A few years ago, we were talking about places we'd like to live someday. And by "we", I mean myself and three or four of my friends who have never lived anywhere but Idaho and whose parents have never lived anywhere but Idaho. So the chances of any of us actually moving to any of these places where we'd like to live someday are pretty remote. But we had the discussion all the same.
Hawaii was a pretty standard answer. So was New York City. Somebody said Paris. Somebody else said Seattle. And as each person brought up a new possible place to live, we all debated the pros and cons of actually living there. Hawaii's great until you get something called "island fever". New York is amazing because there's so much going on, but there are drawbacks to living in a relatively tight space with seven million other people. Paris is artsy and exotic. But it's also French. And Seattle is cosmopolitan, but also cloudy and rainy, and some people find that depressing.
We all agreed that each one of our so-called favorite places would be heaven if we had money. And by money, I mean lots and lots of money. In lieu of that, we decided we'd probably just as soon stay in Idaho. But that point about Seattle being cloudy and rainy led to a discussion of what kinds of weather each of us found most to our liking.
A couple of people said they like that thing that every Department of Commerce publication says about Idaho: the fact that there are four distinct seasons. It's hot in the summer, it's cold in the winter, and in the fall and spring it's a little of both without being too much of either. That's when I remembered a movie I saw in 1991 called "Defending Your Life". The movie stars Albert Brooks and Meryl Streep, and it's about two people who die in separate accidents and find themselves transported not to heaven or hell but to a place called "Judgment City".
In Judgment City, you literally defend your life. There are judges and attorneys, and during a trial you look at various scenes from your life and attempt to prove that you've been a good person, that you've learned as much as you could and that you've conquered any unreasonable fears during your lifetime. If the judges feel that you've done well, you get to move on to whatever's next and become a citizen of the universe. If the judges decide you've failed, you get to be re-incarnated back on earth to start over.
Anyway, in the movie, Judgment City is one of several places just like it for people who come from different parts of the world. The city where Albert Brooks and Meryl Streep find themselves is designed to remind people of a generic, average-sized city in the western half of the United States. While you're there, you stay in a hotel. The hotel has TV, and in one scene, as Albert Brooks is flipping through the channels, he comes to the weather channel. It reports that the weather in Judgment City is 74 degrees and perfect all the time. Getting back to that discussion I had with my friends, I told them I'd like to live someplace where the temperature was 74 degrees all the time. So we decided to find a place like that for me. And we did. And it was San Diego.
I've been to San Diego several times, and I do like it. And as I said before, I'd probably love to live there with lots and lots of money, which every year becomes more and more important. I decided to check the Internet for clues as to how people in San Diego live, what they think of themselves and their city and why they like living there. And that was interesting.
I found out that people in San Diego think they have the world's best coffee, just like Seattle says they do. They think they have the best brewpubs in America, just like Oregon says it does. They also claim to have the best pizza, the finest sunsets, the most authentic Mexican food, the greatest outdoor recreation, the best-looking people and the most exciting nightlife, all things that are also claimed by lots of other places around the country. I actually found only one thing everyone in San Diego has in common. They all seem to love San Diego and the weather.
And I found this quote from former San Diego Padre outfielder Steve Finley. "San Diego's great, but it's getting expensive to live here," he said. "Because of the weather tax."
