In short
San Diego has one of the steadiest climates in the country: between fifteen and twenty-five degrees all year, little rain, and constant light.
Balboa Park gathers fifteen museums and the zoo across four hundred and eighty hectares. The Mexican border is thirty minutes from downtown by tram.
What it really costs
Housing is expensive, at a level close to Los Angeles, but the distances are far shorter and the transport budget lighter.
The trolley serves downtown, the border and part of the bay. Elsewhere, a car is still needed.
What nobody tells you
"May Gray" and "June Gloom" are real: a marine layer covers the coast in the morning from May to July and burns off around midday, sometimes not at all.
Walking into Tijuana is straightforward; coming back means one to three hours in line at the border post. The return is the part people underestimate.
The ocean is cold: seventeen to twenty degrees, with local surfers in wetsuits all year.