Sad in Seattle...San Francisco or San Diego?? (Kensington: houses, college)

[NorthSDLifer]

Originally Posted by ubringliten

Yes, I forgot about outdoor activities. I bike twice a week at a lake, I go to the beaches (gorgeous beaches) in the summer, and I still find it boring. I dine out in Hillcrest and Littly Italy (probably the best two neighorhoods in SD, La Jolla is not my type and downtown is filled with meatheads) all the time, and the food there are far from excellence, and far fewer than any large city in terms of restaurants. I live in a boring neighborhood, but it's just a neighborhood, not a CITY. I can still go out on the weekends, only 20 minutes away, you know. Museums suck, major lack of art culture, fashion is terrible, Balboa Park is a joke with ugly Spanish architecture, and I think things in SD are mediocre (nothing admirable about SD). Everywhere in SD is so far from each other. I have pretty much seen all of SD in half a year, and I don't find anything interesting to see anymore. I grew up in LA and have lived in NYC, so I can tell you SD is boring. I go to LA once a month to see friends and family, and think goodness for LA. However, it's still 2 hours drive. It's a four hour drive in one day, so it's difficult to just go to LA in a spur of the moment.

Ugly? Yikes. What do you think of Kensington? I admit to not being terribly cultured, but what is it about the museums that they suck? Unimaginative collections?

"Everywhere in SD is so far from each other."

If on a bigger scale, you can say the same for L.A.

[tstieber]

Who said everywhere in SD is far from each other? That would be one thing I don't agree with at all. SD is much more compact than the Bay Area. Nothing seems to be more than 15-20 minutes away. In the Bay Area, you can drive for an hour to get somewhere. I'd say SD wins in that category.

[bgreen4080]

I am from SF and lived there for a number of years. Also lived in the Pacific Northwest and in SoCal, LA and SD.

SF can be foggy, windy, and cold, but it is nothing like the PACIFIC NORTHWEST..

weather wise..

(culture wise maybe, they are both liberal, open minded, liberal, coffee drinking cultures)

HOWEVER

SF is NOWHERE near as damp, drizzly, and grey..


some of the outer suburbs, Richmond and Sunset can get cold, foggy
and windy, during the winter months...but the rest of the year, its more
like a mildly air conditioned room...pleasant and, most of all, DRY...

and WAY more sunlight than the Pacific NW

GRANTED you are going to more sun and warmth and beaches in San Diego/LA, but

WAY

less cultural things, like music, arts, theater, museums..etc..

so there is a tradeoff..

no other american city compares culturally unless its NY in my opinion..

ALSO, SF is a way more WALKABLE city than LA or SD, and I lived in LA for years...

SF is more compact, dense, awesome public transpo, you can live in SF without ever using a car, or needing one...

the whole city is accessible and within reach...

you can't say the same at all FOR LA or SD...where a car is a must.

SoCal also has way more TRAFFIC, wall to wall gridlock, choking POLLUTION, CRIME and is a concrete, sprawling urban jungle in may ways..

albeit one with nice, sunny beaches...

the vibe is way different too,

LA and SD are more of a beach, surf loving, clubbing type of pop/hollywood culture..

versus

SF's more arty, diverse, bleeding liberal, multicultural, foodie loving culture

..having lived and stayed extensively in all these areas..

i think you should pick SF as it is the most similar culturally to Seattle,

with much better weather

albeit without all the Pacific Northwest's natural beauty,

though one can argue that SF, with its rolling hills, cable cars, museums, ethnic enclaves, multiculturalism, and splendid views of the Bay, is pretty scenic too..

[Radical347]

Originally Posted by 18Montclair

Well, the fog usually burns off by mid morning and we're left with a sun drenched day.

I love that.

Maybe I'm in the minority, but that's probably the one thing weather-wise that I absolutely cannot stand more than aything else! I like sun too, but if it's going to be foggy in the morning then it better be foggy all day. When I wake up and it's foggy then I'm prepared for a nice, relaxing sleepy day and then the sun comes up and starts messing everything up because I'm still sleepy but it's not nice and relaxing anymore. Going from sun to fog is a little annoying too, but nowhere near vice versa.

[Radical347]

Originally Posted by tstieber

Who said everywhere in SD is far from each other? That would be one thing I don't agree with at all. SD is much more compact than the Bay Area. Nothing seems to be more than 15-20 minutes away. In the Bay Area, you can drive for an hour to get somewhere. I'd say SD wins in that category.

SD County is more compact than the Bay Area but SF is way more compact than SD proper.

[summertime25]

Originally Posted by ubringliten

Agree with almost everything you said about SD besides the red bolded sentence. The Berkeley type neighborhoods here are very minute and not as bohemian, funky, eccletic and the people that frequent those neighorhoods don't seem to belong there. I moved here about a year ago, and I can't wait to get out of this city and move to the Bay Area (hopefully, SF). It is dull except if you're into surfing. It has nothing like an urban feel. SD is a great place if you have a family to raise because of lower cost of living, beaches, calmness, little traffic, and ease of getting around town, and not to mention the SD zoo, Legoland, Sea World, etc.

The black bolded sentence is the correct description of downtown SD.

This pretty much sums up San Diego. I moved here over a year ago because of the weather but failed to recognize the lack of culture this city has to offer compared to a world class city. San Diego is very conservative and has a small town military feel. If you are young and liberal, DO NOT MOVE HERE. You will regret it. In fact, I find that most of the people who live in San Diego fall into one of the following categories:
1) Military
2) Retired
3) College students (who party there asses off)
4) Mid-west/east coast transplants (like myself) who are looking for better weather and quality life who tend to move away from here after a few years.
5) Locals who know absolutely no life outside of SD.

As you can see by this list, not a whole lot of diversity....

On the flip side, you go to a major city with some sort of industry/culture/draw and you'll find so much more oppurtunity and diversity.

As for the weather, the weather in San Diego is beautiful, but the scenery is too arid for me. Drive 15 miles east of the coast and you are practically in the desert. Don't get me wrong, I love the sun and warm climate but I'd prefer more rain in the winter (which NoCal gets) in order to see some more greenery and taller trees.

[Beat02]

East bay: Walnut Creek, San Ramon, Danville, Pleasanton, Dublin

You'll live in a smaller, more personalized, suburban, good for family place but be in close proximity to "The City", San Jose, Mt. Diablo and other various places.

[sav858]

Originally Posted by summertime25

This pretty much sums up San Diego. I moved here over a year ago because of the weather but failed to recognize the lack of culture this city has to offer compared to a world class city. San Diego is very conservative and has a small town military feel. If you are young and liberal, DO NOT MOVE HERE. You will regret it. In fact, I find that most of the people who live in San Diego fall into one of the following categories:
1) Military
2) Retired
3) College students (who party there asses off)
4) Mid-west/east coast transplants (like myself) who are looking for better weather and quality life who tend to move away from here after a few years.
5) Locals who know absolutely no life outside of SD.

As you can see by this list, not a whole lot of diversity....

On the flip side, you go to a major city with some sort of industry/culture/draw and you'll find so much more oppurtunity and diversity.

As for the weather, the weather in San Diego is beautiful, but the scenery is too arid for me. Drive 15 miles east of the coast and you are practically in the desert. Don't get me wrong, I love the sun and warm climate but I'd prefer more rain in the winter (which NoCal gets) in order to see some more greenery and taller trees.

You really love to generalize SD a little too much, especially with the people. Maybe you just don't get out much or something but most people I know don't fall into any of those categories you mentioned. I'm young and liberal, born and raised in the Bay Area, and moved here 8 years ago and love it. The only people that think SD is "very conservative" are usually the bad ultra-left wing stereotypes, which you will find all over the Bay Area, so you're looking in the right place for that.

I find the types of people, their values, mentality, etc... to more diverse than the Bay Area and that seems to bother those that prefer only being around people like them. Of course if you're really liberal and into that psuedo-intellectual vibe then you'll love it in the Bay Area, so many people there are so similar and share a common mentality but that's not diversity imo.

Most of the people I've met who have settled in SD seem to be from the east coast/mid west more times than not and have been here for over 10 years with no plans to leave. Once again, you must not get out much and meet many people.

I just don't get it with people like you who move to a laid back, resort type city but expect it to be some cultural hub & world class city with the best weather and beaches. No place even exists like that in the country.

[summertime25]

Originally Posted by sav858

You really love to generalize SD a little too much, especially with the people. Maybe you just don't get out much or something but most people I know don't fall into any of those categories you mentioned. I'm young and liberal, born and raised in the Bay Area, and moved here 8 years ago and love it. The only people that think SD is "very conservative" are usually the bad ultra-left wing stereotypes, which you will find all over the Bay Area, so you're looking in the right place for that.

I find the types of people, their values, mentality, etc... to more diverse than the Bay Area and that seems to bother those that prefer only being around people like them. Of course if you're really liberal and into that psuedo-intellectual vibe then you'll love it in the Bay Area, so many people there are so similar and share a common mentality but that's not diversity imo.

Most of the people I've met who have settled in SD seem to be from the east coast/mid west more times than not and have been here for over 10 years with no plans to leave. Once again, you must not get out much and meet many people.

I just don't get it with people like you who move to a laid back, resort type city but expect it to be some cultural hub & world class city with the best weather and beaches. No place even exists like that in the country.

Sav,

Perhaps you are correct in some aspects. San Diego is by no means the worste place to live in this country. In fact, I'd rather live here over a good 80%-90% of the country. But, I think when compared to the Bay Area, San Diego loses. Maybe if I was a different person or older or in a different place of my life I would be happy here. But I'm not. I've given it a good year and a half and don't want to waste more time here. I've always heard you should give a new place of residence at least a year to adjust before making a decision. I've put in my time, now I feel like it's time to move on.

[sav858]

Originally Posted by summertime25

Sav,

Perhaps you are correct in some aspects. San Diego is by no means the worste place to live in this country. In fact, I'd rather live here over a good 80%-90% of the country. But, I think when compared to the Bay Area, San Diego loses. Maybe if I was a different person or older or in a different place of my life I would be happy here. But I'm not. I've given it a good year and a half and don't want to waste more time here. I've always heard you should give a new place of residence at least a year to adjust before making a decision. I've put in my time, now I feel like it's time to move on.

To each their own and by all means if its not for you then find a better place that is. But I just don't get why some people expect San Diego to have all the amenities and opportunities of metropolitan areas over twice its size or larger, it just makes no sense to me. And most of the people that complain came from much larger cities/metro areas like NYC, LA, or DC. It's like someone from SD moving to NYC complaining about how its not laid back, the bad weather, is too big, etc.... Depends on what you're comparing too, for job opportunities and big city/world class amenities the Bay Area wins easily and that seems to be what you want more so than anything else. But for me I couldn't find what I have and like about SD in the Bay Area or I would probably would have moved back by now b/c I miss my family and friends up there A LOT. Anyways, it sounds like you like the Bay Area, good luck on the move.