San Diego vs. San Francisco vs Los Angeles Comparison (San Jose: low crime, job market)

[justsomeguy]

Can someone explain the differences between these 3 cities? Pros and Cons?

I currently live in San Diego and for the most part I like it I guess. But the job market seems weak and pay seems atrocious to the cost of living. LA and SF have never really entered my radar b/c of LA's crime and glitz and SF's ultra-liberal politics. But I'm looking into other cities and kind of would like to stay near the west coast. I'll explain how I see each city and you can assess and add your own comments if you want. I've never been to LA nor SF so these are just my assumptions.

San Diego - best weather - Sunny, warmer than SF, cooler than LA. Slightly cheaper than LA and SF. Low crime rate. Cons - very low rate of pay for California cost of living, lack of high paying jobs, slower job market, prevalence of an "apathetic surf culture" where people seem content to just "live life" rather than take an interest in intellectual or worldly affairs. Nice people, but a bit self-absorbed and flaky. Very laid back vibe. Not exactly a very "urban" city.

LA - high crime rate, lots of gangs, murders, VERY dangerous in some areas. Even more shallow and self-absorbed than San Diego. Worse traffic than San Diego and worse sprawl. Better job market, maybe better pay? More hectic than San Diego. Ruder people? But a global Alpha A city, better entertainment options than SD. Better for artists, actors, musicians, filmmakers?

SF - more expensive than LA and SD. But higher rate of pay and better jobs and more jobs. More homeless people. Too many liberal emotional hippies who want to "heal the world" or support some kind of anarchist movement. But more attention paid to worldly and intellectual matters instead of shallow self-absorption. Smarter population? More urban feel? Traffic just as bad. Fog, not as much sunshine. More dangerous than SD? Beautiful architecture, geography. More regular trees than SoCal, less palm trees, more green areas. Nicer than LA people, how about SD people?

Well, what do you think, does this sound right? anyone anything care to add about these 3 cities? thanks.

[tande1n5]

I don't really know if SF has more homeless than LA. I've never seen anything there that compares to Skid Row in LA. I also think that although SF may have the higher crime rate over SD, SD contains lots of secluded, safe, non inner-city areas (safe, family oriented places like Rancho Bernardo, Carmel Valley, Tierrasanta, and other parts that are technically in SD city limits come to mind), where SF is 99% dense city. When comparing areas of similar density, I feel like SF is overall very safe... but I don't have a PhD in Statistics like so many people here seem to. Statistics aside, this is from having lived in both SD and SF.

[san phlegmatico]

You're dead on the money.

I would add this: San Francisco offers everything you could ever dream of finding in SoCal (of a worthwhile nature), except for the 'ideal year-round climate', in which case you're only lacking about 3 months out of the year. SF also provides that rare combination of: a 'true' urban experience (in The City), 'true' beach experiences, and the gamut of the outdoors (mountains, rivers, lakes, etc.)

SF can be as California as you want or as average-America as you want: depends on where exactly in the Bay Area you choose to live, where you work, and generally with whom you associate (the whack-jobs, the middle-of-the-roaders, the conservative Heartlanders, the bohos, et. al.).

[rah]

Any city will have its share of self absorbed and shallow people, no city really has a monopoly on that. Same goes for tree-hugging ultra-liberal hippies. Sure they exist in SF...but they exist elsewhere too. The idea that SF is full of these people is a sterotype. Now the city government, they do have some crazy ideas sometimes, and truth be told they don't really represent the majority of the population of SF.

SF is defintely VERY "urban." It has the second highest population density of any large US city, behind NYC. As for crime, SF actually has a higher crime rate than LA, and a much higher crime rate than SD.

While raw numbers will be higher in LA, because of the larger population, per capita, SF has higher murder, robbery, theft/larceny, burglary, and auto theft rates, while LA has higher assault and rape rates. LA's crime rate has been steadily dropping, while lately, SF's has been steadily climbing.

[justsomeguy]

Would it be safe to say that traffic and smog is a lot worse in LA than in San Diego? How does traffic and smog in SF compare to the two?

[kilohertz]

Well, as my first post here, I believe I can chime in...

San Diego - I lived here for almost 3 years. Compared to LA and SF/bay area, probably the least sprawl, a little bit more sleepy, more on the conservative side and definitely cleaner. Dare I say 'easiest' to live in...? But with being a more compact city, it can feel more crowded at times. I found it really quite easy to get around town, unless you commuted on the 5 or the 15 to/from north county/O.C. – traffic can be as bad as the other 2 cities for sure. A bunch of great little neighborhoods with plenty of decent eateries/bars/etc. in each one. Even if you lived out east (El Cajon, La Mesa, Spring Valley, etc.) you were still roughly 15-20 min. or less from the ocean. One of the last, great metro/city airports is here, smack dab next to downtown. The housing market took a dump recently, so it might be the more affordable city of the three right now(?). Definitely has best weather of all - though it gets hotter the more east you go. Balboa Park and the Zoo!

LA – never lived there, but visited it/drove through it enough to put it at the bottom of my list. I’ll let somebody who’s lived there to talk more about it.

SF – I moved to the area from San Diego about 6 months ago. I like SF a whole lot, but I don’t live there because it’s too far from my work in Santa Clara. Definitely lots more homeless. Plenty of things to do and see, and plenty of great places to eat. Not much need for a car. Can’t say much else because I don’t get up there as much as I’d like to.

[tande1n5]

Originally Posted by justsomeguy

Would it be safe to say that traffic and smog is a lot worse in LA than in San Diego? How does traffic and smog in SF compare to the two?

Yes, it would. San Jose can get smoggy since it's in a valley (Silicon Valley, of course), but SF's location does a good job getting rid of it. Traffic's bad all around. LA's the king of the freeway traffic, but the bay area's by no means great. In SF itself, traffic's bad, of course, and parking's worse. Not too many freeways withing the city, as I'm sure everyone that's been to SF knows. Think of the city gridlock kind.

Pretty much you're better off not driving in SF except for weekends. I'd say the same about LA, but at least mass transit In SF takes you where you need to go almost always in better time. In LA, most of the time you're just screwed and have to take the car out anyway.

[waterbender]

I think that you are missing the sister city of San Diego!!! You don't remember us in San José? We are also one of the safest, biggest, and most beautiful cities in the country!!! We are the 10th biggest, ha bigger than San Francisco!(they're #14), YOu guys are 8th, and Los Angeles is 2cnd. So yeah,,, i heard that there is alot of crime in LA AND SF. So, why is SD split into two sections again? SJ, is physically bigger that all of YOU*! Just by land! So tell me more! Can wait until you reply, thanx!

I currently live in San Diego and for the most part I like it I guess. But the job market seems weak and pay seems atrocious to the cost of living. LA and SF have never really entered my radar b/c of LA's crime and glitz and SF's ultra-liberal politics. But I'm looking into other cities and kind of would like to stay near the west coast. I'll explain how I see each city and you can assess and add your own comments if you want. I've never been to LA nor SF so these are just my assumptions.

San Diego - best weather - Sunny, warmer than SF, cooler than LA. Slightly cheaper than LA and SF. Low crime rate. Cons - very low rate of pay for California cost of living, lack of high paying jobs, slower job market, prevalence of an "apathetic surf culture" where people seem content to just "live life" rather than take an interest in intellectual or worldly affairs. Nice people, but a bit self-absorbed and flaky. Very laid back vibe. Not exactly a very "urban" city.

LA - high crime rate, lots of gangs, murders, VERY dangerous in some areas. Even more shallow and self-absorbed than San Diego. Worse traffic than San Diego and worse sprawl. Better job market, maybe better pay? More hectic than San Diego. Ruder people? But a global Alpha A city, better entertainment options than SD. Better for artists, actors, musicians, filmmakers?

SF - more expensive than LA and SD. But higher rate of pay and better jobs and more jobs. More homeless people. Too many liberal emotional hippies who want to "heal the world" or support some kind of anarchist movement. But more attention paid to worldly and intellectual matters instead of shallow self-absorption. Smarter population? More urban feel? Traffic just as bad. Fog, not as much sunshine. More dangerous than SD? Beautiful architecture, geography. More regular trees than SoCal, less palm trees, more green areas. Nicer than LA people, how about SD people?

Well, what do you think, does this sound right? anyone anything care to add about these 3 cities? thanks.[/quote]

[justsomeguy]

Originally Posted by waterbender

I think that you are missing the sister city of San Diego!!! You don't remember us in San José? We are also one of the safest, biggest, and most beautiful cities in the country!!! We are the 10th biggest, ha bigger than San Francisco!(they're #14), YOu guys are 8th, and Los Angeles is 2cnd. So yeah,,, i heard that there is alot of crime in LA AND SF. So, why is SD split into two sections again? SJ, is physically bigger that all of YOU*! Just by land! So tell me more! Can wait until you reply, thanx!

San Jose doesn't have a major pro-sports team. =/ How far inland is it? Does it still have the nice coastal weather? And how bad is cost of living? I might look into it.

[Milliano]

IIRC it's just a short ride, either by good public transit or by car, to the beaches at Santa Cruz and the professional sports stadiums of the bay area.

Though isn't comparing SF and SJ like comparing LA to Long Beach?