Barbara

Jocelyn, that's just my understanding, I may have it wrong. The cuts he initially proposed would have affected the Regional Centers.

Jocelyn_P

Barbara, when I was working as a speech pathologist I saw kids through the Regional Center. Maybe we know some of the same people.

Barbara

Jocelyn, We haven't used the regional center yet. Up until now, my daughter's needs have been well met through her school district (Poway).

Patrick

My first reaction to your post was "Are you kidding? San Diego, of course!"

Then I thought about it awhile. I do know Ann Arbor to a limited extent and it is a pleasant town. But I compare the climate, the cultural events, the climate, the coast, the climate, the nearness to LA or Palm Springs, the climate, the variety of things and cultures nearby, and the climate. My final answer, "Are you kidding. San Diego, of course!"

martytravels

Cultural events-wise, I don't really think San Diego has an advantage.

Barbara

So, Patrick, the climate's important to you??

Patrick

Oh, did I mention the climate?

About cultural events. Well, I realize that with the university there's a fair amount in Ann Arbor, in fact very nice for a city that size and what's more they are reasonable to attend. But how many prizes have been won by Ann Arbor groups for world premiers of Broadway plays? How many touring groups appear and how often compared to San Diego? How many local orchestras, operas, and chamber groups does Ann Arbor have compared to San Diego? Where is the world famous Shakespeare Festival in a park in Ann Arbor? Nope, I'll stand by my original statement there.

Austin

Remove climate from the equation, and I'd pick Ann Arbor. I just prefer smaller cities, lower cost of living, less crime, and more seasons. (Of course you would never know that about me since I live in Austin, but I'm leaving as soon as I can...)

martytravels

All the major touring plays, an opera company, a world-class symphony orchestra and every major pop/rock/r&b act will visit Detroit, 35 minutes away.

rjw_lgb_ca

You will have much less of a culture shock moving to Ann Arbor, for all the reasons already mentioned. It's a town one-tenth the size of San Diego, which no one has pointed out. Given the way you describe your family and your desired neighborhood traits, I'd think you'd be more comfortable in a nice, little university town like Ann Arbor than a big, bustling West Coast city like San Diego. You have to move to California wanting something new.

If it were my choice-- San Diego. In a heartbeat. No question. Great town. Great climate. Lots to do in town, and LA's two hours away, as is Palm Springs. But that's me....

itsv

Since I think some people have the wrong viewpoint of San Diego, I felt compelled to respond. Threehearts, 16 years ago I dragged my midwest raised husband (from Wisconsin) kicking and screaming from D.C. to live in San Diego (where I had gone to college). He couldn't have been happier with the move and is very glad I made him do it. I have two elemenatary age children (ages 7 and 12)so I think I know what you are going through. I live in the Mission Hills area of San Diego, our home was built in 1918 (thats very old for San Diego) and we love it here. We definitely have a neighborhood feeling (e.g. we all take trips togeather, have a 4th of july parade every year, playgroups, etc.) We live 5 minutes from downtown and our neighborhood is extremely safe (despite what another poster said). My husband loves the short commute. There are many other neighborhoods like mine (Point Loma, Coronado, etc.) There are certain neighborhoods where the older homes are located because you have to remember that san diego is a "young" city. My neighbor lives in the cities oldest home and that is dated at 1895. As others have mentioned, cost of housing is a huge issue here because prices have gone through the roof in the last 3 years. We bought our home 9 years ago for $425 and it is now worth $1.3. A 4 bedroom in m.h. or point loma will be between 600k to over a million. The plus side to cost of living out here is food is cheaper, we don't have to pay for winter heating, my kids don't get sick as much as their cousins do in d.c. so we have really no medical expenses. clothing is cheaper-my kids only need one set of clothes and entertainment is cheaper, with the beautiful outdoors we do lots of free things outside. As far as cultural, that was one of my husband's main concerns-he had lived in NYC and thought San Diego was a wasteland. That has proven not true, we are subscribers to broadway productions that come into town-this summer we have tickets to hairspray,the producer etc. Plus playwrights love san diego, both the la jolla playhouse and the old globe are known as a test market for broadway productions. Jack O'Brien who won a tony this year for directing Hairspray lives 3 streets away from me. With UCSD, SDSU and USD, we are a university town and my children have met writers, nobel prize winners etc. I always think of san diego as a small town in a big town body. You can do a lot, but still be in a big city. People are very friendly here and when our city was faced with its greatest crisis ever, the fires of Oct. The compassionate, caring and friendly nature of San Diegans really was shown in our response to that event. As far as whether you need to get your nails done and have a plastic surgeon on call, San Diego women are not that way. I would say in general San Diegans are health conscious and like to be outside. You don't have to be an expert in sports, rather people just take advantage of what god has given us-a good climate. I am no means a skinny thing (I could stand to lose 40 pounds), but I like all my friends enjoy exercising. In response to your love of skiing, we have a neighborhood tradition where about 40 families go every year to Park City on a ski trip. It is a short 1 1/2 hour plane trip ($200 fare) and we all share condos to keep cost down. Big Bear is only 2 hours a way and has some great runs. As my kids like to say where else in the world can you go surfing inthe mornig and skiing in the afternoon on the same day and not be on a plane. As far as schools, Barbara is right, the school just depend on the neighborhoods and the school. I have a friend who lives in Del Mar and has tons of bucks, but she sends her five kids to public school because they are so good. San Diego High school (a high school located near downtown) has a great program (called the international baccalauret) and tons of those kids go to ivy league colleges. Bill Gates started public high and middle schools called "high tech high" that are wonderful and in point loma. My kids go to the largest Catholic school in the county five minutes from our house, we pay $200 a kid per month and the ocean view from their school isn't bad. There are just many different options and expensive private school isn't the only one. I have a child with learning issues and I have been able to obtain some very wonderful services here for that child. The other thing San Diego has going for it is diversity, my children are learning spanish and they have many friends from differnt ethnic backgrounds. San diego is selected for many big events, we have had the presidential debates, the superbowl, political conventions to name a few and Joan Kroc,one of our beloved departed citizens every day is giving away millions to make this city better. we had friends visit from D.C. with their children this summer and their father in the past had the oppoturnity to work here and turned it down, when these children found out about it during their visit, they were so unhappy and asked to move in with me, they kept on saying "we had a chance to live here!!" I just wanted to present San Diego in a more positive light that what other posters have done, I am not wealthy my any means, but I couldnt' think of any place better to raise my children. You have a hard decision ot make and if you can afford it, I would visit both places.Good luck and I hope this info is helpful. email me if you have any other specific quesitions. I agree the cost of housing will be your biggest issue living in san diego. Veronica

jenifer

Hey Patrick - Some of us would choose AA over SD because of the climate! I love seasons, and would prefer to only visit a place like SD. But that's what makes the world so interesting - we're all a bit different.

As to culture - martytravels makes a fine point that many wonderful cultural things are available in Detroit (including a wonderful art institute).

Ann Arbor also has a fine symphony orchestra. There are a few wonderful, small theater groups that perform new and cutting-edge plays, even though they're not as big as broadway productions. There is also the Purple Rose theater company in Chelsea (15 minutes from AA). That is Jeff Daniel's theater group, and it also puts on several new show a year - a great support to the starting playwright. You will find many chamber concerts just due to the university. Many are student performances, but they're still wonderful quality. Ann Arbor may not have a Shakespeare festival, but every spring a student group does produce "A Mid-Summers Night Dream" at our arboretum. And there is a wonderful jazz festival every year in Ypsilanti, the next town over.

I suppose it's impossible to do a truly quantitative comparison about the cultural differences between any two cities, but Ann Arbor is right up there in its offerings, particularly with Detroit an easy drive away. And for a bigger city feel, Chicago is an easy weekend trip!

threehearts - If you do decide to visit the AA area to check it out, let me know if you need help planning where to stay or what to see. Feel free to email me.

rjw_lgb_ca

I've always thought that San Diego has the best traits of Los Angeles with very few of its bad traits (and there are a few). Granted, now everyone knows about how great it is to live in SD, which explains its high housing costs (and going higher every year).

Being able to enjoy the outdoors year-round is very important to me, which is why I live 90 minutes up the coast from SD. Higher cost of living? Oh well. You do what you have to in order to be happy....

Still, threehearts, you have to do what's best for your family. I don't think you can really go wrong with either-- each in its own way is great. Best of luck in your decision!

Lpas

When I flew into San Diego last year, I was shocked at the digusting, dirty blanket of smog that lay over the entire area. It quickly killed any fantasies I'd harbored about living in SoCal. Some trade-offs just aren't worth it.

seniormsuedu

i live in east lansing, home of msu, just down the road from aa. most of the good things about aa have been listed, but i would add that u of mich. has a top-notch medical school, also the town has two highly-rated hospitals and attending doctors. if by chance you choose to return to work as a nurse or get an advanced degree, this is the place.

we all go "up north" in the summer to swim, sail, shop, etc. big sand dunes, sleeping bear national lakeshore, mackinac island.

it does snow once in awhile. toughens us up.

Barbara

lpas, the only time last year, in fact ever, in the 26 years i've lived here, that I can recall anything remotely like a "disgusting,dirty,blanket of smog" over San Diego is last October/November when we had major brushfires. You may have heard about them.

rjw_lgb_ca

Barbara, that's what I was thinking! In all the times I've gone down to SD, I can't think of one time where I noticed dirty air-- other than during the fires (and it was bad everywhere-- let's not talk about all the ash falling in Long Beach!!).

For the Michigan boosters, UM-Ann Arbor Medical Center is a great hospital, no question. "US News" rates it as #9 in the country. San Diego has Scripps, UCSD Medical Center, and two hour away, #3 in the nation, UCLA Medical Center in West LA.

Barbara

And Sharp Memorial hospital,which is also very highly rated. Having one of the top medical schools in the nation really helps.

threehearts

Okay, now it's harder than ever...
I can see such plusses to both areas but the differences are certainly extreme(housing prices, climate and as Patrick said- climate). I need to visit both places and see the terms of my husband's contract proposal to see if SD would work. I love the idea of living close in since we have lived in metro NYC, Boston, Stockholm and now Chevy Chase, MD. We love Chevy Chase but you still have to drive quite a ways to get to a good beach and one hour to open water sailing. I need to factor in the cost of private schooling if the public schools don't offer good special needs services. My daughter has a bit of a unique problem in that she is emotionally disabled but able to be mainstreamed most of the time. She goes to therapy 4 days a week after school and so good medical care would be a plus. For myself, I am heavily into volunteer fundraising at this time for children's issues and am a people person so I have no doubt that I'd be happy with the people most anywhere. Thanks for all the replies. I really appreciate it. Threehearts

Lpas

Yes, I've heard of them. I was there about 2 weeks prior to the big fire. Perhaps there were smaller blazes burning at that time that would account for the problem.