North County | |
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Region of the San Diego Metro Area | |
Oceanside Pier in North County
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North County Coastal and Inland cities. (Certain neighborhoods in northern San Diego, such as Del Mar Heights, Rancho Bernardo, San Pasqual Valley and Rancho Penasquitos, are also considered part of North County.) |
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Country | United States of America |
State | California |
County | San Diego |
Population | 821,496 |
North County is a region in the northern area of San Diego County, California. It is the second-most populous region in the county (after San Diego), with an estimated population of 826,985. North County is well known for its affluence, especially in Oceanside, Encinitas, Carlsbad, Del Mar, Rancho Santa Fe, and Solana Beach, where house prices range, on average, above one million dollars.
Beach culture is very prominent in the area, and many of the region's beaches and lagoons are protected areas to help ensure the environment remains pristine.
The name dates to at least the 1970s, when many of the communities in the area were yet to become incorporated cities and local community decisions were made 40 miles away at the county seat. The North County section of San Diego County has historically been the most expensive region of San Diego, with such affluent neighborhoods as Cardiff-by-the-Sea, Carlsbad, Carmel Valley, Del Mar, Encinitas, Olivenhain, Rancho Santa Fe, and Solana Beach.
In modern times, North County continues to grow as a highly influential region of Greater San Diego. The top twenty-five employers in San Diego County are closer to the North County city of Carlsbad than San Diego proper.
North County is commonly divided into coastal and inland regions, with
Both coastal and inland North County contain two types of topography. In North County Coastal, the land is generally flat with low rolling hills. The beaches are sandy with occasional tidepools and rocky reefs. In some cases the coast is dominated by type geography, where the land meeting the ocean sharply drops into the sea with a short beach. In some cases, such as in Encinitas, a whole city is bisected by a coastal foothill ridge. The foothills of mountains soon become visible as one travels further inland and encounters the rocky peaks of North County Inland. Such peaks include San Marcos Mountain, Palomar Mountain, Twin Peaks in Poway, Mount Woodson in Ramona, and Iron Mountain in unincorporated territory between the two cities. The coastal area also becomes more rugged to the north, where the Santa Margarita Mountains dominate the area within the Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton.