i've moved around quite a bit in my life. i've lived, throughout my life, in 5 states, traveled to almost all 50, and 7 countries. i've been to a fair amount of places, but i have to say that san diego rates pretty low on my list of favorite places. don't misunderstand- it's ok for some people. but i'm different than most people, and just because other people like it doesn't mean that i will. also, it has its benefits. and i am glad i had the chance to live here- i met the most amazing girl in the world here. buuuuut, i feel about as eager to leave san diego as i was to leave kentucky. here's why:
10. its environment. the amount of smog in the air has been coming to my attention a lot more lately. also, there is such a dearth of cutting-edge environmental spectacles. for instance, i never see waterless urinals in this semi-arid climate, i don't see many cfl lights in this blackout-prone city, and it's more common to see a 4x4 monster truck than a civic.
9. its military complex. goes hand-in-hand with the 4x4 monster trucks. yes, people here support the american terrorism in iraq because many of the soldiers in iraq were deployed from san diego. in some areas of this city, the type-a alpha males rule, and if you are not like them, you are "feminine". here, strength precedes intelligence. reminds me a lot of the south.
8. its lack of good coffee/tea shops. to repeat a friend from the bay area, "this is starbucks territory". i must pay respects to three coffee shops san diego really needs. these are pannikin (any location), rebecca's coffee house, and influx cafe. other than these (and a couple other places), there's really not much to brag about. good luck finding a tea shop here: the best place to get loose-leaf tea is a place in old town- the service is terrible, it closes early, and there's no seating.
7. its complacency. people here are comfortable with where they are in life (no matter where that may be), and feel no need to grow or challenge or be different. i'm sick of being stared at because i don't follow the norm. and if i challenge what is the mainstream opinion, i get ostracized.
6. its superficiality. one word to describe san diego? superficial. if you're ever in san diego, don't try to talk to anyone about something that actually matters. if you do, you're a very strange person. if you're a female visiting san diego and want to blend in with the locals, come prepared with too much make-up and too much time to spend looking at yourself in the mirror. the superficiality even seeps into public spaces: sdsu's campus green areas are not meant to be walked on or sat on; they're meant to be looked at. there's not much to do in balboa park beside walk in the developed areas.
5. its culture/history. san diego has it. but it's solely oriented around surfing. this area is not known for its art, its sophistication, or its finesse. there's history here, too, but the problem is that cabrillo and his successors wiped it out to establish their own history. people here tend to forget about that. on a side note, although i am very tolerant, respectful, and supportive of the northern mexico culture, i personally don't like it very much; but this culture is very prominently displayed and ingrained here.
4. its citizens' attitudes. i can't figure out why people here are so far removed from their relationships. your friends don't reveal their soul to you. in fact, unless you know someone well, they will hardly make eye contact with you. moreover, your friends don't introduce you to more friends- that's up to you.
3. its exclusivity. everything's 21-and-up, which isn't a hindrance for me anymore, but these rules make it hard to have younger friends. before i turned 21, i couldn't find anything to do here, believe it or not. it's also exclusive in terms of prejudice: they expect certain things from certain people, making stereotypes normative.
2. its political atmosphere. i've gotten the impression here that you shouldn't challenge the government, that things going on in city hall are not my business, and that republicans are god's children. i want to hide from people that i vote neither democrat nor republican, and don't politically support anyone i disagree with. i carry many socialist ideals, but that doesn't mean i'm a socialist either, a concept incomprehensible to most people here.
1. its inaccessibility. everything worth going to is disconnected from the rest of the city: south park has 1 bus running through it, ocean beach is almost literally disconnected from the city, and north park has jems, but they are also spread out. i want to live in a city connected by public transportation and that allows walking. try living in san diego without a car. yeah. it would suck.
this list spilled onto the screen way too fast. yeah, i hate it here. maybe seattle or san francisco next?
Thursday, December 6, 2007
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Dude, I couldn't agree more with almost all your reasons. A lot of urban centers are producers of smog, and San Diego is no exception. Plus, given its notorious staunch Republican base, going green is like going Democrat, and God forbid someone do the ultimate sin of switching parties *GASP*.
I also agree with your views on San Diego's problems with inaccessibility (San Francisco was so much easier and I had no need to get a car), military complex, political atmosphere, and its superficiality.
As for culture and history, there is a show on NBC called About San Diego that has all these neat stories about tidbits that are well known and tidbits about the tiniest details of the county. Whether these things relate to Cabrillo is anyone's guess.
I feel the exact same way. I have been here for 2 years and only have 2 more to go. My husband and I don't have even ONE friend who is from here. In fact, all of our friends are from the NY (home state) and the rust belt.
No one has any sort of "Moxie" here or any integrity for their personal character; they roll over with everything. I get called a "bitch" at least once a week for sticking up for myself, complaining about ridiculously bad service or telling someone to be quiet in a movie theater (hubby and I have stopped going out to movies because people can't keep their mouths shut out here).
I can't even begin to tell you the amount of times someone has severely screwed up my life because they lied to me (no one likes to tell it how it is and tend to sugarcoat everything), were lazy and didn't do the work they were supposed to do, or went back on their word.
I always wondered who seriously gave a damn about all this pop culture garbage and who listened to such terrible, listless music, now I know; everything I hate about pop culture is worshiped here and comes from here. People will sell themselves out in a minute when styles change. It's sad.
Good luck to you, I hate it here too. I don't think the fact that I dislike hot weather, lack of seasons and relentless sunshine helps either.
Maybe we should form a support group? ;)
^STARTS SLOW CLAP
Bravo! My girlfriend and I moved to “Sun Diego” June 2007 from Pennsylvania just to try something different. Needless to say we are moving back in 2 weeks. The whole San Diego experience has been horrible. Everything you said and the above comments have said is completely correct.
We’ve been here over a year and have made 0 real friends. People here just want to surf, tan, and hang out at the beach. Our apartment complex is totally inept and cannot handle the smallest issue within the complex. There are homeless people EVERYWHERE; we actually saw two bums having “relations” downtown IN THE GASLAMP. They wake us up in the middle of the night crushing cans and diving into the dumpster. And everyone seems to think this is normal. The museums in Balboa Park seem like they were just thrown together for tourist; the zoo is not very good besides having some panda bears. Also being a hockey fan in SD doesn’t help. People here ask me if I like rugby when I wear my ice hockey jerseys. (NOTE: the logo has an ice hockey sticks and skates)
When I told everyone at work that I was moving home they did two things. 1. Per usual, asked me if I was going to miss the weather (not a big deal to be honest, I miss seasons) and 2. I got the normal “why would you want to move away?”… When I asked them if they lived anywhere else they look at me blankly and say “why would I want to do that?”
But now that we are not the only ones who hate San Diego, I wish everyone the best of luck getting out of the dirty infested hell hole.
-Bill
Dude Yeah SD sucks. But so does SF- I am from the bay area and I just want to remind you the grass is NOT always greener- San Francisco has some scenic beauty, but it is also disgusting and has WAY too many cracked out aggressive homeless types. It's not clean anymore and there are tons of people from other states who think they own the town. I now live in Chicago and NY and they are both heads and tails above SF. Just my 2 cents. Peace.
so, i just saw that this august i received three comments on this blog post.
thank you all for your insight. i'm glad that i'm not the only one who observed these things about "america's finest city".
i have to say that one year after posting this i feel exactly the same. part of me has simply acclimated to the city, expecting all the things i hated so bad at the time of this posting, but all of me will always long for something different. and i still hate those stupid little stares i get when i say something mildly intelligent. in other words, i still hate san diego.
i'm glad the three of you could leave town and find nicer places. i've applied for my ph.d. at a place that i think will suit me much better, and we'll see how that goes. in the meantime i must suffer, but look forward to the change. cheers!
OMG - I have found normal people in San Diego!!!
I moved to San Diego 10 years ago. Boy that was the BIGGEST mistake of my life. I consider myself pretty stupid to have moved from nice warm friendly, inexpensive, well run, no state income tax Florida to an overpriced, over rated, man made beachs and hairy palm tree San Diego...stupid, stupid, stupid me.
1. San Diego is not tropical, it is a desert. Palm trees are not native to SD they grow in a tropical region. Tropical also means there is high humidity, lots of rain, foliage is green and healthy (not dead and brown waiting for a breeze to blow by and catch it on fire) and the average temperature is above 80 degrees.
2. Talk about unfriendly people. If you so much as say hi to a local they wonder what you want. I have never had so many doors let go in my face by the locals with no manners. I've never had people walk into me before just because they had no clue as to their surrounding.
3. For a city that has soooo many colleges, it has the most ignorant local population. You are right when you said that people here never bother to better themselves, they are happy doing what they did 40 years ago, like driving their 1962 VW van with a Peace sign spray painted on the side and those fashionable tie dye shirts.
4. Apartments - has anybody really noticed that most apartments here (in the city of SD only) were built between 1920 & 1950, then none were built again until 2000. I personally have never lived in an apartment built in 1940 until I moved out here. In Florida they tear the old stuff down that contains lead and Asbestos. Every apartment I lived in was brand new, with central heat & air, a full size washer and dryer, a dishwasher, microwave, security system and beautiful landscaping, mutiple pools, so even had a 9 hole golf course ALL for $425 per month. So I've comprised by living standards down to a roof, four walls, and inside toilet for $1121 per month. It's a crap hole, by neighbor across the hall beats his wife on Friday nights so the Cops are always here. My neighbors downstairs are locals who were raised in a barn, they cannot close a door without slamming it, and or course they are deaf because they can't hear their TV without sharing with everyone around them. And of course far be it from me to say a word to the office for fear of retaliation from the "bullies".
BUT unfortunality I have a business here. I've worked very hard at setting up a bookkeeping service. And I have experienced some of the worst clients ever. It's hard to find clients here who give a hoot about their books. As long as they have money in the bank then their profitable.
And Narcissitic, I've never met so many people who have such a high opinion of themselves, who are so self centered and they feel like somebody owes them something. I haven't figured out what that something is, but when I find out I'll be sure to broadcast it. I've had clients empty out their bank accounts the day before I'm suppose to get a check. Oh and lying, no one seems to be able to deal with the truth out here.
San Diego has no class, it's not a vacation meca, it's not a high-tech bio-medical area(they are all moving to Florida 'cause San Diego's too expensive) it's beaches are disgusting and polluted, the cliffs from above and fall and kill you. And for a place that is so strick on it's environment why is there a sewage spill once a week so the beaches have to be closed. I heard one surfer being interviewed because he was surfing in an area that had been closed due to a raw sewage spill and his comment was "he just spits the turds out" now ladies how would you like someone like that showing up to take you out one night.
So I'm stuck here. If I can ever get enough money saved up to move back to Florida I will be one happy person.
I can put a sign on the back of my car that say's
"AMF San Diego"
I have lived in San diego all of my life just about everywhere in the county some things I can agree with you on but San Diego has its good points too but I'm on to San Fransisco next year and we'll just see how I like northern California
i cant believe im still alive living here. worst place in the country. cant wait to move up north again.
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