The topic came up because Alex seems to think that people will move to San Diego in droves and that will keep our real estate prices high.
I compared San Diego to air conditioning. It’s reliable and keeps your environment nice and comfortable. Once we have it, we can’t do without it (as society) but we take it for granted. Nobody says, wow, A/C is so great!
To me San Diego is a good car like a Toyota Camry. It’s perfectly manufactured. You can rely on it and it’ll never give you trouble. It’s boring but the Camry provides the best value for the money. It’s no sexy Mazerati that’ll get your heart racing a little (and also require lots of repairs and money).
The big problem is the San Diego Camry is priced at BMW prices. Therefore, there’s no value for the money in San Diego. Rich people buy BMW and other expensive makes.
Likewise, rich people who have the money to relocate on a whim, tend to live in interesting places because they can afford to insulate themselves against all the discomfort and hassles of daily life.
I live in San Diego because, for a major city, things are easy here. I can go to Home Depot, buy things and bring them back easily. The weather is nice and I can to the beach, etc.. Those are the positive aspects of San Diego. But those positives are not attractive enough for the very rich to relocate here. Those positives are also priced too high for there to be legions of middle class workers clamoring for a relocation to San Diego.
For me, I need to get out of San Diego once in a while because the culture here sucks.