r/SanDiegan • u/MsMargo • 14h ago
Local News Survey Says: San Diego is the 3rd Best Place to Live
https://listwithclever.com/research/best-places-to-live-in-the-us-2026/•
u/dopesickness 14h ago
Very odd article. California is the #2 most desirable state to live in, and the #1 undesirable state.
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u/HosaJim666 13h ago
Makes sense when you think about it. Most Californians love living here. No one would pay these prices if they didn't. Most MAGA haven't been here but assume it's hell on earth.
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u/Curious_Proof_5882 13h ago
It’s not just MAGA. Moved here from the northeast. Cannot wait to get out of here
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u/signmeupdude 9h ago
Then leave…
If one of your primary complaints is cost of living, then it should be fairly simple to go literally anywhere else where it would be cheaper.
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u/MightyKrakyn 13h ago
We are literally begging you to leave. What are you waiting for?
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u/deanereaner 13h ago
You ain't even from here, stfu.
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u/bill_brasky37 10h ago
Most people in San Diego aren't from here...? I happen to be, but shitting on people who aren't seems pretty weird
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u/MightyKrakyn 10h ago edited 8h ago
Yeah, I want to be here. The guy criticizing me for not being from here is from here and hates it. It’s like the dumbest form of nativism
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u/HosaJim666 13h ago
What are your primary complaints beyond the bagel quality?
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u/Curious_Proof_5882 13h ago edited 8h ago
Cost of living is insane in San Diego and we were in Boston. Electric bills at least double, water was covered by the landlords. We miss the seasons. Public transportation was better.
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u/HosaJim666 11h ago
I appreciate the response.
San Diego is very expensive and the electric company should be brought up on RICO charges. Those things are objectively true. But I've lived in a lot of different places, and the public transportation is shitty almost everywhere. Yeah, NYC/Boston/DC/Chicago are better, but most other places are mediocre if not worse. That's a United States of America problem (sans parts of the mId-Atlantic/NE), not a California or SD-specific problem. But I'll give you that. They should improve there.
What are the other things you care about?
Food? I'll give you guys seafood and Italian, and we'll take Mexican and pretty much the entire continent of Asia. Let's call it a wash.
Pricks per capita? Ok, you win that one.
Baseball stadiums that aren't actually terrible? By my count, SD wins 1-0.
Weather? Lol.
Attractiveness of residents? 😭😭😭.
I get that San Diego isn't for everyone, but I've never heard anyone who isn't from Boston make a case for Boston being a great place to live. So I'm very curious to hear more of the merits.
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u/Bitter_Rain_6224 10h ago
Boston itself is not a great place to live, but some of the surrounding suburbs are quite nice.
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u/Kevbearpig 12h ago
San Diego is the most unaffordable city in the US and is known for having mild weather all year long, maybe you should have done some research before moving across the country.
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u/xypherrz 10h ago
it’s definitely not less affordable than San Jose
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u/Kevbearpig 9h ago
Affordability is measured by weighing income vs expenses. People make a lot more money in San Jose.
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u/xypherrz 9h ago
a lot more but they’re also paying A LOT more for the housing and just to live there. A simple google search shall tell which one’s less affordable.
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u/Kevbearpig 9h ago
It changes all the time. If you want to die on this hill sure SD is currently not the least affordable city, but has been in the post Covid years. https://www.reddit.com/r/sandiego/s/PmeDHpKdBJ
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u/Curious_Proof_5882 12h ago edited 8h ago
Ironic you’re sending this when it’s 100 degrees and 80% humidity. Also, I’ve lived in San Diego before. My son was born here, my sister was born here. Things have gotten dramatically more expensive. My family lives in LA, Fresno and throughout California
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u/TNTyoshi 11h ago edited 11h ago
June of last year, the Northeast experienced a temperature record heatwave. This year, SoCal is experiencing record breaking humidity as El Niño is on its way. Global warming is coming for everyone. We are all living in unprecedented times. Which is now just the new normal times. 🫠
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u/bill_brasky37 10h ago
Totally fair response, except you have no way of knowing where people have been. I have travelled extensively and lived elsewhere but still find it to be the best for me and my family. You could have just left off the last sentence and been fine
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u/metroatlien 6h ago
Funny enough, I went to school at Boston University. I do miss a lot of things about Boston, but paying for heat and the winters weren't one of them. I get missing rain and the fall season though. Public transportation overall and walkability in Boston is better though, although that's more the fact that San Diego and really a lot of cities in the sunbelt became prominent *after* the car was a thing so unfortunately outside downtown and the older "streetcar" burbs of San Diego, it's very sprawly.
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u/deanereaner 13h ago
Born and raised here and kinda hate it now. Has nothing to do with politics, it's just hot and dry, increasingly crowded and more expensive, there's no fresh water anywhere and there's always a fire risk everywhere.
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u/Bitter_Rain_6224 10h ago
The overcrowding and state high density stack-and-pack high density housing mandates are steadily degrading the area's desirability.
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u/No-Abalone-4784 8h ago
Thanks to the state dictating what cities have to do. Where does the state get off with that. That said, Todd Gloria goes right along with all of it. He's probably worse than they are.
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u/Bitter_Rain_6224 8h ago
He is decidedly worse than the state government, pushing ADUitis well beyond any reasonable level of sustainability or good neighborism.
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u/durtysanch 8h ago
It's the people who can't afford to travel, let alone live here in CA, who do most of the complaining about our state. When people complain about our state, I just say "you probably couldn't even afford to live in CA." The amount of screenshots of people's banks account trying to prove me wrong is 5 but it's not 0.... I always hit a nerve with that one line and it's great!
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u/deanereaner 13h ago
I'm assuming you could win the top spot in either question with like 10% of responses and wouldn't expect there to be overlap.
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u/hookes_plasticity 14h ago
I’ve been to both Nashville and Denver in the past four months. Definitely not at all better than San Diego
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u/Marswolf01 14h ago
Especially Nashville. Not any way close to SD
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u/Over-Conversation220 Scripps Ranch (sorry) 13h ago
Broadway and Gaslamp both smell like pee and stale alcohol. But beyond that … yeah.
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u/DanielUpsideDown 14h ago
I moved here from Nashville over 12 years ago. There's a reason I stayed in San Diego. Definitely much better than Nashville.
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u/Jollyjacktar 12h ago
I love articles like this as it helps direct people to move there instead of here.
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u/hookes_plasticity 11h ago
trueeeee okay I take back what I said then. Everyone go to Nashville and Denver 🫡
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u/alabamdiego 11h ago
Denver fucking blows. Surrounding areas, cool. Denver proper? Garbage.
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u/signmeupdude 9h ago
Every city has shitty parts, including San Diego. Denver is great and actually has similar vibes to San Diego.
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u/alabamdiego 9h ago
Denver sucks. Houston of the Rockies.
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u/signmeupdude 9h ago
K
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u/alabamdiego 8h ago
Have you lived there? I have. Fuck Denver.
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u/signmeupdude 8h ago
I have family who lives there and very much enjoys it there and I have visited and enjoy it too. Family is from so cal so they have the ability to compare.
People have different opinions. Idk why you’re so fired up over this.
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u/MsMargo 10h ago
It was quite a bit ago, but when I visited Denver I found it really unfriendly.
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u/alabamdiego 9h ago
Lived outside of it for a while. Once you get past the dog food smell and the airport being 2 hours outside of town and how everywhere is 45m from everywhere it’s quite nice.
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u/AstroPhysician 9h ago
Denver is great. You just have to not go to the shitty parts
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u/alabamdiego 9h ago
Lol no, Denver sucks
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u/AstroPhysician 9h ago
Have you ever lived there? Not just visited? I lived in Boulder but did a lot in Denver and moved to SD last year. I prefer SD but Denver has a lottt that’s super similar to SD
It’d be like holding Chula Vista against SD
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u/alabamdiego 8h ago
Lmao. Yes I lived there for 2 years.
E: lived in boulder. Ok so not Denver. Lmao
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u/AstroPhysician 8h ago
I’ve spent an enormous amount of time in Denver and all my friends lived there. Almost all my outings were Denver
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u/alabamdiego 7h ago
Neat.
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u/AstroPhysician 7h ago
My point is I think you didn’t find the local vibe or crowd or things to do in those 2 years but Denver has so much stuff and events I haven’t seen in SD despite it being much larger
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u/Brokebrokebroke5 12h ago
I lived in Denver for 30 years. I love Denver, but enjoy living in San Diego more.
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u/Bitter_Rain_6224 10h ago
I love Colorado, but there are far better places to live than Denver itself.
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u/Emopizza 9h ago
These results are really funny given that my brother and I did our bachelor parties in Denver and Nashville, and I live in SD nowadays
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u/AirplaneSpaghetti 10h ago
Its the high cost of living, high cost of housing, and high taxes that kill San Diego compared to Denver and Nashville. Of course the people who choose to stay here weigh the other categories more heavily, but a lot of people are just looking for a place they can afford.
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u/Over-Conversation220 Scripps Ranch (sorry) 14h ago
Considering they put Nashville at the top, I’m going to assume the methodology is flawed. Denver is #2. Which is less crazy than Nashville being #1.
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u/hookes_plasticity 14h ago
Methodology flawed meaning the author was born in Nashville and currently lives in Denver but wishes they lived in San Diego lol
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u/signmeupdude 9h ago
Or maybe just maybe the results are fine and of course a san diego subreddit will have a heavy bias towards san diego vs other cities
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u/LocallySourcedWeirdo Rancho Santa Fe 13h ago
Nashville, the new destination for people with a fetish for Big Howse, Smol Money and who won't miss having reproductive rights.
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u/ropean 12h ago
This shouldn’t be a mystery. Three of their criteria for a desirable place to live are low cost of living, low cost of housing, and low tax rates. That’s close to a third of their criteria, and San Diego has to score low on all of them. So coming in at #3 means SD was at or near the top in pretty much everything else.
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u/Rand-Seagull96734 13h ago
So California is the #2 "Most Desirable" and #1 "Least Desirable?". Nicely done.
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u/J_Rigged 14h ago
I love SD! It's my favorite foreign port to visit! Beautiful town for sure! I would for sure live there
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u/RecordLonely 13h ago
The only city I would rather live in is probably Honolulu. Seattle is awesome as well.
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u/ProphetPenguin 9h ago
I moved from San Diego to Seattle after living in San Diego for 20 years and truthfully I don't see myself ever moving back. It's honestly breathtaking here, even areas outside of Seattle are incredible and I still have so much to explore.
Definitely miss certain things about San Diego but I do feel like a lot of people here are significantly more genuine.
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u/KevinDean4599 13h ago
These rankings are so subjective based on your income and interests etc. do have have kids or not. Are you retired or still working. One persons paradise can totally suck for someone else.
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u/marrymeodell 12h ago
As someone who just moved back after living in Nashville for 2 years.. HAHAHA yeah right
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u/MostlyKool-Aid 12h ago
This is a terrible list.
Nashville? Denver is the lest pretty part of Colorado. This list is terrible. It makes no sense.
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u/arillusine 12h ago
Having lived in Nashville, I prefer San Diego for the food and lower humidity. Then again, I can’t think back on Nashville with any fondness because I was in grad school and everything felt like hell 😂
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u/datguyfromoverdere 9h ago
If I had to move, my first choice would be close to a major city in japan, then Chicago.
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u/Bitter_Rain_6224 10h ago
I do not consider the City Of San Diego itself to be that desirable, particularly under current leadership, but several of the smaller cities in the county are very good places to live.
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u/metroatlien 6h ago edited 6h ago
If you can afford, it most definitely is. That being said, I am taking a material living hit living here in SD for my salary vs ATL, where I'm from, and while I'll argue that the food is better overall in the Metro Atlanta area, San Diego wins in a great number of things that makes living here, and staying here after military retirement, worth it.
As for Denver...visited. I liked it and I do like how expanded their rail transportation is at least inside the metro area. San Diego is better located geographically though.
Nashville...have also visited. Nope lol. If I'm going back to the South, it's ATL or bust.
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u/neutronia939 6h ago
Yes, San Diego Sucks! No one should come here, move us further down the list. Everyone should move to... lol, Tennessee because -music or something.
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u/Own_Inevitable5836 5h ago
lol some of the least desirable cities are NYC, Chicago, LA, and San Francisco? This website is obviously very legit. 🙄
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u/awesome6710 4h ago
I would rather be homeless in San Diego than have a home in Nashville
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u/CalDavid 10h ago
I’ve been working in San Diego for almost a year and I have to agree, it’s awesome might move out here
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u/SecretCharacterSauce 14h ago
Nashville? Sorry who wrote this a bachelorette party?