Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
You bring up a lot of interesting points that are mostly true from my observations. I grew up in San Diego County.
You're correct that the county is purple, but this has just recently become the case. Prior to the 2008 election it was a very red county. I don't hate conservatives or Republicans. I just disagree with them on pretty much everything. The city elected their first Democratic mayor in years a few years ago who had some good ideas, but he couldn't stop sexually harassing women and was eventually booted out of office. Now we have yet another Republican. It's the only major city that has a Republican mayor I believe. Sacramento city, as much as some people like to make fun of it, is politically blue and seems like a nice place to move to. I would move there from San Diego. It is a cheaper and more progressive city compared to the rest of the Central Valley to live in and is close to the Bay Area cities.
To the other poster I never said ALL military were ignorant right wingers. A lot of them are though and you can't deny that. It is a stereotype, but has some truth to it. The people I went to high school with who joined the Army and Marines were the type to go on about "killing those ragheads" and "shooting some guns". They didn't go to the Middle East because they were dirt poor and wanted the benefits (which is kind of a crappy reason to join too), but because they wanted to kill the Arabs and shoot some military-grade guns. Military members are not saints that never do wrong. The torture at Guantanamo Bay and Abu Gharaib are perfect examples.
I don't think it is fare to compare it to L.A. because San Diego is much smaller, but it is fair to compare it to other cities like San Jose, San Antonio, and other similar sized cities. San Diego is better than a lot of other cities like Phoenix, but it does have it's flaws. I can't comment on San Jose's economy or any of that because I haven't spent a lot of time there. It does have some culture with Balboa Park museums and drama performances and some of the Latino influence (Chicano Park, South Bay etc). There are also some Asian and Chaldean neighborhoods, but it really does feel sterile, suburban, and conservative in many parts of the city and county. The city is split in this regard. Most of the neighborhoods south of the 8 freeway are very diverse while only a few neighborhoods like Linda Vista and Mira Mesa north of the 8 freeway are culturally diverse. East County outside of La Mesa and the Chaldean population in Rancho San Diego and El Cajon is very conservative and feels like the South and Midwest in many ways. Same with inland North County. I know some people who proudly display the Confederate flag and believe the South is the "real America". They were born and raised in San Diego County. These parts of the county are also home to huge gas guzzling trucks with tea party snake flags, NRA stickers, and other right wing propaganda. The Planned Parenthoods usually have a group of middle aged to old folks protesting against abortion outside of them. Drunk military members get in fights a lot in the Gaslamp.
The economy in San Diego does mostly revolve around the military and tourism and some Biotech companies. The cost of living is ridiculous in this regard because there are not a lot of high paying jobs to match the cost of living. There are a plethora of retail and other minimum wage jobs. If the military left San Diego the county economy would tank. Los Angeles obviously has a better job market and I assume San Jose does as well with Silicon valley nearby. It's a shame that the city can't come to an agreement on expanding the convention center to keep Comic-Con and attract other big conventions that bring in money. So the city will most likely lose the Chargers and possibly Comic-Con as well.
It's not a terrible city/county and is better than many others, but it's not this perfect utopia of fun in the sun that many people make it out to be.
I am not surprised that you grew up in SD county and agree with me. But you seem to be a more intelligent fellow who prefers to talk facts.
Too expand: Generally speaking areas with large percentage of military people are not seen as desirable. They create a large transient population. The rental market gets twacked out. Nightlife is typically rowdy. Hardcore right wing nuts pop out of the wood work. And Prostitution becomes rampant, as does congestion and even pollution. Even during WW2, being near a military base was not considered desirable by the "office job" crowd.
LA County and Santa Clara county (San Jose) are the two most important local economies in the state of California. Throw in NYC and you basically have the US economy in a nutshell. Everyone else is irrelevant.
With regard to Sacramento, you are wrong. Sacramento is for government jobs and cheap housing. The local bumpkins there will ensure that the city remains and olde cow towne. Like San Diego, they are dependent on tax dollars to survive. And with out the government spending they would be perpetually bankrupt.
Notice how the only claims SD boosters can make is "We are cleaner than LA". Uhhh not really, but okay.
Or "we have better beaches". Uhhh okay.
Everything else, diversity, culture, nightlife, dining, live music venues, entertainment, public transit...LA blows SD out of the water.
If you took LA and got rid of the cool places to go and interesting people to see, you would be left with San Diego.
Last edited by WizardOfRadical; 12-28-2015 at 12:35 AM..
Why do people feel the need to insult places when they in turn live in cities that are less exciting and second rate?!
What's even more comical is comparing a huge non-descript suburb of over million residents with a pathetic skyline to a city that's buzzing with tourism. If you haven't realized SF's economy largely revolves around tourism as well. So by your logic San Francisco is inferior to San Jose. Yet millions and millions of tourists from around the world visit San Francisco over provincial San Jose.
As far as newscasts go, I think NBC 11 is the only company that has their main offices in SJ. KRON 4, KTVU 2, CBS5, and Univision 14 all operate out of San Francisco. San Jose is very lucky to share the San Francisco media market otherwise it would be as honky as Reno, much less Sacramento.
LoL what is this a 3rd grade wizzing contest? Is there some sort of law that says people can't call San Diego boring unless they live on Times Square?
Oh yea Las Vegas is buzzing with tourism! It's so much better than Dallas, Philidelphia, and St. Louis. Because, by god, they are buzzing with tourism!!!LOL what kind of logic is that????
Like most people from Sacramento, you do not comprehend the dynamics of the Federal, State, and local economies. SF's economy does not revolve around tourism. It is not the largest industry, nor does it generate the most revenue, and it does not provide the plurality of jobs. Like LA, SF's economy is far too important and complex to revolve around tourism.
SF, San Jose, and LA are prominent cities of global commerce. Sacramento and San Diego simply are not.
Yes NBC (the most prestigious broadcasting company in the world) chose to be in San Jose for their bay area location. Silicon Valley was home to 46% of the entire United States investment activity in 2012. While SF may be the culture and finance capital of the Bay, it is no secret that Silicon Valley is where the bread and butter is. Hence why SF allows Silicon Valley companies to use city owned bus stops to pick up workers.
If anything, SF is lucky to be in the same media market as Silicon Valley. If not SF would be about as relevant as Boston. SF's economy is dependent upon banking VC money from Silicon Valley, housing Silicon Valley workers, and luring Silicon Valley companies to open up new offices on Market Street.
There is a reason the state Capitol was relocated to Sacramento from San Jose. Because people want state Capitols to be in cowtowns away from global centers of commerce and the influence they yield.
Know your role and go to sleep, you live in Sacramento.
As someone from North Carolina who visited both San Diego and San Jose this summer, I have to say that I found San Diego to be more urban and exciting than San Jose. Both pale in comparison to LA or SF in terms of things to do (of course), but SD is definitely a tier (perhaps 2 tiers) above San Jose in terms of things to do. San Jose is more boring than Dallas!
You were so right back in 2005! Now, San Jose is so much fun:Whole Foods downtown with a cool triangular hangout in the middle and a smoothie bar at the first floor across from the main store in triangular quad and a funky beer draft place on the second floor. Downtown also has two public market hang out:San Pedro and SoFA markets. San Jose puts most major cities to shame, including San Diego.
L.A. really creams San Diego. How can San Diego be world class? It's about to lose a football team because of lousy and outdated stadium. San Diego's airport is a simple terminal that's outdated. Its downtown is quiet unless there's an event or just simply walking along the waterfront with its new waterfront park. There's no major industry like Silicon Valley, Hollywood or Detroit. The infrastructure is weak at the most.
San Jose is a world class city but SF is more so. Let's not get too excited and be unrealistic here.
Wow, it seems like a lot of anti-military folks on this board.
Yes because the military is filled with Inbred subhumans from the mid-west and south, with some ghetto urban types thrown in. Even worse, they act like they are still in their trailer park back home, plus anywhere they live turns into a Hick third world ghetto. So you get prime ocean real state that looks like a mix of Oklahoma and West Virginia (Oceanside). So many tourists always have confrontations with Billy Bob the Marine while in the Gaslamp District, or imagine going out to eat in Encinitas only to be invaded by a gaggle of street-walker looking military-wives celebrating their husband's deployment. Basically they are foreign to us Californians and just do not belong here. They need to be deported back home once they do their time. Always amazed me that they would rather be homeless in SOCAL then go back to their crap hole towns they came from.
Yes because the military is filled with Inbred subhumans from the mid-west and south, with some ghetto urban types thrown in. Even worse, they act like they are still in their trailer park back home, plus anywhere they live turns into a Hick third world ghetto. So you get prime ocean real state that looks like a mix of Oklahoma and West Virginia (Oceanside). So many tourists always have confrontations with Billy Bob the Marine while in the Gaslamp District, or imagine going out to eat in Encinitas only to be invaded by a gaggle of street-walker looking military-wives celebrating their husband's deployment. Basically they are foreign to us Californians and just do not belong here. They need to be deported back home once they do their time. Always amazed me that they would rather be homeless in SOCAL then go back to their crap hole towns they came from.
Yea, the inbreds that lay their life on the line,so you can spew your bull****. Go to the VA on wilshire and see all the inbreds with no limbs and other injuries. You cowardly ****. I would absolutely pound you into the ground
Yes because the military is filled with Inbred subhumans from the mid-west and south, with some ghetto urban types thrown in. Even worse, they act like they are still in their trailer park back home, plus anywhere they live turns into a Hick third world ghetto. So you get prime ocean real state that looks like a mix of Oklahoma and West Virginia (Oceanside). So many tourists always have confrontations with Billy Bob the Marine while in the Gaslamp District, or imagine going out to eat in Encinitas only to be invaded by a gaggle of street-walker looking military-wives celebrating their husband's deployment. Basically they are foreign to us Californians and just do not belong here. They need to be deported back home once they do their time. Always amazed me that they would rather be homeless in SOCAL then go back to their crap hole towns they came from.
With such social people like yourself around, how could one resist to stay?
San Diego is such a smaller city that it really is an unfair comparison, but SD is not as military, conservative, suburban or as boring as it is being described by some here. I would say it pretty well follows the 80/20 rule that I have found describes most cities; that there is only 20% of most any city that is really desirable or vibrant enough to visit or live in and the other 80% is not, and that is only even describing just a couple of handfuls of cities in this country that are even worth visiting or living in. For me that 20% always has to be in the urban core and being in probably the best neighborhood down here allows us to enjoy all the city has to offer. Our neighborhood is far from suburban and conservative, actually it is pretty dense at over 12,000 ppsm and we are downright indigo when it comes to voting affiliation.
The responses here are pretty typical for most folks from L.A., SD really isn't a place that they even think about nor have any reason to visit; many San Diegans have a much more visceral attitude about L.A., they hate it! I'm not one of them as L.A. is our favorite, quick, go to destination for a great city with tons of culture and so many cool neighborhoods to explore by walking several miles through them- we get to some place different every time. We try to get up there at least once every couple of months. It is not the easiest city to get around in though, and actually pretty hard to discover unless you've got some local angles to pursue.
Having said that we are not living like red-neck Luddites drowning in overt militarism to our Bro necks. There are few cities that could ever provide anything close to the lifestyle that we have down here. A sweet historic house on a urban canyon adjoining one of the greatest city parks in the world, a connected and vibrant village neighborhood right out the front door, and a happening enough, compact and beautiful downtown by the bay with big city amenities walking distance from our house.
We've got season tickets to ballet, baseball (we walk to Petco, and never feel vulnerable to being beaten up- which is saying something), college basketball, now professional Hockey (yeah we are just a farm team to the Kings, but it's still Hockey) and two different world class theaters (more Broadway bound and Tony award winning plays have origins in San Diego than from just about any city outside of NYC), plenty of museum exhibits so that even with our limited quantity there is reason to explore more than once. Even though most musical acts pass us by we do get to enjoy some greats such as Patty Smith, Dweezil Zappa, Trey Anastasio and others in sweet intimate venues, heck, we just saw Of Montreal for the second time in a tiny neighborhood church, last time we saw them in L.A. we were at the Palladium! Of course Trey conducting the L.A. Philharmonic at Disney Hall was something else all together. Meeting him in a bar by himself after the show was a very L.A. experience
And there is something to be said about being able to swim with the sharks (harmless Leopards, mostly) rays seals and dolphins in La Jolla Cove just minutes from our house.
And down here in the urban core neighborhood events abound. Yeah, Little Italy doesn't have that many Italians any more but it does have monthly stickball tournaments and it is still a fun neighborhood to walk around and has great restaurants. As others have mentioned we definitely benefit culturally from Tijuana being so close, and the Latin neighborhoods of Barrio Logan and Logan Heights are our tiny Brooklyns- full of galleries, artists, architects, events and restaurants.
It is an easy city to live in, (if you bought in the right place years ago) of course we don't have close to the amount of cool neighborhoods, events and all around city culture as L.A., but we can walk, hop on the bus, grab a CarToGo or DecoBike or a quick Uber and get to all the places and events that we do have, unmolested. We are very active, cultural urbanites. Sure you have to work a little harder to uncover what is down here, but pealing back the layers leaves you with more potential things going on than you could ever possibly take all in.
L.A. Is a much bigger city, difficult- make that maddening- to get around in it much of the time. Taking public transit as we often do, sometimes feels like what all the boring surbanites describe what it must be like there, full of crazy, drugged out homeless people. I've only lived in Hollywood decades ago but it always felt like it wasn't an easy city to live in, a great city, but like NYC it does take a lot out of you.
Even if we had several million dollars we simply could not recreate what we have down here- the West Side is beautiful and peaceful, but far too removed from downtown and kinda boring, Silver Lake, Eagle Rock and especially Los Feliz seem just about perfect but even then you can't just walk downtown, to the ballpark and forget the beach! Koreatown is fun, but ain't gonna have a nice garden and easy parking there.
At this stage in my life we love to visit but are settled and pretty well feel like we've found a little corner in paradise down here. I can completely understand points of view opposite of mine though, and certainly in different stages of my life or if I had more of a history and connection to L.A. I might feel completely different.
Despite only one runway, KSAN is big, and has enough renovations happening that you can say its thriving. LAX has size, and trade, but otherwise its sort of an eyesore, terminals are small and cramped, and the biggest thing to happen there is the new international terminal. SAN is getting Terminal 1 and overhaul, and giving terminal 2 a fourth expansion soon. Many airports, thats not much of a metric, San Diego doesn't and wont ever need that much, all we have and need is SAN, carldbad, and Tijuana CBX (talk about world class of cross boarder terminal in the world)
San Diego is certainly not a suburb, and for three reasons,
A: not in the same county, thats a big one.
B: There is essentially a Enviromental and Geographical wall between San Diego and the LA OC called Camp Pendleton.
C: Suburbs dont have suburbs, and Oceanside is certainly not rural
San Diego (Despite Losing the Chargers) is in a better sports position for a few reasons. One, the chargers are the first NFL team we have lost, LA, lost the Raiders and Rams, the Chargers may whine back to us rather than go to Inglewood. The Padres are bad, but at least they have been to the World series twice in the past 50 years, unlike a certain Chicago team.
Microclimate Violent, sound like someone who hasnt lived here. I like not having freezing temperatures at night but I also want to live within an hour of said freezing tempuratures, Check. The inland valleys are serene, with lows in the 60s and highs in the 90s During the summer. The winter gives us roughly 40s to 60s. Our beaches arent as good as Malibu's but at least our only eyesore is out of the way.
On that note, talk about rivers, I bet my hat that most of our inland creeks manage to remain clean. The Tijuana River is the only bad example for us. Heck, I dont think that in my life, Smog has done anything.
The Military is awesome, name a wildly popular airshow in LA that beats out Mirimar. Im proud of our military, not doing so is just un patiotic. They certainly make me feel safer.
Admit is the San Diego Skyline is Bueatiful, just look at it.
Not diverse, go to downtown San Diego, go to Mira Mesa, Down to Chula Vista, San Diego is definetly diverse to some extent.
Name San Diegos version of Compton.
Traffic on the 15 in San Diego is much better then that on the 10, accept it. Not to mention we have the stretch of the I-5 that earns it the title widest Freeway in the USA.
Does LA have anything like Rancho Sante Fe?
The Closest thing LA has to Julian is Big Bear, and Julian is much more cozy.
The least i want people to get out of this is, San Diego is not a Suburb of LA.
Forgive my spelling, I blame it on my dog
Last edited by PumaOrion; 01-13-2016 at 02:28 PM..
Despite only one runway, KSAN is big, and has enough renovations happening that you can say its thriving. LAX has size, and trade, but otherwise its sort of an eyesore, terminals are small and cramped, and the biggest thing to happen there is the new international terminal. SAN is getting Terminal 1 and overhaul, and giving terminal 2 a fourth expansion soon. Many airports, thats not much of a metric, San Diego doesn't and wont ever need that much, all we have and need is SAN, carldbad, and Tijuana CBX (talk about world class of cross boarder terminal in the world)
San Diego is certainly not a suburb, and for three reasons,
A: not in the same county, thats a big one.
B: There is essentially a Enviromental and Geographical wall between San Diego and the LA OC called Camp Pendleton.
C: Suburbs dont have suburbs, and Oceanside is certainly not rural
San Diego (Despite Losing the Chargers) is in a better sports position for a few reasons. One, the chargers are the first NFL team we have lost, LA, lost the Raiders and Rams, the Chargers may whine back to us rather than go to Inglewood. The Padres are bad, but at least they have been to the World series twice in the past 50 years, unlike a certain Chicago team.
Microclimate Violent, sound like someone who hasnt lived here. I like not having freezing temperatures at night but I also want to live within an hour of said freezing tempuratures, Check. The inland valleys are serene, with lows in the 60s and highs in the 90s During the summer. The winter gives us roughly 40s to 60s. Our beaches arent as good as Malibu's but at least our only eyesore is out of the way.
On that note, talk about rivers, I bet my hat that most of our inland creeks manage to remain clean. The Tijuana River is the only bad example for us. Heck, I dont think that in my life, Smog has done anything.
The Military is awesome, name a wildly popular airshow in LA that beats out Mirimar. Im proud of our military, not doing so is just un patiotic. They certainly make me feel safer.
Admit is the San Diego Skyline is Bueatiful, just look at it.
Not diverse, go to downtown San Diego, go to Mira Mesa, Down to Chula Vista, San Diego is definetly diverse to some extent.
Name San Diegos version of Compton.
Traffic on the 15 in San Diego is much better then that on the 10, accept it. Not to mention we have the stretch of the I-5 that earns it the title widest Freeway in the USA.
Does LA have anything like Rancho Sante Fe?
The Closest thing LA has to Julian is Big Bear, and Julian is much more cozy.
The least i want people to get out of this is, San Diego is not a Suburb of LA.
Forgive my spelling, I blame it on my dog
there are many things I can say about this BUT Julian??? no one outside of SD has even heard of it....big bear is a nationally known mountainous area where people CAN ski and snowboard.
rancho Santa Fe is nice but is nothing more than homes on rolling estates...try calabasas, agoura hills, west lake village...kinda similar
Yes the San Diego skyline is nice...no one is debating that...
But did you mention your airport as well as something to tout about? lol the nice skyline that we just admitted SD to having is the MAIN reason why the airport can't really advance as it should
Let's face it both beaches in LA and Sd have cold azz water (not my cup of tea...i prefer warm water beaches in Florida, Caribbean or Bahamas...but that's a later conversation
And traffic....yea SD has its far share of traffic for being "smaller" than LA
Andddd r u saying that the valleys in SD don't get hotter than the 90s???
there are many things I can say about this BUT Julian??? no one outside of SD has even heard of it
That doesn't matter.. Lol.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
LOL what kind of logic is that????
. 
