Carlsbad

City, San Diego County

© McCormack's Guides

 

Zip Codes: 92008, 92009, 92010, 92011, 92013, 92018

Pretty coastal city that extends well inland. A favorite address with middle-aged professionals and families. Population 106,804. www.mccormacks.com

Golfers' heaven, not only because it has three courses but because many golf research and manufacturer's firms have set up in Carlsbad. The town opened other course, public, in 2007.

Carlsbad has one of the most accessible beaches in California. Its shore is lined with a long promenade that is popular with walkers, joggers and skaters and people who want to see the sun sink into the Pacific.

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Legoland employs about 1,000 and attracts about 2 million visitors a year. And this combined with the beach, the ocean, golf and a lively downtown have made Carlsbad a tourist destination. The city has about 28 hotels with 3,300 rooms.

Academic rankings generally among the tops in the state, many schools scoring in 80th and 90th percentiles. Indicates strong home support for education. Bonds passed to support schools. Several school districts serve town. See Schools.

Overall crime low. Two homicides in 2007, one in 2006, two each in 2005 and 2004. For preceding years: four, one, two, one, zero, two, two, three, three, three, five, two, six, four, three and three. See Crime. www.mccormacks.com

Pioneering speculator dug well and found mineral waters that were believed to be health restoring. This inspired locals to name the village after Karlsbad, Germany, a spa town.

Carlsbad rises from ocean to hills and mesas. Many homes with views. Flowers galore make for colorful springs. Airport in middle, around which cluster businesses and light industries.

One of the biggest suburban cities in San Diego County, in area about 80 percent the size of San Francisco.

In the 1990s, Carlsbad increased its population by 24 percent and is still building, especially on its east side. When it hits about 135,000, Carlsbad says it will stop construction, except for infilling and teardowns.

The town controls development through a master plan that requires builders to set aside land for parks or open space. www.mccormacks.com

Carlsbad started 1970 with about 4,500 housing units — homes, apartments, mobile homes — about half of them erected in the 1960s, near the ocean.

The 1970s saw the town take off: 8,200 housing units, mostly single homes. In the 1980s, developers added about 12,000 units, and in the 1990s, about 8,300.

Fortunately, Carlsbad incorporated as a city in 1952 and this gave the local people control over planning before the town’s boom years.

The state in 2010 counted 44,612 housing units, of which 24,210 were single detached, 5,778 single attached, 13,333 multiples and 1,291 mobile homes.

Median age of residents is 41. Those under age 18 make up 24 percent of the population, those over 65 years, 14 percent. Rounded town but the heads are getting grayer. www.mccormacks.com

Carlsbad is essentially a city of four neighborhoods.

To the northwest, on the Pacific, is the old town, greatly expanded to the east by new subdivisions.

Carlsbad, through redevelopment, overhauled this section, preserving what could be saved, including the train depot, several hotels and a Victorian restaurant, later renovated. On summer nights, the promenade is filled with strollers. At the nightclubs, jazz and other bands do their stuff. Restaurants. Shops. Sidewalk dining and cafes. A state park runs along much of the shoreline; good access to beaches.

Water, water everywhere. Buena Vista Lagoon on the north side of the downtown, Agua Hedionda Lagoon on the south.

In and about the downtown you will find the oldest homes in Carlsbad, mixed in with new. Some units are quite small, a few are rundown but for the most part, the homes and apartment complexes are well-kept. Streets are wide and laid out on a grid, the old style. Seniors housing. www.mccormacks.com

Staying on the north side but moving east of Interstate 5, the second neighborhood enters. It starts off with 1950s and 1960s housing and as you move east becomes newer and newer, especially east of El Camino Real.

At this point, the terrain rises into hills with homes and apartments built over the last 25 years. This housing is aimed at the middle to upper-middle income but where the lot is choice and the views are sweeping, you will sometimes find large “executive” homes.

Carlsbad faces two directions, west toward the Pacific and east toward the valleys and mountains. Built over hills and mesas, the city has many view lots.

For the third neighborhood, return to the ocean and drive south of the downtown and Agua Hedionda Lagoon and a power station. Single homes and apartments have been erected here but almost nothing on the beach (a park).

Moving east of the freeway, the apartments and condos continue, many of them well-appointed and aimed upmarket. The median strip is landscaped, the grass is green, green, even at the height of summer. Poinsettia Park serves up playing fields and trails. www.mccormacks.com

As you move inland, the land rises into hills and mesas with, in many instances, mesmerizing views of the Pacific and Batiquitos Lagoon. Alicante Road-El Fuerte Street offers one of the prettiest vistas in the county.

In this section, you will find the Aviara Golf Course (with a Four Seasons Resort) and La Costa Country Club (two 18-hole golf courses). Big bucks. Big houses (on small lots). Lovely homes, custom designs.

But if you drive a few blocks more modest homes show themselves, along with duplexes and condos (along Alga Road).

If the street descends into a valley, the homes may be nice but not opulent. If the market cried for modest homes when the street was built, then developers often built to market demand. But there's a lot of money here. Down near the freeway, small shops have opened.

The fourth neighborhood clusters about the airport. Rare for a suburban city, Carlsbad has an unusually large number of local jobs, about 41,000. Many of them can be found in businesses built around the airport. Many these jobs are the type cities crave, high-tech and research. www.mccormacks.com

Local jobs mean short commutes for many residents, a stronger tax base, and a social mix that in subtle ways benevolently influences town life. Businesses often “adopt” schools or put up money for programs. They bring the outside world into conversation and community life.

Check out plane noise. Although small, the Carlsbad airport has 255,000 takeoffs and landings annually. Some people find the noise irritating, not so much from the jets but from the small planes. Rules say no landings between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. but enforcement may be difficult. Commute service to Los Angeles International and to Phoenix. Helicopter noise off coast.

In 2006, a small jet overshot the runway and hit some commercial buildings. Four people in plane were killed.

Regional shopping plaza at the north end of El Camino Real (movies, Sears, Macys, Penneys, Mervyns). Carlsbad also has a Costco and a Borders Books. In 2005, the city said no to more big-box stores. Wal-Mart and discount warehouse stores in Oceanside. Trader Joe's in Encinitas and Oceanside.

Carlsbad is famous for its flowers, commercially grown. The buttercups, gladioli and other flowers delight the eye. In the spring, Carlsbad celebrates the flora with a big festival. Every year, about 7,000 students are taken to the flower fields and given a demonstration on how flowers grow. www.mccormacks.com

In 2006, city voted on conflicting measures to save 248 acres of flowers. One passed, one failed. Matter may need to be clarified in the courts or by another vote.

If you work at UC or Sorrento Mesa, the commute's not bad. If you work in downtown San Diego, 30-35 miles to south, and drive ... often bad. Interstate 5, the main road, carries a lot of traffic. Commute trains to downtown San Diego and to points north. Called the Coaster. Two stations in town.

Amusements plentiful: about 20 parks, 8 playgrounds, 21 public tennis courts, 5 recreation halls, 2 gyms, public swimming pool. In planning, a second aquatics center with three pools and two slides. Also on the way, another large park.

Even though city budgets have gotten hammered by the state, Carlsbad does OK because it has a hotel tax that raises, in some years, about $9 million.

Usual sports: soccer, baseball, football, etc. And the unusual: lawn bowling, annual triathlon and marathon, Children's museum. Boys and Girls Club. Oktoberfest. Fish hatchery releases about 100,000 sea bass into Southern California waters.Library opened in 1999 in La Costa neighborhood. Main library in downtown was renovated; famed for its genealogy collection. Skate park. In-line hockey. www.mccormacks.com

Two “Village Fairs” every year; each draws about 80,000 visitors. Some homeowner associations field pools and rec centers. About 23 miles of recreational trails. Carlsbad is working with other cities to build a coastal trail next to the railroad tracks. In or near Carlsbad are about 10 golf courses. Driving range. Several tournaments draw the top pros in golf.

Most children attend the schools of the Carlsbad Unified School District. Students on the south side attend schools in the Encinitas Elementary District and move up to schools of the San Dieguito district. Some students on the north side attend schools of the San Marcos district. Call school district to find out your local school.

More schools are opening as population (slowly) increases. All but a few schools serving the town are scoring in the top 10 percent. La Costa Canyon High School, located on the south side, was opened in 1996. It includes library, performing arts center, two-story gym. Views of hills. La Costa Canyon High is part of the San Dieguito Union High School District. Carlsbad High is located in the Carlsbad district. (See Encinitas for information about enrolling in San Dieguito district).

Down through the years, voters have approved bonds to renovate and build schools and keep up with technology. Every few years, an elementary or middle school is built as developments come in. Additional funding has been supplied by the state and the builders, who are also pumped for funds for libraries, roads and infrastructure.

In 2006, Carlsbad voters approved another bond, $198 million to rebuild Carlsbad High, build a new high school, upgrade five schools and replace portables with permanent buildings at Magnolia and Jefferson elementaries and Valley Middle. www.mccormacks.com

Besides public schools, Carlsbad has about six private schools, one of them an Army-Navy academy. Also has a gem (precious stones) school with a large library open to the public.

Chamber of commerce (760) 931-8400.

• Expert Advice. In 2006, Arnold the Governor visited Carlsbad High where stressed the importance of Phy. Ed, music and art and said a few words to the football team as it was working out in the weight room.

• In the late 1990s, when the master-planned neighborhood of Villages of La Costa started construction, the San Dieguito Union High School District guessed at the number of kids the housing would bring and said, we need a middle school for this area.

So the developer formed a taxing district and it levied an annual tax of $800 on the households in Villages and nearby streets. Over the next six years or so, however, home prices soared, pricing out young families and children. www.mccormacks.com

In 2006, the district said, we don’t need the middle school. Residents irate, especially since developer, they say, promised the school. School district said it never made promise; don’t blame us.

The money raised paid for improvements to La Costa High and four other schools serving the neighborhood.

• In 2005, ABC named Carlsbad one of the top five beach towns for families in the U.S.

• Wildlife corridors allow the animals to get around without upsetting residents. Carlsbad and several other towns are setting up these avenues.

• For hire. Day laborers at the Carlsbad Hiring Center, an effort to discourage the men from hanging around streets waiting to be hired. www.mccormacks.com

• On the way, about 1,200 homes on El Camino Real, near Cannon Road. Project to include a shopping center, a park and 143 acres of open and possibly an elementary school. Name of the development is Robertson Ranch.

• Gold medal winner. Shaun White of Carlsbad, for snowboarding, in the 2006 Olympics, in the Alps. Italian newspapers dubbed him Il Pomodoro Volante, the Flyer Tomato. He has flowing red hair.

• Carnegie Hall in 2004, the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. in 2006. Carlsbad High fields a Wind Symphony, about 80 students, that regularly wins medals for its prowess.

• Healthy and Haute. In 2006, Henry’s Farmers Market, the local version of Whole Foods opened a store in Carlsbad. Another store sells caviar and balsamic vinegar, $150 bottle.

• Carlsbad is famous for its annual 5K race. Runners like it because the course is flat and this allows them to set records. www.mccormacks.com

• Water — big issue in Southern California, which never has enough. Carlsbad and private firm are working to build a desalinization plant near the power station on the ocean.

• City council in 2006 voted to rent a building for $1 year to launch a community theater in the downtown.

City web site: www.carlsbadca.gov