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View Poll Results: Which do you prefer?
San Diego 36 37.89%
Philadelphia 59 62.11%
Voters: 95. You may not vote on this poll

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Old 05-31-2010, 03:52 AM
 
Location: Austin, TX/Chicago, IL/Houston, TX/Washington, DC
10,138 posts, read 15,943,853 times
Reputation: 4047

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Ah, this comparison has not been made yet, and I don't understand why not, both are heavily overshadowed cities in their respective regions. Both are only an hour-two hours tops from the largest city in the region. By population both are the second "largest" cities in their region (city proper). And they're both strong tourist destinations.

So the criteria would be;

- Life style
- Economy overall
- Education
- Metropolitan Area population
- City Area population
- Professional Sports
- City Scape (downtown, skyline, notable buildings)
- Public Transportation
- Major Interstates and other roads
- Airport
- Housing
- Food (Ethnic food, unique food of it's own, etc..)
- Proximity to other locations
- Economy growth and diversity (Post Recession climate)
- Art galleries
- Music scene
- Museums
- Parks
- Shopping
- Climate (which you prefer, and why?)
- Notable companies headquartered here
- Anything else you can possibly think up and want to add

Philadelphia:



Some photos have been removed due to copyright issues. Read the room sticky please: http://www.city-data.com/forum/city-...e-posting.html

San Deigo:



Try to tackle some of the criteria at least when you pick and write about which one you prefer!

Last edited by atlantagreg30127; 05-31-2010 at 09:50 PM..
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Old 05-31-2010, 04:23 AM
 
1,081 posts, read 2,258,037 times
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Philly, for sure. I'm an East Coast guy and always will be.
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Old 05-31-2010, 05:58 AM
 
Location: The canyon (with my pistols and knife)
14,169 posts, read 22,590,072 times
Reputation: 17328
Lifestyle - San Diego's lifestyle is more glamorous, but Philadelphia's is more sustainable.

Economy overall - Philadelphia's economy is underrated, and its unemployment rate is below the national average. You also get more bang for your buck there.

Education - Philadelphia has better colleges and universities, and a more educated 25-34 population.

Metropolitan Area population - San Diego's is growing faster, but Philadelphia's is still larger.

City Area population - San Diego is closing in on Philadelphia, but Philadelphia's population is reportedly increasing again.

Professional Sports - For as much as people like to laugh at Philadelphia's sports teams, San Diego has one lonely AFL championship to celebrate, and only two teams.

Cityscape - San Diego has better views, but Philadelphia has better architecture and street life.

Highways - San Diego wins this one simply because the Schuylkill Expressway is a cruel joke. (At least other Interstates in the Philadelphia area are OK.)

Housing - I like the Spanish styles in San Diego, but houses seem to age more gracefully in Philadelphia.

Food - San Diego has fish tacos and authentic Mexican food. Philadelphia has cheesesteaks. Both cities are diverse enough to have lots of good ethnic restaurants.

Proximity - Philadelphia is part of the big megalopolis. San Diego feels isolated from everything but Tijuana, although getting to Los Angeles is easy.

Economic growth (post-recession) - Philadelphia has weathered this poor economy better than San Diego has. Also, being in California will be a natural drag on San Diego's economy in the future.

Ethnic diversity - San Diego probably has more diversity due to larger Hispanic and Asian populations, but Philadelphia's diversity is very underrated.

Parks - Philadelphia has one of the best park systems of any major U.S. city.

Shopping - Shopping is plenty good in San Diego, but it's good in Philadelphia too, and King of Prussia is a great trump card to have.

Climate - San Diego has a stable climate which is good for people with various weather-related physical and psychological disorders, but I like the diversity of seasons in Philadelphia, plus the nonexistent threat of wildfires and earthquakes.

Notable corporations - I'm not familiar with San Diego's corporations, but Philadelphia has Comcast, which, like King of Prussia, is a great trump card to have.

Overall, I give the nod to Philadelphia. (I've been to both places, although I didn't get to spend as much time in either of them as I wanted to.)
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Old 05-31-2010, 05:58 AM
 
Location: Tower of Heaven
4,023 posts, read 7,342,082 times
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San Diego, because weather, diversity and landscape
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Old 05-31-2010, 06:14 AM
 
1,263 posts, read 3,996,157 times
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I don't think being in California would necessarily be a drag on San Diego's economy. Though the state is bankrupt, California is still relatively very friendly to startups/small businesses. The bankruptcy of the state has more effects on bad roads, less investment in public schools, delayed tax return, etc, than with the local economy.

San Diego has Qualcomm, a higher end company than Comcast as it makes most chips in cellphones/PDAs that require significant R & D work.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Gnutella View Post
Economic growth (post-recession) - Philadelphia has weathered this poor economy better than San Diego has. Also, being in California will be a natural drag on San Diego's economy in the future.

Notable corporations - I'm not familiar with San Diego's corporations, but Philadelphia has Comcast, which, like King of Prussia, is a great trump card to have.

Overall, I give the nod to Philadelphia. (I've been to both places, although I didn't get to spend as much time in either of them as I wanted to.)
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Old 05-31-2010, 06:22 AM
 
Location: Tower of Heaven
4,023 posts, read 7,342,082 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by fashionguy View Post
I don't think being in California would necessarily be a drag on San Diego's economy. Though the state is bankrupt, California is still relatively very friendly to startups/small businesses. The bankruptcy of the state has more effects on bad roads, less investment in public schools, delayed tax return, etc, than with the local economy.

San Diego has Qualcomm, a higher end company than Comcast as it makes most chips in cellphones/PDAs that require significant R & D work.
No,Cali has the worst business climate in the country :/
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Old 05-31-2010, 06:51 AM
 
1,263 posts, read 3,996,157 times
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I really don't think so, especially in the high-tech industry. Otherwise why did the most recent and significant startups like Facebook, Linkedin, Youtube, Twitter all choose California? Are they stupid? Yes Silicon Valley is there but there are other high-tech places like Seattle and Austin. Why didn't they go to those places with less cost and less competition? San Diego also has plenty of strong and growing chip starups like MaxLinear as well as numerous bio-tech startups.

Quote:
Originally Posted by RenaudFR View Post
No,Cali has the worst business climate in the country :/

Last edited by fashionguy; 05-31-2010 at 07:01 AM..
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Old 05-31-2010, 07:34 AM
 
Location: Tower of Heaven
4,023 posts, read 7,342,082 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by fashionguy View Post
I really don't think so, especially in the high-tech industry. Otherwise why did the most recent and significant startups like Facebook, Linkedin, Youtube, Twitter all choose California? Are they stupid? Yes Silicon Valley is there but there are other high-tech places like Seattle and Austin. Why didn't they go to those places with less cost and less competition? San Diego also has plenty of strong and growing chip starups like MaxLinear as well as numerous bio-tech startups.
It's the truth.
Here:
Best and Worst States for Business 2010 | Articles | Homepage

Many small and medium-size businesses fled California, mainly for Texas and Washington states.And you know what ?
Texas is now number one about Fortune 500 companies, ahead NY and Cali, since 2008.
ExxonMobil, the richest company in the US (far ahead Google or Apple), is in Texas for exemple.
And Texas becomes leader in green energy companies.You must remember Texas is leader in wind power, a very promising sector for jobs and investments.
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Old 05-31-2010, 08:07 AM
 
2,563 posts, read 6,031,092 times
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Philadelphia for every category.

The only category I think San Diego can even try to match is Lifestyle which is really dependent on the individual, do you like surf culture or do you like urban culture... I don't surf.
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Old 05-31-2010, 08:12 AM
 
2,781 posts, read 7,183,310 times
Reputation: 873
Quote:
Originally Posted by fashionguy View Post
I don't think being in California would necessarily be a drag on San Diego's economy. Though the state is bankrupt, California is still relatively very friendly to startups/small businesses. The bankruptcy of the state has more effects on bad roads, less investment in public schools, delayed tax return, etc, than with the local economy.

San Diego has Qualcomm, a higher end company than Comcast as it makes most chips in cellphones/PDAs that require significant R & D work.
Yeah, Qualcomm is so 'high end' that they resort to stealing technology from other companies (coincidentally, in the Philly area)...
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