1. 20 Sep


    So it’s not official official yet (nothing is until there is ink on paper) but we are lined up to sign a lease on this place this week.  It is in Imperial Beach, CA which is the most southwesterly city in the US, the very bottom left of the country.  In exploring the greater San Diego area and asking around for advice on neighborhoods, IB (as it is affectionately referred to) was consistently met with apprehension, aversion, and a general indifference/ignorance of its existence.  Most people say things like, “oh I’ve never been down there, is it safe?” or “cool…I know a realtor if you decide to change your mind.”  These sentiments are actually what sealed the deal for us.  For whatever reason, we are drawn to neighborhoods that are uncool/avoided/unpopular/isolated/removed from “the place to be”.  This is exactly how Queens was presented to us.  Plus, Queens didn’t have a perfect, out of earshot, view of “The Helicopter Capital of the World”, the Naval Outlying Landing Field Imperial Beach, where Blackhawks practice dogfighting and tactical maneuvering.  (pretty pumped about that) We talked to some people who actually live in IB and got the truth - yeah, IB does have a rep of being removed, different, weird, unknown, rough around the edges and that is the way they want to keep it.  Locals like having the reputation of being mysterious and odd - it keeps their town and their beaches from becoming like Mission Beach, Pacific Beach, Ocean Beach, etc. (read: College!! No parents!!)  Their community remains relatively college kid and tourist free - a California, locals-only beach town.  So, that is where we are going to live - a block from the beach in an apartment that, by California standards is “pretty tiny”, but by our standards is “pretty so much better than the place we lived in for the last 2 years”.  We aren’t going to be where the action is but that is the point.   Come visit if you want to decide for yourself about IB.  

    So it’s not official official yet (nothing is until there is ink on paper) but we are lined up to sign a lease on this place this week.  It is in Imperial Beach, CA which is the most southwesterly city in the US, the very bottom left of the country.  In exploring the greater San Diego area and asking around for advice on neighborhoods, IB (as it is affectionately referred to) was consistently met with apprehension, aversion, and a general indifference/ignorance of its existence.  Most people say things like, “oh I’ve never been down there, is it safe?” or “cool…I know a realtor if you decide to change your mind.”  These sentiments are actually what sealed the deal for us.  For whatever reason, we are drawn to neighborhoods that are uncool/avoided/unpopular/isolated/removed from “the place to be”.  This is exactly how Queens was presented to us.  Plus, Queens didn’t have a perfect, out of earshot, view of “The Helicopter Capital of the World”, the Naval Outlying Landing Field Imperial Beach, where Blackhawks practice dogfighting and tactical maneuvering.  (pretty pumped about that)

    We talked to some people who actually live in IB and got the truth - yeah, IB does have a rep of being removed, different, weird, unknown, rough around the edges and that is the way they want to keep it.  Locals like having the reputation of being mysterious and odd - it keeps their town and their beaches from becoming like Mission Beach, Pacific Beach, Ocean Beach, etc. (read: College!! No parents!!)  Their community remains relatively college kid and tourist free - a California, locals-only beach town. 

    So, that is where we are going to live - a block from the beach in an apartment that, by California standards is “pretty tiny”, but by our standards is “pretty so much better than the place we lived in for the last 2 years”.  We aren’t going to be where the action is but that is the point.  

    Come visit if you want to decide for yourself about IB.