San Diego is a big city, where locals take pride in its small-town feel. With more than 1 million people living within the city limits, San Diego is second only to Los Angeles in population among California cities and ranks as the seventh-largest municipality in the United States. It also covers a lot of territory, roughly 400 square mi of land and sea.

Central San Diego is delightfully urban and accessible. You can walk the entire downtown area -- explore the exciting and trendy Gaslamp Quarter, stop and shop at whimsical Horton Plaza, dine Italian, hear a rock band, attend a play, take a sunset harbor stroll, picnic in the park, or visit a historic building. Downtown you can catch the trolley or take the bus to the Balboa Park museums and the zoo, Old Town historic sites, Mission Bay marine park, diverse urban neighborhoods, and Tijuana.

To the north and south of San Diego are 70 mi of beaches. Hiking and camping territory lie inland, where a succession of long, low, chaparral-covered mesas are punctuated with deep-cut canyons that step up to savanna-like hills, separating the verdant coast from the arid Anza-Borrego Desert. Unusually clear skies make the inland countryside ideal for stargazing.

San Diego has taken an orderly approach to inevitable development with the adoption of a general plan to run through the year 2020. More than 50 projects are under way or on the drawing board for downtown, including a new ballpark for the Padres, several hotels, and the creation of plazas, parks, and promenades along the waterfront.

Without question, San Diego is one of the warmest and most appealing destinations in the United States. As you explore, you'll make your own discoveries that will lead you to agree with most locals that this corner of California is just this side of paradise.