Downtown San Diego is a disgrace (Fortuna: renting, lenders, attorneys)

[sdlife619]

Originally Posted by LuvSouthOC

San Diego is a very highly suburbanized city at 98.8% suburban. That is the nation's 17th most suburban city in the nation.

America's Most Suburbanized Cities | Newgeography.com

San Diego is intentionally incorporating suburban amenities and elements into its downtown in an effort to draw more people there.

San Diego's downtown feels suburban. Nonetheless, it is fairly clean, well kept and orderly.

The whole point of hipsters and yuppies moving downtown is to get away from bland and boring burbs, so when new projects and corporate businesses that are located in the burbs incorporate into downtown, it ruins the character and feel of the area. Why do we need 7 elevens, subways and Starbucks on every corner? I don’t think that’s a positive for any downtown.

One neighborhood that has really been destroyed culturally, and effectively, is NOT real anymore which has turned into a tourist trap, is Little Italy. Too many non Italian oriented businesses have moved in and has made the area feel even less authentic. New development catering to the rich has also watered downed the neighborhood.

I guess I’m frustrated seeing nothing but trendy businesses popping up everywhere. Soon every taco shop is going to be transformed into a “Mexican Eatery” or “Fine Mexican Cuisine” so it will cater to trendy hipsters and uppity types and they will charge triple the price.

I don’t believe that Sacramento and Vegas is less suburban than SD, that’s hard to believe as they’re barely any true urban spots in those cities compared to San Diego. I will say though that many parts of SD County is definitely heavily rural and it’s infrastructure is severely lacking and somewhat backwater compared to the L.A. and O.C. where NO areas feel or look rural and like your out in the sticks. Many many places in SD are rural, examples: Bonita, parts of Escondido, Vista, San Marcos, parts of El Cajon, Lakeside, parts of Lemon Grove, Spring Valley, Carlsbad, parts of La Mesa and pretty much all of Far East County and North Inland County which are a mixture of burbs/rural to semi-rural neighborhoods. One thing you won’t see in other SoCal cities like u you do here, is how you can go from walking on sidewalks, then suddenly walking on dirt with no sidewalks at all. I don’t understand it.

Even small areas of urban SD can randomly look rural especially if it’s surrounded by canyons.

Downtown SD is hustle n bustle in the Gaslamp at night, but other than that it feels like a ghost town mid-day, it’s very laidback and really catered to tourist, empty nestors and the wealthy.

[the topper]

Originally Posted by sdlife619

The whole point of hipsters and yuppies moving downtown is to get away from bland and boring burbs, so when new projects and corporate businesses that are located in the burbs incorporate into downtown, it ruins the character and feel of the area. Why do we need 7 elevens, subways and Starbucks on every corner? I don’t think that’s a positive for any downtown.

One neighborhood that has really been destroyed culturally, and effectively, is NOT real anymore which has turned into a tourist trap, is Little Italy. Too many non Italian oriented businesses have moved in and has made the area feel even less authentic. New development catering to the rich has also watered downed the neighborhood.

I guess I’m frustrated seeing nothing but trendy businesses popping up everywhere. Soon every taco shop is going to be transformed into a “Mexican Eatery” or “Fine Mexican Cuisine” so it will cater to trendy hipsters and uppity types and they will charge triple the price.

I don’t believe that Sacramento and Vegas is less suburban than SD, that’s hard to believe as they’re barely any true urban spots in those cities compared to San Diego. I will say though that many parts of SD County is definitely heavily rural and it’s infrastructure is severely lacking and somewhat backwater compared to the L.A. and O.C. where NO areas feel or look rural and like your out in the sticks. Many many places in SD are rural, examples: Bonita, parts of Escondido, Vista, San Marcos, parts of El Cajon, Lakeside, parts of Lemon Grove, Spring Valley, Carlsbad, parts of La Mesa and pretty much all of Far East County and North Inland County which are a mixture of burbs/rural to semi-rural neighborhoods. One thing you won’t see in other SoCal cities like u you do here, is how you can go from walking on sidewalks, then suddenly walking on dirt with no sidewalks at all. I don’t understand it.

Even small areas of urban SD can randomly look rural especially if it’s surrounded by canyons.

Downtown SD is hustle n bustle in the Gaslamp at night, but other than that it feels like a ghost town mid-day, it’s very laidback and really catered to tourist, empty nestors and the wealthy.

Excellent description of Downtown San Diego and its environs.

[malcorub16]

The opposite of our downtown would be like a Dallas/Houston or what LA was maybe just 15 years ago, skyscrapers galore in an area that is 100% corporate which makes for a dead zone at night and on the weekends. I would take SD's downtown over this any day of the week.

[the topper]

Originally Posted by malcorub16

The opposite of our downtown would be like a Dallas/Houston or what LA was maybe just 15 years ago, skyscrapers galore in an area that is 100% corporate which makes for a dead zone at night and on the weekends. I would take SD's downtown over this any day of the week.

Though it's nothing like Downtown Seattle, Portland, Denver and Boston

[moved]

He's been bashing cities for a year.

//www.city-data.com/forum/city-...-portland.html He needs to get a life, or find another subject to bash.

[homenj]

Originally Posted by USDefault

Spare us the moralizing. What did you do to help? You called the police, i.e. you shunted the problem off to the state, which is funded by private taxpaying citizens. Made a phone call, and now it's no longer your problem, and you're off doing whatever you were going to do, while at the same time preaching to us about our immoral "rat race" and "selfish" failings. Who anointed you Solomon? You will not sit in judgement of me, or anyone else in the U.S.

Totally untrue what you say about most countries in Europe, most of which are a bankrupt mess. You have tons of homeless in Europe, mass refugees living in squalor, and a dysfunctional, Brussels-dictated unaccountable government that is going to implode. If it's so great there, then put your words into action and leave. Just get out and go.

The vast, vast majority of homeless are drug and alcohol abusers; there also is a subset of people who don't want to work a real job. These individuals are content to aggressively solicit pedestrians and motorists, with in-your-face money demands. This is how they actually want to live; they don't want to learn, or go to a job, or do anything productive. This is not my problem, not now, not ever.

If an individual wants to smoke meth, shoot heroin, inhale powder until their nose bleeds, or consume alcohol until they destroy their liver and kidneys, it is Not. My. Problem. Nor will you make it my problem. We are each responsible to lead healthy productive lives; it's your choice to do so. Want to annihilate your synapses with substances? Obliterate your consciousness with drugs and drink until you lose any grasp of reality? Good luck and have a nice day. No one can stop you.

There are services available to addicts and abusers. They can avail themselves of treatment programs, temporary residences, addiction reduction and transition-to-work programs. But you can't force the individual into treatment. You cannot force the individual to work, or to better themselves. And if you think you can, then stop yammering on here and do it. Do something. But we all know the truth: you will fail. Just as billions, and billions, and billions of dollars in work, effort and resources has utterly failed to stem the tide of serial drug and drink abusers.

No not all homeless people are lazy.

45% of all homeless people had jobs within the past 30 days. And that isn't including those who work off the books.

Five myths about America's homeless


Kudos to you Michael Europe! It's great to have you in this country. Maybe we could learn from you being here.

[tstieber]

Originally Posted by sdlife619

The whole point of hipsters and yuppies moving downtown is to get away from bland and boring burbs, so when new projects and corporate businesses that are located in the burbs incorporate into downtown, it ruins the character and feel of the area. Why do we need 7 elevens, subways and Starbucks on every corner? I don’t think that’s a positive for any downtown.

One neighborhood that has really been destroyed culturally, and effectively, is NOT real anymore which has turned into a tourist trap, is Little Italy. Too many non Italian oriented businesses have moved in and has made the area feel even less authentic. New development catering to the rich has also watered downed the neighborhood.

I guess I’m frustrated seeing nothing but trendy businesses popping up everywhere. Soon every taco shop is going to be transformed into a “Mexican Eatery” or “Fine Mexican Cuisine” so it will cater to trendy hipsters and uppity types and they will charge triple the price.

I don’t believe that Sacramento and Vegas is less suburban than SD, that’s hard to believe as they’re barely any true urban spots in those cities compared to San Diego. I will say though that many parts of SD County is definitely heavily rural and it’s infrastructure is severely lacking and somewhat backwater compared to the L.A. and O.C. where NO areas feel or look rural and like your out in the sticks. Many many places in SD are rural, examples: Bonita, parts of Escondido, Vista, San Marcos, parts of El Cajon, Lakeside, parts of Lemon Grove, Spring Valley, Carlsbad, parts of La Mesa and pretty much all of Far East County and North Inland County which are a mixture of burbs/rural to semi-rural neighborhoods. One thing you won’t see in other SoCal cities like u you do here, is how you can go from walking on sidewalks, then suddenly walking on dirt with no sidewalks at all. I don’t understand it.

Even small areas of urban SD can randomly look rural especially if it’s surrounded by canyons.

Downtown SD is hustle n bustle in the Gaslamp at night, but other than that it feels like a ghost town mid-day, it’s very laidback and really catered to tourist, empty nestors and the wealthy.

I don't think San Diego is totally unique in having a lot of Rural and semi rural areas within the urban metro area though. Perhaps compared to Orange County or LA that would be true, but the Bay Area has lots of areas like that east of the Berkeley Hills and along the peninsula, and of course Marin has lots of rural parts as well. I think the rural access in San Diego is part of its special charm and provides an important life balance that you can't find in a lot of other places, and part of the reason it has some of the same attributes as that the area, although obviously far less populated.

Just a few years ago, we moved out of the urban core to the edge of city limits in a semi rural Suburban neighborhood with large Lots, adjacent to hiking trails and open space. It was one of the main reasons we chose this area because it's only 20 minutes into every hipster neighborhood in town when we want to go out, but day to day it's super peaceful.

[stablegenius]

Originally Posted by sdlife619

One neighborhood that has really been destroyed culturally, and effectively, is NOT real anymore which has turned into a tourist trap, is Little Italy. Too many non Italian oriented businesses have moved in and has made the area feel even less authentic. New development catering to the rich has also watered downed the neighborhood.

So true! Feels like Seaport Village now!

Originally Posted by sdlife619

I guess I’m frustrated seeing nothing but trendy businesses popping up everywhere. Soon every taco shop is going to be transformed into a “Mexican Eatery” or “Fine Mexican Cuisine” so it will cater to trendy hipsters and uppity types and they will charge triple the price.

Also accurate! I got so sick of this before I moved. Every new place that opened up would try to create the feeling of authenticity through interior design, but they were anything but!

Originally Posted by sdlife619

I don’t believe that Sacramento and Vegas is less suburban than SD, that’s hard to believe as they’re barely any true urban spots in those cities compared to San Diego.

Preach! Sacramento sucks! Vegas is ok, but definitely not more urban that SD.

[Mordin]

Originally Posted by garek007

Sacramento sucks!

Please explain over in the Sac thread just how this is so. I just *might* take you seriously then.

[stablegenius]

Originally Posted by Mordin

Please explain over in the Sac thread just how this is so. I just *might* take you seriously then.

Get a life