I'm not sure about your complaint with SD being too hot. 2 miles from the beach should be great weather. I lived in San Diego for 20 of my 35 years of life (moved away in 2011) and the weather is one of the best things about that place. Some people prefer a cooler climate though.
It sounds like you would much rather live in SF. Cooler weather, better cycling, and better public transit. For me, I prefer SD. I hated the SF weather and the public transit still wasn't really that good (BART is too limited).
I would love to move back to SD but housing costs are just too damn high and I don't want to live in the cheap parts where its hotter and boring. I'm going to be looking at rural Oregon or Washington when I hopefully move back to the US in a couple years.
I am pretty dedicated to living a car-free life, and on paper SD seemed like it MIGHT work. I used car2go when needed and cycled or rode a 170cc scooter for the first few months. After my wife got hit by someone who drove off it really soured me on the city, as did dripping in sweat any time I went anywhere on my bike.
However, I also acknowledge that these responses are largely emotional. People are killed by automobiles everywhere, and riding in the cold rain isn't much fun either.
I ended up moving back to Dublin (Ireland).
I'm in tech. I work in robotics and VR. Granted, the robotics company is in SF, but the VR company is down here. I do have to drive to work with my own car. But my BF can use car2go to get downtown when I've got the car.
We rent in NP and pay around $1000 (we got lucky) for a 1bd. We're anticipating needing a 2bd within the next two years (he's got two kids) and that should run us up to $2000 by the time we need it. That'll work though, our incomes can support that. If either of the startups I work at do well, then we'll be looking to buy in the next 5-6 years.
Housing is nowhere near as expensive here as it is in SF or NYC, though. Even better if you're DINK (dual income, no kids). We probably have to pay more for his kids from a previous marriage than we would if they were ours (child support any whatnot), but it's possible to afford housing here.
Where are you now?
Lest anyone think I'm an immigrant to CA who just couldn't hack the culture shock, I'm a Californian who grew up there- I spent thirty years there and then moved to Ireland on a lark (and working holiday visa). I liked Ireland so much I stayed for about 2.5 years, then moved to San Diego to start a company, then after that failed moved back to Dublin. It's not perfect, but the weather's cooler and the cycling a hell of a lot better than SD.
I actually miss SD and think SF is a bit overrated haha.
The problem is that "casual" and "laid-back" are the last words you want to use to describe how startups need to behave in order to get off the ground.
Places like SF and NY work very well for startups because, among other things, there's a sense of urgency and intensity. In San Diego however, the established business culture is pretty slow due to the dominant tech sectors (like biotech and hardware) having long-term R&D cycles.
Don't get me wrong, I have family in SD and I'd love to live there. Just not if I'm planning to found a startup.
The apartment I lived in was built in the 20's, and it was a 2 bed with no offstreet parking above a shop. It was fantastic! It made a lot of sense since my wife and I wanted to live car-free. Unfortunately it would be illegal to build now, and SD would have required two parking spots for it (at most we only ever owned one car).
I can validate a lot of what CalRobert has mentioned. On paper and even during a during a brief visit, San Diego looks like a great city for young tech talent--great weather, cheap Mexican food, delicious beer, affordable housing (at least by SF and NY standards), and (of course) the beaches! Who doesn't want endless summer?
But on further inspection, there are definitely some environmental, structural, and cultural issues:
- _Heat_: With climate change the summers have been getting unbearably hot. Since much of the city (Uptown area) was built between the 20s and 70s, most places (with the exception of new high rise apartments / condominiums) don't have central air. Each subsequent summer I've lived here has been warmer and longer--just look at satellite imagery of the area over time--the Baja sand dunes are moving north. Due to San Diego County's political leanings, climate change is still a "controversial political issue".
- _Transit_: Southern California (and San Diego in particular) has a complete and total aversion to public transit and alternative modes of transportation. The landscape and suburban landscape don't particularly lend themselves to public transit, but it's MORE than that--it's cultural. San Diego was largely developed during the "American Dream" boom [1]--a two car garage and car for every adult. The city was planned around cars and natives like it that way. It's not as much a lack of supply or appropriate legislation as much of a lack of demand. Cars are one of the ways San Degians demonstrate wealth and exercise their "freedom"--public transit is widely reserved for the poor. Even the Regional Bike Project [2] has been met with huge resistance because it will take parking away from University Ave., as mentioned above. The Uptown Community Plan [3], which is attempting to increase population density in the "young, hip, liberal" area is being met with lots of NIMBY-ism [4].
- _Population Flux_: San Diego seems like a revolving door of people. I constantly meet people who "just moved here". What attracts them? The beach and the weather. Who benefits most from those? Attractive people because they can exercise one of their major strengths. Don't get me wrong, people are allowed (and encouraged) to be beautiful and San Diego IS a beautiful city (except when you look at the 40+ age range who have been weathered by solar radiation). Since that's the demographic that's attracted to the area, more substantive attributes that are popular in areas like the bay area--intelligence, creativity, passion, drive, ambition for things other than image or material wealth, etc.--are in shorter supply. Granted, as money REALLY started to flow into the Bay Area in the 90s, much of the hackers, geeks, and political dissidents, were displaced by people looking to make money. But, hey, at least they were doing something rather than just trying to appear beautiful and wealthy. This would be a huge issue it didn't make people so depressed--our largest alternative press paper, the San Diego Reader, seems to be entire funded by teeth whitening, weight loss, and depression treatment advertisements. The population flux issues are compounded by the large military population in San Diego. Since many of them are on one to three year assignments--they don't really invest in the area, and it's hard to blame them. It's a really difficult lifestyle.
- _Wealth_: San Diego is _the worst city_ for long-term wealth building in the United States [5]. I read story after story on Hacker News about the housing problems in SF and NY, and the cost of living IS obnoxious, but so are the salaries. As a single data point, I currently make about 100K in a very specialized discipline with a masters degree and ~6 years of experience. If I moved to the Bay Area, Seattle, or Pasadena, it would be substantially higher. If I moved to Charleston, Wichita, or Huntsville (other aerospace hubs) my salary would decrease but the money would go MUCH further. What really matters is salary divided by cost of living or average real estate prices. According to the study "San Diego [is] a good fit for people with a substantial nest egg because they can purchase a home and build equity", which most people in this crowd looking to move (with the exception of new graduates) could probably afford. HOWEVER, the real estate market in San Diego is also incredibly competitive. I started looking in 2012, constantly fought against all cash developers, and FINALLY got an offer accepted in 2014 after offering 30K over asking price. Rent prices are also skyrocketing right now, which makes moving here as a new graduate increasingly difficult.
- _Politics_: San Diego skews conservative and is semi-corrupt. Our last mayor resigned due to a sex scandal [6] which led to a mayor election, the results of which CLEARLY shows the neighborhood class segregation throughout the county [7]. In the midst of all of this, the Balboa Park Centennial Committee (charged with planning a celebration for the Balboa Park Centennial) squandered 2.6 million in taxpayer funds with little to show for it [8]. More recently, we've had huge problems with the homeless population [9] and the city's response has been to close shelters [10][11] and BLAME the homeless for their "laziness" while completely ignoring material conditions and mental illness. Coronado Island (rich, independent city which includes a huge naval base) regularly rounds up homeless people and drops them off in East Village, a neighborhood I used to live in. There are many homeless encampments around the city, bike theft has increased, and the cops seem to mostly harass them. Our police chief also resigned in 2014 due to sexual harassment and fourth amendment violations [12]. It's safe to say that class and racial tensions are high.
Continued in next comment...
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_flight
[2] http://www.keepsandiegomoving.com/RegionalBikeProjects/uptow...
[3] https://www.sandiego.gov/planning/community/profiles/uptown
[4] http://www.rescuehillcrest.com/
[5] http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/business/economy/sdut-sa...
[6] http://www.kpbs.org/news/2013/aug/23/san-diego-mayor-bob-fil...
[7] http://www.kpbs.org/news/2014/jan/29/many-polls-many-differe...
[8] http://www.kpbs.org/news/2014/mar/24/centennial-committee-me...
[9] https://hillcrestsoutheast.nextdoor.com/news_feed/?post=2908...
[10] http://www.kpbs.org/news/2014/jul/01/san-diego-winter-homele...
[11] http://www.kpbs.org/news/2015/apr/01/san-diegos-tented-homel...
[12] http://www.kpbs.org/news/2014/feb/25/san-diego-police-chief-...
- _Beer_: If you're into beer, San Diego is a REALLY great place to be. There are new breweries popping up constantly, a great selection of beers on tap at nearly ever restaurant, and a decent bottle shop on nearly every corner.
- _Dogs_: San Diego is an INCREDIBLY dog friendly city. There are numerous dog parks, restaurants with outdoor patios that cater to dog owners, and even a Dog Beach.
- _Petco Park_: I grew up going to the Oakland Coliseum and (later, when it opened), what was then PacBell Park. For the price of tickets, it's hard to beet a game at Petco Park. The food selection, which features local restaurants, is excellent, beers are semi-affordable, and nearly all the seats are great. The Padres are historically terrible, but since most people seem to be transplants, they all just go to games when "their" team is in town.
- _Balboa Park_: Balboa Park, to me, is the crown jewel of the city and one of the major reasons I moved to Hillcrest--I'm just a few blocks north. It includes some great museums, the botanical building [13], and the Zoo which does some pretty altruistic work, is also a gigantic botanical garden, and has sky buckets you can ride on to get a view of the entire city.
- _Political Mixing_: I didn't realize how myopic the Bay Area was until I left. I still have family and close friends in the area who pride themselves in the political openness of the Bay Area. That only really seems to be true if you agree with the dominant views. Disagreements seem to center around pedantic details or characterizations of the "Political Right" or "Big Business" [14]. San Diego, on the other hand, is really more of a cultural salad [15]. A typically night out at a North Park or Downtown Bar will land you in the company of hipsters, yuppies, hippies, military cadets, punks, gays, Cholos, etc. Some of this depends on venue, but you never really know what you're going to get--it can be very diverse which encourages everyone to be polite and occasionally reconcile or challenge their own political views and preconceptions. A lot of the ska music coming out of Southern California which talked about conflict, tolerance, etc. didn't make sense to me until I moved down here.
- _Food_: San Diego has great Mexican, Vietnamese, Korean, Japanese, and East African food. We're lacking quality Chinese, don't have nearly enough quality Indian, and really only have two or three good Italian places in Little Italy. Greek could also use some work, although there is an old dinner on University in North Park that's tasty and affordable.
- _Trails_: I'm a trail runner and we have a LOT of really well-maintained local trails in the city. If you want something more substantial, you can get to the PCT in about 45 minutes and run north (or south) to your heart's content.
- _Music_: Due to our proximity to LA, a lot of big acts come through San Diego on week nights and play smaller venues for almost nothing. I frequently attend shows at the Casbah for $13. Unfortunately, LA also seems to suck up any of our local talent since the industry is so much larger there.
- _Neighborhoods_: Coming from the Bay Area, there are lots of neighborhoods that, even with their Southern California cultural heritage, offer refuge and tend to share my cultural leanings. Some favorites include Hillcrest, Normal Heights, University Heights, Mission Hills, Golden Hill, North Park, and South Park. Unfortunately, to live in this area, I have to commute every day to Poway for work. Apparently Barrio Logan and Logan heights are also getting better, but I haven't spent any substantial time down there.
Sorry, that was a good bit longer than I anticipated. I'm happy to answer any questions about the area although questions related specifically to the start-up scene, securing VC funding, etc. should probably be directed elsewhere.
[13] http://www.balboapark.org/in-the-park/botanical-building
[14] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rE3j_RHkqJc
[15] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salad_bowl_%28cultural_idea%29
I couldn't have put it better myself. And thanks for pointing out that climate change is an issue. I got really, really tired of people saying "gee, this sure is an unusually hot summer. Just like the last one, and the one before that, and the one before that" and yet thinking of climate change as unsettled science. Before weatherspark got rid of their dashboard I could show them that summers in SD ARE definitively hotter than they have been in ages (though there was a hot stretch in the late 70's).
It does get hot in the summer at mid-day, but mornings and evenings are pleasant year-round.
I refuse to cycle south of La Jolla though. Hardly any bike lanes and way more traffic.
I tend to agree that salaries in SD don't match the cost of living - at least in tech. The southern California lifestyle isn't for everyone, but if you like the beach it's tough to beat in the continental US.
Bay area cost of living is tough too, even with the higher salary ranges. I had never even heard of a "micro-loft" until I came to SF.
In the end, I'm a big fan of both SD and the bay area. Both areas have huge benefits to offset their respective problems.
Was this due to the location? Perhaps. I do know that the events we went to were lackluster, and the ecosystem was weak. You've got Evonexus (which wouldn't even talk to us), and Connect Springboard, who wanted less complex ideas. Meetups were ok but the ones we went to ended up with more hangers on ("hey I brought my class of 20 HS students to learn about startups at this meetup with 8 people!") than actual people doing stuff.
Also, to be honest I just really didn't like San Diego. My wife got hit by a car while riding to work on a scooter and was in a cast for a few months; the weather was too damn hot (and I lived only two miles from the beach); public transport is dreadful; the culture, while better than LA, is still very socal; drivers tried to kill me as I cycled everywhere; and the city is a model of horrific urban design. Even in places that COULD be great you've got organizations like the Hillcrest Business Association trying to kill a single. damn. bike lane on one of the most heavily-ridden (and dangeous) streets in San Diego - University Ave. The city spends years claiming it's doing something just to have SANDAG kill it. This is particularly egregious when you consider that Todd Gloria supports cycling - until it matters. A bike lane in the middle of nowhere doesn't take any political courage.
SD is vastly overrated. I will admit, though, that the beer and Mexican food are good. Within SD I _did_ quite like South Park. It was when I needed to leave South Park that things were bad.