has anyone been to San Diego and not wanted to move out there?

[purbeast0]

my friends moved from SD to NYC. they said it is a retirement community....

funny you say that. my wife kept mentioning how all she saw out there was pregnant women or women with strollers. total opposite of what you say.

i also saw hardly any fat people out there. the ones i did see were at all the tourist spots though.

 

[dainthomas]

I've been so many times and just love everything about it. If I had a job offer there it would be tought to say no.

 

[Anubis]

no but ive been to SF/Silicon Valley and not wanted to move out there

F that traffic and house prices

My sister lives in CA but is 6 hours east of San Farn, that's about the only part of CA id consider moving to

 

[purbeast0]

no but ive been to SF/Silicon Valley and not wanted to move out there

F that traffic and house prices

My sister lives in CA but is 6 hours east of San Farn, that's about the only part of CA id consider moving to

i went to SF a few years back for work and i wasn't a huge fan of it. but i was in the heart of the city and i just don't want to live right in a city like that. and i wouldn't want to live outside of that and have to drive in there to work every day. weather isn't as good as san diego either.

 

[Kaido]

I'm from San Diego & would love to move back. The only things that kill it for me are the housing prices & crazy traffic.

 

[Kaido]

my friends moved from SD to NYC. they said it is a retirement community....

SD is huge. That's like visiting Chinatown & saying there's only Chinese food to eat in NYC :biggrin:

 

[purbeast0]

I'm from San Diego & would love to move back. The only things that kill it for me are the housing prices & crazy traffic.

see, i didn't see any of this crazy traffic. maybe that is because i've lived in the dmv area my whole life. the only time i ever saw any traffic was during typical rush hours on the highways, which is normal. but when we were just driving around, i saw way less cars on the roads than i do around this area.

 

[CZroe]

Visited then moved there for almost four years. Enjoyed it, but had to leave eventually.

 

[BoomerD]

I've been there and had no desire to move there.

Well, yeah, but you're a fan of the Indianapolis Colts...so you obviously have brain damage...


Me...I LOVE San Diego. Yes, housing is crazy expensive and traffic sucks...but it's the 8th largest city in the US, (wasn't long ago, it was the 6th) has a HUGE military population which tends to reduce availability, a large civilian contractor base, a fuck-ton of immigrants, (both legal and illegal) and perhaps the best weather in the US of A.
Unfortunately for me, the prices are too high to allow us to live there comfortably on my fixed income, or we'd have moved there instead of to the PNW.

 

[CZroe]

I'm from San Diego & would love to move back. The only things that kill it for me are the housing prices & crazy traffic.

Came from Atlanta's crazy traffic and brought my motorcycle as my exclusive transportation. Discovered the joys of legal lane-splitting and year-round motorcycle weather. What "traffic?!"

 

[tHa ShIzNiT]

I lived there recently, in Del Mar. It was nice but the traffic and overall congestion of people really got to me. I got to the point where I could only walk to the beach on weekends (I know, boo hoo, right? but seriously...), I couldn't even bring myself to drive with the millions of other people out on the road. (This is hyperbole, I did drive on weekends but it was painful)

Also, the cost of rent was absolutely insane. I lived in an apartment and was surrounded by 10 million dollar homes, which kinda just made me jealous every day. Dudes driving by bums in 100,000 dollar cars...the economical paradox just made me feel weird overall.

Anyways, I'm glad to not be there anymore. May or may not be a popular opinion.

Edit: Also, I understand every person is saying "yeah its awesome except for housing and traffic" but those are serious problems, and they eat at you every single day.

 

[JulesMaximus]

I'm from San Diego & would love to move back. The only things that kill it for me are the housing prices & crazy traffic.

We bought in 1999 before prices went crazy. I would barely be able to afford the house we live in now if I were buying at today's prices.

Traffic isn't too bad. Not nearly as bad as Los Angeles traffic. Still, the 5 freeway is pretty horrible. I work in Poway and commute down the 15 which is much better than the 5. There are definitely certain freeways and times you want to avoid being on the road.

 

[CZroe]

I lived there recently, in Del Mar. It was nice but the traffic and overall congestion of people really got to me. I got to the point where I could only walk to the beach on weekends (I know, boo hoo, right? but seriously...), I couldn't even bring myself to drive with the millions of other people out on the road. (This is hyperbole, I did drive on weekends but it was painful)

Also, the cost of rent was absolutely insane. I lived in an apartment and was surrounded by 10 million dollar homes, which kinda just made me jealous every day. Dudes driving by bums in 100,000 dollar cars...the economical paradox just made me feel weird overall.

Anyways, I'm glad to not be there anymore. May or may not be a popular opinion.

Edit: Also, I understand every person is saying "yeah its awesome except for housing and traffic" but those are serious problems, and they eat at you every single day.

Once again: "What 'traffic?'"

Yore dueng it rong!

Live in San Diego: drive a motorcycle. WIN!

 

[Ns1]

According to trident San Diego is a ghetto shithole.

 

[cabri]

Was there in '87 (rented apt near SDSU)
Was told that $150K would get me a cardboard shack with a tin roof in one of the canyons.

Left after 2 years when gangs from started showing up and shooting up the schools trying for the Vietnamese gangs.

Was not going to expose my children to the chance of being mistaken for Viet by gang members looking for any orientals.


Ended up getting a place outside of Ft Lauderdale 2 years later instead for $110K that was one block from the Everglades.

 

[mztykal]

San Diego is gorgeous and reminds me of Hawaii. It's one of the few places in CA I'd move to if I had to leave Hawaii.

Housing prices are crazy here too so I would be okay on that end. My townhouse is barely 1000sq and it's 400k...that's a crazy price compared to the rest of the US.

 

[TXHokie]

Nice place to visit but I wouldn't want to live there due to the crazy housing prices, high COL, traffic etc. I was out there last year and was walking around downtown and saw so many homeless. I guess if I was homeless, I'd pick SD. Agreed on the good food and lots of things to do, except I'd have no money left to buy food and do stuff living there.

 

[K1052]

I visit regularly for family and work but I don't think I'd want to live there. I don't know it just seems a little sleepy for my tastes. There is some decent food and the housing cost while high isn't batshit crazy (like SF). Usually after a few days I'm ready to move along.

The eye candy is most certainly appealing though since it seems everyone either goes to the gym obsessively or runs/jogs/bikes everywhere.

 

[Belegost]

I have lived in San Diego about 24 years all total, and only moved out of there again a year ago.

I like the climate ok, and there is plenty of stuff to do, and all my family lives there. It's a great place to be a single college guy, and will probably be a great place to retire.

I don't feel it's a good place to raise a family. The two income family is pretty popular nationwide, but it's assumed in San Diego, and there is a strong materialistic current to always have the fanciest house and expensive cars, etc. This means that areas with decent schools have really inflated house prices, and the areas where a working family can reasonably afford have schools which would be an embarrassment in 3rd world countries - and private schools are impacted and priced to match.

So if you're not planning to have kids, or they're already grown - SD is a nice place to live provided you have the income to afford it. If you're wanting to start a family, either have a really good income(seriously, top 5%), or consider other areas.

~edit~ On the topic of traffic: SD is pretty light. Yes, during the morning/evening rush the 805/5 merge, and the 8 between 163 and 15 can be ugly, but I worked in Sorrento Valley and lived in La Mesa and even in the worst traffic that was only an hour for ~25 mile commute, and most days around 30 min.

 

[Chaotic42]

I spent a week in the Gaslamp district. It was okay, kind of reminded me of the French Quarter, but somehow it smelled worse.

The weather was fantastic though, and the people were friendly (except the bums who were really aggressive).

From my very narrow window of experience, I wouldn't mind living there, but I wouldn't go out of my way to move there.

 

[HamburgerBoy]

Lived in Poway for a decade. It's nice if you can tolerate stuck-up preppy jackasses.

...and there is a strong materialistic current to always have the fanciest house and expensive cars, etc. This means that areas with decent schools have really inflated house prices, and the areas where a working family can reasonably afford have schools which would be an embarrassment in 3rd world countries - and private schools are impacted and priced to match.

This. It's a very "new rich" city. I'm still laughing at all those idiots that bought in around the early to mid 2000s and had to foreclose.

 

[Belegost]

Lived in Poway for a decade. It's nice if you can tolerate stuck-up preppy jackasses.



This. It's a very "new rich" city. I'm still laughing at all those idiots that bought in around the early to mid 2000s and had to foreclose.

Same here, I was just frustrated that I was still in grad school and didn't have the funds to capitalize on the fire sale pricing.

A college friend and I were renting a 2800 sq ft place right off Camino Del Norte and Pomerado for 2K/month while the guy who bought the place for some ungodly amount was trying to save it from foreclosure. Had a hottub which made for great parties. =)

 

[rednas]

The thing about San Diego that I always found interesting is that people from outside of California who visit it think its the best place ever yet the majority of people who live in the rest of the state do not think its anything special.

 

[purbeast0]

The thing about San Diego that I always found interesting is that people from outside of California who visit it think its the best place ever yet the majority of people who live in the rest of the state do not think its anything special.

it could be that they themself believe it's better since they can't afford to live there or something. kind of like the people who live in bumfuckvill in the middle of nowhere who pay like $100k for a huge house making like $50k/yr but there is absolutely nothing to do in those areas other than sit in your house. but they justify it because it's cheap and living elsewhere is "overpriced" simply because they cannot afford it, even though salaries increase in higher cost of living locations.

or it could just be because different strokes for different folks. but chances are, if you are visiting san diego (or any place for that matter), it's because it is a place that has places that interest you. and yeah, obviously living there is different than going there and not working for a week and doing whatever you want.

 

[HamburgerBoy]

it could be that they themself believe it's better since they can't afford to live there or something. kind of like the people who live in bumfuckvill in the middle of nowhere who pay like $100k for a huge house making like $50k/yr but there is absolutely nothing to do in those areas other than sit in your house. but they justify it because it's cheap and living elsewhere is "overpriced" simply because they cannot afford it, even though salaries increase in higher cost of living locations.

or it could just be because different strokes for different folks. but chances are, if you are visiting san diego (or any place for that matter), it's because it is a place that has places that interest you. and yeah, obviously living there is different than going there and not working for a week and doing whatever you want.

Los Angeles and San Francisco: bumfuck nowhere