How flat is San Diego compared to Long Beach? (Chula Vista: neighborhood, gated)

[ua101]

Hi, last year I was in Florida for my snowbird season around Clearwater Tampa area, more specific Belleair, Largo, Indian Rocks area where I rented a house. I had no car only my bicycle, but it worked well for me because everything is flat and almost no wind with exception of two high bridges. I was exactly 3.5 miles to the beach, Walmart, nice seafood store, butcher store, publix around the corner, hardware store, basically within 3.5 miles of civilization for all my basic needs.

This year I'm planning on either Long Beach area or San Diego, again no car just a bicycle, maybe a scooter or an electric bike but not 100%. Since my cut of is about 3.5 miles I can't do more then 10-12 miles per day, where would you say it would be easier for me as far as more flat terrain, less wind yet I have access to all my basic needs so I can bike everywhere with ease. Is San Diego flat or mostly hills, or maybe specific areas where it would fit my needs. I'm leaning more towards Long beach but did to get an answer on teh forum if that area is flat or not, and how windy is is between December and April.

Mind you I'm a food junkie meaning I don't eat out and cook mostly at home, but only with high quality ingredients, so need a good source of grass fed meat, poultry, need a good fresh seafood with large verity, quality produce….


Cheers[LEFT]
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[T. Damon]

Much of San Diego is moderately hilly, much more so than Long Beach. Only certain beach areas and the valleys are flat.

[RosieSD]

Areas within 3.5 miles of the beach that are fairly flat and bike friendly in San Diego County: Pacific Beach, Mission Beach, Ocean Beach, Imperial Beach, Oceanside, Carlsbad and Coronado.

There are other areas of San Diego that would meet your needs that are bike friendly, but they are not within 3.5 miles of the ocean. If you are close to a bus line, you could also easily take your bike from point A to point B to avoid hilly areas (most buses are equipped with bike racks).

Since access to organic food is a priority for you, you might start with Ocean Beach. The Ocean Beach People's Organic Market has things like raw milk, organic produce, and hormone-free meat/poultry. http://obpeoplesfood.coop/ There are some hills in the eastern part of OB, but most of the area surrounding the main shopping area is very flat. (Note: Ocean Beach is a beach neighborhood in the city of San Diego).

Some of the above I already shared in your other thread in the other forum, so apologies for the repetition. Hope the information is helpful.

[RosieSD]

Also, if you go to Google Maps and do a search for both places, and then click on "Terrain" you will easily get a topographical map of both places so you can compare the hills. Google street view will be helpful too.

[ua101]

Thank You,

Cheers.

[bigdaddy5]

I used to live in Long Beach.

Parts of it look like OB, PB, La Jolla while other parts look like National City, Chula Vista and Spring Valley. You get a little bit of good, sleepy beach town coastal mixed with industrial, low-income, seedy.

The only hilly parts of Long Beach will be around Signal Hill, the rest is pretty flat coastal. San Diego is a bunch of suburban mesas, hills, beach towns and pockets of gated mini-mansion communities. SD freeway corridors run along the valleys, between the mesas and out to the coast westward; or to the foothills/deserts eastward.

[sdurbanite]

Coronado immediately came to mind after reading your post. It has everything you are looking for and it's totally flat. You can easily take your bike on the ferry to Downtown SD if you're looking for a change of pace.

Long Beach wouldn't be a bad choice, though since it has some nice areas next to the ocean, also.

[bigdaddy5]

San Diego doesn't have the Queen Mary, Snoop Doggy Dogg or Hofs Hut.

[Kevroqs]

The coast areas and downtown are pretty flat. Everything else starting with UCSD and all is hilly.

[LuvSouthOC]

So um, do people not have access to Google Earth?