A decade ago, Amazon temporarily set up an outside reading lounge at Westfield UTC in La Jolla, Calif. The Featured Image is one of several that I captured using iPhone 5s on Nov. 9, 2013. (Vitals: f/2.2, ISO 32, 1/1200 sec, 4.1mm; 3:40 p.m. PST). Three years later, the second-ever Amazon Books store opened in the mall. My wife and I visited for the first time in January 2017. Fifteen months ago, the retailer announced closure of its shops and popups. Bye-bye bookstores.
I complain about the rapidly rising cost of living in San Diego, but the weather makes possible all kinds of activities, including commercial, not possible in many other cities in the United States. Could Amazon have created an inviting reading space like this one in, say, Florida—where summer showers are almost a daily occurrence?
According to Sperling’s Best Places, in San Diego, number of sunny days is 266. Average rainfall—this year being an exception—is about 12 inches. Humidity is moderate to low. More:
August is the hottest month for San Diego with an average high temperature of 80.2°, which ranks it as cooler than most places in California. In San Diego, there are 7 comfortable months with high temperatures in the range of 70-85°.
Remember, I took this photo in November, which often is very pleasant, weatherwise.
Compare to Miami, which, according to Best Places, sees 248 sunny days, yearly. But annual rainfall is 59 inches, which is 21 inches above the national average. The year’s typically lowest humidity, shy of 60 percent, is on average San Diego’s highest.
Climate is coastal San Diego’s biggest benefit. Detriments include soaring rents and home prices, rising homelessness, and high inflation (second in the nation, behind Tampa, Fla., according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics).