Quote:
Originally Posted by DANNYY
Comparison between the all the major cities in Northern California (minus San Francisco).
This comparison is Sacramento MSA against San Jose MSA against Oakland Metropolitan Division.
Their populations as of 2009 are as follows:
- San Jose Metropolitan Area (MSA): 1,839,883
- Oakland Metropolitan Division (MD): 2,532,756
- Sacramento Metropolitan Area (MSA): 2,127,355
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Oh, okay.
Criteria:
- Weather-Oakland, San Jose, Sacramento
- Scenery-Sacramento stretches all the way to the NV border and includes part of the Sierra Nevada. Oakland and San Jose benefit from being near the coast.
- Economy-San Jose, Oakland, Sacramento
- Education-San Jose, Oakland, Sacramento
- Parks-I think we can call this a three way tie.
- Waterfront-Oakland has a much bigger accessible coastline since the East Bay is surrounded by water on 2 sides, but Sacramento has a nice riverfront area too. San Jose is basically landlocked.
- Nightlife-I think we can call this a three way tie cause all 3 metros have nightlife.
- Safety-all 3 Metro Areas have very safe areas in abundance, but in the case of the East Bay, its going to cost a bit more to be safe compared to the average cost of living. San Jose has the lowest crime rate of any major city in California.
- Downtown activity-Well, I think Oakland has the busiest downtown of the three because of Chinatown. Sacramento has a lot of 9-5 traffic due to state govt workers, San Jose has a better bar and nightclub scene in downtown whereas Sac's is in Midtown, but I think Oakland is really catching up to San Jose if hasnt already surpassed it as far as downtown nightlife. Sacramento has a mall downtown so that's a plus, Oakland has a heavy-rail subway downtown so that's a plus, San Jose has a huge arena downtown so that's a plus.
- Shopping-San Jose has 3 very upscale malls that are among the most successful in the country, Stanford Shopping Center, Valley Fair Mall and Santana Row. Oakland has its own areas of upscale shopping as well, Stoneridge Mall, Broadway Plaza, Bay Street Emeryville are all good but not as good as San Jose's top 3. Sacramento has two mammoth malls, Arden Fair and The Roseville Galleria. So as far as high brow shopping, I would place San Jose first definitely and then Oakland and then Sacramento.
As far as other kinds of shopping, Oakland probably has the best selection of harder to find eclecctic stuff. As far as food shopping, all 3 are excellent because produce is grown so close by.
- Diversity-The East Bay is incredibly diverse and so is the South Bay. Sacramento the Metro is also very diverse but not as much as the other two.
- Housing stock-Three-way tie.
- School systems (K-12) Its close between Oakland and San Jose.
As far as test scores, the San Jose and Oakland metros both have a huge amount of the highest scoring schools in the state of California.
High Schools by API score of 800+, 2010
Oakland Metropolitan Division
Oakland-American Indian Public High 976
Oakland-Oakland Charter High 961
Fremont-Mission San Jose High 952
Orinda-Miramonte High 930
Moraga-Campolindo High 920
San Ramon-Dougherty Valley High 909
Piedmont-Piedmont High 903
Lafayette-Acalanes High 898
San Ramon-Monte Vista High 894
Danville-San Ramon Valley High 891
Pleasanton-Foothill High 889
Pleasanton-Amador Valley High 883
San Ramon-California High School 870
Dublin-Dublin High 868
Walnut Creek-Las Lomas High 864
Walnut Creek-Northgate High 864
Fremont-Irvington High 856
San Pablo-Middle College High 852
Alameda-Alameda Community Learning Center 843
Alameda-Alameda Science & Tech Institute 842
Livermore-Granada High 840
Antioch-Dozier Libbey Med High 824
Hayward-Leadership Public High 823
Alameda-Alameda High 820
Albany-Albany High 820
Pleasant Hill-College Park High 804
Livermore-Livermore High 802
Castro Valley-Castro Valley High 815
Martinez-Alhambra High 812
San Jose MSA
Cupertino-Monta Vista High 943
Santa Cruz-Pacific Collegiate High 943
San Jose-Lynbrook High 939
Saratoga-Saratoga High 932
Palo Alto-Henry Gunn High 917
Palo Alto-Palo Alto High 896
San Jose KIPP San Jose Collegiate High 893
Gilroy-Dr JT Owens Gilroy Early College Academy 892
Cupertino-Cupertino High 891
San Jose-Leland High 890
Los Gatos-Los Gatos High 873
Mountain View-Mountain View High 860
San Jose-University Prep Academy High 859
Cupertino-Homestead High 858
Los Altos-Los Altos High 853
San Jose-Evergreen Valley High 839
San Jose-Pioneer High 823
San Jose-Leigh High 817
San Jose-Piedmont Hills High 809
- Higher education (Colleges & Universities)-San Jose beats Oakland because while Stanford and Berkeley can go toe to toe, San Jose also has San Jose State, which is larger than Cal State East Bay and SJ also has Santa Clara U., which is decent sized as well. Apart from UC and Cal State EB, Oakland has smaller liberal arts colleges like Mills, St. Mary's and Holy Names. So I say San Jose.
- Mass Transit-Oakland.
- Pace of life-The East Bay feels the fastest and most urban so Oakland.
- Quality of life-San Jose, Oakland, Sacramento.
- Cost of living-Sacramento is the least expensive.
- Dining scene-At this time Im gonna say its Oakland, but San Jose and Sacramento are no slouches.
Questions:
- Which Northern California city would you most likely like to live in out of these three and why?
The East Bay. I prefer the climate,the hills, the hustle and bustle, the incredible diversity of people, the arts and culture, the food and the things to see and do of the immediate Oakland area( Oakland, Berkeley, Alameda, Emeryville) to just about anywhere.
Oh, and being 9 miles from SF isnt so bad either.
