Is San Diego a nice city to live in?

Answer 1

It depends on what you are used to and what you are looking for. First, to dispell some myths: Other than the cost of buying a house and the cost of gas, everything here is pretty much the same as every place else in the country. Gas is always a few cents more than anywhere else for some reason, and while home purchase is ridiculous, you can still rent for about the same as most metropolitan areas. Yes, it is a politically conservative area, having the largest military presence in the U.S., but you will find people of every political persuasion, just like anywhere else. And you can always get the L.A. Times instead of the local San Diego Union Tribune rag. While very occasionally you will feel a little shake from an earthquake, the San Andreas runs about a hundred miles east of here and I don't know that San Diego has ever had anything approaching a major quake. In the six years I've lived here, I've never felt one any stronger than one I felt in Illinois in the 80s off the New Madrid fault.

On to the realities. perhaps the greatest thing about San Diego is that you can plan to do something outdoors any day of the year and have a 99.5% chance that the weather will be absolutely perfect for it. San Diegans are "weather spoiled" - since it is almost always beautiful people acquire a certain sense of entitlement and get downright surly if it so much as drizzles. This also means that driving in the rain here is about like driving in a foot of snow in the midwest. Locals don't seem to realize that wet roads aren't the same as dry roads and tend to be get goofy (i.e. dangerous) in the rain. That said, while you once in a while encounter the typical jerk, believe it or not most drivers in San Diego are still decent and courteous - they'll usually let you in on the freeway and even when someone is daydreaming at a stoplight, most times the other drivers will patiently wait until they snap out of it without honking etc. There are no hurricanes, no tornadoes, no severe weather of any kind. You might hear thunder maybe once or twice a year and see lightning once a year or less. The temperature along the coast seldom goes over 90 in the summer and never goes to freezing in the winter. Temperatures farther inland can get into the low hundreds sometimes, but even there it always cools off at night. In most areas of the county there are no mosquitoes and very few other insects, so you can let windows open without screens and let the breeze blow through. There is an incredible variety of experience within a very short distance. You can leave downtown San Diego and be literally in the middle of nowhere in about thirty miles. Tijuana is 15 miles away, Los Angeles is 110, the beaches are right there, the mountains are 60 miles away and the desert is 80 miles away. There are flowers blooming every day of the year. If you're into nature it's fantastic. The city itself is very clean, very friendly, and perhaps the safest large city I've ever known. The cultural scene is extremely active. If you ever get bored here it will be because you completely lack imagination.

Now the downside. While people here are generally quite friendly, it is pretty much a polite veneer. Not that it isn't sincere - I only mean to say that people do not tend to form communities here. If you're used to a sort of midwestern or small town environment, San Diego may frustrate you. You can live here for many years and not know your next door neighbor. For this reason it is sometimes a difficult and frustrating environment for families with children. If you're going to have a social life that is involved with those around you, you will have to work at it - it will not come to you; you'll have to go out and intentionally seek it out. Likewise, if you truly enjoy variety in your weather you'll have to go out and look for it. Snow in winter is at least 60 miles away; a good autumn is about the same - but of course you have spring and summer pretty much constantly. Also, if you want to buy a house instead of renting, you're going to have to take a deep breath and prepare yourself. Oh yes, if you're not familiar with the Pacific, the water is colder - year 'round - than what you expect it to be.

Personally, I love it here. Any place is only what you make of it, but given the environment of essentially perfect weather and tremendous variety of scenery and experiences, it's a whole lot easier to truly enjoy yourself here than anywhere else I've ever encountered.

Peace,

Radical Geezer

Answer 2

San Diego is a great city to live in if you have a skill or trade that will support you. It is very expensive and a big metropolis......... But you can see the ocean, mountains, desert and valleys all within a few miles. You also get some tremors sometime from local earthquakes, and occasional flooding with some of the rainy season. The normal temperature is usually his in the 70' or 80's and the lows are between 40 and 60........ Some time the air is good quality and on other days you get smog. We have June gloom for about a month where the sky is overcast in the mornings but the sun usually peeks through around noon or soon after. It is a very diverse area as far as the nationalities go..... crime is about the same as anywhere else. Our minimum wage is higher than the biggest share of the rest of the US. There is much to do here for the price of gasoline. But it is beautiful

Answer 3

I have lived here my whole life, I'm 27 now and i live in the same house I grew up in. I cannot understand why anyone would think that San Diego was a bad place to raise children, I cannot fathom a better location other than perhaps France.

We are spoiled, we have everything here and we know it. Often, we even take it for granted. We have a wonderfully diverse community here and gorgeous weather year round.

Politics may lean to the right, but that's to be expected in any wealthy community. Honestly, most people here would much rather talk about a million other things than politics, it's just not on most people's daily agendas.

Answer 4

OK way shorter answer. YES! It's fantastic. Homes are expensive to buy, but rents are pretty much the same as anywhere else; Food, restaurants, everything else is comparable. The political design is changing (person by person if I have to convert everyone myself!) Weather;great. People are VERY friendly, and the thought that it's somewhat iconoclastic is misleading. I have made lifelong friends EVERYWHERE I've ever lived here. I've been here 24 years, had 2 children who went away to school and moved back. IT's a cool place to be; far enough away from LA but we still get great concerts, plays, All first run movies

Answer 5

No. It's a nice place to visit... but if you live there, you will be surrounded by some of the most reactionary ultra-right-wing republicans in the country. San Diegans were very proud that they had one of the last active John Birchers in the U. S. Congress. That closed-minded mentality dominates local politics, culture, the economy, education... everything. A real shame... all that natural beauty going to waste on the most backwards element of our society.

Answer 6

San Diego is a BEAUTIFUL place to live in, but wouldn't call it nice. Very high cost of living; purchasing home is nearly impossible if single & traffic has been getting horrendous. However, we do have clean beaches- at least until they start drilling for oil- and lots of outdoor activities to keep us busy.
Plus lots of street festivals & good underground music.

Answer 7

If you are military, if not you better be a doctor or a lawyer. It is super expensive to live here, I don't know how people do it. But it is a nice city with lots going on. But a man told my husband and I once, that it is NOT a good place to raise children, so get out before we had any. So that convinced me, I ain't staying here lol.

Answer 8

S.D is one gigantic strip mall/suburb. It is all commercial districts and tract housing. Most attempts at culture are tacky marketing ploys.This is a suburban and provincial town where culture is sacrificed for economic efficiency. There is no authenticty, character, or history behind this city relative to other major cities. We are strong in conservativism, anti-intellectualism, materialism (relative to elsewhere in the US and even CA), and conformity.

Answer 9

anyone who thinks its bad is nuts! weather is great but real estate is EXPENSIVE. plenty to do here!

Answer 10

yeah