Destination: San Diego
Mark Cantrell

According to national surveys, San Diego ranks high in overall quality of life thanks in part to its beautiful surroundings. Photo by Jim Blank, courtesy of the San Diego Convention & Visitors Bureau.

San Diego ranked as one of America’s favorite cities in a recent survey conducted by Travel & Leisure in association with America Online. The dynamic Southern California city earned a second-place ranking in overall quality of life and placed first in seven categories, including the best place for outdoor activities and the destination with the best parks. San Diego also earned high marks for its interesting neighborhoods and impressive views.

The Travel & Leisure survey also ranked San Diego the best destination for getting around by car. According to the American Podiatric Medical Association, however, it’s one of the top 12 walking cities in the U.S. Partners for Livable Communities honored San Diego as one of America’s Most Livable Communities based on the city’s “near ideal climate,” “diverse and healthy economy,” “unique urban amenities,” and status as “one of the most beautiful locations on earth.”

No place on earth is perfect, but just about everyone seems to agree that San Diego certainly comes close.

On Duty

San Diego also rates well in terms of health care facilities, although the 2003 version of U.S. News & World Report’s list of America’s Best Hospitals ranked more San Diego facilities than the 2004 list. Only the University of California San Diego Medical Center (UCSDMC) was on the 2004 list, placing 44th in gynecology, 36th in kidney disease, eighth in respiratory disorders, and 22nd in rheumatology. UCSDMC is part of the UCSD Healthcare System, the only health care organization in San Diego affiliated with a school of medicine.

In the 2003 rankings, Scripps Mercy Hospital, San Diego’s oldest hospital, ranked 34th in the nation in geriatric care and 49th in rheumatology. Scripps Mercy is part of an acute-care hospital system that also includes Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla, which also appeared in the 2003 U.S. News & World Report rankings, placing 38th in the nation in the heart and heart surgery category.

If you’re looking for fun in the sun, you can’t do much better than the beaches of San Diego, such as this one at Mission Bay. Photo courtesy of the San Diego Convention & Visitors Bureau.

Scripps Memorial Hospital Encinitas (SMHE) earned its honors from the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative, a global program sponsored by the World Health Organization and the United Nations Children’s Fund that is designed to encourage and recognize hospitals and birthing centers that offer an optimal level of care for breast-feeding mothers and their babies. SMHE is the only designated “Baby-Friendly” facility in San Diego County, but it is not the only facility to be recognized for providing quality care to San Diego’s younger citizens.

Children’s Hospital and Health Center (CHHC) is the region’s only designated pediatric trauma center. “Our PICU has been rated one of the top PICUs in North America for our survival rates,” says Doug Levine, a recruiter in the hospital’s human resources department.

In 2002, CHHC was the first pediatric hospital in the country to win the prestigious Ernest A. Codman Award from the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations. CHHC was honored for developing and implementing more than 60 clinical “pathways,” or roadmaps that help eliminate variation in treatment for a wide range of illnesses and conditions that affect children.

The world-famous San Diego Zoo is one of the area’s top draws. Photo by the San Diego Zoo, courtesy of the San Diego Convention & Visitors Bureau.

In January of this year, California implemented the nation’s first nurse-to-patient ratios, which range from 1:1 in trauma units to 1:6 in med/surg units. According to Levine, CHHC was generally staffed at levels that met the ratios for pediatrics before the law went into effect. “That does not mean we’re immune to the nursing shortage,” he says. “While we’re not feeling the shortage as badly as others right now, we work at recruiting enough professional nurses all of the time.”

As the only area hospital dedicated solely to pediatric care, Levine says CHHC is a draw in itself. The hospital’s central location doesn’t hurt, either, and in San Diego, that’s saying something. “The beach is 10 to 15 minutes west,” Levine says. “If you want to go downtown, to the new ballpark [PETCO Park] or the Gaslamp District, that’s only 10 or 15 minutes away, too. If you want a different country,” he adds, “Tijuana is a half hour away. The mountains and the desert, they’re an hour away.”

Administrators at the 248-bed facility aren’t being complacent, however. Last year they introduced an RN residency program originally developed at Children’s Hospital in Los Angeles that was designed to help new graduates feel comfortable entering the world of pediatric nursing. Although it may be too soon to draw conclusions, he says: “It looks like this program is helping improve our retention rate. I think the quality of the nurses, as well as the education they are getting, is incredible.”

The San Diego State University (SDSU) School of Nursing has also been active in developing programs designed to help alleviate the nursing shortage on the local level. The SDSU Nurses Now program partners with local hospitals and health care organizations to support additional faculty at the school, recruitment and retention efforts, a mentoring program, and student scholarships.

Get up close and personal with whales in the waters near San Diego. Photo by Gene Warneke, courtesy of the San Diego Convention & Visitors Bureau.

Off Duty

San Diego sits poised on the shores of one of the world’s most beautiful natural harbors, with inland mountains providing a picture-perfect backdrop. With a population of approximately 1.2 million, it ranks as the second-largest city in California and the seventh-largest in the country. Ornate Victorian buildings line the streets, a successfully revitalized downtown district hums with activity, and winter temperatures rarely dip below 40 degrees.

Seventy miles of breathtaking beaches, a wealth of diverse natural attractions, abundant city parks, and a rich smorgasbord of cultural offerings help make the lifestyle enjoyed by the city’s residents as attractive as the weather.

Travelocity.com has dubbed San Diego “the newest cultural mecca in the United States.” The city’s passion for arts and culture is showcased in two Tony Award-winning theaters, more than 90 museums, musical offerings for all tastes, and an exciting calendar of special events that reflects the area’s ethnic diversity. With wide walkways, scenic gardens, 15 museums, and the San Diego Zoo, Balboa Park is one of the highlights of the cultural scene. The historic Gaslamp Quarter, where beautifully restored Victorian buildings house restaurants, nightclubs, theatres, shops, coffee houses, art galleries, and more, also pulses with life.

Balboa Park, home of the San Diego Zoo, lush gardens, and 15 museums, offers something for everyone. Photo by Jim Blank, courtesy of the San Diego Convention & Visitors Bureau.

Part of the city’s appeal lies in its animal attractions. Whale-watching attracts many visitors to the area, but SeaWorld San Diego and the internationally acclaimed San Diego Zoo are among the area’s biggest draws. SeaWorld San Diego, which is located on Mission Bay, is a 189-acre marine park that features trained killer whales, manatees, seals, dolphins, sea lions, sea otters, and penguins.

The San Diego Zoo is home to approximately 4,000 animals, including Mei Sheng, a male panda cub born last August. The San Diego Zoo is one of only four facilities in the country to house critically endangered giant pandas and is the only American zoo to successfully breed, birth, and rear healthy cubs, according to The San Diego Convention & Visitors Bureau. The San Diego Zoo’s Wild Animal Park, a 2,200-acre nature preserve located 30 miles north of downtown San Diego, is home to more than 3,000 wild animals that roam free over expanses that resemble their native habitats.

There is, of course, a price to pay for living in paradise. Housing costs contribute to a cost of living that can be more than 50% higher than in other parts of the country, according to Homefair.com. CNNmoney reports an average home price of $370,000 in San Diego compared to a national average of $242,663.