The big dealbreaker for me. (San Diego, Corona: house, neighborhoods, buy)

[Sealtite]

I don't think I really wanna ever go back east now. My mom was in town today, and we took what we thought was gonna be nice little road trip up to Palomar mountain to the Observatory, then back down. Turned out to be the most scenic drive of my life.

Man, I love it here. I don't ever wanna leave. If I never buy a house here, so be it. I'm gonna have to die someday, and I'd rather spend as much time in this part of the country than the drab, boring northeast. The best things here are free anyway. Damn this place is amazing.

[Jenkay]

Originally Posted by Sealtite

I don't think I really wanna ever go back east now. My mom was in town today, and we took what we thought was gonna be nice little road trip up to Palomar mountain to the Observatory, then back down. Turned out to be the most scenic drive of my life.

Man, I love it here. I don't ever wanna leave. If I never buy a house here, so be it. I'm gonna have to die someday, and I'd rather spend as much time in this part of the country than the drab, boring northeast. The best things here are free anyway. Damn this place is amazing.

You know, I've lived here 36 years and I have days like that constantly. If you're the kind of person who likes to get out and do and see things, this place will pretty much charm you constantly. This past Friday I took the ferry to Coronado and rode my bike down the silver strand. I Stopped at Silver Strand State beach and walked the beach for an hour or so, then took the ferry back across to downtown at sunset. Couldn't stop grinning the whole day. The Wednesday before Thanksgiving I rode my bike to OB for the minus tide and looked at cool stuff in the tidepools for hours. Sunday before that I went up Cuyamaca Peak....

If you're gonna stay home and watch cable tv you can live anywhere. Outside is what San Diego's all about.



Sunset from Coronado last Sunday:

[tonyinsd]

I'm with you, Sealtite. I was born here and lived here for the first four years of my life. I finally moved back last year, and the only way they're getting me out of here is in a pine box.

I came into the world here, and I'm leaving the world here. No question about it. DC? Nothing wrong with it, but I'm so glad I'm here. My blood pressure is down by 15 points since I moved from DC. Doesn't that tell you something?

Call me a native, call me a transplant, I don't care. I'm a San Diegan now.

[earlyretirement]

There IS a reason why so many people want to live here in San Diego. It's an absolutely incredible city. I always loved coming here on vacation and moving here was one of the best decisions I ever made. It's a wonderful city and I have many of those types of days where the natural beauty of the city and it's surroundings just make you feel fortunate to live here.

I can't ever see moving out of the area.

[Sealtite]

Originally Posted by tonyinsd

DC? Nothing wrong with it, but I'm so glad I'm here. My blood pressure is down by 15 points since I moved from DC. Doesn't that tell you something?

I grew up in Pittsburgh, which is a notoriously difficult part of the country to escape from. I built a great little business there over the past decade and a half, but I simply couldn't take the other aspects of living there any longer. I was so sick and tired of the negative, provincial, dumb people there and the overall crippling depression of the whole place. I felt like I had to flip a mental switch in my mind on a daily basis in order to be productive, otherwise I'd be overwhelmed by the human blight all around me. The attitudes of the people I had to deal with on a daily basis were almost unbearable. I often wondered why some of them just didn't commit suicide if they were so miserable. It's really that bad back there.

You'd think that the stress of relocating, starting a new business on the other side of the country, and the uncertainty of it all would be pretty overwhelming, but it's not for me. My stress levels have actually dropped. I'm sleeping better, I'm way more relaxed that I've been in a long time, and I'm feeling better and better each day. It's like getting over an illness when you didn't even realize you were sick to begin with. I'm really taking my time easing into work here, but once I'm ready....I'll go ahead and light the fire under my ass again. Probably shortly after the holidays. I left PA right at the end of my work "season", so I'm a little burned out actually. Since the closest thing resembling winter that I'll ever have to deal with here are early sunsets for a couple of months, I'm in no big rush to flip the switch. I'll do it when I'm good and ready, but once I do, it's "game on".

[kettlepot]

Sealtite, I think I understand your point about the people in Pittsburgh, but what about the architecture? The historic buildings and homes look amazing in the photographs I've seen. It makes me seriously consider moving there. Unfortunately, in San Diego, the city screwed up entire historic neighborhoods and filled them with Huffman blight.

It's so sad that they just threw these neighborhoods away and ruined them forever. Imagine if San Diego was the vibrant city it is today, and yet still had intact historic neighborhoods in University Heights and Normal Heights, and other areas around Balboa Park. Maybe the paucity of historic architecture is the deal breaker for me, and which keeps me seriously considering leaving San Diego.

[Sealtite]

Originally Posted by kettlepot

Sealtite, I think I understand your point about the people in Pittsburgh, but what about the architecture? The historic buildings and homes look amazing in the photographs I've seen. It makes me seriously consider moving there.

What you're seeing in photographs is just a tiny portion of the whole big picture. Most of the Pittsburgh area is very blighted and run-down. Pittsburgh is also a very small city and urban area. You can literally be "out in the country" in 20 minutes after traveling any direction from the center of downtown.

If it's architecture and history you're after, I'd suggest south-central Pennsylvania. Here's a couple of photos of some typical Pittsburgh neighborhoods:



This is what you can expect to mostly find there. Of course there are exceptions, but this is "typical". I find Pittsburgh to be very similar to Savannah, GA in the sense that you've got a few historical "districts" that are well maintained and well-known, but the rest of it is just an all-out dump.

[WINDCHIMES]

It depends on where you live in the area...and some parts of Pittsburgh are beautiful, I agree there are slums around but that is everywhere I think. I live in a beautiful Tudor home, in excellent shape in the south hills in a beautiful upscale town and I only paid 170,000 for my home...we have a beautiful city and yes we travel to the country in half an hour...I lived all over the country and I met negative mean people everywhere, you can choose to draw people like that or choose more upbeat people...I will agree overall people here can bea bit more gloomy, but you can choose to walk away and concentrate on those who are not...I really think what town you. I've in too will determine that too...I lived on the east side growing up and I seen that alot, it clings to you too...youhave to shake it off and not let it affect you...moving to the south hills is like day and night...so please don't say its the entire city, cause its not

[T. Damon]

Originally Posted by kettlepot

Sealtite, I think I understand your point about the people in Pittsburgh, but what about the architecture? The historic buildings and homes look amazing in the photographs I've seen. It makes me seriously consider moving there. Unfortunately, in San Diego, the city screwed up entire historic neighborhoods and filled them with Huffman blight.

It's so sad that they just threw these neighborhoods away and ruined them forever. Imagine if San Diego was the vibrant city it is today, and yet still had intact historic neighborhoods in University Heights and Normal Heights, and other areas around Balboa Park. Maybe the paucity of historic architecture is the deal breaker for me, and which keeps me seriously considering leaving San Diego.

kettlepot you and I are definitely of the same mindset- I am an architecture junkie well beyond my profession as a home designer. I was going to ask Sealtite the same thing since I am a lurker in the Pittsburgh forum just because of its architecture and setting in the hills and rivers and know he is/was (looks like the was is where its going to stay haha) a resident there. The topography and architecture of Pittsburgh looks amazing to me, I know what I'm seeing is just bits and chunks and it has plenty of rundown neighborhoods but still, I am a bit obsessed with the good parts.

If you really want to get sad about throwing away good architecture and neighborhoods look to Pittsburgh's history- block after block, landmark building after landmark building destroyed in the name of progress. From the pictures I've seen its absolutely shocking. The bulldozed over craftsman bungalows and Victorians here pale in comparison. Actually, the more downtrodden a neighborhood was at some point the better likelihood its built environment will stay intact- mine is kinda like that- it was mostly overlooked during the first wave of redevelopment in the 70s, there still are pockets like this in many parts of the central city.

I will say I dream sometimes of a San Diego with an intact, agricultural/recreational natural watershed in Mission Valley- completely undeveloped, protected and intact core neighborhoods and without the damn massive monument of a complex that is the Naval Hospital in Balboa Park- Why is it there!?

Interesting take on its residents though, obviously a bit of a generalization but sounds like Sealtite is a straight up mostly positive guy like myself and could not help but be affected by the overall tone of many of the people there. Between that and the grey, lifeless winters in the northeast I will take an appreciation of the days like jenkay and the original post describes here- and visit Pittsburgh (and Fallingwater finally!, soon)

[Just1Lion]

you people are killing me! you guys are very lucky to have ended up in san diego. was someone really voting for living in pennsylvania over san diego? thats really funny. ive been in PA for 5 years now and cant stand it here. and i lived in some incredible areas in philadelphia. i dont see what architecture has to do with enjoying where you live.