Walkable neighborhoods in San Diego?

[1AngryTaxPayer]

Originally Posted by oddstray

In a sticks 'n bricks, you can do stuff like trying on clothes and shoes and browsing through books and hefting an item to check it's solidity and quality. And as generous as Amazon's return policy is, "I don't like it now that I have it in my hands" doesn't get you prepaid return shipping.

Another good point. Returns.

[1AngryTaxPayer]

With the demise of what people call a walkable neighborhood, as is being applied, didn't the internet kill the mom and pop stores just as much as box stores? I mean, just because I'm not touching it in the store doesn't mean it doesn't come from a box store off Amazon.


It seems like an area like Serra Mesa is the new walkable neighborhood then. It's single family homes, a few convenience stores and small shops. Lots of small parks too.

[Pedro2000]

Originally Posted by 1AngryTaxPayer

That is a good point. You can pretty much do all shopping online, we do. We grow as much food as possible so if it wasn't for beer I wouldn't have to go to any store


Let me shift gears here while I have the thought.

For those that patronize small mom and pop shops. Is there any difference between using a Walmart vs using an Amazon?

Honestly, there isn't that much of a difference anymore. And Wal-mart even bought a startup in Silicon Valley to start pushing their online business or order online, pick up local. They used to have hiring billboards along the 101.

The difference is if you use Amazon often and are a prime member, you pretty much never pay for shipping and get it in 2 days or less. And I've had some broken bottles, ripped packages, etc and I've never had any major issues with Amazon. The truth is Amazon customer service has been far better than most brick and mortar stores. If there is a problem, I call or chat with an Amazon rep, they might ask for a photo, and next thing you know I have a new package out in a day or two or three.

Compare that to a Target or Wal-Mart where half the time they act like the world is ending when you return something. Or they give you a hard time. Or you wait in a long long line at the store. Many Tech companies have changed the game not because of cost or the internet, but because people are fed up with the traditional brick and mortar or legacy companies. Uber wouldn't exist if most people never had "taxi" stories. Amazon might not even exist if Target, Wal-Mart, etc actually gave a damn about their employees and/or customers.

But I will admit, Amazon is also known as one of the worst tech companies to work for and that's as a techie. If you go to their warehouses, it's even worse. I think the biggest difference to me is customer service. Wal-mart and other stores have been horrible at treating customers well. Wal-mart might have been great at that eons ago, but they have pretty much become "cheap" and that's why people shop there. Huge difference.

Maybe it's different if you're not a prime member, but for me, Amazon is light years better at customer support compared to traditional brick and mortar stores. And now with same day shipping, and ease of returning things, I never have any issues. You start to get into issues when you buy off of amazon like its eBay and the seller isn't Prime or really all that legit.

[Pedro2000]

Originally Posted by 1AngryTaxPayer

With the demise of what people call a walkable neighborhood, as is being applied, didn't the internet kill the mom and pop stores just as much as box stores? I mean, just because I'm not touching it in the store doesn't mean it doesn't come from a box store off Amazon.


It seems like an area like Serra Mesa is the new walkable neighborhood then. It's single family homes, a few convenience stores and small shops. Lots of small parks too.

The internet brought back "mom and pop" stores, it's just they are online now instead of at a local mall or on main street. Wal-Mart and Target and so on killed the Mom and Pop stores though.

As far as walkable, there is a "gentrification" going on where cities are being built up or re-built and people are moving to the city. San Fran is a prime example of that in the tech space. Years ago all the tech companies moved to Sunnyvale, San Jose, Mountain view, Redwood shores, etc, Silicon Valley. But the new generations and many older folks want to live in San Fran. It's pricey, but companies are opening offices downtown, Saleforce is building a huge highrise downtown, Google opened an office, Airbnb is opening an office downtown, Twitter is there and so on. Again, it's expensive, very expensive, but a lot of the younger generation want to live in walkable cities more than the La Mesas of the world.

[sfosyd]

Originally Posted by Pedro2000

Again, it's expensive, very expensive, but a lot of the younger generation want to live in walkable cities more than the La Mesas of the world.

Thank you! I can't believe how many times I've heard La Mesa referred to as "walkable". It's just not!

[malcorub16]

Originally Posted by sfosyd

Thank you! I can't believe how many times I've heard La Mesa referred to as "walkable". It's just not!

The areas around the village and trolley stop are walkable, but La Mesa is much larger than just the village area and even the homes near the village up on the hills are not very walkable.

I think of all the individual municipalities in SD, it might be the most walkable.