I haven’t posted in a while, but I’ve been lurking when I’ve had the time. We just moved from La Jolla to Madison, WI. We packed with the movers 2 weeks ago, moved last week, and have been finishing off the moving in process in the last few days.
This thread strikes a chord with me because I’ve been searching for a different dynamic for my family and our life. I’ve been bored with San Diego for a long time now – I still think it is a great place for most people, but I wanted to give another place a try.
It’s raining outside and it doesn’t feel like San Diego right now! We had major thunderstorms and the tornado warning radio went off all day yesterday! We didn’t actually get any bad weather – but it was pretty close, about 10 miles north of us. That being said – it’s beautiful to watch and participate in the weather like this. Will I get tired of the weather? Maybe – but for now it’s magic! I am from NY originally – and need seasons and seeing stuff happen – San Diego weather as great as it was was destroying my soul!
Probably most San Diegians, especially ones who have always been beach people couldn’t or wouldn’t hack it out here – but thats not me anyway and I am liking it here so far.
My wife isn’t happy about this at all – the kids (11 and 14) are liking it a lot (so far), and the dogs are in heaven (not a sterile environment – we actually see wildlife and stuff!).
Living in a great community in Madison, WI (Middleton address actually) has a different feel so far than San Diego. The house we bought is 3 times the size of most San Diego houses, but costs about a 1/3rd as much. I was never a beach person so living in La Jolla near the beach was a waste for me. This place has great restaurants and is a large college town – has lots of fun things to do and seems much more family friendly. San Diego is a mix of things – It has retirees (God especially near the beach and in La Jolla!), empty nesters, beach trash folks, homeless, families, college kids (although you wouldn’t notice because of the density), etc. Middleton/Madison is very family oriented. There is theater and stuff going on all the time – one reason I moved here is that when I would come to visit (my wifes brother and family live here), we would do more fun things in Madison, then we do back home in SD.
I was getting sick of being cramped for space, or overpaying for space and having to deal with traffic. The cost of living was bugging me and the public school situation was execrable. The college city vibe is awesome and the job market is great.
I think that we will be doing a lot more as a family here – there is more of a vibe of togetherness here then in SD. Example is the farmers market down at the state capitol building. It’s huge and everyone goes there with their family. The ones in La Jolla and elsewhere don’t really have any community at all.
The friendliness here is amazing and very close to my heart. Example: I was in the market and a guy asked me to hold a big group of flowers he was holding so he could shift some bags around. (no jokes please!) I told him “this doesn’t mean we are dating!”, he laughed. I gave him back his package. I know this sounds weird, but in NY you would never do this – people would think you were both crazy and weird. In San Diego – pretty much the same thing but without the ‘danger vibe’, here it was no big deal!
People wave at each other going down a street. People who are jogging waved at us both during the winter on vacation, and now. In San Diego – people kind of don’t wave or even smile at each other – especially in La Jolla and other places. I’m not saying the people are mean, I just mean that they don’t really acknowledge, smile, or wave!!!
Anyway – going back to unpacking – and just to mention again – I really, really love this house! It’s sick!
