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Defently San Diego, it has lower crime, friendlier people, and less thunderstorms. Miami has better beaches though, so live in San Diego and go on vacation in Miami.
Rank Metro area
1 Charlottesville, VA
2 Santa Fe, NM
3 San Luis Obispo-Atascadero-Paso Robles, CA
4 Santa Barbara-Santa Maria-Lompoc, CA
5 Honolulu, HI
6 Ann Arbor, MI
7 Atlanta, GA
8 Asheville, NC
9 Reno, NV
10 Corvallis, OR
11 Roanoke, VA
12 Portland-Vancouver, OR-WA
13 Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill, NC
14 Bryan-College Station, TX
15 Lynchburg, VA
16 Olympia, WA
17 Norfolk-Virginia Beach-Newport News, VA-NC
18 Colorado Springs, CO
19 Nassau-Suffolk, NY
20 Pueblo, CO
21 Eugene-Springfield, OR
22 Austin-San Marcos, TX
23 Lafayette, IN
24 Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN-WI
25 Dover, DE
26 Washington, DC-MD-VA-WV
27 Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, AR
28 Pittsburgh, PA
29 Bloomington, IN
30 Stamford-Norwalk, CT
31 State College, PA
32 Abilene, TX
33 Champaign-Urbana, IL
34 Athens, GA
35 Wichita, KS
36 Fort Worth-Arlington, TX
37 Madison, WI
38 Bellingham, WA
39 Las Cruces, NM
40 New York, NY
41 Dayton-Springfield, OH
42 Bloomington-Normal, IL
43 Sarasota-Bradenton, FL
44 Bremerton, WA
45 Albuquerque, NM
46 Harrisburg-Lebanon-Carlisle, PA
47 Evansville-Henderson, IN-KY
48 Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL
49 Punta Gorda, FL
50 Columbia, SC
51 Peoria-Pekin, IL
52 Des Moines, IA
53 Naples, FL
54 Los Angeles-Long Beach, CA
55 Richmond-Petersburg, VA
56 Gainesville, FL 57 Fort Lauderdale, FL
58 Ocala, FL
59 Tacoma, WA
60 Denver, CO
61 Mansfield, OH
62 Grand Junction, CO
63 Charleston-North Charleston, SC
64 Melbourne-Titusville-Palm Bay, FL
65 Orange County, CA
66 Daytona Beach, FL
67 New London-Norwich, CT-RI
68 Boise City, ID 69 West Palm Beach-Boca Raton, FL
70 Tucson, AZ
71 Boston, MA-NH-ME
72 Medford-Ashland, OR
73 Middlesex-Somerset-Hunterdon, NJ 74 San Diego, CA
75 Barnstable-Yarmouth, MA
76 Philadelphia, PA-NJ
77 Johnson City-Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA
78 Vallejo-Fairfield-Napa, CA
79 Indianapolis, IN
80 Greenville-Spartanburg-Anderson, SC
81 Greensboro-Winston-Salem-High Point, NC
82 Jacksonville, FL
83 Wilmington-Newark, DE-MD
84 Salt Lake City-Ogden, UT
85 Sacramento, CA
86 Goldsboro, NC
87 Fargo-Moorhead, ND-MN
88 Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, WA
89 Greeley, CO
90 Muncie, IN
91 Lexington, KY
92 Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN
93 San Antonio, TX
94 Columbus, OH
95 Dallas, TX
96 Missoula, MT
97 St. Louis, MO-IL
98 Charlotte-Gastonia-Rock Hill, NC-SC
99 Little Rock-North Little Rock, AR
100 Sioux Falls, SD
101 Kokomo, IN
102 Fort Wayne, IN
103 Knoxville, TN
104 Decatur, IL
105 Galveston-Texas City, TX
106 Billings, MT
107 San Francisco, CA
108 Green Bay, WI
109 Memphis, TN-AR-MS
110 Columbus, GA-AL
111 Tuscaloosa, AL
112 Altoona, PA
113 Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA
114 Richland-Kennewick-Pasco, WA
115 La Crosse, WI-MN
116 Fresno, CA
117 Appleton-Oshkosh-Neenah, WI
118 Hamilton-Middletown, OH
119 Springfield, MO
120 Lubbock, TX
121 Corpus Christi, TX
122 Reading, PA
123 Atlantic-Cape May, NJ
124 Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA 125 Miami, FL
When comparing to GREATER Miami, it's a wash. When talking about chiefly Miami-Dade county, of course SD.
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I am glad people are asking questions comparing Miami to other cities. Too many people think metro Miami is paradise just because of the weather, palm trees, and water. In Miami-Dade social, political and economic issues take center stage, and have driven quality of life into the ground.
Many suburbs in the Miami area are poor and dangerous. Political leaders are often not qualified for the jobs they are appointed/elected to. Greed sets in, and political leaders are prosecuted for some sort of fraud. This reflects in the quality of life in the area because politicians are out for themselves and a few others, not the good of the community.
Many poorer farming communities, especially south of Miami, feel like they're in third-world countries. The housing is cheap, incomes are extremely low, and there are many people who don't speak a word of English.
That said, there are some nice suburbs of Miami. Coral Gables, Weston, Pembroke Pines, parts of Plantation are all very nice. Some areas, especially around Coral Gables and Weston, are pretty expensive. Palm Beach County is quite nice, with only a few suburbs containing the same problems that plague a good part of Broward and Miami-Dade counties.
The quality of life in San Diego is much higher. San Diegans consider National City, El Cajon, Lemon Grove, and parts of Chula Vista to have low quality of life. When compared to suburbs in Miami, those suburbs kill 90% of the Miami area in quality of life.
Rank Metro area
1 Charlottesville, VA
2 Santa Fe, NM
3 San Luis Obispo-Atascadero-Paso Robles, CA
4 Santa Barbara-Santa Maria-Lompoc, CA
5 Honolulu, HI
6 Ann Arbor, MI
7 Atlanta, GA
8 Asheville, NC
9 Reno, NV
10 Corvallis, OR
11 Roanoke, VA
12 Portland-Vancouver, OR-WA
13 Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill, NC
14 Bryan-College Station, TX
15 Lynchburg, VA
16 Olympia, WA
17 Norfolk-Virginia Beach-Newport News, VA-NC
18 Colorado Springs, CO
19 Nassau-Suffolk, NY
20 Pueblo, CO
21 Eugene-Springfield, OR
22 Austin-San Marcos, TX
23 Lafayette, IN
24 Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN-WI
25 Dover, DE
26 Washington, DC-MD-VA-WV
27 Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, AR
28 Pittsburgh, PA
29 Bloomington, IN
30 Stamford-Norwalk, CT
31 State College, PA
32 Abilene, TX
33 Champaign-Urbana, IL
34 Athens, GA
35 Wichita, KS
36 Fort Worth-Arlington, TX
37 Madison, WI
38 Bellingham, WA
39 Las Cruces, NM
40 New York, NY
41 Dayton-Springfield, OH
42 Bloomington-Normal, IL
43 Sarasota-Bradenton, FL
44 Bremerton, WA
45 Albuquerque, NM
46 Harrisburg-Lebanon-Carlisle, PA
47 Evansville-Henderson, IN-KY
48 Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL
49 Punta Gorda, FL
50 Columbia, SC
51 Peoria-Pekin, IL
52 Des Moines, IA
53 Naples, FL
54 Los Angeles-Long Beach, CA
55 Richmond-Petersburg, VA
56 Gainesville, FL 57 Fort Lauderdale, FL
58 Ocala, FL
59 Tacoma, WA
60 Denver, CO
61 Mansfield, OH
62 Grand Junction, CO
63 Charleston-North Charleston, SC
64 Melbourne-Titusville-Palm Bay, FL
65 Orange County, CA
66 Daytona Beach, FL
67 New London-Norwich, CT-RI
68 Boise City, ID 69 West Palm Beach-Boca Raton, FL
70 Tucson, AZ
71 Boston, MA-NH-ME
72 Medford-Ashland, OR
73 Middlesex-Somerset-Hunterdon, NJ 74 San Diego, CA
75 Barnstable-Yarmouth, MA
76 Philadelphia, PA-NJ
77 Johnson City-Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA
78 Vallejo-Fairfield-Napa, CA
79 Indianapolis, IN
80 Greenville-Spartanburg-Anderson, SC
81 Greensboro-Winston-Salem-High Point, NC
82 Jacksonville, FL
83 Wilmington-Newark, DE-MD
84 Salt Lake City-Ogden, UT
85 Sacramento, CA
86 Goldsboro, NC
87 Fargo-Moorhead, ND-MN
88 Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, WA
89 Greeley, CO
90 Muncie, IN
91 Lexington, KY
92 Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN
93 San Antonio, TX
94 Columbus, OH
95 Dallas, TX
96 Missoula, MT
97 St. Louis, MO-IL
98 Charlotte-Gastonia-Rock Hill, NC-SC
99 Little Rock-North Little Rock, AR
100 Sioux Falls, SD
101 Kokomo, IN
102 Fort Wayne, IN
103 Knoxville, TN
104 Decatur, IL
105 Galveston-Texas City, TX
106 Billings, MT
107 San Francisco, CA
108 Green Bay, WI
109 Memphis, TN-AR-MS
110 Columbus, GA-AL
111 Tuscaloosa, AL
112 Altoona, PA
113 Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA
114 Richland-Kennewick-Pasco, WA
115 La Crosse, WI-MN
116 Fresno, CA
117 Appleton-Oshkosh-Neenah, WI
118 Hamilton-Middletown, OH
119 Springfield, MO
120 Lubbock, TX
121 Corpus Christi, TX
122 Reading, PA
123 Atlantic-Cape May, NJ
124 Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA 125 Miami, FL
When comparing to GREATER Miami, it's a wash. When talking about chiefly Miami-Dade county, of course SD.
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That's a hard call though since those two cities in Florida are only a little more than 5% of the areas population as a whole. San Diego's is 40%.
Having been to both, I would say as a whole San Diego's is much better. Miami has nice areas, but a lot of not nice areas.
Never been to SD but as a miami native id probably choose SD lol only nice part really is south beach and you need money to live there. Coral Gables is nice too but its far away from everything so if you are into the night life / clubbing scene its not for you, Coral Gables is more like raise a family place i guess.
Agreed. But ONLY if you detach the concept of home affordability from quality of living. Miami is more expensive than a lot of cities, but San Diego is off-the-charts expensive. The home prices are coming down presently, but not enough to make it affordable to average folks.
Home prices in Miami are coming down too.
It depends on the life you want. SD is "America's Biggest Small Town." Do you like small towns?
Lived in SD for 6 years, lived in Miami before and after.
SD is nice (can you hear the flatness in my voice?). Nice.
Nothing wrong with nice if that's what you want.
I would agree that if you're barely hanging on working class, you're life in SD is probably much better. If you're upper middle class-rich, you can live where you want (basically) in both places, so "more crud" just doesn't matter.
I DO think all things being equal, SD has a higher QOL, but it isn't a slam dunk and wouldn't be for everyone considering THEIR POV.
These are most of the "usual" factors:
Traffic -- about the same. Technically SD is slightly worse, but Miami has crazier drivers, so...
COL -- higher in SD (add much higher taxes too).
Crime -- Miami not much worse (yes, really, look up Miami-Dade County vs San Diego County).
Job Ops -- technically Miami has a fairly low unemployment rate, but good, well paying jobs are less prevalant ESPECIALLY if you are starting out and/or don't speak Spanish. It's not like SD is known for tons of Job Ops.
Schools -- no question SD overall. Though Miami has a few EXCELLENT public schools and great private schools are cheaper.
Pleasantness -- SD, by far.
Friendliness -- different than pleasantness, Miami actually barely wins here in MY experience.
"Prettiness" -- SD, but barely. The brown hills and "May Gray" skies just don't do it for me, but a varied coast and topography brings it back up -- again, barely (to me).
Things important TO ME:
Great, varied restaurants -- Miami by far.
Ocean -- is warm and alive in SoFla! (Surfing is possible, but sucks though.)
Varied population -- you can find more variety than we had in our N County neighborhood, but no question Miami.
Weather -- DW always complained SD was too cool. (About right for me though.)
Excitment -- uhh, no question. We can go out at 10 pm on a Wednesday night and have to wait for a table in Miami
Art/design -- no too different OTHER THAN Art Basel, which then blows SD out.
Provincial attitudes -- SD is terrible for that. "We're not like THOSE people in LA" was a favorite.
Friends and most important, family.
Things UNimportant to me (which may be for others):
Miami is HOT for 5 months.
The Spanish thing .. overblown, by FAR, but still understandibly bugs some people.
Coastal SD is cool a lot more than most think. Winters kind of suck. Thunderstorms? Whatever, I LIKE thunderstorms vs Groundhog Day weather in SD.
Do 55 yo guys need a hoody? Apparently in SD they do. (Pet peeve of mine, whatever.)
Again, these are what matter to ME not ANYONE else.
If you want a quiet, pleasant life, SD by far. If you want a social, tons to do life, Miami (maybe not by far).
SD is nice, it suits some folks a lot. We enjoyed our time there and look forward to visiting.
It just wasn't worth the $$ and being so far from family TO US.
Last edited by planetsurf; 12-02-2008 at 06:27 PM..
Agreed. But ONLY if you detach the concept of home affordability from quality of living. Miami is more expensive than a lot of cities, but San Diego is off-the-charts expensive. The home prices are coming down presently, but not enough to make it affordable to average folks.
ONLY the real estate costs are high in SD, though. So when people say it's expensive, they need to know this is why. Tax rates around 9% [same as MA, and many other states],and year round produce that is cheap, low utility costs due to no a/c or central heat for most people, and no weatherization for autos or winter clothing, bring costs down. Auto insurance is less than I paid in CO, too, surprisingly.
Eating out is more than reasonable-you can do it cheaply for sure.
And there are many free things available for residents and visitors alike. Cultural events tend to be high, in my opinion. Even if you go through the colleges (community colleges slightly better), you are still paying through the nose. I would expect this (and did) in SFO, or LA and NYC, but in SD, it is tough for families to find shows, plays, etc. that are high quality but low cost-in my experience.
Otherwise, hands down SD for quality of life-Miami housing is not cheap, either. Add to that high crime, high humidity, insects, not exactly cheap food, etc. Also, SD is 2 hrs from LA, and a short flight or day's drive from SFO. You have all of CA at your doorstep, which adds to the appeal.
I personally could not even compare the two. Just me.
Last edited by lrmsd; 03-15-2010 at 11:26 AM..
Reason: typo
Lived in SD for 6 years, lived in Miami before and after.
SD is nice (can you hear the flatness in my voice?). Nice.
"Prettiness" -- SD, but barely. The brown hills and "May Gray" skies just don't do it for me, but a varied coast and topography brings it back up -- again, barely (to me).
Weather -- DW always complained SD was too cool. (About right for me though.)
Coastal SD is cool a lot more than most think. Winters kind of suck. Thunderstorms? Whatever, I LIKE thunderstorms vs Groundhog Day weather in SD.
Wow.
You said much of what I was going to say.
My pet-peeve with San Diego and coastal California in general… seems to be the same as some of yours: It just too darn cool/cold along the coast for too many months. I was recently to south Florida for the first time in December 2009. The coastal scene is more fun and alive in South Florida in winter and all year (because of winter I think, there is no low season) than in California. It seems like there is some much energy in Miami/South Florida, it offers the best coastal lifestyle in the USA. The warm ocean is also an issue with me. It can be depressing to sit in your beach chair with your feet in the warm Atlantic in December in Florida and the water is 80 F…knowing that you have to go home in California and then wait till “July” for the freezing Pacific to “warm up to 68 F”! In fact, I was shocked to learn the water along the Atlantic coast all the way to New Jersey is warmer than the Pacific off California.
Also, we on the West Coast use a defense of the May Gray, June Gloom…etc …that it’s so humid back on the East Coast…yea but a hot humid sunny 83 F day (which feels like you’re in the Caribbean islands!) on an East Coast beach…beats the heck out of a early summer gray 66 F day in Santa Monica looking out over the cold 58 F Pacific. I want HEAT! Summer is better on the East Coast, you have real beach weather!
Also, if you live right on the beach, like Delray Beach, parts of Miami-Dade coast, Hollywood/Ft. Lauderdale…the coastal folks have more of an laid back “island time” attitude in south Florida…California is crushing crowds, traffic, and rush, rush. The cost of living seaside in CA spoils it. Many people in South Florida are from South America often…they seem to be more fun and less serious/pretentious than folks in California and other parts of the USA.
I’d pick South Florida (though I’d pick the Broward coast, Delray, Jupiter)…over San Diego. South Florida, at least seaside, is far less stressful, more fun, has better weather, much, much warmer waters…closer to the fun of the tropical islands of the Caribbean/Bahamas…NYC/DC/Europe is very close…and south Florida has a true 12 month beach scene.
The coastal scene is more fun and alive in South Florida in winter and all year (because of winter I think, there is no low season) than in California.
Summer is their low season like it is for the Caribbean.
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