I used to think that Carmel Valley was the most boring place in San Diego.  In my mind it was the definition of suberbia...... and I wasn't completely wrong.  Carmel Valley is most definitely suberbia, but it's got some really cool things going on too.

I live in Carmel Valley now and love that it's very central - I'm about equidistant between Oceanside and downtown.  I also love how clean it is, the streets are wide and there is plenty of parking.  This is a drastic contrast to most of the more central San Diego neighborhoods. 

One of the biggest things that draws people to CV are the schools which are very highly ranked.  It's also very convenient to Sorrento Valley which is the center for high tech and biotech in San Diego. It's also very convenient to many of the top hospitals in SD. 

There are 3 dog parks in Carmel Valley and about a million people parks.  Torrey Pines beach is only 10-15 minutes away and Del Mar is just a bit further than that. 

Traffic is something to think about when considering Carmel Valley.  It's situated right at the "merge" which is where the 5 and the 805 freeways merge together going north, or separate going south. This is a bottleneck for traffic in San Diego and traffic south and north both get really backed up after work.  One nice thing about living in Carmel Valley is you'll usually be able to take the 56 bypass which will help you bypass some of the traffic, but the 56 does also get backed up as well. 

Now, all that being said, Carmel Valley is a wonderful place, especially if you have a family.  If you enjoy night life or hustle and bustle, this is not the place for you. Carmel Valley is suberbia after all.  The other drawback of Carmel Valley is that there are no big box stores in the area.  All of them are at least a 20 minute drive away. I'm also just going to throw out there from my own perspective, that there is a need for more good burger joints in the area....and a frozen yogurt shop.