San Francisco vs Philadelphia (living, best, comparison, places)

[knowledgeiskey]

I've seen the comparison of Boston and San francisco on here, but I think Philadelpphia is more similar to San Francisco than Boston is. Both, Philadelphia and San Francisco, have famous National League baseball teams. They both still run trolleys. Both of them have rich histories. Both are known for good food that can be identified by each city. For the most part, both cities are dense.

The only thing that differentiate the two is that Philadelphia has a rich African American history that goes back decades.

[AJNEOA]

I could have sworn there was a thread about this before, but found nothing when using the search function (which may be the worst search function out there).

Anyway, these are my two favorite cities in the US. I love the grittiness, the history, the urban fabric, the vibrancy, the walkability, the density, the architecture, the food, the parks, and the culture.

I think the biggest differences between the two of them are:

Climate - SF has a very nice moderate climate, and Philly's got that more extreme NE climate.
Culture - Both have a lot of it, but both are pretty different from one another. One has heavy Asian influences, the other is more European (Irish, Italian, etc.).
Cityscape - Both have lots of great neighborhoods that blend into one another, but the cityscape in SF is very hilly, which provides a totally different feel. SF wins here because its beauty can't really be rivaled by any other US city. That being said, I love the feel of Philly's cityscape, with the narrow streets, the squares, etc.
Location - I much much much prefer the location of Philly over SF. I love the West Coast, but I love that Philly's close to the beach, NYC, DC, Baltimore, Boston, etc. The NE has the best regional rail infrastructure in the US, which is a HUGE amenity for me.
Food - I love the food in both, but I prefer European food over Asian food, so I vote for Philly here. Both have amazing food, and SF does have some great Italian food as well. However, I just love all the pizza places all over Philly (which I didn't care for as much in SF).

There is definitely more criteria to both cities, but these make the difference for me (in terms of which I prefer). I think Philly SLIGHTY edges out SF, but only because of the culture and location. I love Philly's culture and I just love the Northeast.

EDIT: The other MAJOR factor in this is the COL. COL is much more reasonable in Philly. Having more money in my pocket to be active in the city I'm living in makes all the difference in the world.

[OyCrumbler]

http://www.city-data.com/forum/city-...ladelphia.html

[atlantagreg30127]

Originally Posted by OyCrumbler

http://www.city-data.com/forum/city-...ladelphia.html

Thank you for that

And on that note, please use the link provided by OyCrumbler to add additional comments to the existing thread rather than create this new one. Thank you.