Question for anyone familar with the San Diego area

[Stang2Vibe]

I am strongly considering relocating to the San Diego area within the next 6 months. More specifically, a small city called Santee which, as I understand, is about a half hour drive from SD. Very close to El Cajon, also. I saw some things about that area on TV about a month ago and I've been doing some internet research on it. I noticed that there are many job openings in the area and it seems to be absolutely beautiful there. I'd like to take a vacation there this spring or summer to see first hand what it is like first.Any info on what it is like there would be very much appreciated. Things like the climate, culture, traffic conditions, earthquakes, etc. would be great. I'm looking into possibly finishing up college in that area and working part time until I graduate, then I might like to live there permanently. I know the cost of living there is quite high, but I've noticed that jobs pay more in proportion to compensate for that. Just checking to see if anyone has any first hand knowledge of the area. Thanks!

[MJN2]

Well, I don't live there now, but I did from 1992-1996. Lived in several different areas during that time: Poway (north of SD), El Cajon, and Spring Valley.Traffic there has probably changed since I was there, so I won't venture a guess, other than it used to be bad, but tolerable. I drove from El Cajon/Spring Valley down to Coronado Island everyday, so it was a bit of a cruise.Climate is very nice, although out in the western burbs it can get quite a bit warmer than it does in the city in the summer.As for earthquakes, the only one I can recall feeling was a minor tremor from the Northridge quake up near LA. Otherwise, things were quiet on that front.As for extracurricular activities, there are plenty. The beaches, of course, plenty of clubs to go to (I was a fan of Croce's in the city), the mountains aren't far off if camping, hiking, biking, etc. are interests. There is the zoo, Wild Animal Park, Seaworld, etc. for your tourist-y things to do. Can go whale watching at certain times of the year as well (which I have to admit is very cool).I lived there between the ages of 19 and 23, plus I was in the military at the time, so my take on SD might be a little different than someone elses.Oh, get used to seeing military all over the place. Unless some of them have closed, there are (were) 5 military bases in and around San Diego: North Island Naval Air Station, Coronado Naval Amphibious Base (where I was stationed), 32nd Street Naval Station, MCRD San Diego, and MCAS Miramar (formerly NAS Miramar aka Top Gun).Hope this info helps you out

[Psychobroker]

Extracurricular can be summed up in one word: Tijuana! In all seriousness, SD area is beautiful, wonderful weather, gorgeous women, and don't worry about earthquakes. I've tuned them out since the Northridge one of '94. Every part of the country has their own natural disasters to deal with.

[Caretaker]

I hate to be the nay sayer, but it depends where you are coming from. If you are from Pittsburgh as your avitar suggests, San Diego will appear to be very nice. However, I find SD devoid of a large amount of culture compared to most east coast cities. The climate is wonderful, but after that, the place goes down hill for me:1. too close to LA2. has become a cement city3. once you've done the touristy things the place is known for, then what? There are only so many times you can go to the zoo4. Balboa Park is nothing more than an outdoor homeless shelter now5. Crime is significantly on the increase as gang activity continues to grow and grow.6. the ocean is too damn cold to swim in (it won't be anything like the east coast's gulf stream)7. yes, the cost of living is VERY expensive due to the overwhelming desire of retired military to stay put there.8. you are a long way from everywhere (except LA - oh joy!). Sure Las Vegas is 4 hours away doing 100 miles an hour in the desert ((accomplished in a Altima, not a Vibe), but otherwise, our good friend is right, you need to head south into Mexico to inject more culture into your life (and believe me on this one: Tijuana is not a place you want to spend a lot of time in, and the daytime violence there will be epidemic during the next 10 years).The best way to decide anything is do jot down the pros and cons on a piece of paper. After you are done with all your reasearch, the answer of whether to relocate there will be right in front of you. Best wishes on your decision.

[Mr.D]

I live in Alpine, which is near Santee. Santee is a great place, very homogenious community, more of a white working class place. Their schools are great and do very well in the State testing. Freeways have been added in the past 5 years which now connects Santee to the outside world, you used to have to drive several miles to get to a freeway, I52 and I125 have both had extensions which now reach Santee. SD is a great place, regardless of what the last poster said. Great climate, mountains, including skiing, deserts, the ocean, Mexico, the Colorado River and LA all within a 2 hour drive. Also SD's downtown area has been completely revitalized and has become a wonderful place, not to mention the new ballpark which just opened downtown. I say go for it

[Mr.D]

Also, I went to college in the area and did my student teaching in several Santee schools. If you have any more questions feel free to e-mail at Mr.D@germancarfans.com I'd be happy to answer any more specific questions for you. One negative I have to add is that Santee and El cajon are very hot in the summer, routinely reaching 100 and only cooling down the upper 70s at night. There is a great little 3/8 mile paved race track located right between El cajon and Santee, Cajon Speedway, that puts on a great show every weekend if you're into that stuff...

[Stang2Vibe]

Thank you very much for the offer Mr. D, I may take you up on that sometime. I also thank the others for sharing info also.Quote, originally posted by Mr.D »Santee is a great place, very homogenious community, more of a white working class place.That is very much what I wanted to hear. I'm not one for living crazy and traveling to Mexico and all that kind of stuff. I've never messed around with drugs, don't want to, and I don't like the whole nightclub scene. I have a SeaDoo waverunner and might like to use it. I understand that there is a river and a lake nearby, but I don't know if they allow motorboats there. I like camping, biking, bumming around the beach and things like that. Most of the negative things listed above are actually positive to me. I don't mind the military personnel, either. I have great respect and appreciation for them so they would be quite welcome to me. The summer climate seems similar to where I am now, and actually when I researched climate data, I found that the average summertime high temp there was 1 degree colder than here if you can believe that. It just stays a lot warmer in the summer there. I love auto racing and tinkering with cars too, so a dragstrip nearby is a big draw for me as well. If they have test and tune nights, I'd surely be running my Vibe there. This really doesnt sound bad to me at all so far, I may really have to look more into this first hand this summer. Glad to hear that earthquakes really aren't a factor in that area either. I have an uncle that lived in LA for years and in Palm Springs for a while. He lives a few minutes from me now so I may go and see what he says about the area. He traveled all over there for business for many years.Thank you all again so much, and Mr. D, you'll probably hear from me!

[AKLGT]

Quote, originally posted by maxx4me »I hate to be the nay sayer, but it depends where you are coming from. If you are from Pittsburgh as your avitar suggests, San Diego will appear to be very nice. However, I find SD devoid of a large amount of culture compared to most east coast cities. The climate is wonderful, but after that, the place goes down hill for me:1. too close to LA2. has become a cement city3. once you've done the touristy things the place is known for, then what? There are only so many times you can go to the zoo4. Balboa Park is nothing more than an outdoor homeless shelter now5. Crime is significantly on the increase as gang activity continues to grow and grow.6. the ocean is too damn cold to swim in (it won't be anything like the east coast's gulf stream)7. yes, the cost of living is VERY expensive due to the overwhelming desire of retired military to stay put there.8. you are a long way from everywhere (except LA - oh joy!). Sure Las Vegas is 4 hours away doing 100 miles an hour in the desert ((accomplished in a Altima, not a Vibe), but otherwise, our good friend is right, you need to head south into Mexico to inject more culture into your life (and believe me on this one: Tijuana is not a place you want to spend a lot of time in, and the daytime violence there will be epidemic during the next 10 years).The best way to decide anything is do jot down the pros and cons on a piece of paper. After you are done with all your reasearch, the answer of whether to relocate there will be right in front of you. Best wishes on your decision.wow! that's EXACTLY the way i felt about the EAST coast when i lived there for the short 6 months of hell! lol. oh well, guess you see there is a big diff b/w the coasts. SD is nice, but very very expensive... and a good majority of people there are superficial imo. too many people for my tastes, but great place to visit or vacation.