What's living in San Diego like? (Carlsbad: houses, scorpion, vs.)

[LuvSouthOC]

Originally Posted by Cardiff Kook

It also sounds like a load of **** (I grew up in/around DC)

Living in San Diego is amazing if you can afford to do so without scraping by

I lived in DC for many years and know Baltimore too, dislike the latter. There is no comparison to San Diego. What a load of bullocks.

[LuvSouthOC]

Originally Posted by Va83

Is it walkable at all?
How safe is it? Given the worst neighborhood in the area against other big cities worst neighborhoods.
Natural disasters ?
Pest? Florida has gators, Virginia has spider crickets,etc
Things to do for singles around 40
Anything else you'd like to throw in....

San Diego is huge as a county. It's urban core is a relatively small part of the county. You need to specify what you are asking about.

[LuvSouthOC]

Originally Posted by GSR13

San Diego is safer than most big cities in the US, has walkable neighborhoods along the coast and between the 8 and 94 freeways, is prone to fires but not big earthquakes, no pest issues unless you live on the outskirts (coyotes mainly), has one of the worst median wage/housing price ratios in the entire US, has rising housing costs in spite of the already unaffordable prices, has arguably the best combination of weather and scenery in the US, and has a bad dating scene for men and a great dating scene for women, primariy due to the existencee of 7 military bases around town (highest % of military outside of Norfolk, VA), has the highest % of Millennials of any big city in the US, and the people here are generally unimpressive (cliquish, narcissistic and anti-intellectual), although you will find exceptions. However, those exceptions you end up finding may end up moving away due to the high (and rising) cost of living.

San Diego is NOT like living anyplace else; that's a silly notion. I'd also recommend spending time here to check it out, just be advised that the investigation process will cost you more here than in other places.

Wow, I don't agree that big earthquakes aren't a concern in SD but lots of insight here. As far as no place being like San Diego, I'd say OC is darn close in most respects, not to mention geographically so...

[eastcoastbias]

Walkable? Yes if you want to pay for the location.
Safe? Yes, it has a couple edgy neighborhoods, but nothing close to east coast or rust belt cities.
Natural disasters? Fires. Huge problem. We had a decent sized Easter Earthquake maybe 7-8 years ago, I can't recall anything notable since then.
We have spiders, the kind the create major health issues.

Living here presents opportunity, you have mountains, ocean, smaller sized city life, excellent trails, ideal weather, you have a desert within an hours drive away. You have an ideal location for attractions (zoo, sea world, legoland, aquarium, Disney nearby). Not to say you can't find things to do in others places- SD wins with variety.

I find the sense of community severely lacking. That's not to say there aren't communities where neighborhood or community wide activities take place. It just isn't as prevalent here as it is in other places. I've lived here as a student, a young professional and now as a family, and I've seen a lot of people come and go.

Living here takes patience. You need to be patience if you want to purchase a home- you can time the market and really do financially well for yourself or you can jump the gun and be underwater and be forced into a sitatuion you don't want to be in. If you plan on sticking it out here- real estate is not a bad investment though. You also, IMO need patience getting around. Our infrastructure is weak, we've overdeveloped some areas spent little time and thought on mass transportation. SD imo is a slower paced city as well, it is a tourist city too so relaxing and leisurely getting around is common and this mixed with infrastructures issues- create a need to live where nearby where you work and plan acitivities Accordingly.

We are taxed heavily and politics even for a military town lean left. I've never lived or heard of a place that passes as many measures creating more tax than CA and SD. Maybe my perception is off.

[Liz_7]

Originally Posted by Va83

Is it walkable at all?
How safe is it? Given the worst neighborhood in the area against other big cities worst neighborhoods.
Natural disasters ?
Pest? Florida has gators, Virginia has spider crickets,etc
Things to do for singles around 40
Anything else you'd like to throw in....

Some neighborhoods are walkable; some aren't.

San Diego as a whole is quite safe compared to many other comparably sized cities.

Natural disasters: earthquakes...fires a bit farther north.

Not many pests, just be careful in the ocean.

Like any big city there are plenty of activities for singles, possibly more outdoors than cities with regular seasons and snow.

San Diego is fantastic as long as you can cope with the cost of living and figure out how to live close to work. Do you have a job lined up or will you be looking?

[Axxlrod]

San Diego is great.

The only true pests we have are the "zonies" that invade the coast every summer.

Come on in! The water's fine! But make sure to bring your wallet; hopefully it's fat.

[RosieSD]

Originally Posted by Va83

Pest? Florida has gators, Virginia has spider crickets,etc

San Diego has rattlesnakes.

[Axxlrod]

Originally Posted by RosieSD

San Diego has rattlesnakes.

And Zonies! Ewwwww!

[Va83]

I won't be moving anytime soon. Just researching now.
So there could be a rattlesnake in my yard at any given time? What's a zonie? Sounds like a tourist thing lol.

[LuvSouthOC]

Originally Posted by Axxlrod

And Zonies! Ewwwww!

Some of those Zonies are former San Diegans who couldn't afford to live in San Diego. Did you also realize that San Diego is Mecca to Arizonans and thus many of them spend money in San Diego?

Besides, some are good looking even if they are incredibly annoying.