Is there anything bad about San Diego? (Oceanside, Carlsbad: for rent, lofts)

[Island_OnThe_Land]

Originally Posted by djxpress

It is amazing, there is nowhere else in the country that has the combination of people, weather, attractions, and laid back vibe.

To the OP: San Diego is a VERY nice place and La Jolla is beautiful, esp. for someone interested in marine biology.

That said, I think the above quote is NOT accurate. Try telling someone in New York City or Los Angeles that San Diego has more to do or a more uniquie combination of people and attractions than ANYWHERE ESLE in the USA and they would VERY MUCH DISAGREE. YES, San Diego has a very LAID BACK VIBE and many great attributes but let me NOTE a few negatives:

1. June Gloom will make you feel like you are living in London (this is a period of fog that blankets the California coast when most people expect it to be sunny).

2. The pacific ocean in So.Calif. is COLDER than you might think. Colder than say the So. of France in summer.

3. San Diego is NOT as diverse CULTURALLY and ETHNICALLY as compared to say Los Angeles or NYC or London. So in THESE categories its a VERY BORING CITY.

4. SAN DIEGO has a pretty good downtown but outside of that MOST of its neighborhoods are PLAIN VANILLA suburban USA. Perhaps that is what you are looking for....but that is exactly what you will get.

Again, not knocking San Diego but just pointing out its FLAWS....as no place is perfect but San Diego is pretty #%#% GOOD.

[Gentoo]

Originally Posted by Island_OnThe_Land

To the OP: San Diego is a VERY nice place and La Jolla is beautiful, esp. for someone interested in marine biology.

That said, I think the above quote is NOT accurate. Try telling someone in New York City or Los Angeles that San Diego has more to do or a more uniquie combination of people and attractions than ANYWHERE ESLE in the USA and they would VERY MUCH DISAGREE. YES, San Diego has a very LAID BACK VIBE and many great attributes but let me NOTE a few negatives:

1. June Gloom will make you feel like you are living in London (this is a period of fog that blankets the California coast when most people expect it to be sunny).

2. The pacific ocean in So.Calif. is COLDER than you might think. Colder than say the So. of France in summer.

3. San Diego is NOT as diverse CULTURALLY and ETHNICALLY as compared to say Los Angeles or NYC or London. So in THESE categories its a VERY BORING CITY.

4. SAN DIEGO has a pretty good downtown but outside of that MOST of its neighborhoods are PLAIN VANILLA suburban USA. Perhaps that is what you are looking for....but that is exactly what you will get.

Again, not knocking San Diego but just pointing out its FLAWS....as no place is perfect but San Diego is pretty #%#% GOOD.

Very good and fair assessment.

[RD5050]

Originally Posted by Island_OnThe_Land

To the OP: San Diego is a VERY nice place and La Jolla is beautiful, esp. for someone interested in marine biology.

That said, I think the above quote is NOT accurate. Try telling someone in New York City or Los Angeles that San Diego has more to do or a more uniquie combination of people and attractions than ANYWHERE ESLE in the USA and they would VERY MUCH DISAGREE. YES, San Diego has a very LAID BACK VIBE and many great attributes but let me NOTE a few negatives:

1. June Gloom will make you feel like you are living in London (this is a period of fog that blankets the California coast when most people expect it to be sunny).

2. The pacific ocean in So.Calif. is COLDER than you might think. Colder than say the So. of France in summer.

3. San Diego is NOT as diverse CULTURALLY and ETHNICALLY as compared to say Los Angeles or NYC or London. So in THESE categories its a VERY BORING CITY.

4. SAN DIEGO has a pretty good downtown but outside of that MOST of its neighborhoods are PLAIN VANILLA suburban USA. Perhaps that is what you are looking for....but that is exactly what you will get.

Again, not knocking San Diego but just pointing out its FLAWS....as no place is perfect but San Diego is pretty #%#% GOOD.

June Gloom isn't horrible ... it's just not sunny, like we have for most of the summer and fall months. And San Diego does get a LOT of very sunny and beautiful days.

Regarding Ocean temp, this past summer, we had some very nice warm temps during August. I remember lots of days where ocean was 70 - 73F, and it felt great.

Here in San Diego, people enjoy the beaches year round. Although the beach crowd does drop significantly during winter months, but people still go biking, jogging, etc. on the beach path. And a few are lying on the sand in bathing suits. And surfers still surf during the winter months. Winters in San Diego feels like spring in many other places.

[bloom]

I really have not noticed this May gray, June gloom thing at all.

[Gentoo]

Originally Posted by RD5050

June Gloom isn't horrible ... it's just not sunny, like we have for most of the summer and fall months. And San Diego does get a LOT of very sunny and beautiful days.

Regarding Ocean temp, this past summer, we had some very nice warm temps during August. I remember lots of days where ocean was 70 - 73F, and it felt great.

Here in San Diego, people enjoy the beaches year round. Although the beach crowd does drop significantly during winter months, but people still go biking, jogging, etc. on the beach path. And a few are lying on the sand in bathing suits. And surfers still surf during the winter months. Winters in San Diego feels like spring in many other places.

That's very much an exception to the rule. This is an El Nino year and summer water temps are always higher in El Nino years.

I love the May-Gray and June-Gloom personally.

[LDigz]

Originally Posted by Island_OnThe_Land

To the OP: San Diego is a VERY nice place and La Jolla is beautiful, esp. for someone interested in marine biology.

That said, I think the above quote is NOT accurate. Try telling someone in New York City or Los Angeles that San Diego has more to do or a more uniquie combination of people and attractions than ANYWHERE ESLE in the USA and they would VERY MUCH DISAGREE. YES, San Diego has a very LAID BACK VIBE and many great attributes but let me NOTE a few negatives:

1. June Gloom will make you feel like you are living in London (this is a period of fog that blankets the California coast when most people expect it to be sunny).

2. The pacific ocean in So.Calif. is COLDER than you might think. Colder than say the So. of France in summer.

3. San Diego is NOT as diverse CULTURALLY and ETHNICALLY as compared to say Los Angeles or NYC or London. So in THESE categories its a VERY BORING CITY.

4. SAN DIEGO has a pretty good downtown but outside of that MOST of its neighborhoods are PLAIN VANILLA suburban USA. Perhaps that is what you are looking for....but that is exactly what you will get.

Again, not knocking San Diego but just pointing out its FLAWS....as no place is perfect but San Diego is pretty #%#% GOOD.

A pretty fair assessment, my opinion differs a bit.
1. June gloom generally burns off by mid-day, leaving blue skies and sunshine. It also varies, depending on how close you are to the coast (closer = fog lasts longer). I appreciate the marine layer, as it keeps us from getting too hot, too fast.

2. Yep. The water is colder than the (East Coast) Atlantic in the summertime.

3. SD is not as culturally or ethnically diverse as LA, but it is still pretty diverse, especially compared to the rest of the US. I wouldn't call it boring.

4. Yep. Some of the neighborhoods remind me of every other suburban neighborhood in every other US city.

In comparing SD to NYC or LA, they do have more unique attractions. But San Diego isn't lacking in unique activities. Beaches, mountains, open spaces throughout the city, Balboa Park, the Embarcadero, downtown, the lakes, bays, and ocean; there are many many diverse activities here. NYC is terribly cold in the winter, icy, rainy, snowy. Both NYC and LA are more expensive, crowded, polluted, traffic is much worse than SD. I personally love NYC, but can't take LA for more than a couple days, it is too pretentious and Hollywood-fake for my taste. I do enjoy visiting LA occasionally, but would probably never live there. But some people love it. SD does have negatives, as most have pointed out, the typical problems of large cities. But still a very nice place to live!

[sdurbanite]

Originally Posted by Island_OnThe_Land

1. June Gloom will make you feel like you are living in London (this is a period of fog that blankets the California coast when most people expect it to be sunny).

2. The pacific ocean in So.Calif. is COLDER than you might think. Colder than say the So. of France in summer.

Uhhhhh.... LA gets just as much June Gloom and has even cooler water temps than here during the summer.

[Island_OnThe_Land]

Originally Posted by sdurbanite

Uhhhhh.... LA gets just as much June Gloom and has even cooler water temps than here during the summer.

Yes, Santa Monica is almost certainly WORSE than San Diego in regards foggy, cool days. I never claimed otherwise.

Just trying to set expectations for the OP who is from the U.K. That is, So.Calif. is NOT a tropical paradise like Hawaii where he/she will want to go swimming in the ocean every day of the year.

[sdurbanite]

^^Agreed

[Island_OnThe_Land]

Originally Posted by LDigz

A pretty fair assessment, my opinion differs a bit.
1. June gloom generally burns off by mid-day, leaving blue skies and sunshine. It also varies, depending on how close you are to the coast (closer = fog lasts longer). I appreciate the marine layer, as it keeps us from getting too hot, too fast.

2. Yep. The water is colder than the (East Coast) Atlantic in the summertime.

3. SD is not as culturally or ethnically diverse as LA, but it is still pretty diverse, especially compared to the rest of the US. I wouldn't call it boring.

4. Yep. Some of the neighborhoods remind me of every other suburban neighborhood in every other US city.

In comparing SD to NYC or LA, they do have more unique attractions. But San Diego isn't lacking in unique activities. Beaches, mountains, open spaces throughout the city, Balboa Park, the Embarcadero, downtown, the lakes, bays, and ocean; there are many many diverse activities here. NYC is terribly cold in the winter, icy, rainy, snowy. Both NYC and LA are more expensive, crowded, polluted, traffic is much worse than SD. I personally love NYC, but can't take LA for more than a couple days, it is too pretentious and Hollywood-fake for my taste. I do enjoy visiting LA occasionally, but would probably never live there. But some people love it. SD does have negatives, as most have pointed out, the typical problems of large cities. But still a very nice place to live!

Point #1: I am a native So.Calif. guy and I HATE june gloom be it in San Diego or LA County. June SHOULD be a month of warm beach days. I WILL give San Diego this: you get LESS rain than LA and the ocean is slightly warmer. BIG POSITIVES in my book.

Point #3: I will take your point regarding #3....I was probably being too extreme...San Diego is NOT boring. It just lacks the cultural/ethnic variety of LA or even San Fran.

Yes, LA's air quality is FAR WORSE than San Diego's; however, I think our beaches match SD's or might even be cleaner. We also have a GREENER building code than San Diego. Of course, LA's TRAFFIC SUCKS!!!!!!

Again, I think San Diego is great....anyplace that spawns a Tom Waits or nutures a young Frank Zappa is GREAT in my book. Two of California's most innovative musical exports. Though, LA is where they came into their own.