What do you love/hate about San diego? (San Francisco, Encinitas: quality of life, beach)

[rgb123]

Originally Posted by lrmsd

I wish people would research this forum and ask around before assuming that every city is centered around its 'downtown'. I've typed this a dozen times over the last few years, but here goes again....(:

SD's east village and even the gaslamp, were only gentrified in the last 15 years. SD [housing, amenities, employment locations] are spread throughout this large, suburban city and are NOT located downtown.
So, yes, at 2 pm on any given day [except weekends with tourists], you'll probably find the gaslamp pretty quiet. There is not much there, save for a few restaurants and clubs. Okay, there's a little more...but it's not where most people in this city live, work or congregate. Not even close.

Many people move here saying they want to live close to downtown, and I don't know why. I don't even think east coast or midwestern cities are organized around a main city center, in my experience [originally from the NE]. And SD is a sizable place. It's not a small city or town that 'would' see its downtown as the likely epicenter for life.

I encourage anyone reading this thread, to use the search feature on this forum and read as many threads as you can. Search specific criteria-moving from x to y, culture of x vs. y place, jobs, amenities, restaurants in SD, Vacationing here with kids, as a single person, as a partier, etc. Whatever is specific to your demographic, interests and goals [assuming they are legal, of course!), search those topics! More than likely, you'll find a thread on it!

very good points...

and eastern and Midwestern cities ARE decentralized as well, they are just older and had more 'central city' hub historically and many of them have made a come back. In the 1980's most people were still leaving the urban neighborhoods and didn't start going back until the late 90's (Chicago).

I think this trend started when people started demanding that west coast cities be like East Coast cities, but the infrastructure was just never there, except for places like San Francisco.

I agree that the "vibrance" in San Diego is more spread out....and the urban core areas are more, still growing vs. experiencing a resurgence like Chicago (and probably to a lesser extent NYC and Boston). Its really hard to compare east coast and west coast cities, again except for maybe SF and Seattle/Portland to some extent.

I do think, though that downtown areas will become more vibrant as demand grows for urban living spaces, but it will probably never be really comparable to east coast and Midwest cities that literally grew from the core outward and had a different kind of evolution through US history (industrial cites and epicenters for immigration)

[rgb123]

ok, been here about 6 weeks now. So far I'm settling in and getting to know my immediate surroundings, and expanding outward a bit. I'm going to see a play at Balboa Park this week, and am finding MANY cultural opportunities and find that SD gets a bad rap when it comes to these things. It's simply a smaller town than Los Angeles...but compared to most places in America SD has a lot of cultural opportunites and I think its great. I came from Ventura and find it a bit easier here to find a wide variety of meetups, things to do, people my age that are still single, etc. Plus lots of transplants who are also starting over.

For the negative -- so far what really gets my goat is TRAFFIC and I don't mean like traffic jams on I-5. I don't have to commute so I pretty much avoid all that stuff.

What gets me is just here, driving around on the main throughfares in Carlsbad, Encinitas, Oceanside, etc. People drive SO FAST and tailgate, and get all up in your business if you are not going at least 15mph+ the speed limit. I find it so annoying, just pass me, there are 2 lanes! What gets me about this is that it is so widespread. I kind of dread driving on El Camino Real as I know someone will tailgate me wanting me to go faster.

It's just kind of weird because there are a ton of stoplights, I don't like to speed up just to have to stop. It's not an interstate. Seems like people are really in a rush to get where they are going and just flying through as fast as they can. Not very laid back...

[sdurbanite]

Originally Posted by sacite

Actually having visited SD 4 times now I agree with 85% of what he said. Prob the only city I've ever been to where people consistently walk into you coming in and out of restaurants, at the mall, etc. Holding hands with my girlfriend got me quite a few smirks and weird looks, and I still don't know why. But looking back I realized I was the only one doing so out in public, so maybe that was it. Just kind of a weird vibe there with a lot of mochismo (who'd have thought with the surfer reputation) and distinct lack of community. At beaches in Norcal you will find people throwing footballs, bbcuing, families with dogs. At the beaches I went to in SD I saw only people either sunbathing or walking/riding a bike shirtless. It all looked very staged and more like a "scene". I'd call it "fake", but to people that grew up there or worship the sun this is all probably pretty normal.

Cue the "there are fake people everywhere", "every city is what you make it", "you dound like an unhappy person" responses haha. There should be a moratorium on any response similar in every thread.

Honestly, if you didn't see any families, people throwing footballs and BBQing at beach, then you probably weren't in SD.

[sdurbanite]

Originally Posted by rgb123

What gets me is just here, driving around on the main throughfares in Carlsbad, Encinitas, Oceanside, etc. People drive SO FAST and tailgate, and get all up in your business if you are not going at least 15mph+ the speed limit. I find it so annoying, just pass me, there are 2 lanes! What gets me about this is that it is so widespread. I kind of dread driving on El Camino Real as I know someone will tailgate me wanting me to go faster.

It's just kind of weird because there are a ton of stoplights, I don't like to speed up just to have to stop. It's not an interstate. Seems like people are really in a rush to get where they are going and just flying through as fast as they can. Not very laid back...

Don't worry, it won't be long before you start driving just like the rest of us.

[rgb123]

Originally Posted by sdurbanite

Don't worry, it won't be long before you start driving just like the rest of us.

I told myself that actually....that sooner or later I'll be one of those jerks lol

[JohnSoCal]

Originally Posted by rgb123

I told myself that actually....that sooner or later I'll be one of those jerks lol

Just remember that the posted speed limit is the minimum, not the maximum.

[Huckleberry3911948]

i hate it that there is no ice or snow or 35 below zero weather. i so miss chicago. I so miss riding the green line L where i got to meet so many new and interesting people late at night.

[sav858]

Originally Posted by sacite

Actually having visited SD 4 times now I agree with 85% of what he said. Prob the only city I've ever been to where people consistently walk into you coming in and out of restaurants, at the mall, etc. Holding hands with my girlfriend got me quite a few smirks and weird looks, and I still don't know why. But looking back I realized I was the only one doing so out in public, so maybe that was it. Just kind of a weird vibe there with a lot of mochismo (who'd have thought with the surfer reputation) and distinct lack of community. At beaches in Norcal you will find people throwing footballs, bbcuing, families with dogs. At the beaches I went to in SD I saw only people either sunbathing or walking/riding a bike shirtless. It all looked very staged and more like a "scene". I'd call it "fake", but to people that grew up there or worship the sun this is all probably pretty normal.

Cue the "there are fake people everywhere", "every city is what you make it", "you dound like an unhappy person" responses haha. There should be a moratorium on any response similar in every thread.

It must be weird seeing people sunbathing and riding around shirtless enjoying the sun and warmth at the beach coming from NorCal huh? Lol. I know that's not really normal up here but those are actually considered normal beach activities across the majority of this country.

[sav858]

Originally Posted by sacite

You believe SF is freezing while the rest of the country considers its weather near perfect. OK. The bay has plenty of problems, which unlike you I can readily admit (congestion, cost of living, increasing gentrification), and for that reason I'd probably never live there again. But weather is definitely not one of those problems. Then again, I did see people literally bundled up by the bay in SD during my morning jog at 60 degrees. LOL! 60 degrees and people are wearing hoods and rubbing their hands. Thanks for providing a perfect example of the ego-centric viewpoint I referenced in my post. If it's not SD weather, must be "the coldest summer ever". Waaaaaaaaaaaa .

And what country would that be? Most people in the Bay Area even consider SF freezing in summer. It's known for fog, not sun or warmth. That famous quote about the coldest summer is about SF btw lol; "The coldest winter I ever spent was summer in San Francisco..." SF has the coldest summer of any major US city. Most people don't consider 50's/60's, wind, and fog ideal summer weather at all so I'm not sure where you got this impression people across this country think that's "ideal". "Dress in layers!" Who the hell wants to do that during summer lol.

[sdurbanite]

Originally Posted by sav858

And what country would that be? Most people in the Bay Area even consider SF freezing in summer. It's known for fog, not sun or warmth. That famous quote about the coldest summer is about SF btw lol; "The coldest winter I ever spent was summer in San Francisco..." SF has the coldest summer of any major US city. Most people don't consider 50's/60's, wind, and fog ideal summer weather at all so I'm not sure where you got this impression people across this country think that's "ideal". "Dress in layers!" Who the hell wants to do that during summer lol.

Still don't have the ability to rep you more than once