Pacific Beach (San Diego: skateboarding, school, living)

[sjcassin]

Ok then.....Can someone do the same for the following beaches...

La Jolla
Mission Beach
Coronado Beach
Ocean Beach
Imperial Beach


What I'd like to find out about the above beaches is the below info...

• Nightlife
• Crime
• Quality of Life
• Cost of Living
• Restaurants
• Gay Scene
• People

Thanks in advance.

[sdurbanite]

Originally Posted by sjcassin

Ok then.....Can someone do the same for the following beaches...

La Jolla
Mission Beach
Coronado Beach
Ocean Beach
Imperial Beach


What I'd like to find out about the above beaches is the below info...

• Nightlife
• Crime
• Quality of Life
• Cost of Living
• Restaurants
• Gay Scene
• People

Thanks in advance.

It might easier if you told us what you are looking for and maybe we can suggest the best beach neighborhood for you.

Originally Posted by FellowTraveller

Only if someone from San Diego visits Venice Beach. Seriously though, any particular situation can happen anywhere but I have never encountered something like this in Venice Beach (or anywhere else). Venice Beach is so crowded that spitting would be a serious social faux pas, as someone would be liable to step in it or it might end up on someone. I get a more urban and classy vibe from L.A. whereas San Diego has a white trash redneck vibe to it.

Oh please, VB isn't always crowded. It gets just as deserted during the winter as the beaches down here do. So you've never seen the old Chinese man spitting on ground while walking thru Chinatowns in SF, NYC or LA?

It's interesting that you think consider LA classy, when I see her as the lady who comes up to you at any LA area gas station trying to sell ceviche and tamales from a blue cooler. LOL

Originally Posted by FellowTraveller

Read my post again. If you really think I am portraying L.A. and Orange County as glamorous then, well, I don't know what to tell you.

Re-read what you wrote about Orange County and tell me it's not straight out of a TV melodrama. Need you be reminded that the OC you described refers to a narrow strip in the southern part of the county? The rest of OC is Hispanic, Asian and middle class. You think all the women are botoxed in Santa Ana, Buena Park, Garden Grove and Westminister?

[sjcassin]

Originally Posted by sdurbanite

It might easier if you told us what you are looking for and maybe we can suggest the best beach neighborhood for you.

Hey Sdurbanite - At the moment I am just attempting to gain opinions of different area's/beaches etc from anyone else whilst doing my own research on them also.

Maybe if that is too much info for one person to give maybe if you or others could choose one beach from the list and report back about that.

[NYSD1995]

You need to tell us the following:
- your budget for housing (rent or buy?)
- where you will be working (traffic is tough here and there is little public transit)
- specifics you are looking for (quiet? gay friendly?)

My guess is that you are really looking for someplace like Santa Monica, not San Diego.

Anyway....

La Jolla - ultra wealthy enclave of mansions, among the wealthiest areas in San Diego

Mission Beach - same as PB with smaller apartments

Coronado Beach - same as La Jolla but with more miltary aircraft

Ocean Beach - same as PB but with weed instead of booze

Imperial Beach - same as OB but with more gangsters, bikers, tweakers, and raw sewage.

[sjcassin]

Originally Posted by Sassberto

You need to tell us the following:
- your budget for housing (rent or buy?)
- where you will be working (traffic is tough here and there is little public transit)
- specifics you are looking for (quiet? gay friendly?)

My guess is that you are really looking for someplace like Santa Monica, not San Diego.

Anyway....

La Jolla - ultra wealthy enclave of mansions, among the wealthiest areas in San Diego

Mission Beach - same as PB with smaller apartments

Coronado Beach - same as La Jolla but with more miltary aircraft

Ocean Beach - same as PB but with weed instead of booze

Imperial Beach - same as OB but with more gangsters, bikers, tweakers, and raw sewage.

I'm not looking for you to tell me anything based on what I am looking for/what I need rent wise job wise etc. I can do that myself. However what I am looking for is yours or others OWN opinion of what these area's are like.

I am looking for more detailed information than you have provided however thank you all the same.

[FellowTraveler]

Originally Posted by sjcassin

Ok then.....Can someone do the same for the following beaches...

La Jolla
Mission Beach
Coronado Beach
Ocean Beach
Imperial Beach





What I'd like to find out about the above beaches is the below info...

• Nightlife
• Crime
• Quality of Life
• Cost of Living
• Restaurants
• Gay Scene
• People

Thanks in advance.

If I were to stay in San Diego and had to live in any of the above locations, I would pick Coronado hands down. La Jolla is beautiful but snooty, and it is so small and isolated that I would get sick of it relatively quickly. A lot of people who live in La Jolla never venture out into real San Diego. That requires a level of insular self-satisfaction that I neither need nor desire.

Ocean Beach and Mission Beach are, for all intents and purposes, the same as Pacific Beach. It is one continuous string of that same trashy beach vibe that I described in my other post. I am sure there are subtle differences between them that residents could point out, but I see them as interchangeable.

I have never been to Imperial Beach but based on what I have heard I would avoid it. Not a nice place. South County is generally a place you want to stay out of.

Coronado I actually did like. Beautiful homes, close to downtown (so close to nightlife) yet psychologically removed from it. A beautiful residential area for walking with a mix of remodeled mansions and gorgeous old cottage-style homes. It reminded me of walking the Balboa Peninsula. There are also enough cafes and restaurants there to keep the average person happy without crossing the bridge. I also like that Coronado doesn't have too much of a tourist vibe, and it has none of that trashy "let's get drunk and ****" beach vibe. In my opinion it is the best place to live in San Diego (much better than La Jolla) but it is extremely expensive so you had better have money if you want to live there.

[antialphabet]

Pacific Beach is a cool place. I really like it. Lots of activity, lots of good cheap eats, bars, stores. Very pedestrian/bike friendly, perfect in the beautiful beach weather.

These are the cons in my opinion:
Traffic. Very packed, and it's a pain to get to the 5. ESPECIALLY during the summer months. Good god it's a misery in those times.
Parking. See above. Not many homes seem to offer parking, so that might be a mess. I've spent 20 minutes circling around the area looking for a free space. In the summer or weekend(lots of bars in the area)? Forget it!

Crime? Pretty much a non-factor. Never been affected by it. High crime rates, but I think it has to do with meathead bros battling it out outside the bar, or junkes dueling in the alleys. I feel very safe there at all times of the night walking around.

Gay presence? Uh.....for the most part, like others have said, it's a lot of frat types, tourists, etc, but not really any gay presence.

I really like PB, one of my favorite neighborhoods in San Diego. I would like to live there for a while again.

[sjcassin]

Originally Posted by FellowTraveler

If I were to stay in San Diego and had to live in any of the above locations, I would pick Coronado hands down. La Jolla is beautiful but snooty, and it is so small and isolated that I would get sick of it relatively quickly. A lot of people who live in La Jolla never venture out into real San Diego. That requires a level of insular self-satisfaction that I neither need nor desire.

Ocean Beach and Mission Beach are, for all intents and purposes, the same as Pacific Beach. It is one continuous string of that same trashy beach vibe that I described in my other post. I am sure there are subtle differences between them that residents could point out, but I see them as interchangeable.

I have never been to Imperial Beach but based on what I have heard I would avoid it. Not a nice place. South County is generally a place you want to stay out of.

Coronado I actually did like. Beautiful homes, close to downtown (so close to nightlife) yet psychologically removed from it. A beautiful residential area for walking with a mix of remodeled mansions and gorgeous old cottage-style homes. It reminded me of walking the Balboa Peninsula. There are also enough cafes and restaurants there to keep the average person happy without crossing the bridge. I also like that Coronado doesn't have too much of a tourist vibe, and it has none of that trashy "let's get drunk and ****" beach vibe. In my opinion it is the best place to live in San Diego (much better than La Jolla) but it is extremely expensive so you had better have money if you want to live there.

Excellent thanks for the info there. How much would you say you need to earn per year to live comfortably there? (It would be with my partner, no kids. Don't go out all that often maybe once a both to a club, eat out a couple of times a month).

Originally Posted by antialphabet

Pacific Beach is a cool place. I really like it. Lots of activity, lots of good cheap eats, bars, stores. Very pedestrian/bike friendly, perfect in the beautiful beach weather.

These are the cons in my opinion:
Traffic. Very packed, and it's a pain to get to the 5. ESPECIALLY during the summer months. Good god it's a misery in those times.
Parking. See above. Not many homes seem to offer parking, so that might be a mess. I've spent 20 minutes circling around the area looking for a free space. In the summer or weekend(lots of bars in the area)? Forget it!

Crime? Pretty much a non-factor. Never been affected by it. High crime rates, but I think it has to do with meathead bros battling it out outside the bar, or junkes dueling in the alleys. I feel very safe there at all times of the night walking around.

Gay presence? Uh.....for the most part, like others have said, it's a lot of frat types, tourists, etc, but not really any gay presence.

I really like PB, one of my favorite neighborhoods in San Diego. I would like to live there for a while again.

Thanks for the info also. I've only really read bad things about PB so its nice to here some positivity.

[FellowTraveler]

Originally Posted by sjcassin

Excellent thanks for the info there. How much would you say you need to earn per year to live comfortably there? (It would be with my partner, no kids. Don't go out all that often maybe once a both to a club, eat out a couple of times a month).

It depends. A one bedroom there will rent from $1200 to $1500, and a really nice home would run $3000 to $3500. Basically if you are of moderate means you can make it there but the place will be of lower quality because you are paying for location. If you and your partner are of superior means then you will have a chance to live there without sacrificing quality. I would say a combined income of $100,000 a year is sufficient to live a decent life there.

[sjcassin]

Originally Posted by FellowTraveler

It depends. A one bedroom there will rent from $1200 to $1500, and a really nice home would run $3000 to $3500. Basically if you are of moderate means you can make it there but the place will be of lower quality because you are paying for location. If you and your partner are of superior means then you will have a chance to live there without sacrificing quality. I would say a combined income of $100,000 a year is sufficient to live a decent life there.

Thats great. Thank you for you input