San Diego Is Paradise!
San Diego offers an incomparable setting for the study of law. In few other places is there so much potential for both professional development and personal fulfillment.
The city is built on a series of hills surrounding the San Diego harbor. The hillsides offer a montage of palm trees and the red tile roofs characteristic of Spanish architecture, while the horizon is dominated by the majestic blue of the Pacific Ocean.
The law school campus is located in Old Town San Diego, where the rich heritage that characterized San Diego during the 1800s abounds. Visitors can see the very first California mission established by Father Junipero Serra, an original adobe hacienda, San Diego's first one-room schoolhouse, the first courthouse, an authentic reconstruction of an 1860s livery and blacksmith station, and even one of the most famous haunted houses in the United States. The state park includes a main plaza, exhibits, museums and living history demonstrations, while the surrounding streets are filled with colorful shops, restaurants and other places to have fun and relax.
San Diego's revitalized downtown features modern office buildings and new residential spaces, creating a dynamic urban community that includes the beautiful Balboa Park, the trendy Gaslamp Quarter, the artists' haven of Little Italy, a new downtown ballpark and the scenic harborfront shops and restaurants of Seaport Village. San Diego is a city of neighbors, including an array of beach communities, urban centers and suburban areas to match every taste and stage of life.
Many people believe that our climate is the finest in the continental United States. The average daily high temperature ranges from 65 to 77 degrees year round, with an average annual rainfall of about nine inches. A typical day in San Diego almost any time of the year features clear sunny skies, mild temperatures and a gentle ocean breeze.
San Diego is also a recreational paradise. The county offers some 70 miles of coastline, much of it accompanied by sandy beaches. Forty-five minutes to the east are the Laguna Mountains, where snow falls during the winter. Beyond the mountains is the vast Anza-Borrego Desert. Within the city itself is the unique Mission Bay Park, which features acres of lagoons, picnic grounds, beaches, running and biking paths and playgrounds.
In your leisure time you can tour one of the many museums in Balboa Park, go windsurfing on Mission Bay, hike the hundreds of miles of trails at Torrey Pines, Mission Gorge, or one of the numerous other parks and recreational areas, visit the world famous San Diego Zoo, the Wild Animal Park or SeaWorld, attend an outdoor concert on Shelter Island, build a sandcastle or go bicycling on the boardwalk at Mission Beach, watch the San Diego Chargers or Padres, or listen to well-known artists at the House of Blues or to jazz at Croce's or to other live entertainment at popular night spots in the Gaslamp Quarter. The approximately 40 colleges and universities located throughout the county also offer a wide range of campus-based events. And, because it seems that so many people are recent transplants to the area, the city is remarkably open and accessible to the newcomer.
With so much beauty, it is easy to forget that San Diego also is the eighth largest city in the United States. The population of San Diego County is close to 3 million people. San Diego's continued growth and economic vitality provide an abundance of professional opportunities for Thomas Jefferson School of Law students and alumni.
San Diego, in short, offers a fabulous Southern California lifestyle, with the friendliness of a Midwestern city and the personal and professional opportunities of a major metropolitan area. It is an ideal community in which to complete your legal education.