considering relocation to San Diego, what can I expect? (Sacramento: ski resorts, law school)

[JtotheROC]

So here's my story: early-mid twenties Minnesotan attending undergraduate in Montana, going to law school in next couple years. Never been to San Diego, but my brother-in-law loved it when he lived there, and he and my sister may end up moving back. I'm going to apply to University of San Diego Law among other schools, and had a couple of questions.

1) transportation: is mass transit as useless as it is in LA? Figures show low ridership, but that doesn't mean the transit is bad. Also, is bicycling feasible? I'm not a bike nazi, but I enjoy getting around in the open air; bikes are the original convertible as far as I'm concerned. I have a car and can handle traffic, but with economists throwing some outrageous numbers out there for oil barrel speculation, minimizing gas consumption would be ideal. I also love to travel and have relatives in LA/Bay Area/Sacramento, is it reasonable to try to visit each once or twice a year? What about Tahoe/Mammoth? My final transportation question involves the airport; I usually fly every month or two to visit friends and family or just vacation, how are rates from the airport? Are flights generally on time?

2) politics: I consider myself a conservative who went through the idealist phase. It sounds like San Diego isn't in your face about politics like all the hippies here in Missoula. Granted law students often study poli sci for undergrad, but I would hope this means they form their own opinion rather than being brainwashed by shock-value speakers and reciting verbatim what they read on a blog. All I'm looking for is a moderate political environment after three years in the Sovereign Nation of Missoula. Is this what I would find?

3) recreation: as a midwesterner, some of my favorite recreation involves the cold, but I can also be found in shorts and sandals as much as possible so the weather sounds like it'd be easy to get used to. I wouldn't want to go without hockey, but as an indoor sport I'm sure there's a rink to find somewhere. I'd have to cut back on skiing, but my friends and I have taken a ski vacation yearly for a while now and I could get by with just this. Since I'd be forsaking one of my two favorites, what else could I pick up? Sailing would probably be too expensive, and while I enjoy the ocean I don't really care much for surfing, I prefer ice skates/skis to boards. Are there folf/disc golf courses around? How far is it to the nearest decent ski hill?

4) people: no longer ashamed to admit that I'm a yuppie, would I be accepted here? Missoula's a hippie town with an attitude that everyone wants to be the last person to move there, and is really just not my style. I notice a lot of people who live here can't handle adversity, and as such live in a town where the worst aspect is a lousy economy; this doesn't matter to a lot of the college kids who have an external source of income. I'm just curious about what to expect in a place like San Diego. Obviously a town of 1 million will be more diverse and harder to stereotype than an isolated college town of 60k in Montucky, but a few generalizations would give me at least a foot in the door of what to expect. Also, are people intelligent? Missoula seems to me as a Berkeley/Eugene/Boulder reject, with students that couldn't get in to these similar schools coming here instead. I can't believe people can be so dumb in a college town...

5) work: I've worked as much as possible growing up, knowing that fun can be expensive. Will it be worth my time to work during law school here? I'm not working full-time during school if I won't make much. My work experience is in food service and office/paralegal work for a law firm, how are these sectors? Also, Bachelor's will be in Business, so I can find work in new industries.

6) singles/bar scene: while these two things don't necessarily coincide, they often involve one another for my age group. What can I expect from these? As long as I can meet women my age and find a bar or two I can enjoy it's all good.

7) USD Law: does this school have a good reputation? With legal experience and the aptitude to ace any standardized tests (LSAT included) I'm not worried about admissions, but would I be earning a degree that doesn't get much recognition elsewhere? It's obviously no Stanford, but I've at least heard of the school before. Not interested in the other law schools in the city, but let me know if I should be.

Answers to any of these would be greatly appreciated.

[mewzikguy]

You'll do fine in SD Whatever your interests, you'll find people to share them with. Public transportation is not great, but you can get around w/ bus & trolley system. SD is yuppie, it's hipster, it's liberal, it's conservative- - - working p/t in the bar/server industry would work for you- - - - enjoy

[sav858]

1) Overall I think it's a little better than LA but that's not saying much. Public transit is decent to good in CERTAIN parts of San Diego. If you want decent public transit you pretty much have to avoid all of North County from La Jolla northward. They have the Coaster and Sprinter up there but bus service is not too great at all. Basically the older, denser, more urban parts of SD and the beach communities have the best public transit. The closer you are to downtown and the Trolley the better. With the weather you can pretty much bike nearly everyday. SANDAG, the regional planning agency, has a map of all the bike trails and lanes around the county, so you can go to SANDAG ::HOME:: San Diego's Regional Planning Agency and ask them to mail you one.

LA is only a 2-2.5 hour drive w/o traffic, about 2:45 on the train. It's good for weekend or even day trips. Bay Area and Sac are a 6 to 9 hour drive depending on how fast you go and when you go. I drive btwn the Bay and SD several times a year but usually do it late at night and it takes me 6-7 hours usually.

The airport in SD is one of the easiest to go through from my experience and it has a central location. Usually never long lines or waits, tickets seem reasonable and not too $$.

2) SD is moderately conservative and people here are not too judgmental or in your face about politics. North County is the most conservative part of the county while the city of SD is moderate to liberal in parts. And the conservatism tends to be more libertarian, live and let live type attitude rather than some hypocritical bible thumping crap.

3) There are a couple of indoor hockey arenas and one of my friends plays. There are several ski resorts about 2.5 hours away in the San Bernardino Mountains. They're kind of small and not world class but fairly decent none the less. Mammoth Mountain and Lake Tahoe, about 6-9 hours away, have GREAT world class skiing.

4) SD is very diverse in the types of people it has. Meatheads, potheads, frat boys, skaters, punks, psuedo-intellectuals, yuppies, laid back surfers, average people etc... you'' find pretty much all types of people here.

5) It's not cheap here so having some sort of job will help.

6) Pacific Beach is the younger bar scene, Gaslamp Downtown is the older, more affluent bar scene. Couple of other areas around the county with bar scenes too like Carlsbad Village, Hillcrest, North Park but PB and Gaslamp are the main ones.

7) Not too sure but I know some people that didn't get in or try to apply b/c they thought they couldn't so it seems they are somewhat selective.