1 definition by SD Native
OK, for all you morons out there that actually believe what you heard in a friggin comedy movie (Anchorman) about the name "San Diego" meaning a whale's vagina in germen, here is the real facts, and feel free to prove it to yourselves by going to Wikipedia dot com if you need to.
San Diego was named for a Spanish Catholic Saint by the name of St. Didacus by Spaniard Sebastián Vizcaíno who was sent to map the area in the early 1600's, which was originally discovered by the first European who was Portuguese João Rodrigues Cabrilho, (1499 - 1543), NOT by some German in 1904 for god's sakes, we go back a lot further than the year 1900. Anyone with a IQ higher than 100 and bothered to think about it could figure out the name "San Diego" as well as other major city names in California are Spanish in origin, not German.
Also for all you trash talkers, I'm one of those rare "Natives" that's lived here in San Diego since 1974, and while no city is perfect, San Diego comes reasonably closer to it than all the other cities in the United States. We have near perfect weather, certainly better than any other city in the united states if you judge by looking at the full 12 months of the year. The weather is so nice, that you hardly ever even need to think about it whenever you go outside for whatever you want to do, how many places can say that? It's a great balanced city, with plenty of things to do, but not to big with all the big city problems like Los Angeles with horrible traffic and questionable air quality. Also the earthquakes you hear about here are usually grossly exaggerated, you have a lot more to worry about if you live in Los Angeles or especially San Francisco. We may have a slight 5 second shake that gets your attention but doesn't actually do anything 1-2 times a year, but that's the worst of it. While it does have some of the negative stereotypes of any southern Californian society, try comparing it to any other city in the USA and overall it's easily one of the top 3. The people are friendly, laid back and don't stress or have the work/stress/money mentality of places like New York. The landscape is beautiful, we have awesome beaches, lookout viewing points and mountains with winter sports within a 2 hour drive away. If you have a convertible, you can literally drive with the top down for 11-12 months a year.
The only small drawbacks it has compared to some other places, is that 90% of everything shuts down after 1:30-2:00am, so you east coasters may be a little disappointed here, and obviously people that like snow aren't going to find that here, but you can still drive a couple hours and find it. The job market is a little tough, and real estate is in the top 5 most expensive places in the USA along with a general high cost of living, but that's the same as any nice city in California, and that's only because so many people move and live here. Most everyone that visits unfortunately only sees the downtown or tourist spots which is only 20% of what San Diego is. For visitors I strongly recommend visiting Point Loma, Pacific Beach, La Jolla, Del Mar and the typical places like the world famous Zoo and Sea World. The best places to see are anything along the coastline starting from Coronado Island/Downtown San Diego then going north for the next 45 miles. Rent a convertible, start driving from the Silver Strand Highway in the south part of Coronado Island and then go across the bridge to Interstate 5 north, then to the Pacific Coast Highway from Downtown San Diego, all the way up to Oceanside and make some great memories and pictures that will have you dreaming of living here someday just like most people that visit, just be ready to spend $550,000 for a 2000 square foot home! You can find condos starting in the $300,000's in good parts of town though.
San Diego was named for a Spanish Catholic Saint by the name of St. Didacus by Spaniard Sebastián Vizcaíno who was sent to map the area in the early 1600's, which was originally discovered by the first European who was Portuguese João Rodrigues Cabrilho, (1499 - 1543), NOT by some German in 1904 for god's sakes, we go back a lot further than the year 1900. Anyone with a IQ higher than 100 and bothered to think about it could figure out the name "San Diego" as well as other major city names in California are Spanish in origin, not German.
Also for all you trash talkers, I'm one of those rare "Natives" that's lived here in San Diego since 1974, and while no city is perfect, San Diego comes reasonably closer to it than all the other cities in the United States. We have near perfect weather, certainly better than any other city in the united states if you judge by looking at the full 12 months of the year. The weather is so nice, that you hardly ever even need to think about it whenever you go outside for whatever you want to do, how many places can say that? It's a great balanced city, with plenty of things to do, but not to big with all the big city problems like Los Angeles with horrible traffic and questionable air quality. Also the earthquakes you hear about here are usually grossly exaggerated, you have a lot more to worry about if you live in Los Angeles or especially San Francisco. We may have a slight 5 second shake that gets your attention but doesn't actually do anything 1-2 times a year, but that's the worst of it. While it does have some of the negative stereotypes of any southern Californian society, try comparing it to any other city in the USA and overall it's easily one of the top 3. The people are friendly, laid back and don't stress or have the work/stress/money mentality of places like New York. The landscape is beautiful, we have awesome beaches, lookout viewing points and mountains with winter sports within a 2 hour drive away. If you have a convertible, you can literally drive with the top down for 11-12 months a year.
The only small drawbacks it has compared to some other places, is that 90% of everything shuts down after 1:30-2:00am, so you east coasters may be a little disappointed here, and obviously people that like snow aren't going to find that here, but you can still drive a couple hours and find it. The job market is a little tough, and real estate is in the top 5 most expensive places in the USA along with a general high cost of living, but that's the same as any nice city in California, and that's only because so many people move and live here. Most everyone that visits unfortunately only sees the downtown or tourist spots which is only 20% of what San Diego is. For visitors I strongly recommend visiting Point Loma, Pacific Beach, La Jolla, Del Mar and the typical places like the world famous Zoo and Sea World. The best places to see are anything along the coastline starting from Coronado Island/Downtown San Diego then going north for the next 45 miles. Rent a convertible, start driving from the Silver Strand Highway in the south part of Coronado Island and then go across the bridge to Interstate 5 north, then to the Pacific Coast Highway from Downtown San Diego, all the way up to Oceanside and make some great memories and pictures that will have you dreaming of living here someday just like most people that visit, just be ready to spend $550,000 for a 2000 square foot home! You can find condos starting in the $300,000's in good parts of town though.
by SD Native April 27, 2007