I’ve Lived in San Diego for My Entire Life. My Honest Thoughts

So I've lived in San Diego my entire life, born and raised here. And after over 30 years of watching this city grow, change, and reinvent itself, there are things I absolutely love about it. And a few things that drive locals, just like myself, absolutely bonkers. And here's what I'll be breaking down for you. Honestly, in this video, we'll talk about the good, everything that makes San Diego, one of the most desirable cities in the United States, the bad, the challenges that locals quietly deal with every single day. And of course, the ugly. These are the realities that long-term residents can't ignore anymore, no matter how much we love this place. My name is Nick, a lifelong San Diegan and a top real estate professional who has helped countless people buy and sell and call San Diego home. And I have seen literally every side of the city. So this is going to be my honest firsthand take. So let's start off with the good stuff. Everything I love about this place, the community feel, the lifestyle, the weather. I mean, this climate here is unbeatable. It is just so Mediterranean. I can't think of any other places just in the country where you have this sort of weather. I mean, I'm literally sitting here. It's the end of October and it's about 73, 74 degrees. Nice ocean breeze. It's the type of place where I would say that the weather year round is literally right around that 70 degree point. You can surf in the morning, you can golf in the afternoon and even fire up the grill at night, cook chicken or steaks, whatever you want to have and have your dinner outside. And the winters here are super mild. You know winter is hit in San Diego when you have people pulling out their Patagonias and their jackets. And it's literally like 63, 64 degrees. So if you're relocating here from the Midwest or the East coast, these winters here are going to feel like a permanent vacation. For example, today it was slightly cooler in the morning, you know, low sixties when you're waking up. So you're wearing a hoodie or you're wearing a jacket. And then by the afternoon you're stripping down because it's like 72, 73 degrees again. And to top it off, we have no extreme weather. I'm talking no snow days. There's no blizzards here. We have no hurricanes, no tornado warnings, none of that stuff. We just get our occasional, you know, marine layer over there on the coast and our Santa Ana winds. Those are really our extreme weather conditions here. Another great thing is the outdoor lifestyle here. You can go to the beach, you can go hiking, you can go biking, you can do yoga in a park. People literally live outside here and it really shapes how relaxed and how active this culture really feels in San Diego. If you like just hanging out and going to parks or green spaces close by to go bring the dogs, you have places like Belboa Park, Kate Sessions, and a ton of hidden neighborhood viewpoints that make this place so easy to unplug daily. And I know a ton of people including myself who really take advantage of having the beach and the ocean super close by a lot of people you'll see surfing before they even head into work. People will go on their morning walks at the beach and enjoy their coffee or even just go running right next to the beach. And even if the beach isn't your thing, that is no big deal because you have miles of trails in places like Torrey Pines, Elfin Forest, Mission Trails, and these are all great for, you know, hiking or trail running and mountain biking. You name it, you will have so many areas where you can just get outside and cruise around the trails. You also have a ton of other activities like pickleball and golf. These two are huge here in San Diego. You're going to find courts and golf courses, honestly multiple in every single city. You have quite a few dog friendly beaches as well. Multiple dog parks all over the place, even paddle boarding if you want to go down to Mission Bay or just jump in the ocean and go paddle boarding. And even just recently, I was actually in Dallas, Texas for a conference, and I realized how different the energy was. Everybody was either indoors or they were in their cars and I get it. It's super hot there. It was very humid, but I was like, I got to get outside and go on a run. And it was literally like 84, 85 degrees, but it was like 80% humidity. And some of the people I was with was like, you're going to go on a run. Are you crazy? And I'm like, I gotta, I gotta get outside. I gotta do a run. And I noticed there was nobody out running. I ran a good two, three miles and I didn't see anybody else running. I'm like, I probably look like a crazy person, but it's just to let you know, that's the energy here in San Diego. You can be outside literally all day, any month of the year, and just be super stoked. Another thing is the neighborhood diversity from North Park's breweries and food scene to La Jolla's just straight up coastal luxury to Carlsbad's family vibe. There's literally a fit for every single stage of life. You've got young professionals and creatives that live in places like North Park, South Park, and Golden Hill. It's all super walkable and unique architecture and a ton of hipster and kind of indie shops. You also have a ton of family friendly suburbs, like in Carlsbad, Poway, San Marcos. All of these are going to offer great schools, trails and backyards for the kids and the dogs. And you even have some very luxurious enclaves like over in Rancho Santa Fe or Del Mar and La Jolla, where you're going to find a lot of prestige, or maybe you're looking for privacy or even some architecture that is bound to just blow you away that might even have some ocean views. Or even if you're looking for some college town energy, you have plenty of that over in Pacific Beach or UTC or around the college area of San Diego state. There's a ton of rentals and nightlife and just evolving housing options. And there's also quite a few areas where retirees can thrive here as well. You have Ocean Hills Country Club, Rancho Bernardo and Lake San Marcos. These are all perfect for those that are seeking more of a peaceful, active living lifestyle. But what I'm really trying to get at is no matter what season of life you're in, you're going to have a neighborhood that fits that lifestyle. So I think that's something super unique and super special as well. The culture and food here is something to appreciate as well because San Diego has definitely become one of the best food cities here in California. We just have so many options from world-class Mexican food to some great seafood and a ton of global options. And it all comes without that chaos that Los Angeles has. And our taco culture is just unmatched as it really should be. I mean, we are neighbors with Mexico, so there is no reason why we shouldn't have hands down some of the best Mexican food. And we do. I mean, we are home to the California burrito, which that is making my mouth water. I haven't had one in a few weeks. And if I were to die tomorrow, that would hands down be my last meal. But we have everything from street stands down in Barrio Logan to much more elevated pitches on Mexican food, like over there at Puesto, but you literally cannot go wrong with our Mexican options. We also have some hidden gems like down in Convoy Street over in Kearney Mesa. This is arguably some of the best Asian cuisine you're going to find in SoCal. And maybe you're like, Nick, I only eat the best. I want the fanciest food. Well, San Diego has no shortage on Michelin rated restaurants. We're going to have Addison over in Del Mar. You're going to have Jeunette Jolie, which is going to be a modern French restaurant in Carlsbad. And one of my favorites is going to be Cali, which is Mediterranean food. It's actually located in downtown San Diego. Do not sleep on this place. If you're looking for your next date night or a place to go with your friends, go to Cali. I know I'm going there in a couple of weeks. Their chicken and this Egyptian carrot salad there, go there, get it. You'll definitely be hitting me up and saying, thanks. And you have quite a few monthly and weekly events when it comes to things like farmer's markets. If you're looking for fresh local ingredients or produce, every city here in San Diego has a weekly farmer's market. So don't be sleeping on that. And also a ton of food truck festivals as well. If you're looking for something a little more local, along with these taste of events, you have taste of Encinitas, taste of North Park, taste of Hillcrest. This is super cool because it keeps everything very local and it allows you to explore a lot of the new food scenes or restaurants you've never even tried. Community pride is also huge here. San Diegans love where they live, the Padres, local surf spots, small businesses, and you feel that tight knit vibe everywhere. There always seems to be a local neighborhood event going on from art walks to street fairs, to holiday parades, charity 5Ks. There is just so many things going on in each and every little area. People show up to outdoor summer concerts all the way to small business openings. People are diehard when it comes to this stuff and people are just very deeply rooted in their community. And from what I've seen, people seek this out. How do I know? Well, a lot of the times when you guys are reaching out, that is at the top of your list. You're like, I want to be involved in a community. I want to have that neighborly feel. So San Diego definitely has that community vibe. The last good thing I really want to mention to you guys is going to be the work life balance here. Especially in a day and age like today, we have a ton of remote work and a ton of entrepreneurship, which makes this lifestyle much more realistic than ever. We have a ton of locals that run small businesses, surf instructors, designers, agents, entrepreneurs who literally shape their own hours. And one thing I want to stress is no matter where you live in San Diego, you can literally change up your lifestyle in a matter of minutes. Let's say you live in Escondido. You can get that slower, quieter pace of life, but you're still only 30, 40 minutes from the beach. You can surf, catch a sunset and still be home sleeping in your own bed that night. Or maybe you live in downtown San Diego. You get the walkability, you get the restaurants and the nightlife, but you can hop on the coaster and literally in 30 minutes, be relaxing on the beach in Solana beach. And time definitely slows down a bit here. Let's say you work a high stress level job. You can easily reset and just for an example, just a few days ago, I was having an absolute, just a crazy day. Everything from nonstop calls to client stress, uh, deals were in motion. And by the end of the day, I was literally trying to just forget about everything. And I couldn't, my head was just spinning. So I literally just went straight over to the beach. I put on my trunks. I took a sunset dip. The water was not warm by any means, but it just grounded me and I felt so much better. So that literally is what living here is all about. Now those are all of the great things about San Diego, but obviously there is some trade-offs. So let's go into some stuff that literally just sucks. So here's what the locals complain about and how we deal with it. The first one being the cost of living. And I absolutely hate this term or this motto, the sunshine tax, but it is so real here in San Diego. And it's not just with the housing. It's everything from gas to groceries and people still pay it because of all those great things I just mentioned. And our housing prices are probably the biggest pill to swallow right now because the median home price is hovering right at about $950,000 up to a million dollars in most of San Diego County. And a lot of these coastal zip codes that everybody wants to be in like La Hoya or Carlsbad or Antonidas is well above one and a half million dollars, even a modest three bedroom fixer. And let's say Claremont, it's going to be right around a million bucks. And that's really expensive to a majority of people out there. And maybe you're like, Nick, I'm not even going to buy anything. I'm just going to rent. Well, rents here in San Diego, guess what? Those are incredibly high as well. If you want to rent a one bedroom and let's say North park or a little Italy or close to the beach, you can expect to pay somewhere between 2000 and $3,000 a month just for a one bedroom. And if you want a two bedroom, well, a lot of these areas that I just said, it's going to cost you anywhere from 2,500 to $3,500 a month. Even the everyday essentials can add up extremely fast to gas. Well, it's some of the highest in the nation, anywhere from about $4 and 50 cents up to about $6 a gallon, depending on where you're at groceries, whole foods and sprouts. Those are some of the favorites around here. They're very convenient, but they're very pricey. I mean, just an example, the other day, I went into a grocery store called lazy acres, which is very similar to a sprouts or whole foods. And I went in there for a few quick things and I didn't even get that much. I got some nuts, I got some eggs, I got some steaks and I got to the counter and it was like $145. This is literally two days of groceries for me and my fiance. So little things like that are just a kick in the, you know what, and with utilities will SDG&E is one of the most expensive utility providers in the United States. So if you're going to be using a lot of electricity, let's say for air conditioning, which you really shouldn't be using that much here because the temperatures, these are going to be high costs as well. Neighborhoods like Vista, Santee or even San Marcos, you're going to find larger homes and the prices are literally going to be a hundred to half a million dollars less than a lot of these coastal counterparts that everybody wants to be in. You can also buy things like fixer uppers, and I'm not talking about a full teardown or anything like that. I'm talking something that is just out of date. It needs new countertop. It needs new kitchen cabinets. It needs a coat of paint, some new floors. Doing things like this will get you in at a much better price or buy a condo. Use that as a step up to get into the market. You can still find some really nice condos in really great locations that are not far from the beach for $500,000 to $600,000. And yeah, of course that condo is not going to be some magnificent four or five bedroom, 2000 square feet townhome, but you can still find that one to two bedroom in that price range and at least get your foot in the market. You can also do something that we did on our first house, which is house hacking. This is where you rent a portion of the house out. Maybe it's a couple of rooms or something like that, or you can find a setup where there is a either detached or attached guest house where there's a separate entrance with its own kitchen, bathroom, bedroom. You can rent those out for 2000 bucks a month. That's what we did. We got a much better house and we just rented it out the lower portion out and we were totally happy. It was a great investment at the end of the day. And I always have to remind people, yes, it's expensive, but most cities with this type of lifestyle, San Francisco, New York City, Los Angeles are even higher and they don't even offer the same year round quality of life. And guys, if you can't tell, I love to keep it real and just give you actual insight. So if you're seriously watching this and considering buying or selling in San Diego County, reach out. We would love to help. This is something we do every day is give people the right information so they can make a more confident decision. So scan this QR code right here. This will book a direct time with me so we can sit down and chat and figure out what's best for you. Another thing that is not so great is the traffic and infrastructure challenges. This is a car city. We do have some pretty darn good public transit and it does exist, but it's still improving and traffic during these peak hours is brutal. And at this day and age, it's kind of to be expected, but a lot of these highways here in San Diego are extremely congested, especially the interstate five, the 805 and the 15. These are all known as choke points, especially in certain areas, like in Del Mar, Serrano Valley, Mira Mesa, the 78 junctions, the one over in Escondido and even the one in Oceanside, they can get so packed. And even if you want to take back roads and kind of avoid stuff or maybe take the coastal route, like the 101, expect that to be even slower than the freeways for the most part. It is a lot more scenic and more beautiful, but you're never going to get away from this traffic. So the commute headaches are real. And let's say you are going from Carlsbad to downtown San Diego during rush hour, that could take you 50 to 60 minutes, or maybe you live in Encinitas and you need to head to Escondido for a doctor's appointment that could take you 30 to 40 minutes. And honestly, Carlsbad to downtown that should take you with no traffic. I'd probably say 25, 30 minutes. Encinitas to Escondido, that's 20 minutes as well. So you can see how much longer when you're traveling during those peak hours, how much longer it can take to get to some of these areas. Now I did mention public transportation, but it does have its limitations because you have great things like the coaster and the trolley, but it only works for a small percentage of people and the service is very limited. And it's really not that convenient for most because most of the time the train station or the trolley station, it takes a little bit of time to get there. So you usually need a car just to get right there. And buses definitely do exist, which could be a good option, but they kind of lack in coverage. And I would say that most of San Diego, especially inland and North County are very, very car dependent. Central San Diego is going to be a lot better of an option if you're looking for some really good public transit. And I've seen locals adapt to this in a really unique and cool way. A lot of people do kind of this micro commute living where they work, live, play, and kind of socialize within their neighborhood bubble. For instance, let's say you live in North Park. I mean, North Park is a place you literally kind of don't need to leave because everything is just all within walking or biking distance of your front door and remote workers. San Diego has a giant population of entrepreneurs, freelancers, and hybrid workers who literally are able to avoid the worst hours on the highway and on the streets. So they can really choose when they leave and when they come back and bikes. And I guess to be more specific in this day and age, I would say e-bikes. They are becoming insanely and increasingly popular over the past few years. And it's so key, especially in some of these coastal areas like Encinitas or mission beach, Pacific beach. Heck you could even live inland and have an e-bike or a regular bike and you can get around so much easier. You get to avoid so much of that traffic and people are using this for everyday errands to go to the grocery store to, you know, not to pick up the kids, because especially here, you'll see this a lot. A lot of kids jump on their e-bikes and go to school. So the parents don't even have to worry about dropping their kids or picking them up at school. And a big tip for newcomers is pick your neighborhood based off your lifestyle. Don't base it off of the house. If you hate long drives, it's going to be so much better paying more to live closer to your work and where you're actually going to spend your weekdays and your time off. Another thing that's not so great is our local politics and our development frustrations. You think you can build anything in San Diego? Well, you can't. The red tape here is so real. Local builders and homeowners can see various permit delays sometimes to do a remodel on the house. It can take anywhere from six to 12 months, just to go through the permitting, especially in a lot of these coastal zones or if it's in some sort of historic overlay district. And even these days, a lot of builders and developers, they don't even want to get involved. There's just a big lack of clarity and approval times and is a huge deterrent. And a lot of neighborhoods here are locked into this low density zoning, which honestly it's not a bad thing in a lot of areas, but in some of these areas, housing is so needed and it just limits new housing construction and just leads to tighter inventory and higher prices on the resale homes. And basically what happens when it gets more unaffordable is you see a lot of millennials and Gen Z residents are going to be priced out and they're going to start to move to places like Riverside County, Austin, and Tennessee, which we've already seen for years now. Now there is a few different kinds of local coping strategies for this. One is buyers are getting creative. They're looking at townhomes, they're adding ADUs or they're just buying with family or house hacking, like I already mentioned. And another thing I'm seeing is developers are actually pivoting to build more infill projects and mixed use communities that actually pass with approvals much more easily. And the city is starting to kind of ease up on some of this stuff and lean more into densification, especially along those transit oriented zoning. It's happening, but it's a very slow process at the moment. And as frustrating as it is that we don't have a ton of new inventory or new homes being built, these restrictions actually protect a lot of San Diego's character in a ton of these neighborhoods, which is why San Diego is so desirable in the first place. And then there's the ugly stuff. And this is stuff longtime residents wish, never really existed, but it does. And the first struggle is homelessness. It's one of San Diego's biggest visible challenges, especially in some of these popular areas where locals and tourists continue to gather. But it's important to keep in mind. It's not all over the place. It's really focused in certain areas like downtown San Diego, near Petco park, Gaslamp quarter and East village. You're going to see a higher concentration of unhoused individuals in those areas. And there is new homeless shelters and safe sleeping areas. They help a little bit, but there's still a big gap between services and what's needed. And it's definitely visible in some of the beach neighborhoods as well, because let's face it, if you're going to be homeless, why not do it at the beach in San Diego where it's some of the best climate, but you will see it in areas like ocean beach, mission beats, Oceanside and even near the La Jolla trolley station. And a lot of people express their concern about this because at the end of the day, what this is, is it's mental illness out on public display. And maybe that's not every single case, but I think mental health is sometimes the issue. Now, when it comes to safety here in San Diego, statistically, we are very safe, but some of these downtown quarters that I mentioned can feel a little bit unpredictable, especially at dark, even for some locals. And I'm not so much talking about violent crimes or anything like that. It's more of like a comfort level. Like where does it start to feel uncomfortable? Is there weird behavior happening? Is there open drug use? Are you seeing encampments? Things like this can be a little unsettling. Now locals are usually really used to this and they're really good at handling it. And for the most part, people are very aware of their surroundings and they avoid certain pockets at night because in the daytime, a lot of these neighborhoods are totally fine. They're vibrant, they're walkable, and they're just a good time. And obviously the local government is always trying something new, but it honestly feels like things have never changed. Even from when I've grown up, things really are kind of the same. Sure. In certain pockets, it's gotten a lot better. Even in areas like Oceanside, you can't even recognize this place from five years ago. So they've really cleaned that up, but homelessness is still an ongoing thing. Another big problem is just a big lack of housing and a lot of generational pushouts happening. Buying a home here can just feel completely out of reach, especially for people that have literally grown up here. We have a big lack of housing and San Diego needs over a hundred thousand new housing units built in the next decade just to meet projected demand. So there is a serious lack of starter homes and affordable rentals is the number one frustration that I'm hearing from local families and people that I literally grew up with. So what does that lead to? Well, locals just start leaving a lot of people in their twenties and thirties that were lifelong San Diegans moved to places like Temecula or they moved to Nashville or they moved to Phoenix or Austin for that better affordability. And even what's more of a bummer is I'm seeing a lot of dual income families that are earning about $150,000 a year. They're still priced out and can't afford to buy a home in these neighborhoods where their kids go to school and they're still close to work. And there's a lot of people around that say San Diego is turning into a city of transplant. And as a person that literally works with a lot of relocation buyers and people moving here, man, it is true. There's people coming from more expensive markets like San Francisco or New York or other parts of the Midwest that are a little bit pricier than where they're at now. And they're coming here because the price doesn't seem as bad, which just ultimately bumps the price up. And you'll hear a ton of older locals say this city is not the same as when I grew up in it. And I know that happens a ton of the comments, people saying I was born here in the sixties and it's changed for the worse and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And I think it's important to understand that yes, it definitely has changed and change is inevitable, but some people just don't like it. Now with that said, we are definitely still seeing efforts to fix some of this housing problem. We're seeing zoning changes like SB9 and SB10, which is encouraging a lot more ADUs and multi-units to be built, but the uptake is just taking much longer than expected. And we're also seeing a lot of those newer master plan communities and infill projects like over at Otay Mesa, you have Millennia, bunch of stuff going on in Chula Vista. And that's really trying to ease the pressure, but it still just can't keep up with that San Diego demand. The next problem is insurance and environmental pressures here in San Diego. We do certainly live in paradise, but paradise definitely has some vulnerabilities, especially when it comes to things like wildfire risk areas like East County, Escondido, Ramona, and even parts of Fallbrook face annual wildfire threats. This is especially dangerous when we have our Santa Ana winds, which usually happen in the fall time. That's where we have some super dry weather mixed with some really high winds. That's where you start to see the recipe for these wildfires. And with these wildfire risks, we're seeing a lot of changes with our insurance. If you're a homeowner and you are in a high risk fire zone, well, there's higher insurance premiums. And some of these insurance companies are not renewing policies. That doesn't mean you can't get a policy because you certainly can, but it's something to really pay attention to. Some homes actually have to have a wraparound policy, which is where you have California Fair plan and maybe another insurer, but it doesn't mean you can't get insurance here. I mean, we've done over 25 transactions this year alone. Nobody's not been able to get insurance and everyone's been pretty happy with the policy they're getting, even in some of these higher risk zones. And what I will say is if you want to be in one of those really beautiful areas where it is more fire prone, like let's say Vista or Fallbrook or East County, or parts of San Marcos, your insurance premium is going to be a little bit more depending on that home. I'm seeing sometimes in high, high fire zones, five to $6,000 a year. So just know it's not crazy high, but your fees will be a bit higher. We're also seeing some coastal erosion due to sea level rising, especially in Del Mar where you got those big, beautiful bluffs, Solana beach, same thing. And even Oceanside coastline, it's the tide is coming up and it seems to be washing away some of these bluffs. So I think living in a stunning environment like San Diego is definitely going to come with its trade-offs with this climate stuff. So I think it's important for, you know, buyers and locals to just really keep this stuff in mind. So my final verdict is San Diego is one of the best cities in the entire country. As long as you know what you're signing up for, I have no chance of ever leaving this place. I absolutely love it. Every time I leave, I'm just so stoked to come back here. The weather, the outdoor lifestyle, the beaches, all of this is just so worth it to me. I mean, obviously the negatives like the cost of living, the housing challenges can really catch a lot of people off guard. So if you come here for the right reasons and you want all that stuff and you can make the dream a reality, you're going to love it. But if you're chasing things like affordability and no traffic and things like that, this is not going to be a good fit for you. So if you prepare for all that stuff and you find your fit, this could honestly be one of the best decisions of your life. Again, my name is Nick. And if you're seriously considering relocating to San Diego, we would love to just help you make that confident decision. It's something we do every single day. So feel free to scan that QR code. You can book a time to talk with me directly and figure out the best course for you moving forward. And I also have another video right here that you'll probably really like if you're trying to figure out if San Diego is the spot for you.