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 18, 1967.
• San Diego, founded in 1769, is the eighth 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 Data Reports for the: City and  County.
• San Diego was identified as the fifth best large city in the U.S. by Money Magazine in 2006, and in 2011 Sunset Magazine identified San Diego as the 8th best place to live in the West.
• San Diego identifies its Best in 2009, and here is how San Diego was ranked in 2011 by its residents and visitors.
• 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.
• North County California Center for the Arts in Escondido.
• San Diego Events picks for a variety of current events.
• Specifics for: Arts,   Events,   Kids,   Opera,   Symphony,  and Visitor Information.
• Some of our most popular Shopping Malls,
• Theme Parks:  LegoLand,  San Diego Zoo,  San Diego Safari Park,  Sea Life Aquarium,  and  SeaWorld.
• Tours and other free things to do in San Diego.
• Web San Diego a resource for San Diego art, culture and entertainment.

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.
• City of San Diego incorporated and holds first election in 1850 with a population of 650.
• History of San Diego: 1542 - 1908
• House of Hospitality Much of San Diego dates back to its Panama-California Exposition in 1915.
• Ken Kramer's About San Diego Historic videos about the County.
• Looking Back at 1948-1952 by Lionel Van Deerlin.
• 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

• Blogs:  Blog of San Diego,   Discover San Diego,   Loaded Web,   San Diego.com   San Diego News Blog,   Voice of San Diego
• 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 Shelter Island Shorline Park on the waterfront, 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,   Maritime Museum,  and the  Sea Life Aquarium.
• 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,   Barona (indian) Cultural,   Children's,   Chinese Historical,   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,   Ocean Discovery Institute,   and the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center.
• Traditional Museum of Man, and the Natural History Museum, the third oldest scientific institution west of the Mississippi dating to 1874.
• Two Museum resources are the SD Museum Council, and the The Reader List.

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, the world famous Old Globe Theater known for its quality stage performances, and the House of Pacific Relations representing 32 countries dating back to 1935.  On Tuesdays certain museums are free. Here is a map.
• Harbor Drive Pedestrian Bridge is the unique one-of-a-kind in the world bridge that connects downtown to Balboa Park.
• Palomar Observatory remains an extraordinary scientific achievement with a remarkable background.
• San Diego Skyline: The 901 public bus leaves Broadway & Front (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 $2.25 and should be timed just before sunset.  Ask for a transfer.

NATURE

• Blue Sky Ecological Reserve is a 700 acre oak-lined canyon free to the public.
• California Wolf Center is a "one-of-a-kind education, conservation, and research center located 50 miles east of San Diego, near the town of Julian," open to the public by appointment.
• 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."
• San Diego Botanic Garden a lush garden that features a variety of plant life and two children’s areas, including the Hamilton Children's Garden, the largest interactive children's garden on the West Coast.
• Silverwood Wildlife Sanctuary is a 757-acre wildlife preserve, located near Lakeside, owned and maintained by San Diego Audubon, open to the public on Sundays.
• 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 2011 season they won 8 and lost 8.  Synopsis is here.
• 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 2011 season, the Padres won 71 and lost 91 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.
• Other Sports: Eleven SD sports teams can be found here which notes, "San Diego has the largest championship drought in the nation among cities with at least two major-league sports franchises, dating back to 1963, as well as being the largest United States city to have not won a Super Bowl, World Series, Stanley Cup, NBA Finals or any other Major League sports championship."

ANNUAL


TRADITIONS

• Balboa Park Summer Organ Concerts (since 1987); The Worlds first Outdoor Pipe Organ built in 1914
• Conventions:  Comic Con (since 1970),   ConDor (since 1993)
• Del Mar Horse Racing (since 1937)
• Film:  Asian Film Festival (since 1999),  Jewish Film Festival (since 1990),  San Diego Film Festival (since 2001),  Spike & Mike Festival of Animation (since 1977)
• Flowers:  Carlsbad Flower Fields (since 1933),  Coronado Flower Show (since 1925) "largest flower show held under tents in the nation."  Spring Home and Garden Show (since 1985)
• La Jolla Rough Water Swim (since 1916)
• Military:   Fleet Week (since 1997),  Miramar Air Show (since 1955)
• Marathons:   America's Finest City Half (since 1977),   ING Kids Rock (since 2011),   Rock 'n' Roll San Diego (since 1998)
• Nutcracker Ballet (since 1995)
• Parades:  Mother Goose Parade (since 1946),   Port of San Diego Big Bay Balloon Parade (since 1990),   San Diego Bay Parade of Lights (since 1941),   St. Patrick's Day Parade (since 1981)  
• San Diego County Fair (since 1936)
• Science:  Festival of Science (since 2008),   Science & Engineering Fair (since 1954),   StarFest (since 2007)
• Sports:   Holiday Bowl (since 1978),   Old Mission Beach Over the Line (since 1953)   Poinsettia Bowl (since 2005)
• Sustainability:  Creek to Bay Cleanup (since 2002)
• Thursday Club Rummage Sale (since 1927)
• December Nights (since 1977)

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 29.9 million people visited San Diego and spent $ 7 billion in 2010.   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).
• The influence of topography on the growth of the city of San Diego is seen clearly in this computer-generated perspective viewed from the south and provided by NASA.
• Use the Google map of San Diego but close the left side first (see center arrow). or here is a clickable, pictorial map featuring all of San Diego County.

Commercial   Links

• These commercial or related links may be useful and pay nothing for their link:  Discover SD,  Frommers, and Wikipedia