San Diego or San Francisco? (Bell: home, purchases, theater)

[Woof]

South Dakota?

At any rate, yes San Francisco is famous for fog, and much more so on the west side.

[BigBoy]

Originally Posted by mj88

I would think South Dakota is just too cold altogether (in the winter), but one thing about San Francisco - is it true that just the few mile difference between the west and east side of the city makes a difference in terms of the fog? I read that in an earlier post and was surprised to hear that. I see a lot of pictures where the Golden Gate Bridge is engulfed in fog, so it must be a usual occurrence?

Bro, SD stands for San Diego in my post and NOT South Dakota.

[NYSD1995]

Originally Posted by BigBoy

BTW, the pricing gap between San Diego and the bay area is not that big anymore. It was big 9 years ago. That's to reason I went to SD instead of the bay area. Believe it or not but back then a decent house in SD could have been had for $230k.

You're right, but once you get down to particulars (I work in tech, so I'd be commuting to Silicon Valley) and look at that 900k tract home in San Jose, my little cottage in San Diego looks pretty good in comparison.

[18Montclair]

You really should visit both and decide which is best. I think for such an important decision, a visit is really worth it because you can get a sense of what the places are like.

Both have pluses and minuses-I could live in either and be totally happy.

[illini84]

Thanks to everyone for their insight! I think I will visit both before making the decision, but it's still tough to tell what a place is "really" like until you live there. So, thanks for the insider tips

[Woof]

Originally Posted by BigBoy

BTW, the pricing gap between San Diego and the bay area is not that big anymore. It was big 9 years ago. That's to reason I went to SD instead of the bay area. Believe it or not but back then a decent house in SD could have been had for $230k.

Originally Posted by Sassberto

You're right, but once you get down to particulars (I work in tech, so I'd be commuting to Silicon Valley) and look at that 900k tract home in San Jose, my little cottage in San Diego looks pretty good in comparison.

I haven't lived in either place in quite a while, but I do occasionally check them out on Craigslist and it seems to me that housing prices are much higher still in San Francisco. I'm looking mainly at rentals, but still .... restaurants are also definitely cheaper in SD, or maybe I should say they have more cheap places to eat there. Gas and I'm sure parking are more expensive.

[illini84]

I'm thinking of going for San Diego since I think the climate of San Francisco might be a little too cold for my taste. Can you swim in the ocean in San Diego without a wet suit? Also, how are job opportunities in San Diego? Seems like the cost of living is high, but do salaries usually account for this? That's the main problem with where I'm living now (Miami)--even in the professional world, the salaries are on the lower end for most industries, but the cost of living is outrageous...I just can't build up any savings when 50% of my income goes to rent and dinner is $40-$50 almost anywhere I go.

[drowningintherain]

Originally Posted by BigBoy

I feel the same way.

I do enjoy my life in SD and I'm not hurting financially, but I do get sick and tired of people constantly parroting the phrase that San Diego is the best city in the whole entire world to live in bar none.

My wife came as a child to the US and grew up in Huntington Beach. After having traveled extensively and studied abroad she agrees that most people are just repeating what everybody else says. San Diego is a nice place to live, but is it the best place in whole entire world?

Sydney or Barcelona have equally nice climate year round.
.

I live in Vancouver and people here are constantly going on about Vancouver being the best city in the world to live....ad nauseam. It gets annoying, I wonder what criteria makes a city the "best". For me Vancouver is ok but I would much prefer to live in San Diego.

[sdurbanite]

Originally Posted by BigBoy

My wife came as a child to the US and grew up in Huntington Beach. After having traveled extensively and studied abroad she agrees that most people are just repeating what everybody else says. San Diego is a nice place to live, but is it the best place in whole entire world?

Best in the world? Not even close. Best in the U.S? That's debatable

[Katimae]

I Live near San Francisco now and am planning a move to San Diego. I love San Francisco, but it's MUCH more expensive, the weather sucks and the beaches are unuseable. People seriously wear coats and hats in July here. There are many hard working people here, but mostly just in blue collar fields. I worked as a nanny for a couple who had high paying high power jobs and neither of them worked more than 30 hours a week, and even then they took long lunches and basically surfed the net and talked on the phone all day, they went into the office roughly 2 half days a week. Yet still had childcare a minimum of 12 hours a day (7 days a week) and a housekeeper and a personal chef. Most of the other nannies I talk to have simular situations. People are not very friendly on the peninsula, but in SF they are pretty nice for the most part. Homeless people are a big problem in SF and most of it smells like urine. There is SO MUCH to do there but if you live outside of the city the transportation is poor. I saw an ad up just this weekend in SF for a 2 bedroom 1 bath apartment for rent for $3700 a month, I pay $2050 in Palo Alto (for 2/1, nothing special), and you can expect a big fat rent increase every year (we just got hit with $350 increase). I'm looking forward to nice weather and nice beaches and more affordable rent!