The question “Thinking of leaving San Diego? Where would you go?” was asked on San Diego Tribune and these 2 answers were Just perfect..
Seriously, Why leave America’s Finest City? To those who have left, We welcome you home back to San Diego!

Perfect place looks a whole lot like here

If I were to leave San Diego, I would wish to go to a place that had the perfect climate.

A place where people are ambitious and willing to work for a prosperous future.

With plenty of farms and canyons, ocean and beaches, surf and turf.

I would go to a place where, after a short drive away, I could be in a different country with a different language, lovely people and great food.

I would move to a place that had great mesas in which to build a home, a place where my yard could host barbecues and backyard camp nights.

This place would be filled with groves of fruit trees to lie under and wait for sunset to come and listen to the crickets welcome the moon over the mountains. This place would get rains in the springs that would make the wildflowers shine and the streams rush.

It would be such a perfect place that all would want to move to it, and the people would welcome me. I would build my home, plant my orchard and raise my family for the best future possible.

One day though, this place would become unaffordable. The population would boom and the world would envy my found paradise. Eventually, I would be forced to dream of other places to start anew so I could live and leave a greater horizon to my children. I ask myself, if I find this paradise what will become of my San Diego if I leave? What will San Diego become if those who built it leave and are found wanting for a more prosperous place?

I hope this place exists somewhere in the world today for those wanting to find paradise again, but it’s the place I was born and raised in and would never dream of leaving. We must not want or envy another paradise. We need to stay, to keep this one for those who were ousted. We must do our best to be affordable, to welcome development, to encourage new talent to take root and also to allow those who helped create this paradise to stay and not be on an ocean’s cliff forced to yearn for a new place or drown in this paradise.

Adrian Feral, La Jolla

———————–

Move from spectacular San Diego? Not a chance in the world would I ever leave San Diego. Lucky enough to have had parents who made the decision to move their family of 4 to wonderful San Diego from my birthplace, Phoenix, Arizona, there is no way I would ever consider moving away from paradise.

I have lived my entire life in San Diego, 65 of 66 years, I cannot think of a better place to live. Throughout my life I have enjoyed visiting gorgeous places including 9 plus states from the United States, Italy, Greece, Ireland and Mexico, but every time I return, I thank my lucky stars, and I used to thank my parents every time I would see them also, for the opportunity to live in America’s Finest City. Beaches, deserts, foothills, Poway and Mexico near by, there is no better place to set roots. Sure, it may be expensive, and my favorite team remains the Padres because I grew up watching them play at Westgate Park, Jack Murphy and continue to watch through the pain of it all at Petco, but overall, how can San Diego be beat? The coastal cities like La Jolla, Coronado, Pacific Beach, the inland cities like Poway and the mountain cities like Julian offer everything a person could want. Even the deserts have their charming sand doons, all within an hour by car.

On the other hand, if I were forced to move, I would consider where my second oldest sister Sandra lives. She lives in the quaint city of Boulder Creek, California. Located one-half hour north of Santa Cruz pm the Highway 9, I love to visit her for a variety of reasons including how close Big Basin is to her. Sandra also lives next door to my god-son Jean Paul, and they always treat us like gold when we visit. Giant redwoods surround both houses with a stream behind Jean Paul’s house. It is a spiritual phenomenon with these ancient trees stretching high into the sky.

I have my children and grandchildren in Clairmont. My parents lived in what at the time was considered East San Diego for 30 years; moved to Rancho Bernardo for 30, my brother lives in Poway, my oldest sister lives in Escondido. There is really no reason to move from what I consider heaven on earth. Yes, I think I will stay put and enjoy.

Jim Valenzuela, Poway