What do you LIKE/DISLIKE about San Diego? (Chula Vista, Oceanside: renting, houses)

[notafan]

I recently posted this question in another city forum and it was interesting to hear people's thoughts. I used to live in San Diego, and am in the process of considering another relocation there. I'll start by listing my likes:

- Wonderful weather (almost goes without saying)
- The vistas located almost everywhere you look
- That famous "laid back" vibe which is appealing after living in a few rat race cities
- The modern and mid-century architecture
- Access to so many diverse landscapes within a reasonable drive
- For a large city, it doesn't feel overwhelming which is a rare combination
- There is always somewhere beautiful to explore

What I dislike about San Diego:

- That most areas near the beach (in the city itself, not county) are overcrowded (I know this is a given; I still don't enjoy it)
- Pacific Beach
- Mission Valley
- Poor water quality (SD is ranked in the top 10 worst in the US unfortunately)
- The flood of tourists in the summer
- Military presence is too large and too close for comfort (in my opinion)

What are your likes and dislikes?

[1AngryTaxPayer]

Likes

weather
so much to do
layed back
small town feel

dislikes

bursting population
expensive everything
ridiculous traffic

[OwlAndSparrow]

Like:

- North County (excellent, relaxing places to hike right next to where I live)
- Orange County (day trips every other weekend, Little Saigon)
- Convoy Street (best food in town)
- Mission Bay
- Petco Park
- Chula Vista
- Imperial Beach
- Carlsbad (nearest beaches to home)
- San Marcos (amazingly wonderful place to live)
- Escondido (close to home and slightly more lively than San Marcos)
- The weather
- The lack of bugs
- Prop 13
- year-round gardening
- Ggood Vietnamese community
- Balboa Park
- Coronado
- Relatively sane state government
- Mission Valley
- Lack of significant rainfall
- The closeness to nature in this region -- smaller houses force us to live simply and focus on what is important

Dislike:

- Traffic cameras
- City Heights
- As close as the OC is, I wish it were closer
- No really good grocery stores in North County

Overall, this is one of the best places on Earth, and I'm glad I managed to settle down here before I die.

[JBtwinz]

The good......everything!

The bad........the fact that I had to turn a job offering in the mid 80k range because I was too scared of the housing costs to try to make a go of with my wife and two daughters.

I had planned on renting as I was going to finish out my career and we would have have only been living there for 12 years before I retired.

It was sad having close friends out in California telling me I would starve. I came on this forum also for advice......I kept hoping we could pull it off.

Literally the hardest decision I had to make in my life.

Side note.....I have been visiting family since I was five in the 60's and have family and extended family all over California so it was not like we saw California on TV and thought it would be cool to live out there. We really do love all that is California, the good with the bad!

[bloom]

Originally Posted by 1AngryTaxPayer

Likes



dislikes


ridiculous traffic

Not at all as bad as elsewhere: LA, SF, BO, NYC, DC, SEA,

[bloom]

Originally Posted by OwlAndSparrow

Dislike:

- No really good grocery stores in North County

Overall, this is one of the best places on Earth, and I'm glad I managed to settle down here before I die.

What about Trader Joe's and Henry's/Sprout's.

Bad are Albertsons/Vons/definitely Haagen/ - also part of same corporate evil that includes Krogers/StopNShop/Safeway/QFC/evenRalphs/PigglyWiggly(worst name ever).

[LuvSouthOC]

There are many more positives than negatives, but here are some things I do not like about San Diego:

Positives:
Too many to list.

Negatives:
*Because of Camp Pendleton and mountains to the east, it feels a little bit removed and detached from much of Southern California.
*Proximity to Mexico is a positive in some ways, I know, but overall, I would say that it is a negative being a border area.
*San Diego's roads (e.g. I-5) are getting terribly congested and San Diego is not doing much to alleviate the situation;
*Despite its appearance as a city, it has a bit of an unsophisticated feel (this has gotten better with time);
*The military presence and influence, although most pronounced in places like Oceanside, Mira Mar and National City, impacts the area a great deal. IMO this causes some of the people to think small, brings people who have low expectations from their kids, leads to a transient population, makes the area dependent on the Federal government (a plus in lean years, but a minus for a place so beautiful), and causes the town to be boring.(Sorry military folks, it is just an opinion, not a reason to hate me.)
*San Diego's finances are not solid and parts of the county have been very mismanaged (pension reform, Poway's bonds, etc.).

[1AngryTaxPayer]

Originally Posted by bloom

Not at all as bad as elsewhere: LA, SF, BO, NYC, DC, SEA,

Isn't that the equivalent of your arm bleeding isn't as bad as your neck bleeding?

[Drake744]

Originally Posted by 1AngryTaxPayer

Likes

weather
so much to do
layed back
small town feel

dislikes

bursting population
expensive everything
ridiculous traffic

Where I live now in Nashville the traffic is worse than SD. I don't know what your commute is but in my experience traffic there is more manageable than even Nashville.

[Teckeeee]

I don't live in SD, but I am done there for business and when I drive at rush hour the congestion doesn't seem as bad as OC.