How bad IS the traffic? :) (San Diego, Escondido: unemployment rate, live, moving)

[xani]

www.sigalert.com
This map shows LA comparatively to SD...as you can see, right now SD is all nice and green, while LA is yellow and red with freeway speeds 25-30mph... sounds familiar (though 5mph in LA isn't too rare either )

[jksouthbay88]

Depends where you come from and what your def of "bad traffic" is
I think it's up there in my book though.

[iskray917]

Originally Posted by pegzee

I tell you what really bothers me, and that is crawl to dead stop. The beltway around DC is notorious for dead stop. I had incicents where we would get out of our cars and congregate and visit with folks because it was sooooo dead stop...literally for a couple hours.

don't worry, there's nothing at all like that.

[wonka42]

Originally Posted by pegzee

nmnita, right now I live in a very backwards small Lake Michigan coastal town. I have lived and/or driven in D.C., Chicago, Atlanta, Indianapolis, the tidewater area of VA. So I have driven in thick traffic.

I tell you what really bothers me, and that is crawl to dead stop. The beltway around DC is notorious for dead stop. I had incicents where we would get out of our cars and congregate and visit with folks because it was sooooo dead stop...literally for a couple hours. I am very capable and do not mind thick traffic that is moving. I have driven cross country a good number of times and I am a capable driver. My thoughts are "when in Rome" but not to the point of dangerous. I know that if you go too slow it is often just as hazardous.

I hope that helps.

I live in SD now but I've lived in LA and DC. What natives of SD call traffic is laughable compared to LA and DC. It's nothing like the beltway because SD is so spread out and everyone isn't generally going into and around one centralized location. It's not like LA because there aren't nearly as many cars and people in SD as there are in LA/OC.

[MissinHome]

I'm a native San Diegan that moved to the Chicago area six years ago. I can promise you that San Diego traffic is not bad compared to Chicago or L.A. I lived in Mira Mesa and went to school at night at SDSU for three years. At the time, I hated the bottleneck near the stadium but would love to have that type of traffic back here. Traffic is just one of the reasons my family and I will be moving back to San Diego soon. Mainly due to missing our real home and friends and family. Secondly due to the terrible weather back here and outrageous traffic. We're hoping to be back by the end of the year. I'll glady take the merge compared to these 2 and 3 land tollways back in Chicago.

[synthetic]

the traffic isnt bad in volume as compared to nyc. The traffic is bad, because of idiot drivers...why on earth in traffic the slowest lane is the left lane???

[Bluefox]

Nowhere near as bad as my hometown of Chicago. And definitely nothing like LA, where I've on several occasions been stuck in gridlock traffic at like 12a on a Friday night for no apparent reason. I've only ever hit traffic in SD during rush hour or during some special event.

[10,000Lakes]

It's taken me time get used to the traffic. We lived in smaller towns the last 5 years and I grew up in a semi rural area so it's all about your perception as to what is bad or not. I still get a little stressed out driving certain places at certain times of day, but really what choice to do I haev if I have to go somewhere. We live by the base (pendeton) and it can get pretty bad getting off or on base at certain times. Someone mentioned the 78 always having accidents? Whats the deal with the 78? I drive it everyday, and yes it's a 3 lane vs a 4 lane like the 5 but boy oh boy people drive like it's a free for all on the road? I cant' figure it out, maybe it's not watched my cops like the 5? I don't know, the 5 has it's share of bad/aggressive/crazy drivers but I have never seen anything like the 78.

[lrmsd]

Originally Posted by pegzee

My husband and I (late 40s and early 50s) will be moving there to San Diego in a few years after I complete my nursing school.

You always hear about how bad traffic is. So, really how bad is it? What are the times of rush hours? What are some examples of travel times within the area? What areas have more traffic than others? Is "off rush hour" traffic significantly better? I want to work the P.M. shift.

Thanks for all you locals with patience for us "wannabes". :P

Well,if you are 'in traffic',then it's bad.(:
But,many people arrange their lives to avoid this.
And it is nothing like LA,Boston,NY or SFO/Bay Area.

My husband does not go on the freeway to go to work[we live 3 miles from his office],and we live 3 miles to the ocean and don't need to use freeways for that. And we are walking distance to parks,libraries,stores,etc.

I drive my son 15 miles to a Charter school each morning;we drive south on the 805,and hit zero traffic. 805 north,well,it's stopped for a couple of hours-due to the mira mesa/kearny mesa corridor where many folks work.

My husband is a SD native-and he always says 'everything is twenty minutes in SD'.
Of course,with traffic and people commuting to areas that previously were open space,and mor epeople overall....that has changed somewhat. BUt again,even when we didnt live as close to the coast,we could drive at rush hour from north park and be at the beach in la jolla shores in 20 min or less. Regularly.

There are easy ways to avoid traffic,and SD is a spread out series of suburbs.
All points do NOT lead to downtown,so it's not like everything is coming or going from one location.

Even in LA,everyone really is heading to west LA/the coast areas,with most people in the city living east....so traffic largely heads in one or two directions.
I just don't find SD to be the same. You have more options in SD,and definitey options for avoiding a 'commute' if you dont want one.

Not a quality of life issue,IMO,unless you absolutely have to buy a house on the 15 and commute into SD proper every day [or from south bay or far north bay,etc.]. Then,yes,you will hit traffic.

Best strategy is start out living near your work [if you know ahead of time where that will be]...and then get a feel for the city and the particular areas you enjoy frequenting,as well as the amenities you require.

ANd I agree with the person who said the freeways always have cars on them. However,outside of rush hour and some areas of the city during Charger's games or an accident,you would be hard pressed to find stop and go traffic anywhere...[aside from weekend peak travel to and from LA;but there are certain bottleneck areas such as del mar,and again in orange county,that are predictable as to patterns of congestion.

[sdlife619]

We should be comparing cities that are similar in size and population to San Diego, and not cities that are 2 to 3 times bigger than us, since obviously cities like LA, DC Metro, NYC, Chicago are going to suck badly because they have millions upon millions more people than SD.

I would compare SD to places like Denver and Phoenix. People also have to realize we don't have the jammed pack bumper to bumper traffic like in many other same size cities, the reason being is we have a lot of freeways to drive on. Some cities only have 1 or 2 freeways that are always clogged like Orlando, since it's one way in and one way out. We have multiple ones that have at least 4 or more lanes that help ease congestion,