Friendly people in San Diego (Chula Vista, Vista: transfer to, live in, vs.)

[bunky3301]

I've lived all over and currently in the DC area. Hands down the San Diego area has the friendliest people. The sense of community my wife and I felt while living in Eastlake/Chula Vista was like no where else we've ever lived.

Not to mention that we loved that there was "IMO" virtually no racial tention as well and that was a blessing after living on the East coast all my life. I've said before in some thread , here in the DC area you can cut the racial tension around here with a knife its so thick and unfortuate.

Wife and I can't wait to get back to Eastlake and San Diego as a whole.

[kcda]

My dh is from the PNW and says San Diegans are much friendlier and open than Portland and Seattle people. He also travels to D.C., Boston and other cities quite often and says we are much more friendly and less uptight here. Last month he went to Charleston and said the people there seemed friendlier than here but not as sharp and competent (speaking from CS point of view as a business person).

Last night we tried the "drive in" movie theater in Santee just to give the kids the experience. Went to Vons to stock up on snacks and as we drove into the parking lot, this older gentleman w/a cowboy hat said "here let me get that out of your way, I hate when people do that" and moved a cart for us so we could park. We thought that was pretty nice. :-)

[fishwiz]

I have to tell you that when we were on vacation in San Diego, I really wanted to the people to be friendly...at least say "hi". The only friendly people were the service people, like the nice check-out woman at Ralphs. But at least "service" people are nice- sometimes you deal with them more on a daily basis than other people. I am fine with a mixture- of people who keep to themselves and people who say HI!

[_Charles_]

I consistently get hit on in SD allot more than anywhere else. I'm not sure that makes the place friendly but its fun for me.

[FunkyMonk]

In SD lots of people do act very friendly. Some people in SD are genuinely friendly. A lot of them just put on a friendly face and are really shady when it comes down to it.

In SD, it's part of the culture that people act nice, but I think that a lot of people there act nice, while doing things that are not very nice. I have seen people do the most awful things in SD, but they put on an angels face the whole time that they do it.

It reminds me of Thailand in that way. They call Thailand "The land of smiles" because everyone is smiling. But most of the smiling people are pretty ruthless when it comes down to it.

[SEAandATL]

^ I've also heard San Diego compared to Japan because of how friendly and polite the people are.

[kcda]

I think people are more polite in Japan but more friendly and outgoing in San Diego. However if you are a foreigner in Japan, Japanese can be very friendly. I've had complete strangers on the train invite to their home to talk and have dinner.

Thai people are very sunny and friendly. I know there are shady, con artist types there but there are many, many wonderful kind hearted people in Thailand. We've been many times and love the Thai people.

[John_Galt]

I've recently moved to SD from NYC, where I'd been living for nearly 10 years. My wife and I had obviously noticed how friendly people are here, compared to NY, and we've really loved the change.

This weekend was another great example. We had a group of friends visiting from New York for the Chargers game (GO BOLTS!), and twice this weekend, we experienced moments where they all sort of looked at each other, with a "this would NEVER happen in NYC" sort of look.

1) We were at Pizza Port up in Del Mar, and we were waiting for a table outside, and had been waiting for a while. There was a couple that were sitting and taking up a whole table - they'd offered to allow us to join them (already a nicer thing than I'd ever seen in NYC), but we were too big a group and needed a whole table. They saw a pair of seats open at another outside table that had some other sitting at it, and they joined up with them to free up the big table for our group. It was really remarkable.

2) At the Chargers tailgate, we were pretty unprepared, and didn't have much in the way of supplies (tables, chairs, etc.) In NYC, we would've been mocked for this, and that's about it. Here, one of people from a neighboring tailgate saw our situation, and came over to us with some extra folding tables to help get us started.

In two days this weekend, I saw more friendliness in San Diego than I'd seen in 10 years in NYC.

People here have been great!

[hanna_house]

I have only been living here a little over 2 weeks and my impression has been that people are extremely friendly! I always thought people in Michigan were pretty friendly, especially compared to New England, but San Diego has it beat! I have found this to be true not only with people in customer service but even from other patrons and people just walking down the street. It actually took me by surprise. I figure the weather must put everyone in a good mood...I know it does with me!

[delta6]

The people in San Diego have no substance - They're empty suits and empty dresses.