20 things San Diego does better than anywhere else

The next time someone tells you, "San Diego is just for vacations", or you have to buy a $75 fan because your PB apartment was built in 1940 and has no air conditioning and it's July, take a moment to think about all the things San Diego does better than anywhere else. 20 of those things are listed below:

It's the best weather in the nation. Possibly the world. People don't even argue about this, they just complain about it if they don't live here. This fact partly explains why we're better than most everyone else at...

San Diego consistently ranks as one of the happiest cities in the country. Doesn't that mean we're probably best at everything else? Should we just stop writing?

Between UCSD, the Salk Institute, and more than 600 biotech companies, we develop new medicines and search for cancer cures, which is impressive concentration considering the aforementioned weather.

Other places do it. Many of them do it well. Seriously Colorado, you're putting in some real solid work up there. But the preponderance of extraordinary craft beer from and found in San Diego is unmatched. This also means a plethora of tap rooms, beer festivals, etc. Oh, did we mention Stone is about to conquer Europe?
 

Parks, beaches, hiking trails, coves, lakes, estuaries, nearby mountains, bays... we wear many nature-related hats. We're like the Renaissance man of nature.
 

The other reason to go to Miramar Road besides breweries and buying furniture.
 

The Beach Boys could have easily just made the song "San Diego Girls".

Deep-fried or grilled, mahi mahi or halibut, flour or corn tortilla, white sauce or salsa fresca or both, the rest of the country often imitates but never quite gets it right.
 

From mole to tacos, menudo to burritos, we've got it down.
 

Touch starfish. Ride the Skyfari. Feed butterflies. Let lorikeets land (and poop) on you. Our zoo/aquarium-related activities are just better than other people's. Plus, we've got pandas, polar bears, and Komodo dragons and stuff.
 

There're science-based reasons (including pollution, but hey, whatever!), that give us these especially purple/pink/blue/"#magical"/"#incredible" sunsets. Plus, there's the the whole palm tree/power line combo, the green flash, and piers and beaches from which to watch.
 

Unfortunately, we are experts at this. Norv Turner is only partly to blame.
 

"San Diego's not exactly a bad place to come back to", said everyone in Lindbergh Field at some point.
 

Actually, just expand this to "finding any excuse to drink discounted margaritas".

From tutus to Cookie Monster outfits, the Cardiff Kook (aka the Silver Surfer statue on Highway 101) is always looking fab.
 

When you see someone wearing closed-toe shoes in the Summer, unless they're riding a skateboard/playing golf/going to work/etc., they're probably not from here. Vans are an exception. Rainbows are the best.
 

Regardless of where you do it, drinking near the ocean is one of the best activities ever. In history. From The Brigantine in Del Mar to PB Ale House, we raise this practice to an art form.

"Dude, do you want to paddle out at Black's tomorrow? It's supposed to be 4-5 with this NW swell." We're also professionals at interlacing "dudes" and "stokeds" into our vocabularies, and thereby pissing off linguists everywhere.

Thank you, urban sprawl and zero public transportation. Oh, you're just going to ride your bike? Good luck with that.

Look. San Diego was the first city in California. It's also the second largest. We probably have the best collection of surf spots, overall, in terms of access, variety, crowds, etc. We're the closest, not just in proximity, but in like, coolness, with Mexico. And our dining and nightlife is on par with most anybody else's. And no, we're not biased.