San Diego is a state of mind. What is about San Diego that makes it such a vacation destination for so many tourists and 'home' to a couple million San Diegans?

Take a look at this free video: Tour of San Diego from YouTube.com-4:23min

San Diego has its own way. For decades, San Diego has been known as a 'sleepy' little town or the 'cul de sac' of California or even more often, a 'military town'. Over the years, each of those descriptions have had merit. But, San Diego is now 'growing up'. Some say it is finally growing up. Some say it has grown too much. And somewhere in the middle is the same San Diego it has always been but now it is wrapped in a lot of change.

Ten years ago, had you visited, you would have seen a struggling downtown area that was trying to be the hub of entertainment and fine dining. Flying into San Diego, you would have seen a somewhat flat downtown area missing a robust skyline.

Now, downtown is experiencing a rebirth with new high rise condominiums going up on nearly every block. In fact, with all the construction going on in the downtown area, it is impossible for us to even keep up with the changes that seem to occur on a weekly basis. For this reason, we invite you to take a look at our ever changing downtown by checking out the Downtown Web Cam

Can you can spend an entire weekend downtown? If that's your scene, and you don't mind the downtown feeling, then by all means go eat, drink and be entertained. If you do not want the downtown feel, do not stay there and check in elsewhere. You can always just visit.

San Diego is a lifestyle.

San Diego is a lifestyle, a state of mind. San Diego, though a magnet for many looking for a great climate and coastal influences, still has a small (er) town feel. We still sort of think of ourselves as "small town". We still don't have that hustle and bustle feel to our day-to-day living. People visit or choose to live here because there is a relaxed way about San Diego.

Do people work? Of course. But, they love their leisure time. Is there traffic? Of course. But, the traffic is really during early morning and evening drive time. Is there arts and culture? Of course. But, we balance the indoor recreation with an abundance of outdoor activities.

San Diegans aim for a great quality of life. We either chose to raise our families here or we moved here because it had everything, in a city, we were looking for. In fact, many locals will tell you that they don't travel much because everything they want is here in San Diego.

San Diegans love their San Diego. You'd be hard pressed to find someone who doesn't love it and who doesn't volunteer to tell you just that. They love their city, their community, and the climate. Some might tell you that they don't love how things have changed, or that it costs a lot of dough to live here, or they have to pay the 'sunshine tax'. What is the 'sunshine tax'? The biggest complaint, other than all the changes, is that we make less money per year because employers know that folks want to move here, regardless. Thus, the 'sunshine tax'.

So there you have it! We could go on and on...about all the pocket communities or a thousand other ways to describe this place but San Diego has to be experienced. Once you visit, you might want to stay. And for our locals...once you rediscover your town..you'll fall in love all over again.