your specific criteria.

SEARCH FOR HOMES FOR SALE IN CARLSBAD

 READ MORE ABOUT CARLSBAD: 

  Carlsbad Village by the Sea 

 101 Things to do In and Around Carlsbad

 Carlsbad California and Historic Route 101 - The Coast Highway

Take a tour of life in Carlsbad below!!