Western U.S. ***SMACKDOWN*** LA, SF, SEA, PHX, DEN, SD, PDX, SAC, SLC, VEGAS (live, best)

[jabe]

Which of these large sized western cities is the best in terms of livability, entertainment, economy, climate, location, culture, friendliness, amenities, and sports?

[DevanXL]

Threads like these are too subjective. Everyone has a different opinion of best. To me the best is Seattle, to someone else it's LA or San Francisco. You can just best city of infrastructure of economy, or affordability, but best city just can't be measured.

[Champ le monstre du lac]

Honestly I really like most of these cities for very different reasons. Smackdown? Well it's sort of like talking smack about my family. I love them but they all would give reasons to bicker in some way as well.

I'm sure this thread will get interesting later and I'll feel compelled to respond to something.

[RightonWalnut]

1. Los Angeles
2. San Francisco
3. Seattle
4. Vegas
5. San Diego
6. Portland
7. Denver
8. Salt Lake City
9. Sacramento
10. Phoenix

[RadicalAtheist]

I will quickly respond to one of the categories referenced in the OP just for fun, sports:

#1 SF = Best recent professional history & future, not a bad past either (however, the Lakers by them selves can outshine any of these cities in regard to history). Giants, Niners & Warriors have / will have one of the best facilities in their respective leagues. Most of the pro teams have great attendance (the A's being the outlier, but still has very passionate fan base). Cal (#11) & Stanford (#2) team programs are two of the most decorated colleges in D1 NCAA history (however, UCLA is #1 and USC is #3), but I believe Stanford and Cal are 1 & 2 when factoring in individual titles. The Bay Area produces many pro athletes, but probably significantly less than LA. In 2012, San Francisco was ranked #1 among America's Best Baseball cities. The study examined which U.S. metro areas have produced the most Major Leaguers since 1920 (SF was #2 in raw numbers & #1 in per capita, LA was #1 & #3). I believe LA & the Bay Area are 1 & 2 in Olympic Athletes produced as well. IMO, SF is the best sports town of the bunch.

Both SF and LA have some exciting times coming up this month as it looks like the Sharks will meet the Kings in the first round & the Warriors will meet the Clippers in the first round. Pretty cool.

P.S. Beat LA

[cacto]

That list is all so different there's no objective way to rank them.

[GatsbyGatz]

1. Los Angeles
2. San Francisco
3. Seattle
4. San Dieto
5. Denver
6. Portland
7. Las Vegas
8. Salt Lake City
9. Sacramento
10. Phoenix

[pistola916]

I have SF, LA, Seattle on top.
Bottom are Phoenix, Sacramento, and Salt Lake. No way SLC is better than Sactown.

[EnricoV]

Originally Posted by pistola916

I have SF, LA, Seattle on top.
Bottom are Phoenix, Sacramento, and Salt Lake. No way SLC is better than Sactown.

No way? I'd much rather live in Salt Lake than in Sacramento.

[The Illusive Man]

1. LA
2. San Diego

That's pretty much it for me. Don't care for the other places.