ABSTRACT
With its moderate climate, seaside location, and an array of amenities, the city of San Diego is a desirable place to live and work. In addition to its traditional defense-based economy, San Diego benefits from thriving biotech, telecom, and tourism industries. The city’s unemployment rates over the past decade have been consistently below the California and national averages. San Diego ranked number one on the 2002 Forbes/Milken Institute’s “Best Places for Business and Careers” list because of its strong economic outlook and the attractive incentives it offered to local businesses (Badenhausen 2002). Despite desirable amenities and a strong economy, the city of San Diego now confronts a serious financial crisis. This crisis did not occur overnight. In fact, the seeds of the crisis were planted nearly three decades ago.
