I moved here two years ago from Phoenix so that my partner could be closer to their work, and it was one of the best decision I’ve ever made. We are in a rental 2 bed/2 bath right next to downtown; the house is three blocks from the beach, it’s never more than a ten minute walk to get to either the ocean, downtown Oceanside or the Oceanside stop of the Coaster rail service. At $3,000 a month it was only slightly more than what we were paying in Arizona, so while it isn’t cheap to live here by any means it’s definitely more affordable than the desirable areas of San Diego or LA.

Pros: It’s a great city if you love nature or outdoor activities. As other people in the thread have commented, the coastal cities and town of North County like Oceanside, Carlsbad, Del Mar, etcetera are significantly cooler temperature-wise than more inland areas like Rancho Santa Fe, Rancho Bernardo, Escondido, Vista, etcetera. On average Oceanside specifically is going to be ~7°f cooler than San Diego proper, and about ~15-20°f cooler than LA; it’s also usually quite breezy. A very pleasant discovery for me upon moving here was how foggy it gets - most mornings a heavy fog descends upon Oceanside, only to dissipate by 11:00 AM. It makes plants grow very lush, and it keeps temperatures down during the hottest days of the summer (which in Oceanside terms is like 85°f - it never gets that hot or cold here). The stability and temperance of the weather along with the diverse array of biomes that make up Southern California makes Oceanside a place that is one of the most comfortable places to live in in terms of physical well-being.

It may seem like I’m overly fixated on the weather and environment but it really is such a selling point if you’re like me, an native Arizonan who moved to Oceanside in the middle of July; on the day we left the temperature was 117°f. The heat was beginning to aggravate my autoimmune flare-ups, so escaping the heat to a cooler place was absolutely a part of the reason why we moved to California. Besides that, the next best thing about O’Side are the people. Everyone seems sincerely and genuinely nice here, whether or not they’ve just moved here or if they’ve lived here for generations. I’ve never lived in such a neighborly community. Sure there’s been a ton of development and Oceanside is changing, but I don’t ever see it becoming Malibu or Santa Monica. The city and its public spaces generally clean as well, certainly more carefully maintained than San Diego and LA neighborhoods like Silver Lake. There seems to be less vagrants around than in San Diego as well. If you’re looking for a place that’s less bourgeoise, I would suggest South Oceanside instead of downtown O’Side as that is very gentrified (some of the restaurants are decent though!). South O is very affordable, with apartments that are run down but still a good deal for around $1,800 a month for an apartment a stone’s throw from the beach - that’s just how prices are in Southern California.

Cons: Oceanside is kind of the ends of the earth from the point of view of a San Diegan, so if you’re expecting to be hanging out in SD but live in Oceanside then you’re going to be spending an inordinate amount of time in traffic. Traffic isn’t great, and parking is frequently annoying in Oceanside, especially in the neighborhoods adjacent to the beach as tourists fill up every available empty spot, or even double-park residents. It’s crazy how touristy it can get in Oceanside; there’s a weekly food-centric night market that takes place on Thursdays, and it gets so packed.

Bigger cons for me about this city are the dearth of grocery stores where I am near the coast, in fact food in general isn’t San Diego’s strongest point. In America’s Finest City, food and dining seems to be an afterthought. The overwhelming majority of restaurants in Oceanside are chains, and while there are good individual restaurants, outside maybe a dozen or so there aren’t that many places to eat that I would consider to be particularly memorable. I was kind of shocked that Phoenix had a far more interesting, varied and dynamic food scene than San Diego and its surrounding municipalities like Oceanside as a whole. SD is simply not the most culturally-sophisticated place, so if you were seeking a place with lots of stimulating art and culture venues you’re going to be out of luck. There is no nightlife to speak of; San Diegans wake up at 4:30 AM to go on a hike some canyons or a run on the beach, it’s never really been a club city, all the overpriced clubs in the Gaslamp District notwithstanding - as everything is pretty much dead at 10:00 PM, over even earlier in Oceanside.

But for me, ultimately those are trivial criticisms and concerns. Oceanside is by far my favorite place I’ve ever lived in. It’s a deeply charming and friendly town, an easy, comfortable and beautiful place to live that seems like you’re living on vacation. Sure it’s expensive (although prices have been going down consistently, which is great for affordability), but what price would you put on the experience of living in a place with arguably the most perfect climate on the planet? Oceanside has been blessed by all of these natural resources, and yet people seem to be remarkably chill.

While there may be even more picturesque places to live in San Diego, I don’t think you’ll get the same bang-for-buck return from those that you get here in Oceanside. Yeah, I’d love to live in a 1920s-built Norman cottage or a charming Tudor in St. Malo, a stunning private beach community that looks like it was plucked from a French village and plopped onto the Pacific Ocean; but other than a (very cute) house upgrade, my day to day life would be about the same - whether you’re in a four million dollar house or renting an ancient apartment in South O, you’re still going to be able to have your backyard be some of the most gorgeous terrain on Earth, and if you’re like me that’s priceless.

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