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Old 07-28-2017, 01:51 PM
 
Location: Live:Downtown Phoenix, AZ/Work:Greater Los Angeles, CA
27,606 posts, read 14,445,862 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by NOLA101 View Post
LA.

The Bay area and LA are VERY similar looking, except the Bay Area has a more East Coast-style core (downtown SF).
See post #4
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Old 07-28-2017, 02:19 PM
 
Location: Watching half my country turn into Gilead
3,530 posts, read 4,141,457 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by FirebirdCamaro1220 View Post
Only similar in climate and geography. As a city and metro, LA is three leagues above San Diego, second only to NYC
And climate and geography are THE huge factors for San Diego--that's really its major selling point, and what elevates the city/metro a tier above where it should be. Los Angeles is the only other major metro/city in the country with those attributes. If we're talking amenities-wise and population (along with a waterfront culture), then Tampa and Baltimore could fit the bill.

But San Diego is San Diego because it's so gosh darn pleasant weather-wise and scenic, and right on the water. LA, despite being a global metro much larger, has those same attributes, along with similar demographics. Anything you have in San Diego can be found in Los Angeles, be it surfing, laid back culture, Mexican elites, etc. You just have to sift through a lot of "other" stuff in LA, but it's still all there. Military and politics are the only true distinguishing factors, and the latter is a bit overblown in my opinion. You can find a decent amount of conservatives in any large metro, and San Diego isn't Utah to begin with. Orange County, not coincidently located between the two, is most similar, but it lacks a true large city on the water. LA, even though downtown is inland, extends to the beach, and has so many communities on it that are de facto LA that it's nitpicking to say LA isn't coastal.
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Old 07-28-2017, 02:26 PM
 
Location: Live:Downtown Phoenix, AZ/Work:Greater Los Angeles, CA
27,606 posts, read 14,445,862 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CityGuyForLife View Post
And climate and geography are THE huge factors for San Diego--that's really its major selling point, and what elevates the city/metro a tier above where it should be. Los Angeles is the only other major metro/city in the country with those attributes. If we're talking amenities-wise and population (along with a waterfront culture), then Tampa and Baltimore could fit the bill.

But San Diego is San Diego because it's so gosh darn pleasant weather-wise and scenic, and right on the water. LA, despite being a global metro much larger, has those same attributes, along with similar demographics. Anything you have in San Diego can be found in Los Angeles, be it surfing, laid back culture, Mexican elites, etc. You just have to sift through a lot of "other" stuff in LA, but it's still all there. Military and politics are the only true distinguishing factors, and the latter is a bit overblown in my opinion. You can find a decent amount of conservatives in any large metro, and San Diego isn't Utah to begin with. Orange County, not coincidently located between the two, is most similar, but it lacks a true large city on the water. LA, even though downtown is inland, extends to the beach, and has so many communities on it that are de facto LA that it's nitpicking to say LA isn't coastal.
But original post said to somewhat disregard climate, to find a match that is more similar
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Old 07-28-2017, 02:38 PM
 
Location: Watching half my country turn into Gilead
3,530 posts, read 4,141,457 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by FirebirdCamaro1220 View Post
But original post said to somewhat disregard climate, to find a match that is more similar
Even doing that, the culture in LA, when you cut through the extra, is probably most similar to San Diego. Neither Baltimore or Tampa are Mexican/Filipino hotspots, while San Diego is markedly more liberal than Phoenix. But if I had to pick a city after LA, I'd go with Phoenix.
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Old 07-28-2017, 02:39 PM
 
Location: Ithaca, New York
360 posts, read 369,444 times
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Raleigh, NC.
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Old 07-29-2017, 03:19 AM
 
998 posts, read 1,238,515 times
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Virginia Beach. Green Flash Brewing, based in San Diego, opened it's first brewery east of the Mississippi in the city because the owners felt it was very similar to San Diego in regard to the Navy presence, beachy vibe, built environment and diversity. VA Beach also has one of the largest concentrations of Filipinos on the East Coast.
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Old 07-29-2017, 09:06 AM
 
Location: Tampa
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Tampa is often described as the east's San Diego, just flatter (way, way flatter) and with horrible summer weather.
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Old 07-29-2017, 10:08 AM
 
Location: Placitas, New Mexico
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It's baffling to me why Phoenix is showing up here in answers. Phoenix and San Diego are nothing alike. Thank goodness.
I would say LA or Tampa.
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Old 07-29-2017, 10:19 AM
 
2,088 posts, read 1,947,382 times
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The clear answer is Honolulu. Large military presence, and economy mostly military and tourism. Both are expensive cities, have a water focus, and bad traffic for a city of their size. A lot of hillside neighborhoods in both cities, and tons of transplants. Both have large Asian and especially Filipino populations, and a very low percentage of African Americans.

A lot of posters are saying Tampa, but I don't think those cities are very similar. Yes, they are both similar sized metros on water and have some military, but that's about where it ends. Tampa is a much poorer metro than San Diego, and is much more like other Southern metros than it is like a West Coast city in demographics and education.
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Old 07-29-2017, 10:51 AM
 
Location: Katy,Texas
6,441 posts, read 4,007,746 times
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Still Tampa is more similar to San Diego than Honolulu. In fact the only city you can compare Honolulu to is Miami. Same huge amount of smaller high rises/apartments that you think your in a South American city. Similar coastal feel with important beaches and 90% of people being within 5-10 miles of the coast. Similar dominance with more recent immigrant groups Asians- Honolulu and Latinos/Latinas- Miami.

San Diego's most similar city not including culture/geography is clearly Tampa to me. My first vote was for Los Angeles though. As they both have the same problem of suburban areas being built 80-90 miles away from the city core due to the landscape. They have similar demographics, and share the socal culture.
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