San Diego, California
San Diego is a famous coastal Southern California city whose economy centers on tourism, trade, agriculture, ship-building, the military, biotechnology, computer science and electronics. Its estimated population of 1,311,162 residents makes it the second largest city in California and the eighth largest in the United States. The larger metropolitan area has a population estimated aover 2.9 million. San Diego lies just north of the Tijuana, Mexico border, and is a home for the United States Navy, United States Coast Guard and United States Marine Corps bases.
The University of California, San Diego and nearby research institutes on Torrey Mesa provide a national base for technological innovation int he region and there are numerous high-tech and biotech companies in the area, including giants such as Qualcomm (largest private-sector technology employer), Neurocrine, Illumina, and Genentech of Oceanside. In June 2004, San Diego was ranked the top biotech cluster in the U.S. by the Milken Institute. The presence of University of California, San Diego and other research institutions help fuel this high technology growth.
Geographically speaking, downtown San Diego is located on San Diego Bay and Balboa Park lies on a mesa to the northeast. Coronado and Point Loma separate San Diego Bay from the ocean. Ocean Beach is on the west side of Point Loma while Mission Beach and Pacific Beach lie between the ocean and Mission Bay, a man-made aquatic park. La Jolla, an affluent community, lies north of Pacific Beach. Mountains rise to the east of the city, and beyond the mountains are desert areas. Cleveland National Forest is a half-hour drive from downtown San Diego. Numerous farms are found in the valleys northeast of the city. The city of San Diego itself has deep canyons separating its mesas, creating small pockets of natural parkland scattered throughout the city.
The economy of San Diego is influenced by its port, which includes the only major shipbuilding yard on the West Coast, as well as the naval base. National defense is a major employer in the city and the region as a whole due to a large presence of military installations. Military bases in or near San Diego include U.S. Navy ports, Marine Corps bases, and Coast Guard stations. San Diego is the home port of the largest naval fleet in the world, including two Navy supercarriers (the USS Nimitz and the USS Ronald Reagan), five amphibious assault ships, several Los Angeles-class submarines, and many smaller ships. One of the Marine Corps' two Recruit Depots is located here. San Diego is also known as the "birthplace of naval aviation."
Owing to its privileged position on the Pacific Ocean and its warm Mediterranean-like climate, San Diego enjoys an abundance of quality produce and dining. The renowned Chino Farms in nearby Rancho Santa Fe provides fresh organic produce both to local restaurants and to restaurants in San Francisco and other cities. There is also a wine growing industry in San Pasqual Valley and Temecula.
San Diego has a strong Mexican influence due to its proximity to the international border between the United States and Mexico. Given its ethnic and cultural mix (the city population is 25% Hispanic and 46% Caucasian), it is not surprising that San Diego has a wide range of cuisines. The city is famous for its restaurants; one can find Mexican, Italian, French, Spanish, Filipino, Vietnamese, Greek, Latin, German, Indian, Central and East Asian, Middle Eastern and Pacific Islander food throughout the city. San Diego's major tourists attractions, alon with these restaurants, include the city's beaches and bays, Balboa Park with its many museums, the San Diego Zoo, Sea World, San Diego Wild Animal Park and Old Town, the site of the original Spanish settlement.
