I live in Chula Vista which is just about 5 miles south of San Diego - 7 miles north of Mexico. We love it here because of the weather. We live near down town because I like to be able to walk to the store, library and to get a bite to eat. Also, I am a mile from my doctor's office. We have a small house which we bought in 1989, so our property taxes are lower because of Prop. 13. I describe San Diego as an over-grown hick town. But SD is going to grow more if they become an Olympics venue. I do believe growth is good - many I know will disagree. But we like having the San Diego Padres - we love going to the games and we are big Charger fans, and we have San Diego State for basketball.
We have raised our daughters and they do not intend to leave the area. It is expensive to live here but then every large city is. We are from the Seattle area and their property taxes are higher than ours, their sales tax in King County is higher than ours - so it depends where you come from whether you think it is more expensive.
You are close to Los Angeles and Orange County if you like what they have to offer without having to live there. Our weather is much more moderate, unless you live out east in the Escondido or El Cajon area, then I believe you need an air conditioner to survive the summer.
You don't have to deal with snow, but if you like it, then you just drive to it. We don't get much rain and as you know California is currently dealing with a drought, so lawns are not very pretty right now in many areas.
The beaches are beautiful - have you seen the Hotel del Coronado and the surrounding beaches? I am not wild about the Children's Beach in La Jolla - because of the seals and the smell, but Scripps Aquarium is wonderful and head north to Del Mar, Cardiff, Solana Beach, etc.
And fabric stores - there are quite a few. I won't list them here - they are easy to find.