any Encinitas/Escondido area moms? looking for good school/area to live

[MommyHawk]

My family will be moving out to the North San Diego area in the summer of 2013 and I'd like to get a jump start on finding the best place for us to live. We currently live near Baltimore in Maryland, so this will be a huge move for us, but a good one

So far, we've found some great homes in the Escondido area, however I've heard that this is not a 'good' place to live. True or not? I don't know. Are there any good schools in the Escondido area? Parts that are better than others?

We prefer Encinitas since my brother lives there and when we visit it's the place we stay...however it's pretty pricey and we'd like to live in a single family home. Although, if the schools are better in the Encinitas area as opposed to the Escondido area, then we'd reconsider the big house thing and go for a condo.

Any and all hints and tips are much appreciated

[Bokonon]

Encinitas is far preferable to Escondido if you can afford it for many reasons; the school district being just one of them.  Your home value will likely stay fairly stable in Encinitas, whereas in Escondido, they are much more volatile (it is one of the areas hit hard by the bubble bursting).

If you don't mind being inland but want a good school district, you might want to look into the Poway school district, which is comprised of the communities of Rancho Bernardo (which is just south of Escondido), Carmel Mountain Ranch, 4S Ranch, Del Sur, Rancho Penasquitos, Sabre Springs, and Poway.  This is one of the better school districts in San Diego County, and home values are more reasonable than on the coast.

There are some really beautiful areas of Escondido, and a lot of activities for families (the San Diego Zoo Safari Park; Kit Carson Park, which is a massive city park; and the Escondido Children's Museum for example).  I wouldn't live there however, because of the school district and crime.

I hope some of this helps!

[ahimsamom]

I agree with Bokonon. I love Encinitas. However, there are a few really nice, safe neighborhoods in Escondido. I currently nanny for some kids in "Hidden Meadows" a really nice community in North Escondido. It is a fairly large community with a pool, park, fire station, market and golf course! It is definitely a more pricey area of Escondido, but not as expensive as Encinitas.

Here is a link to the community: http://www.hiddenmeadowsnews.net/

As for schools...I am not really impressed with the Escondido public school district. The girls I nanny both go to private school (one at Felicita Montessori preschool, and one at St. Mary's Catholic school).

Good luck with your move!

[Moosie711]

I lived in Esocndido for 5years and you really have to be careful where you chose to live. There are great places like the San Pasqual valley which has it's own school. Public, but private for the area since it is removed from the city. There is also the area by Kit Carson Park which has nice schools and is a decent area. Honestly if you have to chose between the two and can afford it I would say move to Encinitas. We recenty moved out of Escondido and to Valley Center which is a wonderful small town. We love it here.