I lived about 15-20 miles north of San Diego for over 30 years. While there, I loved it, the weather is unbelievable.....BUT, the traffic had become beyond tolerable. Hubby worked about 7 miles from our house and some nights it could take anywhere from 35 to 60 minutes to get home. When we moved into our town, the population was very small. When we left, it was a very large and crowded city. The Villages is a large community, but it's been planned and things move fairly smoothly around here.
It's not realistic to compare TV to SD, they are two different cities, and each has it's wonderful aspects. We had just had enough of the constant need to get on a freeway to get to something, making sure we left San Diego very early to head home because of commuter traffic (Hubby would get home faster driving from Los Angeles than from San Diego) Here we have more access to things we enjoy and that was a big draw.
Everyone wants something different in the communities they live in...and those wants can change. San Diego is a beautiful area, the mountains are close, the sea is very close and the desert, with it's unique beauty, is also close. Is it more expensive to live there? I don't think so...actually some things here are more costly, but on average, I think our cost of living was about the same in both places.
Illegals and drugs were problems, this is very, very true. The state isn't always solvent, jobs aren't that easily found...maybe that's true for many states, but in CA, it's been a problem for a while. Not sure if you have to work or are retired.
Enjoy the city, lots of people do. Enjoy the newest addition to your family when she or he arrives. Grandkids are really wonderful little people...grandchildren bring the "kid" out in their grandparents...
