The lifestyle of Californians

There is no music scene to speak of. If you hear someone say there's thriving SD music scene, that person probably isn't that into music. If you're into any underground scene, expect to drive to LA every time one of your favorite acts comes to Cali.

You're leaving cold weather for cold personalities.

There are maybe two spots here that look like your icon. The rest of the city consists of slums, mansions, $500,000 shacks, and office buildings.

San Diegans are always late because no matter where you live here, you're far away from wherever you're going. And there's traffic. Lots of traffic.

Welcome!

I second that, especially the last two sentences! Dumb San Diego.

Though there's no chance of getting snowed in and trapped inside your house here. :)

Don't be taken back by halfempty's response.
I moved here after living in Amherst, MA when I graduated college. I've found most people here to be a lot nicer than anyone in New England. San Diego is a very transient city - a lot of military and a lot of students. The cost of living is very high, especially if you're looking to purchase a home.

Traffic is not that bad. I've seen worse traffic in western MA. The only time I see traffic is from 4-5PM during rush hour, and less during the morning rush. But San Diego itself is a small city and you'll soon learn easy ways to get around.

I assume you'll be living in PB by your question. PB has a lot of traffic near the main strip, Garnet, pretty much all day. It also has a popular (though not my favorite) bar scene. The Fashion Valley Mall is not far away. It should only take you 15 minutes but that will depend on how close you are to the freeway entrance. Mapquest is your friend :-)

If you want nice beaches, my favorite is the La Jolla cove. Let me know if there's anything else you need to know :-)

Yeah, I moved away to go to school and miss San Diego. It's more of what you make it. I'm into crappy small punk bands and when my East Coast friends would come out San Diego was always a place they'd go to. But the town is full of fakes and "bros" SICK!! LETS GO OFFROADING IN MY LIFTED TRUCKS!! AND WEAR SPY SUNGLASSES!! type guys. It's alright. If you use common sense when you drive, take the train, or take the trolly traffic isn't issue. If you have to get caught in it, i've been in the situation where somebody got out and took a piss on the side of the freeway and was stil lable to get back in the car...

I can't wait to leave the cold weather and the uptight personalities

haha well, if you come anytime soon you will be a little disappointed, it's rainy and a bit chilly here. and uptight personalities, they are everywhere baby! I mean people here are alot more liberal, and chill for the most part.

I just moved here myself last august, I lived in Missouri my whole life and I have to say, I have never been happier.

goodluck
-amy

I know about the chilliness, but what's funny is that it will probably appear "warm" to me... lately in New England it's been in the 20s and 30s and snowy!! So anything above 50 seems warm!

Everybody has their own idea of the city they live in...good and bad. Its probably safer to say you'd just have to come out here and figure San Diego out yourself. It has its ups and downs and depending on your personality and what you're looking for a town will determine how much you enjoy it. Plus, it really depends on what YOU'RE actually into--it can be difficult to really gauge how much you'll like the town based on other people's descriptions as far as music and the "scene" is like.

Also, its good to note that there will always be "uptight" people anywhere you go as well as people who always run late. San Diego is probably not as different from New Hampshire as you think--or it might be completely different...

San Diego is a nice retirement community, place to raise your family, or place to be serious about school. If youre looking for fun, its not here.

San Diego is conservative, entirely too spread out forcing you to drive because public transportation is abysmal.

You will see people wearing flip-flops and shorts even if its raining. That can give you an idea about SOME, but not all of the people in San Diego.

Beaches are nice, you can find some decent restaraunts and random gems that you can hold dear, because they are limited.

This is just one opinion, ideally you make the most of where you are on your own. Welcome to SoCal.

San Diego is a nice retirement community, place to raise your family, or place to be serious about school. If youre looking for fun, its not here.

Ever go to SDSU? This is a freakin' party town

I just moved here and I love it. I'm from the South and am used to very friendly people, and I haven't found cold personalities here. I'm sure there are plenty, but I think most of the posts are making it out to be way worse than it actually is.

Maybe it's because I just moved from Meridian, MS, shithole, USA, but I love it here.

I am also from NH... Nashua for 8 years, Lowell MA for 8 years. Miss it mucho but visited last week for a funeral and although the weather was "great" according to my aunt, all I could think was "hey I was in a skirt and tank top 12 hours ago now I have 2 sweaters and mittens on...WTF". People here complain of traffic but if you ever have been in the big dig than this traffic is nothing. Child's play really...

We get so pissed off about the traffic because it didn't used to be as ridiculous as it is now. Even if it's not as bad as other places, as people who grew up here, it's worse than what we know and we hate change. In the good old days, traffic wasn't really a worry, but now you're stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic at 9pm on a Saturday... it's just dumb! (as I am sure you've experienced)

Alright now...

I grew up in San Diego, and like the natives that responded to your question, I used to bitch about the place and couldn't wait to move... but you know why? BECAUSE I HADN'T BEEN ANYWHERE ELSE. People who think there's "no music scene here" and "nothing to do" are just spoiled and are usually trying to sound like they're too cool for the place. You know how pretentious kids like to bitch. They should try living in Nashville, TN, like I did, and then they'll see that the west coast is the best place in the USA to live (other than NYC) and Los Angeles is not very far away. You're going to love it here.

Re: Alright now...

I must concur. I lived in Las Vegas for a little bit and I couldn't help but miss San Diego. Ironically the people in Vegas were a lot ruder to me than the people I've come across in San Diego. Despite the fact that Vegas is open 24-7 San Diego still has more things to do than the city of Sin...at least in my opinion.

My girlfriend is from NH. I've been trying to get her to move out here, sigh.

San Diego Native. I've been/lived in: Salt Lake City, Austin, Copperas Cove, Pheonix, Flagstaff,Vegas.

FUCK YOU PEOPLE WHO ARE SHIT TALKING SAN DIEGO. You dont like it then LEAVE. The only uptight cold personalities there are you implants.

San Diego has its faults. High costs for anything, traffic is pretty bad but we have great public transportation and other things. As far as the music scene goes, there are a LOT of underground bands there, it simply depends on what your taste is. Just because you may not like what the underground scene in SD has to offer you doesn't mean it doesn't exist.

If you cant find something to do in SD for your night pleasures, then please, by all means, GO TO LA, it just means those of us in SD who are more into hanging out and having a few beers and relaxing after the hectic day, dont have to deal with those of you who feel the need to do kegstands until you vomit on someone else's shoes.

Conversative is another no. One nice thing about SD, is that in its own way its like its own state. You dont like the vibe in PB that day? Go to OB, or MB, or La Jolla. Not to mention, living so close to the border is nice. You can take the trolley into Mexico and see the sights and be home in time for dinner.

I'm really sick and tired of these damn implants trashing San Diego. If you like where your from so much better then please, I beg you, LEAVE.


(sry for ranting in your journal but this has been nagging at me for awhile)

"great public transportation"

NOT in north county...it's horrible...basically only downtown san diego and la mesa/ college area has DECENT public transportation in my humble opinion.

the coaster helps too a little.


PERSONALLY, I love San Diego. I have lived in 13 different houses in like 10 different states and San Diego is by far the best.

Indie, Emo, Hardcore, rock and Techno

agreed here



the indie scene here has and does kick ass. hands down. hats off. the dive bars will show this.

..but as far as popular music goes..the new-emo and dirt-rock shows/fashions have picked up alot. fashion valley and PB will show this.

where to start?

I moved here from Pittsburgh, PA in August 2001. Yes, sometimes the traffic sucks. Yes, there are some snobs. Yes, there are some bros. Yes, it's expensive. Yes, it's not perfect.

But it makes me a hell of a lot happier than where I used to live.

In all honesty it is what you make it - if you want it to be cool, it can be. If you think you're going to be miserable, you will be.

But isn't that true for everywhere?


Some negative points: Cost of living / housing / gas. Traffic from 7-9am, and 4-6pm. Not being able to understand more than one language. People who are totally dependent on Mommy & Daddy's checking accounts. Tourist trap.

Some positive points: Weather. Atmosphere. Romantic spots. Places to be alone. Many, many, many new people with more than enough different lifestyles and cultures to educate you. Fun dive bars. Attractive people. Being able to get to a desert / ski resort / beach / VEGAS / san fran in under a day. Opportunities galore for a billion new life experiences. Photo opps like I don't even know. Good autograph potential (aka random celebrity sightings). Tourist trap. Any kind of music / fetish scene that you want.

SD is a total melting pot. You'll love it. My only suggestion is to have a STABLE job lined up.

Re: where to start?

I'm glad to see SOMEONE who appreciates the negatives and positivies of SD as much as I do.

pb to the mall and a note on personalities

PS - PB to the FVM, if you have your own car, is about 10 minutes. Take Friars Road if you don't want to get on the freeways.

"uptight personalities"... oh, you'll leave the old ones behind for new ones... but the difference here is they're not "small town mind" uptight personalities. being from a small town, i can understand what you mean better.

just keep a smile and an open mind; you'll be fine. and if you like to shop, even better. ;)

It's kinda funny to listen to people bitch about traffic it's really not that bad. Go to seattle and then tell me how bad the traffic is. It's the way people drive not the traffic that I think is the problem.

Highs and Lows

Heard about this conversation through San Deigo Blog, and I think the "middle of the road" approach is the best one to take here. I just moved to San Diego in December, and I've had a somewhat balanced amount of applauds and gripes. For the record, I'm an implant, but I've either lived in, or visited, every large city from coast to coast. They all have their little quirks, and San Diego is no different.

In the last few years, I've lived in Florida, South Carolina, Virginia, and Hawaii. I doubt that I'll settle in San Diego, but I thought it would be worth the trip to shack up here for a while. I'm a huge proponent of urban living and chose the downtow area to live. When we moved here, we got a loft and parking for about $1000 a month. As with a lot of other commenters, the first thing I noticed was the housing cost. I was actually paying MUCH less for a MUCH nicer 1br in the heart of downtown Honolulu, which ranked as my number one most expensive place to live until I moved here. The traffic is actually not bad for the size, as some others have said. My beef with traffic is not the amount, but the style. Unfortunately there seems to be a high concentration of terrible drivers in the SD metro area. Usually this is found in younger cities, where the majority of residents haven't fully matured to handle large amounts of traffic (i.e. Jacksonville, FL); but for some reason, there is a lot of "road-rage" floating around San Diego. In 13 years of city and highway driving, I've never been in an accident. Within a month of moving here, I was involved in a 70mph, road-rage induced crash-em-up dirby on I-5. I haven't had much experience on I-15 yet, but the 8 and the 5 seem to get really dangerous in the afternoons, especially the 8. I was staying in El Cajon when we first got here and made the trip back and forth from downtown to El Cajon on a daily basis; and I after two months or so, I still hadn't become fully comfortable with it. Fortunately, I don't get on the highway very often any more, spending most of my time on foot in the downtown area. Which brings me to my next point.

There are a TON of transients/undesirables floating around downtown. It amazes me. I can't remember another city that has so many bums! What's odd is that they don't really congregate in one area...or your typical "bad part" of town. The worst place would have to be the edge of Horton Plaza..Broadway side. They hang around the Starbucks/Newsstand area for some reason. Harrassing the hell out of people. Also, the closer you get to bus stops and trolley stops, the more there are, making those areas a little uncomfortable to navigate.

Enough about negatives, how about some positives? First and foremost, Balboa Park is a great place to spend some free time. And also, if you're into the outdoors and hiking, San Diego and the surrounding area has plenty to offer. You could spend the rest of your healthy days hiking the trails around here and still never hike them all. The mountains are close...the beaches are close...you have the best of both worlds. Which also includes the weather. Believe it or not, weather plays an important role in pyschological health. Plenty of studies are out there showing that places with better weather tend to have happier residents. Now, that doesn't take into account all the other stresses life throws at you, but it's a good starting point.

Before I finish my rambling, let me second the vote on "pretentious assholes." There are a lot of those floating around...but that's the urban nature. You could make that same statement and fill in the blank with any other stereotype you can think of. Urban areas bring with them a higher population, which in turn brings a higher amount of various personalities, cultures, ethnicities, and so on. But on the same token, San Diego is large enough that you can find your own niche in your own neighborhood.

And that's enough for me. I could go on, but I've reached the character limit.

a.k.a. Social Thinker

San Diego: it is what you make of it. Musically, we have a ton of venues. I've seen rock, jazz, latin jazz, all the various rock forms (death metal, emo, christian, etc.), and I'm not that into the scene, even. Lots of venues downtown, Soma, coffee shops (Lestats), etc. PB is known for some good hangouts and the bar scene. I like PB Bar and Grill cuz it's got a lot of space and you can find what you want there: bar, pool, dancing, bar, outside eating area... As far as people in SD go, you've got all types: fake people, prissy people, shallow people, real people, happy people, intelligent people. Traffic is hit-and-miss. There's definitely a noticeable rush hour, but it's usually predictable. And the rest of the time, traffic isn't too bad, and finding your way around gets easier over time.
By the way, I'm a native of El Cajon (please save your comments, lol), and I go to SDSU. Like they said of SDSU, it is what you make of it... you can party all the time, or you can get a good education. Same idea can be applied to San Diego. What do want from it? It's probably here, you just have to know where to look.