San Diego is home to more than 1.3 million people and over 2.8 million residents countywide. The city is famous for its idyllic climate, its pristine beaches and its world-class family attractions. San Diego has it all, a vibrant cultural life, excellent job opportunities, lively entertainment, and endless recreational options. It is both beautiful and varied in its climate, features and lifestyle. From big business skyscrapers to quaint villages, from trendy nightclubs to peaceful parks, you can find it all here, in San Diego.
Location
San Diego is a coastal southern California city located in the southwestern corner of the continental United States. It is the southern-most major metropolitan area in California. San Diego is the county seat of San Diego County, which is bordered by Mexico to the South, the Pacific Ocean to the west, the mountains and desert to the east, and Orange and LA Counties to the north. It is the second-largest city in California and the sixth-largest city in the United States.
San Diego lies 137 miles south of Los Angeles and 458 miles south of San Francisco, and 265 miles southwest of Las Vegas, Nevada.
Geography
San Diego sits at an altitude of 40 feet. The city covers an area of 372 square miles, of which 324.3 square miles is land and 47.7 square miles is water. The beautiful Pacific Ocean lies to the west of the city, and the San Diego River runs through it.
San Diego County covers 4,261 square miles, and its elevation ranges from sea level to 6,500 feet. The terrain varies from sunny beaches and lush foliate to rugged mountains and breathtaking desert.
Jobs
San Diego’s economy is diversified, relying not only on tourism and the Defense Industry but also encompassing the agriculture, wireless, engineering, biotech, pharmaceuticals, and manufacturing sectors as well.
Manufacturing is the largest contributor to the economy and the major manufacturing areas include shipbuilding and repair, industrial machinery and computers, metals production, and the manufacture of toys and sporting goods.
San Diego’s port includes the only major shipbuilding yard on West Coast, as well as a naval base.
San Diego County is the 20th largest agriculture producer in the nation, with the second largest number of farms in the country.
It is a prime area for emerging technologies, due to the region’s diversity of high-technology clusters. San Diego's biotechnology community is the third largest in the country, and in June 2004, San Diego was ranked as the No.1 biotech cluster in the U.S. by the Milken Institute. The city has also earned the title of wireless communications capital of the world. There are approximately 160,000 high technology workers in the 1,400 companies throughout San Diego. Telecommunications contributes more than $5 billion to the local economy each year.
International trade is a major economic strength for the San Diego region. The border between San Diego and Mexico is the busiest in the world. Tourism, of course, is another primary economic contributor. The city is regularly ranked in the top ten most popular destinations in the continental United States for international visitors.
Educational, health and social services provide 20.5% of the employment, professional, scientific, management, administrative services provide15%, manufacturing provides10.6%, arts, entertainment, recreation, accommodation and food services provide10.5%, and retail trade provides10.3%.
The unemployment rate is 4.1% and the average travel time to work is 23.2 minutes.
Housing
Housing in San Diego ranges from luxury beachside condominiums to modest homes with a real neighborhood feel. The outlying areas of downtown have been revitalized and now offer upscale high-rise condominiums, town-house developments and residential lofts. The median home price for a detached home ranges from $699,900 to $950,000. For an attached home, the price ranges from $279,990 to $395,000. The overall median home price in San Diego is $508,000, and the prices go as high as $2,900,000.
Recreation
San Diego has more than 35,000 acres of open space, consisting of regional parks, urban canyons and slopes. These areas include Black Mountain Open Space Park, Los Penasquitos Canyon Preserve, Marian Bear Memorial Park, Mission Trails Regional Park, Otay Valley Regional Park, Rose Canyon Open Space Park, San Diego River Park, San Pasqual-Clevenger Canyon Open Space Park, Sunset Cliffs Natural Park, and Tecolote Canyon Natural Park.
There are also many beautiful city parks in San Diego, including Mission Bay Park and Presidio Park. Mission Bay Park is the largest man-made aquatic park in the nation, consisting of 4,235 acres, more than half of which is water. It offers a wide range of recreational activities including paths and playgrounds. Scenic Presidio Park has lush green lawns and towering trees, along with historical landmarks, memorials and museums.
San Diego’s Park and Recreation Department has recreation centers throughout the city offering a wide variety of recreation facilities and activities. The city’s greatest recreational advantage is its 70 miles of beaches, each with its own distinct personality. Some of the beaches are perfect spots for surfers and divers, while others are remote getaways. Altogether, they support year-round outdoor water recreation, such as surfing, boating, sailing and swimming. The Cruise Ship Terminal and local charter companies offer dinner cruises, whale watching tours and other sea adventures.
For golfers, San Diego County boasts over 90 golf courses, in settings ranging from seaside to desert mountain to inland valley. There are courses for every type of golfer, at any skill level. The city’s Park and Recreation Department operates three municipal golf courses --- Torrey Pines, Balboa Park and Mission Bay Golf Course and Practice Center.
Torrey Pines features two championship 18-hole golf courses and a breathtaking view of the Pacific Ocean. It is home of the Buick Invitational PGA Tour event, and has been ranked the "best" place to golf in a readers poll with the San Diego Union-Tribune and San Diego Magazine. Golf Industry Online rates it one of the top ten golf courses in San Diego County, and it will host the 2008 U.S. Open.
Balboa Park Golf Complex is located near the heart of Downtown San Diego, and offers both an 18-hole championship course and a nine-hole executive course. Mission Bay Golf Course is an 18-hole executive golf course and is the only lit course in the City allowing for evening golf.
There are over 20 other golf courses in the city area, including several luxury resort courses such as: Barona Creek, Doubletree, Black Mountain Ranch, Double Tree Carmel Highland, Morgan Run, Pala Mesa and La Costa Resort. Barona Creek Golf Club has been ranked a Golfweek top 5 California course and a Golf Magazine top10 new national course.
Special Attractions/Events
San Diego has an incredible range of attractions and events to choose from, including the world-renowned attractions, the San Diego Zoo and Wild Animal Park, Sea World San Diego and Legoland California. The San Diego Zoo is located at Balboa Park, the largest urban cultural park in the U.S. The Park is home to 15 museums, several art galleries, beautiful gardens, and the Old Globe Theatre.
San Diego has a thriving cultural life, offering the best in world-class performing arts, all year round. You can go to the Performing Arts Center in Escondido or historic theaters. There is the La Jolla Playhouse, the Starlight Musical Theatre, or the Civic Theatre, to name a few. You can enjoy ballet, traditional folk dance, symphony performances, or dramatic opera. It’s all here.
San Diego has an array of museums, filled with wonders in art, machinery, sports, classic cars, scientific discovery and much more. Many of the museums are clustered in Balboa Park but others are located in outlying neighborhoods. The San Diego Maritime Museum has a fleet of historic ships and flagship Star of India and there is the Midway Aircraft Carrier Museum at Navy Pier.
The city offers a multitude of beachfront resorts and luxury spas, casinos, a lively downtown, colorful neighborhoods and a rich military history. San Diego has 6,400 eating establishments, and is well known for its wide selection of delicious cuisines. You can find excellent Mexican, Cajun, Italian, Greek, Latin, Indian, Central and East Asian, Middle Eastern and Pacific Islander food throughout the city. Some of the finest dining can be found in the Gaslamp Quarter, Little Italy, La Jolla and Old Town. There is also a huge range of shopping opportunities, from familiar department stores, to unusual, one-of-a-kind boutiques.
There are many annual special events, multicultural festivals and celebrations in the city. There is Little Italy's Artwalk Festival in April and the Summer Pops concerts at the Embarcadero. In early September in the Gaslamp Quarter, Street Scene offers a three-day live music extravaganza. In December you can enjoy the nightly Parade of Lights, with decorated yachts sailing up and down the waterfront.
Interesting Facts/Historic Buildings and Places
San Diego has the highest number of science-based Nobel winners in the world.
It is the home of important scientific research at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
San Diego is the home port of the largest naval fleet in the world. The fleet includes two Navy super carriers (the USS Nimitz and the USS Ronald Reagan), five amphibious assault ships, several Los Angeles class submarines, and many smaller ships. San Diego is also known as the "birthplace of "naval aviation”.
San Diego was the main setting and filming location for the 1986 movie Top Gun. In the movie Demolition Man, San Diego and Los Angeles were part of the futuristic utopian megacity San Angeles. San Diego was the setting for the 2004 comedy film Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgund. Scenes from Jurassic Park II, Bring It On, and Traffic were filmed in San Diego.
San Diego is the birthplace of: Cameron Diaz, actress; Ted Williams, baseball Hall of Famer; Greg Bear, science fiction author; William C. McCool, astronaut; Ted Danson, comedian; Robert Duvall, actor; RuPaul, drag queen and talk show host; and Anthony Mann, film director. It has also been home to: Mayim Bialik and Kathy Najimy, actresses; Nick Cannon, actor; Ray Kroc, founder of McDonalds; Harold Lloyd, silent film star, Jonas Salk, developer of the polio vaccine; Junior Seau, NFL linebacker; and Pete Wilson, former Assemblyman, San Diego Mayor, California Senator and Governor.
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