Have you lived in or visited San Diego County, California? Tell us about it!
Palomar Mountain
October 2019 –I live in Palomar mountain in California in the United States of America. It is located in San Diego county, but it is very inland and on a mountain. Even people who live in San Diego don’t know this town exists. To live in Palomar mountain has its ups and downs. It is in a rural area and there are not very many people who live here. The good things about living here are that it is very quiet and there is not traffic. I use to live in Los Angeles, which is the complete opposite of where I live now. I traded my commute through downtown la for a commute where I can walk to work. The downside of living in a community like this is that there are no grocery stores or normal restaurants within an hour drive. The drive to get here is also very windy. I use to get sick every single time I drove the road up here. Luckily I have more of a tolerance these days. It is a very beautiful place with tons of trees and nature trails and on a clear day you can see the ocean! We have no traffic lights and the only thing on the mountain is a vegetarian restaurant with very odd hours, a post office and a general store. I typically do not go to these places, but it is nice to have them as an option just in case. I love the wild life we have as well. It is typically a daily occurrence to see deer and turkey grazing outside our home. Overall it is a nice town to live in.
Pacific Beach
October 2019 –I live in Pacific Beach, California, which is one of many diverse communities in the San Diego area. It contains all the elements of a typical medium-sized beach town – dive bars, surf shops, and beachside clubs. I primarily moved to Pacific Beach, or “PB” as it’s commonly called, because of how chill and relaxed the local community is. There is a strong independent music presence here, and you can find no shortage of street musicians and open mics to hang out and enjoy music. Furthermore, my neighbors are all nice people who have lived here for up to 20 to 30 years. They say not much as changed, and that they’ve seen generations of college students and young adults move through the community. The overall vibe which I like and dislike at the same time is the sense of transience despite the historical nature of PB. Every time I hear a college party on a Friday night, I get reminded of how those kids will be gone by summer. Every time I see a street musician, I know for sure that he won’t be in that same spot the next day. Every time I connect with a girl at a club, I feel like we’re only meant to be together for a night or the week that she’s here (because she’s visiting from “out of town”). In the end, I end up loving how precarious the community feels despite all these old liquor shops and bars being around. I can look at a bar sign that says, “Here since 1971” and still feel like the city has only been around for a year. That’s the overall charm and it motivates me to create more lasting things in life for myself.
San Diego
May 2018–San Diego is famous for its beaches. In fact, it has 70 miles of coastline that you can enjoy year-round. While the winter weather may not be great for swimming, you can still enjoy the long strips of soft sandy beaches, gorgeous coastline sunsets, and sunny days when people in other states are bundled up inside their homes. On any given day, especially during the spring and summer months, you can find people outside playing volleyball, riding bikes along the boardwalk, strolling the beachside shops or simply soaking up the sun. Active and healthy living is a mainstay in the area. It’s no surprise that San Diego recently made the list of Top 10 Fittest Cities in America.
San Diego
May 2018 — San Diego is one of the jewels of the West Coast. Not only does it have the largest Entertainment district in the Western US, it also has miles of beaches that are surprisingly empty for most of the week throughout the year. Locals normally don’t arrive until 4 pm unless they are at lunch. The weather is perfect near the water year round, with 300 days of sunshine. Thursday nights are special locally for those that are young. They go out and enjoy the bars, discos, and hotels with all the locals. Because there are so many tourists, going out on Friday or Saturday can cause local people to get frustrated. Another local tradition is to go to December Nights, a carnival that is held in the giant park that contains the world famous San Diego zoo. The carnival kicks off December and is on before any of the Christmas tourists show up, making it another ideal event for the locals. Drinking coffee wasn’t a strong tradition until about 12 years ago. Starbucks and others put a lot of coffee shops downtown. Those that moved to or visited San Diego kept the shops open with their business. Eventually, everyone started drinking more coffee. Many locals refuse to drink at chains there are not roasted or brewed by locally owned companies, however.