Mission Beach is more than surf and sunsets

Jillian Anthony / Staff Writer / The USD Vista

Dear Jilla:

I’m trying to decide where I want to live next year. Is living on the beach really as much fun as everyone says it is?

-Beach or Bust

As a bright-eyed sophomore looking forward to her junior year, I couldn’t wait to move to the beach. I decided to move into a beach front house with three close friends in South Mission. That first sunset was perfect and waking up to the sound of waves outside my window was a dream come true. While living the southern Californian dream is something I still enjoy immensely, I must caution those of you who are looking to live on the beach, because it’s not all sun and surf.

Since I moved in, my roommates and I have experienced some serious problems. I always heard that the beach was unsafe, but I didn’t think it was as bad as people said it was and figured I could avoid any danger by being careful. I can say that that view was wrong.

The first trauma I experienced was my car being vandalized. I parked it on the jetty because my household only has two spots and three cars. When I checked it the next morning, my mirrors were broken off, the windshield wipers had been ripped away and my windshield was broken. This was of course distressful and not to mention extremely expensive to repair. There have still been a few times when I have had no other choice but to park my car in these public places and I now have to worry about a random drunk person who may decide to haphazardly attack my car.

The other unsettling event happened to my male roommate. He was walking home on the boardwalk around 1 a.m. with a female friend. The two of them had noticed that someone was following, and they tried to hurry into our house as quickly as possible. However, they were cornered by a robber armed with a crowbar. My roommate managed to talk him out of the robbery and he left after realizing my friends had nothing of value to steal. This happened on the boardwalk, which has traffic at all hours, right outside our house. This was really frightening and from then on, my female roommate and I refuse to walk back to our house at night for fear of our safety.

To add on to these considerations, our house was robbed just several days ago. Although it was our fault for leaving our side door open, it was unnerving to say the least. All I can say is that I’m glad that only things that can be replaced have been stolen or damaged and that no physical harm has come to me or my roommates. As of now, I am definitely rethinking the notion of living on the beach for my senior year.

That being said, being able to take a dip in the ocean, riding my bike on the beach, roller blading and having the ability to experience phenomenal sunsets makes me want to live here again despite these experiences. Now I know the stories I have heard about the beach being unsafe are not just anecdotes. I love living on the beach, but I don’t love feeling unsafe in my own home.