VISIT     VIRTUAL     SAN     DIEGO
CALIFORNIA     U.S.A.

ABOUT

• Snow in San Diego: The last day it snowed in downtown San Diego City was December 13, 1967.
• San Diego, founded in 1769, is the ninth largest city in the U.S.A. and the second largest city in California. San Diego has a population exceeding 1.3 million. Another 1.6 million people live outside the city limits (in San Diego County).
• San Diego was identified as the fifth best large city in the U.S. by Money Magazine in 2006.
• San Diego identifies its Best in 2009.
• San Diego motto: Semper Vigilans, and here is brief glimpse of our more popular areas.

BUSINESS

• For work, consider Job Star  or  Net-Temps  where job seekers can create a desktop, or try Craig's List.
• Based on number of employees for 2009, our County's largest public companies include: Sharp Health Care,   Scripps Mercy Hospital,   Kaiser Hospital,   Qualcomm,   AT&T,   Sempra Energy,  SAIC,  
• Or, here is a more complete list of our Largest Employers.

EDUCATION

• In 1854 San Diego had neither a public nor private school. Our first school building was built in 1865, and by 1892 there were 18 schools, ten with only one room.
• Colleges &Universities in the County including junior colleges.
• Major universities include the: University of California at San Diego (1960), San Diego State University (1898), University of San Diego (1949), and the California State University at San Marcos (1989).
• San Diego County Office of Education manages 42 school districts, and 590 public schools.

ENTERTAINMENT

• Gaslamp Quarter for conventions, dining, and entertainment downtown.
• San Diego Events picks for a variety of current events.
• Web San Diego a resource for San Diego art, culture and entertainment.
• Specifics for: Arts,   Events,   Kids,   Opera,   Symphony,  and Visitor Information.
• San Diego Zoo, a world class exhibit of animals and plants.
• Sea World, a variety of aquatic shows and exhibits.
• Some of our most popular Shopping Malls,
• Tours and other free things to do in San Diego.

GOVERNMENT

• San Diego County contains 18 cities, including San Diego City.
• Communities of San Diego provides a link with paragraphs about the uniqueness of each.
• SANDAG San Diego Association of Governments.
• San Diego Communities links for 82 communities with census and other area data, as well as for nearby counties.
• San Diego County homepage.

HISTORY

• Balboa Park dates back to its visionary citizens in 1868.
• Cabrillo National Monument See the bay where Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo landed in 1542, thus becoming the first European to set foot on the west coast of the U.S.
• History of San Diego: 1542 - 1908
• House of Hospitality Much of San Diego dates back to its Panama-California Exposition in 1915.
• Looking Back at 1948-1952 by Lionel Van Deerlin [NOTE: No longer hosted by San Diego Magazine ].
• San Diego Historical Society is searchable, includes pictures and postcards from San Diego's past, a Timeline, and provides an online Journal.

LIBRARIES

• Local university libraries include: San Diego State, University of California, and University of San Diego.
• Local public libraries include: City, County, and the County Law Library.

MEDIA

• FM Radio: [ 89.5 public radio] [ 96.5 soft rock ] [ 97.3 country music] [ 98.1 great jazz ] [ 100.1 christian ] [ 104.9 classical ] or this list by On The Radio . Net
• Magazines: ComputorEdge Online,   San Diegan,   San Diego Business Journal,   San Diego Family,   San Diego Magazine, and San Diego Metropolitan.
• Newspapers: Navy Compass, the authorized Navy newspaper,   North County Times,   San Diego Reader, and the Union-Tribune, the largest local daily.
• TV channels: CTN,   4 (4SD),   5 (Fox),   8 (CBS),   10 (ABC),   39 (NBC),   and others.

MEETING PLACES

• May I suggest the Bahia Del Sol on the waterfront downtown, or Twiggs which serves sandwiches, coffees, mochas, and fresh pastries in North Park, or the Japanese Friendship Garden in Balboa Park, or the Living Room in Old Town.

MILITARY

Even prior to the 1900s, Pacific Fleet ships routinely anchored in the harbor at the foot of Broadway. Then several significant events took place:
• 1899: The Army establishes Fort Rosecrans, named after General Rosecrans.
• 1906: A Radio Station eventually becomes the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center, now SSC-Pacific
• 1908: The U.S. Navy's Great White Fleet makes San Diego its first port call during a worldwide tour, bringing more than 16,000 sailors to San Diego on 16 battleships, 7 destroyers and 4 auxiliary ships.
• 1911: Marine Corps Recruit Depot.
• 1919: Naval Base (32nd Street) and the Navy makes San Diego Bay home base for the Pacific Fleet.
• 1922: Naval Supply Depot (Broadway Complex).
• 1942: The Navy acquires Rancho Santa Margarita for Camp Pendleton Marine base.
• 1943: Naval Amphibious Base in Coronado.

MUSEUMS

• AIR & WATER: Air and Space Museum,   Birch Aquarium, and the Maritime Museum.
• ART: Contemporary Art,   Living Artist,   Museum of Art,   Photographic Arts,   Timken Museum Of Art   and the UCSD Stuart Collection, including its Virtues and Vices display.
• ATYPICAL: Aircraft Carrier,   Automotive,   Children's,   Hall of Champions,   J. A. Cooley,   Making Music,   Mission San Diego de Alcala,   Model Railroad,   Railway,   Veterans,   Whaley House, and the Women's Museum.
• SCIENCE: Archaeological Center, and the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center.
• TRADITIONAL Museum of Man, and the Natural History Museum.

MUST SEE

• Balboa Park is the cultural heart of San Diego and includes six museums, the Spreckles Organ, the Reuben H. Fleet Space Theater and Science Center, more than a dozen engaging gardens, and the world famous Old Globe Theater known for its quality stage performances. On Tuesdays certain museums are free. Here is a map.
• Palomar Observatory remains an extraordinary scientific achievement with a remarkable background.
• San Diego Skyline: The 901 public bus leaves Broadway & Kettner (near the downtown Trolly or Train station), stops at Horton Plaza (Broadway & 3rd), crosses the famous Coronado Bay Bridge, stops at the Hotel Del Coronado and continues south to the city of Imperial Beach. The entire bus portion of the trip takes about 40 minutes, costs about $3. and should be timed just before sunset.  Ask for a transfer.

NATURE

• Chula Vista Nature Center is a living museum with interactive exhibits that "interpret the history, geology, ecology, and natural history of the Sweetwater Marsh."
• Mission Trails Regional Park contains more than 5,000 "acres of both natural and developed recreational areas. Its rugged hills, valleys and open areas represent a San Diego prior to the landing of Cabrillo in San Diego Bay in 1542."
• Water Conservation Garden promotes water conservation with classes and event.

SISTER
CITIES

• San Diego has 15 sister cities. These are: Alcala De Henares, Spain (1982), Campinas, Brazil (1985), Cavite City, Philippines (1969), Jeonju (also Chonju), Korea (1977), Edinburgh Scotland (1977), Jalalbad, Afghanistan (2004), Leon, Mexico (1969), Perth, Australia (1986), Taichung City, China (1983), Tema, Ghana (1976), Tijuana, Mexico (1993), Vladivostok, Russia (1991), Warsaw Province, Poland (1996), Yantai, People's Republic of China (1985), and Yokohama, Japan (1957--San Diego's first sister city).

SPORTS

• San Diego Chargers [Football] In the 2008 season they won 8 and lost 8.  This season they won 14 and lost 2 going into the playoffs.  Our current sports hero is LaDainian Tomlinson.
• San Diego Golf Public and Military San Diego has more golf courses per capita than any other place on Earth.
• San Diego Padres [Baseball] In the 2009 season, the Padres won 66 and lost 99 games. Tony Gwynn, one of our most popular sports figures, attained hit number 3,000 on August 6, 1999 against Dan Smith of the Montreal Expos.  He retired shortly after that, and entered Baseball's Hall of Fame on July 29, 2006.

TRAFFIC

• Our first streetcar began service on a warm July 3, 1886.
• Our first traffic jam was on a brisk and cold February 15, 1909.
• Current San Diego Traffic from: CalTrans, and from San Diego 511.
• San Diego Area Traffic SigAlert, with an interactive map.
• San Diego Trolly Map to major locations, or use the handy Online Transit Information System.

VISITORS

• Largest: Our largest visitors are the Gray Whales which begin their migration in the frigid Alaskan waters and swim southward at a rate of about 70 miles a day to their breeding waters in Baha California.
• Most Frequent: Our most frequent visitors are humans, and 31.1 million people visited San Diego and spent $ 7.9 billion in 2008.   Visitor Information.
• Smallest: Our smallest visible visitors are the Cliff Swallows which spend their winter in the South African forests. San Diego County Bird Atlas.

VISUALLY

• Here is a JPL 285 Kb radar image of San Diego and surrounding areas. The image shows the Pacific Ocean (top left corner) to slightly east of the El Capitan Reservoir, the dark feature in the bottom right. On the left side, San Diego and its suburbs are recognizable by the large network of freeways that crisscross the area. Cowles Mountain County Park is the dark area in the center of the image. San Diego Bay (bottom left), is separated from Mission Bay by the Point Loma Peninsula. North Island, home of the U.S. Naval Air Station and Silver Strand are on the left (west) side of San Diego Bay. This image was taken (October, 1994) by the Spaceborne Imaging Radar, onboard the space shuttle Endeavour. The image is 52 kilometers by 35 kilometers (33 miles by 22 miles). For a larger view (35 MB) of the same image, visit the high bandwidth site (see below).
• Use the Google map of San Diego but close the left side first (see center arrow).

Commercial
Links

• These commercial or related links may be useful:
  • Discover SD
  • Frommers
  • Wapedia
  • Wikipedia

Notes

1. A disappointing trend is noted by some organizations which no longer support "dated" but useful information.  A good example was identified above under History where the valuable commentary by Lionel Van Deerlin, San Diego's esteemed former Congressman, is no longer being hosted by San Diego Magazine.  You may add your comment about that here.
2. In addition, the San Diego Historical Society used to provide an interesting link titled, "Biographies," a list of 100 San Diego citizens who played a significant role in our history. It no longer is available. You may want to comment about that here.
3. The URL for this page was added to the San Diego page at Wikipedia, at the External Links section.  However it was removed by Wikipedia within one hour.  This Virtual San Diego page was created in 1999, long before Wikipedia started (2001), and provides non-commercial information not contained in their site. You may add your comment about that here.