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I know I know another thread about this nonsense. So sorry to bring up this debate AGAIN but I couldn't find any threads directly relating the two cities. My wife and I are in the 1st steps of relocating from Virginia to Cali. I have pretty much narrowed it down to these two places. What are the pro's and con's of the two in relation to eachother?
Crime?
Wages?
Traffic?
Weather?
Nightlife?
Jobs?
Surrounding areas?
Culture?
pro sports?
Friendliness
Cost of living?
Again sorry for bringing this up, it is just important to know what you guys think. THANKS!!!
Crime: San Diego is one of the safest big cities in America. Safest city over 1 million and 5th safest over 500,000. San Francisco while not a dangerous city is not the safest either. I think it crime rate is above the national average but nothing to be scared of, just stay out of the southeast section of the city in areas like Hunters Point, Bayview, ect...
Wages: Sf and the Bay Area have the highest wages in the country. SD's are kind of low for the cost of housing.
Traffic: SF is ranked 2nd worst in the nation after LA. SD falls somewhere in the top 10 too, can't remember where. Traffic in the Bay Area is worse overall though. Plus in some areas traffic can be seasonal b/c of tourists and events, mainly along the coast and I-5. But depending on where you live in the Bay Area, BART can be an alternative.
Weather: I don't think there is anywhere that can beat SD in the weather category except for maybe Hawaii. In the city of SF the weather is crappy; too foggy, windy, and cool YEAR ROUND. Don't expect more than a handful of days over 75 in the city. But inland suburbs are much sunnier and warmer. Winters are much rainier and cooler up there, summers are hot inland and cool on the coast. SD is sunnier and milder with less temperature variation. The climate along the coast is so ideal there is little to no need for AC or heating, just a ceiling fan basically. It's always a comfortable temp near the coast.
nightlife: I think it's better in SD overall, although SF has pretty good nightlife too. I just feel there is a younger vibe and more of a party atmosphere here.
Jobs: SD has good jobs available, but overall the Bay Area has better ones b/c it's economy is more diverse and it's more important overall.
Surrounding areas: To me the coastal areas of SoCal are better than NorCal but the inland areas of NorCal are nicer than SoCal, unless you love the desert. NorCal is very scenic inland and has lots more trees and vegetation. Parts of inland SoCal are very nice but some are dumps.
Culture: SF is more cosmopolitan and worldly. SD is more laid back, easy going beach culture. If you want high end culture like NYC or LA, then SF is more for that. But SD does have plenty of nice cultural attractions and LA has world class ones and is not that far away.
Pro Sports: Bay Area being much larger has more professional sports teams, which all suck right now except the Golden State Warriors and Sharks. SD has baseball and football.
Friendliness: I think people are a little friendlier and nicer here, especially when you compare the people in the city of SF to SD. Bay Area people are great overall but there are pockets of pretentious snobs and the people in SF are not like everyone else in the Bay Area. I think people here are chiller, more down to earth, and less judgmental. I would say they come out fairly even here overall, there are good and bad types in each place.
Cost of living: San Diego is significantly cheaper than SF and the whole Bay Area. I think you get a much better deal here and it's easier to live with less here. But cost of living depends on salary too, so that could make the Bay Area easier to live in or harder. But it's cheaper down here and a better deal in mu opinion.
I was born and raised in the Bay Area and have lived here for the past 6.5 years and I love it down here just as much as up there. It just depends on what you want from where you live. The city of SF is VERY urban and dense and true city living. SD is more laid back beach oriented lifestyle. Kind of think of it as the difference btwn Honolulu and NYC. Do you want laid back beach atmosphere or big international city atmosphere? I love the beach and don't really care much for the high culture or whatever that some people love about SF so I choose to be here for now.
Wages: Depending on your career, San Francisco generally has higher wages although I'm only positive about this in terms of the salaries for attorneys.
Traffic: I'm not even sure how some people in San Francisco own a car what with street sweeping, small spots, and general crowdedness. In San Diego, most people need a car and I find it a lot easier to drive there. San Diego is not bad at all compared to San Francisco and L.A.
Weather: Ditto the previous replier. You can't beat San Diego for weather.
Nightlife: Gaslamp in San Diego has great, young, college nightlife but I don't know much about San Francisco nightlife.
Jobs: Ditto the previous replier.
Surrounding Areas: Hmm...San Diego's are probably best in terms of housing (north and northeast, avoid southeast). I don't know, I don't really give much thought to the surrounding areas of either city.
Culture: Ditto the previous replier. Although, I will say that San Diego is only two hours away from L.A. I personally like a more laid-back atmosphere but L.A. is close by if you want to do something up there.
Pro Sports: I have to say San Diego although I know some people will disagree. The San Diego Chargers are a great team and the San Francisco 49ers haven't been very good for awhile. Plus, I think less people in San Francisco are interested in sports than in San Diego. I may be wrong but that's just my perception. Plus, the San Diego Padres have a great stadium right downtown and it's always fun to catch a game. I think they're doing pretty good right now, I believe they're second in their division behind the Arizona Diamondbacks. And the Chargers, I have a feeling they're going all the way next year. They have a solid team and they're just gonna get better.
Friendliness: Now, this is based a lot on stereotypes but here goes. I think San Diego is more friendly in terms of welcoming people. But people in San Francisco aren't necessarily unwelcoming. I get a sort of vibe of superiority from the Bay Area that I don't get in San Diego where people are much more low-key. Although I personally enjoy the political views in San Francisco because I have similar views, I find it to be a bit more radical and sort of frustrating at times. Even though I'd consider myself liberal, I just didn't feel liberal enough when I visited because I don't like bums. That's another thing, the bums are sort of gross in San Francisco. I know that's not compassionate but I don't like getting hassled by homeless people just because I don't want to support their drug habit.
Cost of Living: I have family back in Chicago and they got a kick out of me saying that San Diego is affordable compared to San Francisco because to them, San Diego is very expensive. But that's just a testament to how much more expensive San Francisco is. I know that even with a higher than average salary, most people in San Francisco will rent for a long time before they can afford a cheap, crummy condo but in San Diego that same salary could buy a decent house with a backyard or a nice condo downtown.
I think San Francisco is a good place to go to college and graduate school. It could also be good to work there at the beginning of your career but I think it would be hard to start a family there and stay for the long haul. I don't know if you and your wife are planning on having children but I would prefer to raise children in San Diego. It's really about your preferences. Being from central California but having family in San Diego and basically having it as a second home and then visiting San Francisco for the first time to look at colleges was a big culture shock for me. For some reason it didn't occur to me that San Francisco would be more like New York than Southern California. I was shocked at all the people and how fast-paced it was. I guess that's another thing. San Diego and Southern California seem, to me, a bit more...insular, for lack of a better word. Although I thought I knew plenty about what San Francisco would be like, I wasn't quite prepared for exactly how fast, loud, and big it was.
You should visit both and see which one feels more like the place you want to call home for the next 5, 10, however many years you want to stay.
Wow thanks for the detailed responses. At first I def considered SF over anywhere else due to its crazy popularity. After a further glance I found there is many things about SF that really turn me away. The lack of sunny and warm days was one. The COL was the other. I honestly think SD would be a better fit for me and my lifestyle. One thing that does scare me a bit about SD is the fires. Are they doing things to make this less of an issue this year and years to come? Also are Quakes a real issue in SD? Thanks again guys .
Wow thanks for the detailed responses. At first I def considered SF over anywhere else due to its crazy popularity. After a further glance I found there is many things about SF that really turn me away. The lack of sunny and warm days was one. The COL was the other. I honestly think SD would be a better fit for me and my lifestyle. One thing that does scare me a bit about SD is the fires. Are they doing things to make this less of an issue this year and years to come? Also are Quakes a real issue in SD? Thanks again guys .
Okay, so I had to ask my dad about some of this because he was born in San Diego and lived there for thirty years. Most of his family still lives there so it's like our second home. As for fires, they mainly hit the back country areas out by Poway and the like. I mean, it's not like they hit La Jolla or Mission Valley. If you're within ten to fifteen miles of downtown (but stay north and west, avoid south at all costs) you don't have to worry about it.
The earthquake issue is a little more complex. I know it seems strange but most Californians don't really give a thought to earthquakes and we've all felt a few. Rarely do they cause damage. For instance, last year in the central valley we had one, it sloshed some water out of the pool but it was like a cool little ride. Nothing happened. The cars bounced up and down on their tires a bit, it was kind of cool. It's just something we don't really worry about the same way I imagine hurricanes don't worry Floridians and most of the midwest aren't terrified of tornadoes. Downtown San Diego is fairly modern and pretty much built to withstand quakes. Most single-story (and double-story, come to think of it) homes would not be damaged at all unless the earthquake was extremely strong, it just doesn't happen that often. I have never been around for a huge earthquake although there was one in San Francisco in 1989 that killed about 67 people but the high number was partially attributed to one part of a freeway collapsing onto another. And, okay, let me put it this way. Most older homes in San Diego have made it through their fair share of earthquakes and are still standing. I think it's something you'll learn not to fear like the rest of us.
Let me know if you have any other questions.
Last edited by tangodoodles; 04-10-2008 at 09:23 PM..
The fires we had last year and in 03 were bad, there is no sugarcoating it. My area wasn't affected in 03, but I had to evacuate last year. There were talks of evacuating downtown Chula Vista, even parts of Solana Beach while these fires were going on, that's how bad it got last year.
I'm not trying to discourage you, what we saw in 03 & 07 was unreal and seeing a few huge fires blowing across most of the county for days isn't something that happens often, and I'm sure they are working on what they possibly can, but there were a lot of lessons that they claimed to have learned after 03, however after what we went through last year there is still work to be done.
My advice is to move where you feel comfortable with if you come here to San Diego, because as I pointed out above the fires moved into areas that they normally don't anyhow. No one can guarantee that we won't see anything like that again, twice in 5 years was strange in itself, but this entire county came together as well as any place could while facing a disaster both times, and I believe we are all stronger and wiser because of it.
Obviously you and your wife will decide what's best for you, but my two cents would be to come to San Diego. You will fall in love with it here and we'll be happy to welcome you to the San Diego family.
Thanks, my wifey was worried about the fires from last year. I keep hearing a lot about this La Jolla area. Is it nice there or just snotty?>
I love La Jolla! I've never gotten a snotty vibe at all. It is a bit expensive though. If you want, I have some links for this cool MLS tool and I can tell you which areas to focus on for real estate and which to avoid. Are you planning on renting for awhile when you get here or do you want to buy?
Here's a map of the San Diego neighborhoods. I would want to live within the boundaries of this map. My aunt and uncle have a heck of a time getting all the way to downtown every morning from north county. There are a lot of suburban areas north of this map and so it's hard to go from north to south in the morning and then back north again after work with everyone commuting in the same direction.
You can see La Jolla on the map. As a rule in San Diego, you generally want to stay north and west. If you want, I can ask my dad which areas should be avoided at all costs but Normal Heights, Logan Heights, and Encanto are the hood. I can go into more detail if you want, just let me know.
San Diego is right on the border to Mexico and is more politically conservative than the bay area. Just another bit of info to chew on.
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