San Diego Still Captivates Health Seekers
Speaker 1: 00:00 San Diego has attracted health seekers for generations. People lured by the sun and coastline as part of the California dream. Collaboration. KPBS is a Meta Sharma looks at how that promise continues to shape the city. Speaker 2: 00:15 The San Diego Tourism Authority leans in to San Diego's reputation as a place to [inaudible]. Speaker 3: 00:20 I feel great today Speaker 2: 00:28 in an ad. People play on the beach. They surf kids frolic, they hit volleyballs. The promos as communications director Candace Eley taps into the fundamental Akil at San Diego. She calls it Sun Vibes. They get this good vibe, this good healthy feeling. When they're here. They feel like they're their best self when they're here. 35 million tourists come to San Diego each year. They spent more than $11 billion in 2018 as they walk outside of the airport, they just say they feel a difference in the air. This is tourism authority. Chief operating officer carry Verbeck cabbage. They actually say it makes them feel better in different immediately upon coming into the city and in spite of rising housing costs, people keep coming. My Los Angeles County lost people last year. San Diego County added nearly 18,000 to its population in 2018 Speaker 4: 01:25 I think it's natural. Beauty is the main thing right away and then I think everything is sort of surrounded by the sun and the weather and the coastline. Speaker 2: 01:37 That's real estate agent Joe for Raj at the beach in del Mar. He says many home buyers he works with come for the promise of the San Diego lifestyle Speaker 4: 01:46 that is really appealing to people. And then when you come here and you experience it, you'll see people you know doing paddle board Yoga, you'll see people surfing. Speaker 2: 01:58 You can tell he's made this pitch before. Speaker 4: 02:00 See people kayaking. There's so many things to do or you can just see them meditating. It really inspires people Speaker 2: 02:09 and the appeal has helped health resorts thrive in the region Speaker 4: 02:13 with the first fitness spot in the world where the original one, and we have had all kinds of wars as the best in the world. Speaker 2: 02:23 That's Deborah Zay, Kate. She and her husband Admin started Rancho Libretto ted back in 1940 in nearby to Cottey Mexico in the 1950s they opened the golden door spa in San Diego County. Both still operate today. Deborah credits the beauty, the sea, the climate, but there's something else she can't name. Speaker 4: 02:44 I wish I knew. It just is. But the Indians, you know who settled here, had quite a high degree of culture and had the sense to pickets. So I mean, it's always been a place of t people select Speaker 1: 03:04 in San Diego. I'm, I'm Etha Sharma and this story is part of our California dream collaboration. It's the last of a three part series on how San Diego developed a reputation as a place where people go to feel good and healthy. You can read, watch, and listen to the complete series@kpbs.org Speaker 5: 03:33 [inaudible].
