Are you thinking about a move to San Diego? Today, we are going to get into the best North County has to offer. We’re going to get into the best walkable neighborhoods, the best up-and-coming neighborhoods, in our opinions, and then also get into the most convenient or the best for convenience here in North County, San Diego, at the very end. So, stay tuned for that one. You don’t want to miss it, if you’re looking for a great spot that is super convenient to live.
Chris Erickson:
And as we’re cruising through some of these areas, maybe you don’t want that. So, maybe you’ll scratch these areas off your list as you’re cruising through different areas and trying to figure out what the best place for you to live in North County, San Diego is.
Cassidy Lewis:
I’m Cassidy Lewis.
Chris Erickson:
I’m Chris Erickson.
Cassidy Lewis:
And we are both real estate agents here in North County, San Diego. So, if you are thinking about moving out here, definitely get in touch with us. Call, text, email. We’ve got your back when moving to North County, San Diego.
Chris Erickson:
And so, we’re going through it and giving the best of the best. We’re going to give awards, like the best of the best neighborhoods here in North County, San Diego, so you can know what is going to work best for you. If you’ve seen any of our other videos, we go through every single neighborhood. Everyone is different. Everyone has their own unique little areas and unique little spots. So, hopefully this helps you dial in where you want to live.
We’re going to start off with the most walkable neighborhoods right here in North County, San Diego. And that goes to Carlsbad. Specifically, two neighborhoods in Carlsbad, being Bressi Ranch, in that middle central Carlsbad, and then Carlsbad Village, the downtown Carlsbad area. And that spreads out. There’s a bunch of different little neighborhoods. You could live right within the village. There’s a bunch of condo options that are super, super walkable, literally right next to the main street, State Street, all that kind of stuff, where you’re a few minutes walk to all that downtown Carlsbad has to offer.
And then Old Carlsbad, it’s a little bit more of a walk, but it’s this cooler, older neighborhood. A lot of single-family homes in there. It might be a little bit too far to walk in some instances too, so maybe e-bike. But we don’t have best e-bike neighborhoods on this list today.
Cassidy Lewis:
And then, it’s your only section of Carlsbad, other than one little spot a little further south, where you have oceanfront homes. So, if you’re looking for walk-out-onto-the-sand, oceanfront homes, Carlsbad has got you right there in the village too.
Chris Erickson:
And North County, as a whole, doesn’t have a ton of walkable neighborhoods. If you’re looking walkability and walkability score, all that kind of stuff, and that’s something super important, there’s only a few of these; handful of little spots in North County, San Diego. Downtown San Diego has a lot more. That central area spreading out from there, there’s a lot more walkable areas. North County is spread out. It’s a commuter town.
And the other portion of that that we mentioned in central Carlsbad is Bressi Ranch, a newer community. Whereas Carlsbad Village, a lot of that is older, besides the brand new condos and that kind of stuff that they’re building over there. Bressi Ranch is these bigger homes, for the most part. A lot of square footage, smaller yards. When they did develop it, they might have stoops in the front. Some have smaller backyards.
But if you’re looking for a big backyard, it’s not the best area. But they do have a lot of parks within this community. But it’s also walkable to Bressi Ranch, the little town center, where there’s two different sides. One, it was more recently built, with restaurants, coffee shops; there’s a Sprouts over there. CVS. That’s all within that neighborhood. On the other side, once again, a bunch of little restaurants. It has this main corridor going through there with a few little shops, yogurt shops, and then everything else you need for that daily living. You got a lot of those amenities right in there as well.
Cassidy Lewis:
Next on our list is the best trails. Obviously, San Diego has a ton of trail systems all around the County. But in North County, there is a community that’s specifically aimed to have a ton of trail systems and really tie the community in with those trails. And that goes to San Elijo Hills. This is actually where my family lives, and it is a really cool part of living in San Elijo Hills. You have trail systems that go down to the school. From where we’re at, and a lot of the housing is, you can take these trails down to school, back from school. But then also, you can go for miles if you want to go for actual hikes. There’s spots where you can go off into Harmony Grove, into Carlsbad. And they all end up in that center spot of San Elijo Hills.
Chris Erickson:
And you could cruise, like he said, a way out there. I was cruising around this random trails that he sent me to last week or a few weeks ago. And I’d never been out there. And cruising through it, it felt like you were, even though San Elijo Hills was within a mile or so, it felt like you were way out there. There’s a little creek going through there. You’re in these overbrush trees and stuff, so it’s tucked away. And it feels like you’re pretty far out in nature, even though you’re not too far. So, there’s some really fun places to explore. Copper Creek Trail is a good one, even to bring the kids out. There’s a few little bridges, whatever. Not really even bridges; little creek crossings and stuff.
Cassidy Lewis:
And like I said, the development was really planned around keeping a lot of natural trails and all that stuff within the housing. But there’s a lot of different options. There’s condo options in the town center area, all the way up to huge homes up in the hills. And everything in between really, square footage-wise. There’s detached houses just under 2,000 square feet up to sky’s the limit in some of the neighborhoods. But there’s a lot of options for housing.
Chris Erickson:
Coming to the next best, this is something people move to San Diego for. And you really can’t go wrong with any of the choices, all the way from Oceanside, all the way down to Torrey Pines. There’s some killer, killer beaches. And they all have their own unique little areas, their own unique vibe, their own unique landscape even.
But I’m going to go with the best beaches here in North County. It’s going to be Cardiff. One reason being, it is pretty flat, pretty easy to access. At the south end, there’s a huge parking lot. And if you get the yearly pass, it’s about 200 bucks, really good for locals, you can park in either the two parking lots to the north or to the south.
And if you have kids, it’s fantastic because you park, and literally, a parking lot is a few feet from the sand. So, if you go early on the weekends, it does get a little packed. But if you go early enough, you get front-row parking, you hop into the sand, and it’s super easy clean-up. We just went this weekend; jumped in the water. They have some really fun surf there as well. So Cardiff, I think, is some of the best beaches here in all of San Diego.
Cassidy Lewis:
And if you’re not going to the beach to get in the water, that stretch of Cardiff beaches is super walkable. And it’s also one of the only beaches in actually, most of this North County corridor that allow dogs; on leash, but dogs can walk the beach as well.
Chris Erickson:
And the housing in Cardiff, there’s a few different districts. We’re going to just focus on the west side of the 5 Freeway. Once you go on the east side, there’s a bunch more options. There’s actually one of the most affordable areas in Cardiff called Park Place, a bunch of townhomes and stuff. On the west side, it’s Composer District and Walking District are the two main districts there. One’s a little bit tighter walking. It’s a little tighter in there. Roads are a little tighter. Composer’s a little more spread out.
Price points are going to be quite up there for Cardiff. It’s a very highly desirable place. They have a little town center, seaside market, a few other little places in there as well to check out. Waverly is a newer restaurant in there. So, not only the beach is right there, but it’s a fantastic community to live in as well.
Cassidy Lewis:
And part of the reason those prices are up there is because you’re staring at those beaches that are so amazing. Awesome, killer views. It’s all on a hill. For all you foodies out there, food is obviously an important thing for a lot of people. So the best…
Chris Erickson:
I would say it’s important for everybody.
Cassidy Lewis:
To survive, yes. But we’re going to get into the best spot for restaurants. And in our opinion, it is Encinitas, but specifically Leucadia, which is the northwest portion of Encinitas. Up and down the Coast Highway, there are a ton of options for dining. You’ve got super casual, you’ve got that middle road, you’ve got some high-end stuff. But there are just a ton of really, really good restaurants.
Chris Erickson:
There’s a newer restaurant group, if you will, called Leucadia Company, that they have a bunch of little places popping up in there, from a wide range. Moto Deli; they have Corner Pizza. They have a few that are in the works. Hamburger Hut just reopened again. They also have something called Valentina, which is a little bit higher-end, fantastic food. As you’re cruising through it, they have a lot of their buildings are matching. They go with this white facade. So, they’re going to have a few more places popping up in Leucadia. But the diversity of food is fantastic. Sushi, Mexican food, you got just beer places, beer and brats. And this is all within a few block radius.
If you want super high-end, you’d go to Alila Marea on the north end. It’s a newer hotel, and they have a restaurant called Vaga, and it’s that high-end from, I think, the chef was on Top Chef? I don’t know. She’s a very well-known chef. Obviously, I’m not a foodie, but anyways.
Cassidy Lewis:
And there’s some spots too that are pretty popular in San Diego, and sought after. Buona Forchetta is right there in the heart of Leucadia, on the south end. And then also in the north end, you’ve got Fish 101, which is an awesome spot for just fresh fish in general. But fish tacos, fish burritos; they do a lot of really cool stuff up there.
Chris Erickson:
And one of the best, most expensive streets in all of Encinitas, Neptune Ave runs right through Leucadia. So if you do live there, you could just walk down to the Coast Highway 101 and experience all that. And then, across the train tracks on the other side of Leucadia, there are some fantastic houses and just really unique places too. It’s some of the cooler houses. And places don’t pop up in there all too often. People usually come in there, move in there, and either tear down the old place, build their dream house and live there forever. So, the turnover is not too high. There’s a few smaller developments. But for the most part, it’s a lot of unique housing, a lot of really cool places, and on that higher end as well.
Everybody wants to know what’s the best up-and-coming areas here in North County, San Diego. And we based this one off the best new restaurants coming in, the best places, the most turnaround. It seems like a lot of money is going in there. And it’s coastal Oceanside, all the way from downtown Oceanside where they built these two huge, massive resorts, as well as a few other little spots down there. There has been a ton of money and a ton of work over the past few years going into downtown Oceanside. So, even as you’re cruising down Coast Highway, the Fremont Collective; they have a little coffee shop. They have bottle craft. They have a few other little shops in there. They have the Mercantile Collective. There’s a new restaurant. Actually, Leucadia Company, which you mentioned earlier, their pizza spot’s going to be opening up there. It’s right off Vista Way.
Just that downtown area, Craft Coast is a fantastic brewery. And if you want some killer tacos, go check those out. They are unbelievable. Obviously, the beer’s really good too. There’s a new barbecue joint coming in that used to be called Municipal Taco. But a new barbecue joint from up north is coming down here. So, maybe by the time you’re watching this, they will be open. We don’t have a ton of barbecue places around here, so I’m really excited for that to be opening up.
Cassidy Lewis:
And with all that money going into downtown Oceanside, it’s really changing the landscape overall too. A lot of the housing in that section of Oceanside is older homes built in the fifties and sixties. So, there’s a lot of that beach bungalow style. We’re seeing a lot of people come in and either remodel those or tear them down and build bigger homes.
Chris Erickson:
And in some of those resort hotels right down by the pier, there’s some killer rooftop decks, bars. Go grab a drink, grab some food up there. Some really good restaurants that way. There’s a climbing gym, Vital Climbing Gym, right by that collective that we were just talking about. Bagby Brewing’s right there as well. So, there’s just endless stuff. It seems like, every week on our podcast, we’re bringing up new stuff that’s popping up in Oceanside. And it just seems to keep coming and coming.
Cassidy Lewis:
Obviously, San Diego is super well-known for our brewery scene. You hear us talk about it a ton. But what is the best community for breweries? And it’s definitely Vista for us. It’s not where our favorite brewery is located. We’ll let Chris do that at the end there. Vista has a ton of breweries. Most of them are situated in what I call “the Sycamore Corridor.” Sycamore’s a road that runs off of the 78 down towards Melrose. And in that little section, there are a ton of breweries. Pure, which is one of our newer favorite breweries that moved from downtown. Also in that section, you’ve got Booze Brothers, you’ve got Belch and Beaver, you’ve got Battle Mage. You’ve got a whole ton of breweries.
If you wanted to just go hit a couple in a day, it’s the perfect jumping-off spot to go to a ton. And also, you’ve got the downtown Vista area, which has always been a great spot for breweries, but it’s definitely even growing even more now. You’ve got a large Belch and Beaver location there. You’ve got Barrel and Stave. You’ve got Bear Roots.
Chris Erickson:
There’s a new spot that’s been in the works for a little bit too, called CoLab, where they have a few different breweries in there as well as a wine spot. They got a hamburger spot. But it’s this big open concept place where you can go order a few different things.
Cassidy Lewis:
Within Vista, there are a ton of different housing options. Part of the reason we really like a lot of Vista is it’s rural. But the section around the breweries is not. It’s a master-planned community called Shadowridge. Great spot to live. There’s condos, smaller homes, bigger homes, all around a golf course called Shadowridge. And super close and easy to access those breweries.
Chris Erickson:
And while Vista has the best breweries scene, it’s got the best access to a lot of these breweries in the Sycamore Corridor, we’re giving the best brewery to another spot over in Carlsbad. These guys right here: Burgeon Beer Company. Fantastic beer. Every few weeks, they have can releases. Super fresh beer. Local dudes have been running it. The tasting room is fantastic. There’s a event space you could rent out. So, Burgeon Beer is going to get the best beer over in Carlsbad, locally here.
If you’re not into beer scene, but you’re into the wine scene, and you don’t want to go to Temecula, which is our Southern California wine country, locally here in North County, San Diego, the best wine area is going to be Escondido. Once you get out of the central Escondido area, it spreads out. So, there is room for these wineries, for these vineyards to grow. There’s a golf course, called The Vineyard, out there actually, right on Orfila Winery. And it’s a great little spot. They grow grapes on the premises. I think I had their Syrah last time I was there. And it’s really cool. You can see a map of where they grow all the grapes on there. They also import some in from different parts of California.
But they have a big outdoor area. So, bring the kids, bring some cornhole, bring a picnic, all that kind of stuff. There’s a lot spread out. There’s a big list. I’ll bring it up on the screen right here, so you see all the different wineries. I haven’t been to too many of them, but it has the most choices here in North County, San Diego.
Housing in Escondido is a wide range. You can go from super old, smaller houses. Get out in the outskirts of Escondido, there’s master-planned communities. Escondido’s huge, so there are a ton of different options. One negative: it does get a lot hotter than the rest of San Diego or rest of North County, just because the mountains block it between the ocean and Escondido.
Cassidy Lewis:
Next on our list, if you are looking for kind of the best spot for tranquil, peaceful, quiet living, in our opinion, the best is Bonzo slash Fallbrook, which they border each other right next to each other. But it’s a lot of rural housing, which is part of the reason it’s so peaceful. You get a lot of acreage. Sometimes you get a lot of space between you and your neighbors. It’s a great spot if you just want to be able to do your once-a-month Costco run and just chill on your own property. There’s not a ton of noise from major roads or freeways. It’s really just quiet. It’s obviously not the most convenient for amenities like grocery stores and restaurants and, like I mentioned, Costco, things like that. But once you’re on your property, in most of the parts of Bonzo and Fallbrook, it really is a way to just chill out and take some deep breaths.
Chris Erickson:
And a lot of the area is on these hills and stuff too. So, to add to that calmness, tranquilness, serenity, is views. You’re looking out at all these rolling hills. And that whole area is very lush. A lot of trees. A lot of avocado trees. Fallbrook’s maybe the avocado capital of the world. We’re going to call it that right now. I don’t know. [inaudible 00:15:44]
Cassidy Lewis:
Of San Diego, for sure.
Chris Erickson:
Of San Diego, definitely. But that’s where a lot of avocados come from. As you’re cruising up the 15 Freeway, you could look off into Fallbrook and to see hillsides full of avocados. So, that’s what they’re very well known for. Actually, Fallbrook is also the best place for avocados here in North County, San Diego.
How about the best weather here in North County, San Diego? We’re going to give it to Vista. They also have the best breweries, which we just mentioned. But where Vista is located, if you look at it on a map, it’s far enough from the coast where you don’t get a ton of that coastal fog. You need to get some June gloom, May gray, all that kind of stuff. But you’re also not far enough inland where you’re going to get that scorching heat, as in Escondido. You’re set right in the middle. You still get a lot of areas of [inaudible 00:16:27], so you still get those coastal breezes. So, it cools it off on those hotter days. And it’s pretty comfortable most of the year. You’re in that Mediterranean climate, so most of the time, it’s cool. Obviously, as with anywhere in San Diego, you do have those super hot days. It’s kind of unavoidable.
In that corridor, just to the north, you have some mountains and stuff. But those aren’t blocking the winds coming in from the coast and to the south a little bit. It’s kind of broken up, right in that middle, so it sets in a really nice spot where it’s pretty comfortable year-round. And housing-wise, we already mentioned south of the 78, that Shadowridge area. To the north, there’s a few different areas. But if you go into the foothills or Buena Creek area, you’re getting into the rural areas of Vista. A little bit more room, a little bit more spread out. The lots are third of an acre plus. Some have a lot more than that. So, you can get a lot of land back there. Some older houses, some newer developments, a good mix. Once you do get into Buena Creek, you’re right on the border, San Marcos and stuff. And it does tend to get a little bit warmer back there, as opposed to closer to the coast Vista. Nonetheless, there’s a lot of living options. It’s a really rad place.
Cassidy Lewis:
Or you’re looking for a little bit more of a rural community; you don’t want to be right in the heart of things. You’re not looking for walkable. You’re looking for the best rural community in North County. And that is Olivenhain. Olivenhain is a colony of Encinitas. It’s on the east side of Encinitas. And it’s where you go if you want more land, if you want equestrian horse facilities, if you want to have your own farm or your own big gardens or orchards or anything. Even the entertainment factor too. If you want a big pool, if you want tennis courts, sports courts, that’s where you go out into rural Olivenhain. Most of the spots are going to be two-acre minimums. So, you get a ton of space between you and your neighbor. And it is out there. Some of these communities are a little bit of a drive outside of that mid part of Encinitas where all of the amenities are. But it does have that rural feel in Olivenhain.
Chris Erickson:
And housing-wise, you’re looking at mostly single-family homes. There is a small little area that does have some condo slash town homes with little tiny decks. Not necessarily yards and stuff, but beautiful views back there. But the rest is going to be houses. A lot of custom houses. A lot of space. It is really cool out there. And out there too, there’s a fantastic trail system. A lot of it was built for equestrian. So a lot of horse trails. I’ve done a lot of running and stuff back there. You might be passing some horses, as you’re cruising by. This area is similar to Cardiff in the fact that there’s not a ton of turn around. So if you are focusing on back there, the inventory or the number of houses for sale, it’s not a ton. Once people get in there, they live there for a long time.
In North County, San Diego, there’s not a ton of water or lakes. But we’re going to give you the best lakes, best place for lakes, best city for lakes. You might think Escondido because it’s got two of the bigger lakes: Lake Hodges, Lake Dixon, which is good fishing over there. Or, potentially. I haven’t actually caught much over there when I’ve gone. But two of the bigger lakes here in North County, San Diego. But I’m going with San Marcos. They have two man-made lakes, Lake San Marcos and Discovery Lake.
Discovery Lake, that community right around there’s a master-planned community. A lot of detached homes back there. As you cruise around the lake, there’s a nice little trail to cruise around. It’s pretty flat. I was actually skateboarding there. My little guys were biking around, no problem. Just cruised around. You can fish there; there’s a little dock. But I don’t know. There’s probably a little sunfish, perch, whatever you might have over there. So, it’s a pretty small lake, but there’s also trail cruising up to Double Peak. If you want a straight up hike, you can hit that up too.
The other one, Lake San Marcos, is a bigger community. I think it was the first master-planned lakefront community in California, maybe in the United States. Nonetheless, it is a man-made lake. There’s a few houses right around the lake. There’s a few houses right around the two golf courses that they have. So, it is a great little golf cart community. Lakes San Marcos, there’s also nice little restaurant right there. It’s called Amalfi. Great pizza, great drinks, great views. And right there is the little marina area where you can rent pontoons, cruise out there, enjoy an evening with the family. You can rent paddle boards. You can rent a guy on a gondola to bring you around, especially during Christmas time. I heard it’s a good time to check that out. But San Marcos wins for best lakes here in North County.
Cassidy Lewis:
And if you’re coming from a place that has a lot of lakes, a lot of the central part of the United States and everything, these are tiny lakes. Especially Discovery Lake could be more of a pond than a lake. And then Lake San Marcos is a man-made lake, like Chris mentioned. And it’s probably a mile long and has little fingers that go out from there. But it’s not very big. You can boat to the end of it and back in probably 15 minutes, something like that.
Chris Erickson:
Yeah, you can’t boat fast either. There’s a limit on the size of motor you can have. So, you’re not going out there and water skiing or any of that thing. They’re just pretty to look at; they’re little ponds. Jack’s Pond’s another little one. It’s actually even smaller. These are the best ponds slash man-made lakes-
Cassidy Lewis:
Lakes.
Chris Erickson:
… in North County.
Cassidy Lewis:
Obviously, North County, as a whole, doesn’t have a ton of entertainment. Downtown San Diego, obviously parts of San Diego have a lot of music venues and everything. But in North County, there’s not a ton of it. But the best spot in North County for entertainment would definitely be Solana Beach. Solana Beach has the Belly Up, which is an awesome music venue, right on Cedros, in the design district of Solana Beach. And it is awesome. We go to concerts there a couple times a year. And it’s not huge, which is nice. You get that intimate feel with just the smaller venue. You’ve got some assigned seats, if you don’t want to be in the main crowd area. And they have even a restaurant attached to it as well. So, we like to get there early, go eat, have a couple drinks, go into the venue, and watch the shows.
And then also, the Belly Up helps put on the Fiesta Del Sol, which is a cool event in Solana Beach. Ton of live music, a lot of food and beverage vendors. A really cool spot. It’s an annual festival that they do, which is definitely worth checking out.
Chris Erickson:
And right next door to Solana Beach is the Delmar Racetrack or the San Diego County Fair. So, throughout the year, it actually just ended, it goes through July 4th, they have the fair. They have concerts throughout the year. They have the horse races throughout the year. That’s literally on the edge of Solana Beach and Del Mar. You can just shoot down there real quick from most places in Solana Beach. If you want to go entertain the kids, San Dieguito Park is a great large park, right on the edge of Ranch of Santa Fe and Solana Beach. Cruise Out there. There’s a few little trails, a few bridges to check out. Just a good place to go have a picnic and stuff as well.
If you want to entertain yourself and go walking, Solana Beach has a bunch of trails around the San Elijo Lagoon. There’s Annie’s Canyon, which is a pretty big tourist attraction here. It’s a small little slot canyon. But they just connected the trail, so you go from Solana Beach, through Cardiff, all the way up to Rancho Santa Fe and back. So there’s a big trail system in there now. So, if you want to entertain yourself that way, it’s a good spot. And then one thing a lot of people are looking for is convenience.
So, what’s the best area for convenience? And I’m going with New Encinitas, the eastern portion of Encinitas. You got everything and anything you need from Home Depot, for all your DIY projects; you need to shoot down there real quick. This is all down the El Camino Corridor. There is a lot of big-box stores. There’s actually some hidden little restaurants as well. But there’s a big shopping center with Targets and Barnes and Noble and Best Buys and Dick Sporting Goods and all that kind of stuff. Right across, it’s actually in Carlsbad, is a little higher-end shopping center called The Forum. But it’s right on the border of Encinitas.
Plus, down that whole strip of El Camino Real is dentists and doctors and all those amenities that you need as well. So, when I go to my dentist, it’s literally down the street. I live right here in Encinitas. When I go to the doctor, it’s right down the street. When I go shopping, there’s a few different options super close: Trader Joe’s, Sprouts. The standard ones: Vons and Ralphs and all that kind of stuff. But there’s just everything you need right here in New Encinitas.
Cassidy Lewis:
For housing, there are a bunch of options. There’s a lot of town homes and condo-style living, which, in some communities, we don’t get as much of that. But definitely a lot of it in the New Encinitas section. There’s a lot of single-family homes as well; a wide range of sizes and different options there. Village Park is the main community in New Encinitas, but there are some other communities around it. There’s a couple gated communities, if that’s something you’re looking into. And then, right on the border, on the other side of the bluffs there, you get Encinitas Ranch, which is a really cool community right around the golf course. That’s also super convenient to get to the golf course and still super close to all those shops and restaurants Chris mentioned.
Chris Erickson:
And if you need to shoot down to the airport, you could hop on the 5 Freeway right here and shoot down there relatively quickly. So, super convenient for there. If you need to hit any of the other stuff that we just talked about, shoot up to Carlsbad Village to go check out that, super convenient. Go to Leucadia, super convenient. Head inland to San Diego Hills, to hit up those trails, super convenient. It’s a good jumping-off spot for all the other stuff that we just mentioned as well because it’s really central here in North County, San Diego.
If you want to learn more about North County, San Diego, hit up that next video that’s popping up right now. We have a ton of videos that talk about all these different cities, a little bit more in depth; go into map view, all that kind of stuff. And if you guys are thinking about moving out here to North County, San Diego, hit us up. Call, text, email. We got your back with moving here, like I said, to North County, San Diego.