San Diego is not a good place to live anymore (San Francisco: landscaping, neighborhoods)

[mysticaltyger]

Originally Posted by bloom

I believe the Republican-induced part, but it will take more than 1 year for Super Spidey Obama to save us. BTW, the failing car maker bail out is like giving money to losers rather than investing it in good companies and ideas. Also, seems Super O is spending too much. Stimulus is one thing, but reckless is another. Time will tell, and I'll bet the Repubs are more at fault.

The Rep. is only half a story. What the liberal media folks don't mention is that there were changes in the law during the Clinton administration that put pressure on banks to lend to unqualified low income folks. The Republicans in Congress under Bush tried to pass a law that would disallow Fannie Mae from buying (and thus backing) those stupid subprime mortgages...but the Dems blocked it.

I'm not saying the Republicans aren't culpable. Just that the media folks (who are like 90% Democrat) only tell the 1/2 of the story that supports their point of view.

[mysticaltyger]

Originally Posted by DesertDog

As a outsider looking in when I visit my daughter who lives minutes from the beach it's hard not to want to move there regardless of the many negatives I've seen posted here. Walking outside in the morning feeling the ocean breeze and feeling the vibe of the beach community is almost irresistible.

Be careful about that. The problem with this is that the positives of living somewhere are quickly taken for granted, but the negatives get worse over time.

[mattpresley]

Originally Posted by MantaRay

Ooooh, my sympathies.

But it must have been nice growing up right next door to Mission Trails Park.

Yessir. I actually Lived right by mast park so I did alot of swimming in the SD river(Cancer will catch up with me im sure) And hiked mission trails with my father growing up. Santee is a great place to live. Much better than mississippi(Though poboys and sweet tea rocks)

[sdlife619]

As a newbie here, I am so glad to finally find a forum about SD to vent a little of my frustrations and issues I have with SD.

First off I'm a born and and pratically raised San Diegan, and lived part of my child hood life up in the OC area near Buena Park, but been here ever since I was 12 years old.

As the years have gone by, I have seen the great changes, and not so great changes in San Diego.


Traffic= Honestly things haven't changed much traffic wise over the years from what I can tell personally from the freeways perspective . I do find though that street traffic has increased ten fold over the last few years in just about every community in San Diego. The streets seemed a lot more crowded now days, and just an overall sense of everybody being out doing things each and every hour of the day.

Politics= It's about damn time! the City Of San Diego has gone from that hardcore Republican "close-minded" status, to a more open-minded Democratic one. Where still not that ultra Liberal city like LA or SF, but it's a work in progress. SD County on the other hand still has a long ways to go. Way too many ultra-conservative Rednecks that reside in the East County, North County, and other parts of SD that are making it harder for postive change to come. I truly believe SD has more Rednecks, Bro's, White-Trash folks per square mile than Dallas TX, at least when visiting Dallas last year, I hardly saw anybody driving lifted pick up trucks or looking like cowboys like I expected. The Big D reminds me of LA a little, the people as well.


The People= You don't see any of this truck culture crap "My trucks bigger than your truck" in most other major cities, but in SD it's almost a given, just about everybody owns a truck, because SD is less busy than most others, and because we have many hills and rural areas, people tend to gravitate towards trucks for unknown reasons. It's the cool factor I guess. I personally hate them with a passion, because most of the hicks driving them are rude, take up the road, get right on your ass when driving, and act like jerks if your driving too slow.

Like I stated, way too many Rednecks and Bro's in SD. Living in East County for some time, I can assure you of this. But these guys are ever where, you can never get away from them. And what is up with everybody driving Fords out here? I really don't get the big scoop on SD being so racially diverse, from my perspective I think they're a lot more whites in San Diego County than most other SoCal cities. Especially EC, Santee "Klantee" has very few Hispanics, hardly no Asians or Blacks for that matter which is not cool, because it makes the city look kinda resistent to other minorities.

SD people are not as materialistic like the majority of SoCal, but it's there. I do see a lot of "keeping up with Joneses" from many people, always feeling the need to buy something new in order to look good just to impress others. Mission Valley is a good example. We have a lot of rich people, and a lot of poor people in San Diego, but the tourist board makes sure you don't hear nor see real sad side of SD. I do feel that some San Diegans stare too much, well at me specifically because I am Mexican living in all white neighborhood. The whites out here tend to be less tolerent to Hispanics and Blacks than even OC, because I'm telling you it's because all the hills and mountains we have all around us, brings out that small town mentality from others, and I know it's true!

Also they're a lot of transplants living in Diego. Many people I talk to, from the grocery store, to retail stores, almost everybody is from somewhere else. It's pretty cool that East Coaster are finding SD to be a good place to live. I don't mind them at all because many East Coast people tend to be more real and less fake then Californians, they tell it like it is, and wont shy away from the negatives when talking about there city. Unlike a lot of San Diegans, we all try to say positive things about our city, but in reality, SD has many underlying problems that nobodys likes to talk about.

[sdlife619]

Sorry for the long talk I'm still not done!

Why do I want to leave SD so bad? Well first of all, I have been here for majority of my life and want to see something new for once, and I simply can't afford to live here period. The housing in SD is just outragous, I honestly would love to know how people are making ends meet out here, because everything cost so much, from food, to housings, to utilities, to taxes, to just about everything. Nothing is being done to address affortable housing, every new housing development that pops up are super expensive homes that are out of reach for the average person, and that's one huge beef I have with this City and County, they are not doing enough to help the average joe get into reasonable housing. Developers run San Diego, and always get what they want, they are tearing down older neighborhoods left and right to make way for new luxury condo's that none of the long time residents can afford, they are doing it simply because greed of money, and are forcing unwanted change in San Diego's poorest communities.


Barrio Logan is a perfect example of how gentrification is bad, and destroys the culture of distinct feel of that neighborhood. It kicks all the poor people out, and replaces them with upper class snobs that come in, soak up the feeling of living in a "griddy" neighborhood, then after a while they leave and never return. I'm getting so sick and tired of seeing rapid gentrification going on in many SD neighborhoods. It's changing the look and old schoolness of places like North Park, Normal Heights, and other surrounding areas, it's also making housing more expensive. It's all taking off within in the last 5 years or so. I don't like all the new ugly condo's popping up all over the place either, it's hurting the classic image of these neighborhoods.

The lack of affortable rents, is what is hurting many San Diegans, home prices I can understand because it's a market issue, but we need more new apartment buildings than luxury condo's, not everybody can afford a dinky $200,000 condo, and why would you, condo's are a bad investment anyways. I blame developers, and Gov officials for doing more to help with this ongoing problem. But I have this feeling that they don't want to build for the low income or average San Diegans because they want less minorities living here, and will do whatever it takes to move them out.

Seriously rents are just too much, even in the hood like SouthEast SD or places like Lemon Grove are expensive to rent, not to mention you have to worry about crime and getting your **** stolen from you. If you make under $20 an hour, I can't see anybody living happily in SD, that means having extra cash on hand to spend for entertainment or emergencys.
Your basically working to survive out here, and it's just not worth ir anymore. I mean, I'm not an outdoor person, I don't go to the beach, or hike mountain trails, none of that stuff, so what's the point? We pay so much money to live out here, but many people don't use our natural terrain for pleasure or enjoyment, I was brought here as a kid, and didn't choose to live here, so if people say "Well then pick up and leave" It sounds easy, but it's not. Unless I already had a good paying job waiting for me in some other state, then yeah I would leave in a heart beat. But I feel stuck and it sucks. Maybe I just need time to get away, because I remember I lived in Charlotte NC for about 7 months with some friends, I absolutely hated that place! The weather was horrible and everything is so damn country looking and far apart. I lived about 15 minutes from downtown charlotte, and it felt like I was living in the middle of nowhere. I guess they don't believe in street lights or sidewalks in many places. The people were all very nice and kind though, that southern hospitality is so true.

Been to Denver and thought it was ok, not really exiciting actually more boring than anything. My bro used to live there, I did like many of the older brick homes, and neighborhoods seemed pretty chill. I loved that 16 street mall! The downtown seemed very clean and well maintained.

Yes SD is overated compared to other big cities, I do gotta admit, people might ***** about our crappy public transportation, but it's not nearly as bad as other major cities. The trolley gets the job done for the most part, it just needs to be extended out towards the coastal areas like PB MB, including places like clairmont, and far away as miramar to have more of an effect on all of San Diego.

Our food sucks! Unless your eating out at some fancy restrauant. Because we really don't have any really good Mexican food or good burger joints, I know this for a fact because I have been to many local SD taco shops, and all of them taste the same, cheap and tasteless. Being Mexican, I know what taste good, what's really good, and what really sucks and the majority of SD's Mexican taco shops/restraunts taste like crap. LA hands down has the best tasting everything. Taco Shops are the very best in LA, as well as every other ethenic food eatery. We also lack good breakfast diners.

If you want better Mexicano food, the farther south you go in SD, the better the food gets. The more ghetto the building looks, the better, National City is a great example, or anywhere off Imperial Ave or National Ave. in the hood.

[sav858]

^okay so you don't like San Diego, Denver, or Charlotte. What exactly do you like? Honestly you just sound like someone that doesn't know what they want or where they want to be in life and complain about the place they live as being the problem. Have you put in any thought about what type of place you want to go to and whether or not that place actually exists?

[sdlife619]

Mainly it's housing. I do like San Diego, there are many great things about this city, but sadly you have to have a lot of money to enjoy yourself out here. Being single, it's tough. The only route for many people to afford SD is living with somebody else such as a girl/boyfriend, friends and family. I don't think many people factor in the overall cost of living expenses, like utilities, possible car repair, or unexpected emergency. These things can add up quickly, and take it's toll on you if you don't keep tract of your expenses. I really don't know what I want, I have a lot of friends and family out here, and honestly they are the ones keeping me in SD.

I like Vegas, not because of the Casino's, but because of the lower cost of living and that it has that California layout which I love.

[Woof]

I guess the main attractions of San Diego are the climate and the beaches. Balboa Park is ok too. Other than that, there's just nothing very beautiful, unique, or interesting.

So if you like really, really nice weather and the ocean, it might be worth the price.

[vdy1985]

This thread is stupid.

[Encinitan]

this thread jumped the shark at about, oh, page 4 or so.