San Diego Newbies...Opinion so far? (San Francisco, Sacramento: for rent, new home, buy)

[mewzikguy]

Great story Joker- - spot on Thanx for sharing

[LookingtoLeave]

Originally Posted by mewzikguy

Great story Joker- - spot on Thanx for sharing

I second that. A lot of people need to realize there's always something far worse. It's great you found your own "paradise".

[kettlepot]

About the MLK thing. Put yourself in the position of a small shopkeeper. If you change the street name, you have to redo all of your stationary, all of your business cards, all of your advertising, brochures and flyers; notify all of your suppliers, and possibly a large chunk of your customers too. And don't forget how LONG "Dr. Martin Luther King Jr Boulevard - Street - Avenue" would be on letterheads, street signs, and how it might exceed the amount of allotted space on innumerable business and accounting computer programs.

Plus, the street name to be changed was Market Street, one of the founding streets of Horton's Addition which was the genesis of downtown San Diego. The street had been named Market Street for 140 years. That's a lot of historical continuity to be thrown away.

And yes, nationally, MLK Drives have a reputation for being "ghetto". The MLK name could have stunted redevelopment of the entire East Village area. If the changing the name of a street on which you owned property was going to shave 10% off of its potential value, whether deserved or not, you too might object.

In the end he got a freeway named after him, not some hidden corner of the city.

And did MLK ever step foot in the city of San Diego?

[hotornot]

Originally Posted by The A-Team

however, it does not have air conditioning(I rent a standalone one for $50 a month and it works decently)

It appears as if you've got some good things to say about your stand alone air conditioner. The world of stand alone air conditioners are very foreign to me. We've had some really hot days in San Diego. I think it was two years ago when one summer we had forty some straight days of record breaking heat, with high humidity to boot. During that time it was in the high 80's/low 90's at the beach and a lot hotter inland. It was very miserable. I sure could've used a stand alone air conditioner back then. So I'm wondering what is the name of the manufacturer and the model number of the stand alone air conditioner whose performance you're pleased with? Like you I live in an apartment.

[LookingtoLeave]

Originally Posted by kettlepot

And did MLK ever step foot in the city of San Diego?

How is that relevant? Does everyone that has a street named after them actually have to have been there?

[GoingBack2Cali]

Originally Posted by SanAntoQT

I moved to San Diego a year and four months ago and I must say that it's been an experience. I love the weather, the scenery and the fact that there is so much to do outdoors. I'm not thrilled with the traffic, but I don't think it's any worse than San Antonio's. I'm still awestruck (and not in a good way) by housing costs. While we don't own a home here, the rent is ridiculous. My job pays less than what I was earning in San Antonio by about $3.00 an hour. On the upside, after having become a California resident, I was able to take advantage of the very low tuition for community college.

I'm generally a friendly, outgoing person and have met some really nice folks, but I have noticed a bit more shallowness and more of a materialistic attitude. However, I don't let it affect my attitude. Meh, people are people!

I would say that San Diego has lived up to my expectations, but, honestly thought it would exceed them. It hasn't. It's been a great adventure!

I have lived in San Antonio and so apparently the traffic in SD is great! Good to know. In three years in SA. I was never in a traffic tie up longer then 15 min and that was rare. I think the distance you need to cover figures in. In SA Downtown was only 12 miles. Traffic in atlanta is BAD! The city is so spralled out and you could sit in a tie up for over an hour and not move 1 mile.

[The A-Team]

Originally Posted by hotornot

It appears as if you've got some good things to say about your stand alone air conditioner. The world of stand alone air conditioners are very foreign to me. We've had some really hot days in San Diego. I think it was two years ago when one summer we had forty some straight days of record breaking heat, with high humidity to boot. During that time it was in the high 80's/low 90's at the beach and a lot hotter inland. It was very miserable. I sure could've used a stand alone air conditioner back then. So I'm wondering what is the name of the manufacturer and the model number of the stand alone air conditioner whose performance you're pleased with? Like you I live in an apartment.

Well lets see...the one i'm renting is a Maytag M6P09S2A.....it is DEFINITELY NOT anywhere near as good as central air lol and also not as good as a powerful window unit. However, if you put it close to where you are(will only help the room its in and the closer you get to it definitely the cooler it gets its not super powerful. However, it is much better than nothing and is a nice thing to have if you dont have central air and can't use a window unit. If you can however use a window unit, they are much cheaper(I think, i've seen them pretty cheap) and a lot of them can work very well....I had a friend that used one in a converted garage to apartment, pretty sizable, and when turned on it was FREEZING in there lol, like a fridge! So I'd do some looking around, but if possible a nice window unit would probably be cheaper, work better, and not be so big....these stand alones are huge lol. Hope that helps, let me know if you need more details or anything If I can't stand not having AC in Seattle, i KNOW i'm gonna have to have it in San Diego once i move there lol.

[GregJ]

Joker32, I know what you mean. There is a lot of complaining here just for the sake of complaining. I like SD and in fact just came home from camping for a week on the beach in Encinitas.

[worldlyman]

Originally Posted by tacobueno

i moved to san diego 6 months ago from Houston texas and im loving it, everything you need is close by and the weather is amazing!

CityWideTalk.com

I went from Houston to San Diego, circa 2002-2006, then basically back to Houston.

I find that I love Houston better. Funkier, artsier, more cosmopolitan, more diverse, higher culture, better food.

Plus at least 6 months out of the year, Houston's weather is comparable to San Diego's. And in Houston, I don't have dry skin issues and chalking like I did in SoCal. Sometimes I love the rush of REAL summer here.

Houston blends different people quite better and it seems more "free" here. Cops don't do checkpoints here just for the heck of it like they do in the SD area.

[ctr88]

The weather is awesome. But the city itself, the culture, the people are average at best.

I love warm weather so I'm here. But I far prefer "the culture" of cities like Seattle, Boston and San Fran.

Much of Central SD is dumpy. The Gaslamp is mostly national chain restarants or bars full of big screen TV's. I do like OB, it has character. But even OB is dumpy. PB is annoying full of your ex "lower tier college" frat boys and their barbie doll girlfirends.

Much of North County is souless suburbia, strip malls, cookie cutter houses. Places like Rancho P. Rancho B., Scripps Ranch, Mira Mesa just have zero chracter. They are one big suburban blob full of coookie cutter houses, malls,

There just a "lower mentality" and education level with the general popualtion in SD than the other cities I mentioned. It has a very commercialized feel vs. the unique character of Boston, New England, Seattle, San Fran. It doesn't have that urban energy or progressive feel. Just kind of feels "empty" at times here.

But with that said it has killer weather, the desert is great, it has mountains, it has some nice beaches, laid back feel, etc so that makes it worthwhile.

To me the traffic in SD is not nearly as bad as other metro's like LA, SF, DC, Boston,