Four Cities (and Counting) in One
Observations from an affluent, militarized, beachfront metropolis border town
After graduating from college and moving to Chicago, then São Paulo, and then New York City, San Diego is the smallest metropolitan area in which me and my family have lived.
I’ve spent four years in America’s Finest City and am an avid people-watcher. My favorite hobby is sitting on a park bench or standing on a street corner and inventing backstories for the characters who pass by. Creating personas and the narrative that led any given individual to that exact moment is a fun pastime for me.
I think San Diego is unique in its geography, climate, and culture to distinguish it from a larger Southern California locale, like Los Angeles. This is just my somewhat ignorant and biased opinion, since I’ve never lived in LA.
In my view, there are at least four distinct San Diegos, all of which mix and come into contact with each other, on every street corner, every day, at all hours. It contributes to a unique and somewhat surreal vibe.
Military: The first San Diego is very easy for Americans to forget because the city is actually embedded within it. After World War II, the municipality developed rapidly, driven by an imperative for national defense. There are more than two dozen military installations in San Diego County. The largest employer in the city of San Diego is the United States Navy. Top Gun 1980’s was filmed in San Diego because - at the time - the fighter pilot training school was located at Naval Air Station Miramar. The Navy SEALS still train on Coronado. The University City neighborhood is sandwiched between the famous La Jolla area and Marine Corp Air Station Miramar, from which military jets with deafening engine noise regularly practice sorties. There are an inordinate number of full-size pickup trucks on the road, and my explanation for the phenomenon is that generations of sailors and Marines pull a tour of duty in San Diego, buy/lease a truck, and when they ship out, there’s a secondary market for those vehicles. If your neighborhood has a bunch of pick-ups, even if you’re not in the service, it normalizes having a truck in the driveway. The military has industrial needs, so the presence of defense contractors is inevitable. Of all cities in America, San Diego ranks in the Top 10 for the number of police officers per capita. Beyond security, there is another reason for this: geography.
Tacos: The second San Diego is also easy to forget: this sun-kissed beachside metropolis is a border town. The San Ysidro and El Chaparral ports of entry currently constitute the world's busiest land border crossing. The population of Tijuana is actually 150% that of San Diego. The Mexican / Latino community (along with indigenous tribes) literally predates the concept of the United States of America. Binational families are very common, and thousands of people take advantage of Global Entry / SENTRI privileges to commute into San Diego from Mexico every day. Eighteen year old Americans visiting TJ is a rite of passage. Most recently, the demand for housing in California has spilled over to increase the price of real estate in Tijuana. Many San Diegans venture south in pursuit of medical tourism, including regular dental check-ups, which are affordable even without insurance co-pays. The Cross-Border Express is literally an entry/exit point for the Tijuana International Airport, complete with immigration and customs officers. The San Diego baseball team is the Padres, and their new City Connect uniforms pay homage to the landscapes and artwork of the Baja California peninsula. You can claim that the tacos and burritos in your town are better, but you’d be wrong.
Double-Consciousness: To keep this brief, the third San Diego is a study in contrasts and is somewhat bipolar. The Ocean Beach and Pacific Beach neighborhoods represent a laid-back, chill, cannabis-friendly surfer lifestyle which happens to coexists with the rural, agricultural, arch-conservative East County vibe typified by MAGA and Thin Blue Line culture. These two sides of the same coin occupy the same space and somehow manage to reconcile their worldviews and belief systems in a (relatively) healthy peace.
Capital: The fourth San Diego is a reflection of the area as a very desirable place to live. Forty years ago, imagine an affluent business owner in Minneapolis, Milwaukee, Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Baltimore, New York, or Boston. These cities experience a winter that lasts from November through March and is brutal. The snow is still on the ground in the spring and it is gray and dirty. Year over year, the business owner notices fewer and fewer acquaintances at their country club. They ask their accountant what’s going on, and the accountant says: “Well, my other clients are buying a second home in San Diego.” Brilliant idea. People of means have been willing to pay the Sunshine Tax as a way to escape the Midwest and Northeast United States. In my opinion, Teslas are like Toyota Corollas at the price-point of a Mercedes-Benz with the quality-control of a Huffy bike and the ultimate status symbol for those with disposable income. There are more Teslas registered in a particular San Diego ZIP code than in all but two others in the entire state of California. La Jolla has a reputation for some of the most expensive homes and Rancho Santa Fe is one of the country’s oldest planned suburban developments. The families of many professional athletes in the NBA, NFL, or MLB will reside in San Diego while the player plies their trade for franchises all across the country. It’s a good place for families and there’s a lot of money, which comes from industry located elsewhere. The intellectual capital manages the money from San Diego, while the operation is elsewhere.
If none of these city vibes are readily identifiable to a San Diego resident, then they’re in the 5th, a wild card which houses “none of the above” or specific areas, including niche industries like semiconductors, biotech, craft beer, etc.