franc111s

Lived in ATL after moving from the UK 13+ years ago. COnsidering moving West eventually as both our kids live / school in LA.

Been to San Diego a few times and loved the weather / area.

Thoughts? Everyone says San Diego is lovely but what's the score for real?

AmerLisa

Don't know....but I'd like to live there as well. The weather seems about right, but the traffic looks like a nightmare (based on a holiday we took there a couple of years ago) However, for me, it would be a nice place to live.

Noorah101

I'd also love to live in San Diego (currently live in Phoenix). But I'm pretty sure anything decent I'd like to live in would be way out of my price range!

Rene

Socal Local

I've lived in San Diego for almost 4 years and I love it here. I like the climate, the proximity to the sea, the mountains and the desert, the choice of outdoor activities and the various other options living in pretty good sized city bring - concerts, museums, etc.

The only negatives I can think of are that you might want to consider are:

- Cost of housing (this has come down a lot in the last few years, but still expensive compared to other parts of the US)

- Traffic - although a lot depends on where you are and whether you are travelling at peak times. In general I find I can avoid the worst of the traffic just by travelling 30 minutes either side of the peak rush hour times.

- Airport - I remember reading some time ago that San Diegans have a love/hate relationship with their airport. The advantage is that is very quick to get through and very few weather delays, but not being a hub for any airline reduces the number of flight options and there are no direct flights to the UK.

Ozzidoc

I'll help as best I can with any specific questions....

Check your karma...

scrubbedexpat091

I was born and raised there and stayed there until I was 24, and would go back in a heartbeat if I could afford the housing there.

Housing is the biggest hurdle for most people, its not gonna be cheap and you may have to downgrade from what you have now unless you have a high income and or just wealthy.

The weather is about as perfect as you can get in North America, never too cold never too hot when on the coast, however the inland areas get colder in winter, and warmer in summer some areas pushing 100+ during times. A summer day in the area could be 70 on the coast downtown but 90 in La Mesa or Escondido.

The area consists of 18 different citys and several unincorporated areas so dnt necessarily just look at San Diego proper, there are lots of nice areas not located in the city of San Diego.

Traffic in rush hour is bad, always had been but not as bad as some citys, outside of rush hour its not bad at all, but even in rush hour its not horrible, just plan the extra time or work off hours.

Public transit is decent if your living near the trolley or downtown but gets worse to the north, east and south. A car will likely be needed.

The airport is small when compared to the others in the region, but this is not a bad thing really, you can get to lots of domestic citys non-stop or with 1 stop so its not as bad as everyone says, you can fly to LA or Phoenix to get to the UK and Europe.

Southwest airlines alone has over 85 flights per day, and its served by every major US airline and a few smaller ones such as Virgin America, Frontier, and Jetblue.

Delays are not the norm, and most flights will depart ontime if the aircraft arrives on time, about the only weather that shuts the airport down is fog.

Mexico is a short distance away if you desire, the ocean, the mountains, the desert in winter skiing isn't too far away.

Its a small version of a major city, but without all the issues the LA has.

franc111s

Thanks everyone. It's a challenge really. Lots of friends in Atlanta but kids now on West Coast and we are all pretty close.

It's hard to find anyone with the negatives on San Diego so I thought I'd try this group.

We may lease/timeshare there for a bit, to get to know the place... Maybe...

Best,

Steerpike

If I had to move from the Bay Area, San Diego would be my next choice. It has so much going for it. In addition to other comments here, they've done a fabulous job of revitalizing the downtown area - the ballpark / convention center area is great, much better than the equivalent in SF (SF's ballpark is great but the Moscone center is a sprawling mess). They've also built lots of condos in the downtown area, and the 'gaslamp' district is fabulous for food. Balboa park is gorgeous too.

I enjoy San Diego as a city more than I enjoy SF these days; I'd love to spend a few years there. It just doesn't have the concentration of high-tech jobs that the Bay Area has (but probably beats most other cities in that regard).

Unless you actually enjoy the humidity and heat of Atlanta, the weather in San Diego should blow your socks off!

Dan725

I've spent quite a bit of time there - I think it's a great city. Not that is was bad then, but it has improved so much since I first went in 1997.

The biggest downside as I see it - like much of California, when it comes to property, its a case of bending over and taking it. However, again like much of California, I have no doubt that its also massively affected by the current downturn, so hopefully prices nowadays are coming at least somewhat sensible.

Steerpike

It IS expensive, but - there's a reason for it - 'quality of life'. You can spend most of the year outdoors, you can leave your windows open much of the year (something I'm now beginning to appreciate as I'm spending the summer in Arizona!). Also, your heating/cooling costs can be minimal - so that's an offset. But - the best way to think of CA in general is - not 'how much (more) is it?' but, 'can I afford it? ' IF you can afford it, I think everyone should spend time there as there are so many intangibles that make it a fabulous place to be (I'm taking Bay Area and San Diego specifically, not most of the Greater LA area or the inland parts, though some of those are sweet).

Prices are coming down, dramatically, 'on paper'. Anyone who has to sell now is forced to sell at a huge discount compared to a couple of years ago; but one thing is worth noting - established, decent neighborhoods with traditionally low turnover are not seeing any turnover now. In my neighborhood, for example, no one is selling and we all bought our houses years ago, so we are not 'under water', and have no reason to sell or to 'walk away' from the property. So it's still probably quite hard to buy into the better, established neighborhoods. The places where the bargains are to be found are the new developments, where a lot of speculators bought properties with the intent of 'flipping' them.

Hope you enjoy it!

fatbrit

Full of liberals. You won't enjoy it!

scrubbedexpat091

San Diego is actually rather conservative...