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Old 10-15-2013, 08:45 PM
 
11 posts, read 21,460 times
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I lived near San Diego for several years before moving up to the Central Coast.

I've lived in Salt Lake City, Burlington Vermont and all over Upstate, New York

I LOVED the weather in San Diego but it was definitely the worse place I have ever lived. Our car was stolen. The traffic is terrible. Their are tons of gangs.

Aside from some of the unaffordable parts (La Jolla, Del Mar, Rancho Sante Fe), the region is a crime-ridden over-crowded nightmare.

Driving around the periphery of San Diego you will see terminal loops of shopping malls, condos and office parks. It is one of the most bland places on earth.

San Diego is filled with people who care more about weather than culture. San Francisco and New York City have every problem that big cities have - and I couldn't live there for those reasons. But they have a soul. They have culture. Not so San Diego.
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Old 10-15-2013, 10:53 PM
 
Location: SoCal
6,419 posts, read 11,572,225 times
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Troll alert.
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Old 10-16-2013, 10:05 AM
 
2,986 posts, read 4,567,358 times
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wow central coast is full of ****
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Old 10-16-2013, 11:10 AM
 
1,658 posts, read 3,541,096 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Zathurious View Post
My biggest complaint about the city is that most people aren't interested in actually talking about anything besides pop-politics, sports, and that's about it I guess. I grew up in Denver and the thing I miss is being able to say whatever is on my mind and truly having meaningful conversations with people. If you're looking for a peaceful place to live and your idea of a fun time is watching the sunset with a margarita in your hand, then San Diego is amazing. However, if your looking for a place that will stimulate you emotionally, psychologically, and intellectually, I would pass. I really do like the city, I just wish the people here had more substance to them.
This is my experience too -- although I wouldn't go so far as to insinuate that the people don't have substance. It just doesn't get brought out that much in SD.

San Diego is gorgeous and has a lot to offer but IMO lacks the strong creative spontaneous pulse typical of big cities, the type that can be found in SF, LA, Seattle or even San Jose.
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Old 10-16-2013, 11:43 AM
 
Location: Southern California
3,455 posts, read 8,326,725 times
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this scares me a little. I would think since San Diego is a large city it wouldn't be too hard to find a meaningful conversation vs. a smaller place. It's hard to believe everyone there is just ....not interested in anything but chilling by the beach. I've heard this is true among the vapid 20 somethings which I can understand it being a sort of endless summer gathering place for them much like Florida for Spring Break, but is it really like this for the 30's and up crowd? Just vacant human brains?
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Old 10-16-2013, 12:00 PM
 
Location: San Diego, CA
813 posts, read 1,269,093 times
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I don't live in San Diego, but I have many friends there. I have found that people that I have interacted with have great conversations!

Example: I went to a natural food store, and spent an extra 20 minutes talking with the check-out clerk about organic foods, local charities, and this person's love of working at this store because the store's beliefs were in line with his own.

Example: When having dinner with friends, we discussed homeschooling vs. public schooling in San Diego county. It was a very long and involved conversation that involved local politics of San Diego, how people think about children and education, and how special needs children (like mine) are affected by schooling in vs. out of the home.

These were just a couple examples of deeper conversations that I had while out there.

I really think that if you are a nice person that likes to talk about "deeper" topics, then you attract that kind of person and develop friendships with people like that. If you are a person that likes to party and have a good time, then you will attract that kind of person.

I am one of the "dreamers" that would love to move to San Diego, but are in the research phase (and have been for 2.5 years.) My family and I have had two long visits at different times of the year. We have had a wonderful time each time, and yes, we love the beach. But, we also really enjoy the people that we have met out there, and love to visit our friends, too. We have always been made to feel at home.

I think there have been a lot of great points made in this thread, and I really appreciate the people that have been constructive but KIND with their answers. I feel like these are the kinds of people that represent San Diego well.
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Old 10-16-2013, 12:09 PM
 
Location: Southern California
3,455 posts, read 8,326,725 times
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I've lived in a lot of places and moved to CA permanently 2 years ago (or more permanently than my first move to CA (Sacramento) 10 years ago)).

Anyway, I have always found people in California to be much nicer and more friendly than the stereotypes that persist. I haven't met enough people personally to know about "deep conversations" as much, but I would assume with enough transplants and population (I mean, there are millions of people) its more of a stereotype.
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Old 10-16-2013, 01:59 PM
 
1,175 posts, read 1,909,308 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rgb123 View Post
this scares me a little. I would think since San Diego is a large city it wouldn't be too hard to find a meaningful conversation vs. a smaller place. It's hard to believe everyone there is just ....not interested in anything but chilling by the beach. I've heard this is true among the vapid 20 somethings which I can understand it being a sort of endless summer gathering place for them much like Florida for Spring Break, but is it really like this for the 30's and up crowd? Just vacant human brains?
It's not really a big city. That is the difference. I would say even Los Angeles has some of the same qualities as well. There are millions of people in SD, but people are spread out all over the place. And downtown is really just bars & restaurants and not much else.

So when people come from say NYC or SF, there is a culture shock. And I'd say the same thing about LA as compared to 'city life' both SD & LA have millions of people, but everybody is so far spread out and into their own little communities it isn't funny. A person from Pasadena or Santa Monica or the valley or studio city all fall into the "we live here" mentality. Same thing in San Diego where somebody from Hillcrest, northpark, Coronado, La Jolla, Del Mar, Poway and so on fall into that line of thinking as well. YOu might have that in places like NYC or SF, but people still have that "I'm a New Yorker" pride. Whereas somebody in La Jolla probably doesn't consider themselves anything like somebody in El Cajon and so on.

San Diego isn't really a 'city' in that sense. And then there are so many differences everywhere that most people don't interact with one another. PB is filled with young kids who want to drink and party. Same life, different year is the mantra. Go up to La Jolla or Carmel Valley or to Oceanside and people live in those places and they become those places.

I used to live downtown and in Mission Hills and rarely ventured north. And I rarely went to PB or MB. When I lived over in PB, i only came downtown once in a while to hit up some nightclubs. And I worked downtown at that time, but downtown was drive into the city, park in a garage, go home. Now I live up in the del mar area and i can't remember the last time I went downtown or to PB. And I know many people like this. You start to have different lives, different wants, needs. And why would I want to drive all the way downtown to find some overpriced parking and so on. And that's how it goes.


But saying all that, if you go back to NYC, there are a lot more people and most people never know or interact with one another either. Most people are into their own lives and friends and they don't really venture outside their inner circle. San diego isn't much different in that aspect.
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Old 10-16-2013, 02:39 PM
 
Location: Southern California
3,455 posts, read 8,326,725 times
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San Diego IS a big city, you can only really compare it to a handful that are larger. It is more spread out than some, but population wise its #7.

this is another one of the "relative" problems people run into when discussing California. Californians can be a bit unaware of their own size and influence compared to the rest of the country (i.e. people consider Ventura a small town when its actually a mid sized city and part of a large metro area). Like how people in SD seem to use SF as the bar for all urban.

Well the rest of the country (yes that large giant space between NYC and SD) is where most people live and have relative experience....most are not using SF or NYC as their bar.

It is true that you sort of "become" your local geography no matter where you live (like how you say people stick to their area), your most important geography is the one outside your front door.
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Old 10-16-2013, 02:52 PM
 
30,876 posts, read 36,858,638 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by eric7778 View Post
First of all, San Diego is big-time conservative. Almost to a fault. The people here are extremely judgmental and holier-than-thou, if you know what I mean. And if you can avoid the conservatives, you will probably have the bad luck of running into the self-important, rich, everything is about me people.

Second, San Diego lacks any and all culture, and/or cosmopolitan nature. It is NOT San Francisco, or LA, or Seattle, or Chicago. It is like a wanna-bee culture city. The only culture here is Spanish, which is nice (for a short while). Don't get your heart set on seeing good plays, or musicals, or concerts, etc. It is just very commercialized and a bit phony here.

Third, San Diego is outrageously expensive. $550k for a starter home (one that is not falling apart), and $1500+ for a decent 1br apartment. If you want to live with a roommate, you can probably get in for $800/each minimum. The property taxes are through the roof. The worst part is income tax, at 9.3% (but all of California has that problem).

On the other hand, you have Seattle, with NO state income tax, and all of the beauty of San Diego and then some. Sure, you're not going to get the perfect climate and desert landscape, but you'll get a very rich, green, lush, mountain landscape with the benefit of the ocean (which is too cold to swim in -- that's another benefit of San Diego, I guess).
It's funny how you gripe about conservatives on the one hand and then gripe about taxes and the cost of living on the other. It's generally the liberal folks who are happy to pay more taxes (or, more often, vote to raise someone else's taxes) and it's generally the liberal folks who favor very restrictive development policies that have prevented building of new housing stock, which limits supply, thus jacking up home prices and rents. Something to think about the next time you gripe about conservatives.
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