Is this the REAL SD? (San Diego, Oakland: transfer, floors, moving)

[NewtoSD?]

Originally Posted by tonyinsd

Wrong. You have the right of way, which means I can't run you over. However, if you're just starting to cross, and I'm on the other side of the street and can safely get through the crosswalk without hitting your entitled ass, then I can go through it.

I've done this dozens of times with the SDPD sitting right there. Not once have they said a thing. Once, it was even the cop who was crossing the street. If I was going to get cited, he would have done it.

It sounds like we are miscommunicating. I have no problem with your description. I drive that way too. Again, I was nearly hit. It happened twice in 1.5 days. For some reason you took issue with that. It may have been that my description and the image it envoked in your mind (and possibly others) are two different things. Trust me, I was walking like a normal human being both times.

Trust me, they had the problem. I didn't. The kid that threw his hands up and started screaming was probably 170 lbs. I'm 220 and built like a linebacker. WTF?? I don't know if I just caught the wrong day or what, but I ran into more complete morons than I have in probably the past year.

I had no strange look. No strange dress. No strange behavior. Like I told you before, I experienced what I experienced, and it may just be a Socal vs Norcal difference. You may be use to it, I may not be. From the responses, it sounds like something people get use to or adapt to.

I know there are great things about SD and I'm trying not to let those incidents color my view of the area. If I want to go, I'll go with a positive outlook or not at all.

[04kL4nD]

Originally Posted by tonyinsd

Wrong. You have the right of way, which means I can't run you over. However, if you're just starting to cross, and I'm on the other side of the street and can safely get through the crosswalk without hitting your entitled ass, then I can go through it.

I've done this dozens of times with the SDPD sitting right there. Not once have they said a thing. Once, it was even the cop who was crossing the street. If I was going to get cited, he would have done it.

[sschibuola]

I can't speak to the 20-somethings checking you out - I'm in my 40's, which as far as I can tell just makes me invisible to 20-somethings.

On the driving - I moved here last year from Orange County, and while in general I find the drivers here okay and if anything a little more laid back than in OC/LA -there is one major exception - which unfortunately happens in exactly the areas you described - driving in older urban areas.

I mean, most of SD is suburban, and people have suburban driving habits - high speeds, and not used to dealing with parallel parking or pedestrians because those things don't exist in the suburbs. Come to an urban area like downtown or Hillcrest or OB or Little Italy - people like you and me who have lived in real cities put on our urban driving habits . . . but unfortunately most of the people you are driving alongside are still in suburban mode. And the rest are confused tourists.

It's frustrating - but it will likely only be a small part of your day-to-day SD experience, so don't let it play too strongly in your decision.

[1AngryTaxPayer]

I've seen peds walking and you don't know if they are going to cross or go around the corner as they never look up or at the intersection. Then when they stride out into the cross walk they will glare at you like you did something wrong. This by a busy school. If you waited for everyone to "finish" crossing or entering you'd never get through the intersection much the less the 20 cars behind you.

[oddstray]

Originally Posted by 1AngryTaxPayer

I've seen peds walking and you don't know if they are going to cross or go around the corner as they never look up or at the intersection. Then when they stride out into the cross walk they will glare at you like you did something wrong. This by a busy school. If you waited for everyone to "finish" crossing or entering you'd never get through the intersection much the less the 20 cars behind you.

When I'm walking, I always try to make it clear using body language whether or not I plan to step off a curb. In over 30 years here, there have been only 3 'close' incidents. Once, to be fair, there was a pole blocking the driver's view of the sidewalk (he was turning right on red). Then there was a driver in an SUV who just plain wasn't looking and zoomed her left turn about a foot in front of my nose. And then there was that cop turning right on red ... he had zero excuse for nearly taking me out.

[tonyinsd]

Originally Posted by NewtoSD?

It sounds like we are miscommunicating. I have no problem with your description. I drive that way too. Again, I was nearly hit. It happened twice in 1.5 days. For some reason you took issue with that. It may have been that my description and the image it envoked in your mind (and possibly others) are two different things. Trust me, I was walking like a normal human being both times.

Nearly hit is unacceptable. Remember back when college football used to have a buffer zone for someone signalling for a fair catch? That's how I think you should treat pedestrians.

If you're on the other side of the street and starting to cross, I can clearly be through the intersection and down the block before you get even close to the centerline.

If you're starting to cross from the same side of the street as me, then I need to wait until you get to the centerline before I go.

I've had no bad experiences when I'm the pedestrian, and I've had a a few annoying experiences with self entitled pedestrians. Does that color my view? Of course it does. I wouldn't be human if it didn't.

As for ignoring you, I think you'll find in most large cities -- and San Diego has about four times the population of Oakland -- people don't really pay too much attention to people they pass on the street. You've got 1.3 million other people here in the city itself. You can't pay attention to everyone walking around, especially downtown, otherwise you'd never get where you're trying to.

[04kL4nD]

Having lived in both Oakland and San Diego, I'd have to say that SD drivers are far less courteous and much more aggressive, despite the fact that most of SD feels wayyyyyy less populated and urban than Oakland. Also That 1.3 million figure is pretty misleading. There's more people in Alameda county than the city of San Diego, which is a lot more suburban and spread out.

Whenever I'm back down in SD for the weekend or whatever, I have to remind myself that I don't live there anymore and that I need to be in 'vacation mode' and not to get all riled up by the idiots who don't know how to drive.

[Gentoo]

Originally Posted by 04kL4nD

Having lived in both Oakland and San Diego, I'd have to say that SD drivers are far less courteous and much more aggressive, despite the fact that most of SD feels wayyyyyy less populated and urban than Oakland. Also That 1.3 million figure is pretty misleading. There's more people in Alameda county than the city of San Diego, which is a lot more suburban and spread out.

Whenever I'm back down in SD for the weekend or whatever, I have to remind myself that I don't live there anymore and that I need to be in 'vacation mode' and not to get all riled up by the idiots who don't know how to drive.

Um...kay...so you said what I was saying in plain English.

[sdurbanite]

Originally Posted by Gentoo

+1. Shows what I said earlier. SDPD just isn't as big on citing for this behavior. Sounds like LA is more like the Bay Area. Drive like that there and the police will make an example out of you.

But where in DMV Section that MovingAloha posted does it say it's illegal to enter the crosswalk if a pedestrian is still in it? Are you saying that people in the Bay Area and LA wait until a pedestrian has made all the way to the other sidewalk before they will make a right turn? I don't think so.

[sdurbanite]

Originally Posted by 04kL4nD

Having lived in both Oakland and San Diego, I'd have to say that SD drivers are far less courteous and much more aggressive, despite the fact that most of SD feels wayyyyyy less populated and urban than Oakland. Also That 1.3 million figure is pretty misleading. There's more people in Alameda county than the city of San Diego, which is a lot more suburban and spread out.

Whenever I'm back down in SD for the weekend or whatever, I have to remind myself that I don't live there anymore and that I need to be in 'vacation mode' and not to get all riled up by the idiots who don't know how to drive.

You mean Oakland is an actual city? I thought it was just the name of the cheaper airport to fly into when I visit SF

What is misleading about SD's population being 1.3 million? That's how many people live within city limits. Do you have a more accurate number that we don't know about?