Encinitas

In sun-drenched Encinitas, locals can easily walk, bike and surf any day of the week. A part of the San Diego area, those who live here are accustomed to picturesque rugged coastal bluffs, hillside views and a buzzing downtown by the beach. “Compared to the nearby Carlsbad, Encinitas is a hip and more expensive area. As you go further down the coast, homes are higher in value,” says local Realtor Jordan Moss, a part of The Moss Team, a husband-and-wife-duo with Coldwell Banker Realty. The homes in this neighborhood have a wide range of styles that add an eclectic and creative feel to the area. Potential buyers can find newly built condominiums, hillside duplexes, modest ranches and large single-family contemporary styles. Condominiums and townhouses often range from $750,000 to $1.2 million. On average, single-family homes start at $1.3 million and reach upwards of $3.5 million. The Encinitas Union Elementary School District and the San Dieguito Union High School District serve the community. Paul Ecke-Central Elementary is open to kindergarten to sixth-grade learners and has an A on Niche. Diegueno Middle and Oak Crest Middle Schools accept seventh to eighth graders and hold the No. 9 and No. 10 spots for Best Public Middle Schools in the San Diego Area, according to Niche. San Dieguito High School Academy, rated A-plus, provides CTE pathways for teens interested in film production, architectural design, software and systems development as well as other offerings. As a health-conscious outdoor community, Encinitas has more than its fair share of parks and green space. Bocce players are often seen on the courts at Oakcrest Park, and Sun Vista Park has a dedicated space for dogs. Little ones can play in the shade on the modern playscapes at Las Verdes Park. The newly opened Encinitas Community Park offers playscapes, a skate park, a dog park and sports fields for athletic locals. Walking trails are scattered throughout Encinitas, presenting spectacular views from the sloping landscape to the coast. Visitors and residents alike spend time surfing and strolling the sandy coastline of Moonlight Beach. Encinitas has many large shopping plazas along the retail corridor, El Camino Real. The thoroughfare leads to big box supercenters and department stores. To the west, centered along Coast Highway 101, is Downtown 101, a premier shopping district with upscale restaurants, cafes, window-front stores and boutiques. Health food shops sit beside thrift stores, yoga studios, salons and bustling bars. After a day of shopping, locals can walk right to the beach to enjoy the sunset. The commercial corridor blends vintage charm with a more modern aesthetic. This is a combined effort from community members and organizations, such as the non-profit Encinitas 101 MainStreet, which has a mission of historic preservation and renewal. Downtown Encinitas is home to the La Paloma Theater, a historic Spanish Colonial Revival movie theater built in 1928. Crowds of people pile into the small establishment every other Friday at midnight to watch the Rocky Horror Picture Show. Residents here mark their calendars for several festivals and community events throughout the year. On the weekends, the Encinitas Moonlight Marketplace attracts artisans, food vendors and locals. Many look forward to the Switchfoot Bro-Am in early July, an annual surf competition and outdoor music festival on the sands at Moonlight Beach. The community is also home to a tropical rainforest and bamboo grooves inside the San Diego Botanic Garden. The 37-acre garden hosts the illuminating event, Lightscape, during the winter holiday. Encinitas Ranch Golf Course is another recreational delight for avid golfers hoping to tee off on a championship 18-hole course. “This is a great community with a lot of history. The area is the largest producer of the poinsettia Christmas flower. And the Self-Realization Fellowship Meditation Gardens, which is free to the public, was set up by the grandfather of yoga, Paramahansa Yogananda,” Moss says. “The grounds have lovely trees and sweeping ocean views.” For those commuting to downtown San Diego or other more far-reaching parts of the city, Interstate 5 runs through Encinitas. In addition, Encinitas is home to a Coaster train stop for commutes throughout San Diego County.

Set along the hilly coast of Encinitas, Cardiff-by-the-sea is a slow-paced surf-loving community about 20 miles north of San Diego. Known simply as “Cardiff” to locals, developer J. Frank Cullen named the neighborhood for his wife’s hometown of Cardiff, Wales when he bought the land in 1909. It’s grown a lot since then, but maintains it’s easy-chair vibe as a place where folks spend their days exploring the five local beaches; they surf at Swami’s Beach, wander the San Elijo Lagoon or look for sea critters in Cardiff State Beach’s tide pools. Ken Kaplan, Real Estate Agent and Analyst with Fox 5 Morning News, says “It’s smaller than La Jolla or Del Mar, which gives it that quaint beachy feel while being less congested than other coastal communities.” While being one of the smaller neighborhoods in North County means that there are only a handful of immediate shopping and entertainment options around, quality takes the reins over quantity here. Cardiff is home to Seaside Market, a gourmet grocery staple since the 1980s, and a collection of waterfront restaurants known as “Restaurant Row.” Residents travel from around Encinitas to try Seaside Market’s "Cardiff crack" – a marinated tri-tip that's “a local obsession,” according to Kaplan, or to take in views of the water over dinner at Restaurant Row. The neighborhood is divided into east and west sides by Interstate 5, with streets laid out in a neat grid. Residents might notice that many streets here are named after major UK cities such as Liverpool, Birmingham, Manchester and Glasgow (once again, a loving tribute to Cullen’s wife). Homes range from custom-built modern duplexes to 1940s ranch-style homes, sitting on steep slopes that offer ocean views from La Jolla to Dana Point; sidewalks are scarce. No homes sit directly on the ocean, though a few sit along the bluffs of the San Elijo Lagoon. Beach cottages built in 2000 can fetch $2.5 million, as can remodeled 1970s four-bedroom homes on cul-de-sacs. Residents can find one-bedroom condos throughout the community for around $700,000 or four-bedroom condos for between $1.5 and $2 million. Surrounding the Encinitas Community Park, Cardiff’s Composer District is a collection of homes that sit on winding streets with names like Mozart, Bach and Vivaldi. Craftsman and Spanish-style homes in the Composer District were built in 2003, going for between $4 million to $7.5 million. Just west of the neighborhood, Highway 101 transforms into a culinary coastal route lined with seaside restaurants. Heading south towards Solana Beach, Pacific Coast Grill marks the first stop, serving fresh seafood and sushi. Next door, The Chart House offers upscale surf and turf, paired with ocean and lagoon views. Heading north on the 101 from Solana Beach will bring residents to Las Olas, famed for inventing the "original fish taco," where residents can have sunset meals amidst Baja-style décor. San Elijo Avenue runs parallel to the coast, hosting shopping plazas and restaurant strips along Cardiff's western border. Seaside Market in the Cardiff Town Center is often raved about by out-of-towners who can’t believe the selection of gourmet goods. The town center also offers local retailers like Fowlers Boutique. For more grocery options, The Santa Fe Square shopping center is anchored by Vons, while the Cardiff Farmers Market is held in the MiraCosta College parking lot each Saturday. Local public schools include Cardiff Elementary, Ada W. Harris Elementary and Oak Crest Middle School, all of each of which earn As from Niche. The A-plus rated La Costa Canyon High School achieved International Baccalaureate (IB) world school status in 2018, offering a rigorous program with six subject groups: language and literature studies, language acquisition, individuals and societies, sciences, math and creative arts. MiraCosta College's San Elijo campus, located in the southeast corner of Cardiff on Manchester Avenue, provides a convenient option for higher education, offering 8-week courses that combine in-person and online learning. On the south end of Cardiff, the 979-acre San Elijo Lagoon features 7 miles of hiking trails through coastal wetlands. Residents can visit the lagoon to see native plants like coastal sage scrub, migrating birds or take kids on a scavenger hunt through the lagoon (they can even win prizes). Cardiff State Beach is set just off Highway 101 across from the San Elijo Lagoon, the local go-to spot for surfing, swimming and diving thanks to its two reefs. Even though it's usually busy, it stays clean and well-kept. Head north on Highway 101 to meet the famous Cardiff Kook statue at San Elijo State Beach. The Kook, officially called 'Magic Carpet Ride,' is a surfer statue that locals love to dress up for fun—he might be wearing a Hawaiian lei or even a Halloween costume. San Elijo Beach offers campgrounds on a cliff that overlooks the ocean - people often book their camping spots months ahead, usually arriving in camper vans with their dogs. The Coastal Rail Trail, a paved path perfect for skaters, bikers, and joggers, runs along the Coaster commuter rail from Chesterfield Drive to Verdi Avenue. This trail makes it easy for residents to get from Cardiff Town Center to the beach. “You’ve got parks literally right on the San Elijo and Cardiff State beaches,” adds Kaplan, and “a nice shallow-water estuary off Manchester Avenue with 7 miles of walking trails within a 1,000-acre reserve.” Dog-lovers treat their pups to the Encinitas Dog Park at the 44-acre Encinitas Community Park which also includes a playground, sports fields and the 34,000-square-foot Encinitas Skate Park. Interstate 5 intersects the neighborhood, providing a direct route to Solana Beach (3 miles), Del Mar (5 miles) and Downtown San Diego (25 miles). The San Diego Metro Transit System’s (MTS) Blue Line bus has stops along the 101 that lead anywhere between Cardiff and Downtown San Diego. For healthcare, Scripps Memorial Hospital Encinitas sits at the northwest corner where the 5 meets Santa Fe Drive. The COASTER commuter train provides coastal scenery as it runs north and south through San Diego County. “Because the neighborhood borders the freeway on both sides, you may hear a little traffic noise or the sound of the train," says Kaplan. "But you’re also closer to the airport than you are in most other coastal communities, and there’s really no difference in the time it takes to reach the beach whether west or east. It’s easy to bike or walk to the beach from anywhere in Cardiff and never more than a 5-minute drive or closer.”