Are Bay Area residents happier than NY residents? (San Francisco: how much, houses)

[perfectplacetolive]

Just wondering if people are happier and have a better 'quality of life' in the bay area.. as compared to new yorkers? Lately, I've been feeling like NY-ers (who are fabulous because they're sharp no-nonsense folks) appear frustrated and rushed all the time (please forgive my massive generalization... but it's based on many years of experience living here).

Both ny and the bay area make it hard to live with tremendous ease/lack of stress (due to high living costs).. but do bay area residents manage to live a healthier/happier life?

[NorthernCalifornia]

i think that bay area people do a better job of pretending.

[perfectplacetolive]

Originally Posted by NorthernCalifornia

i think that bay area people do a better job of pretending.

yikes.. what do you mean?

[sonarrat]

Personally, I never really felt stressed out about it until the media started shouting from every street corner how much it sucks to be alive today!! Yeah, it was a shock to find out how much it was going to cost me to move out of my parents' pad, but I adjusted. The trick is to have enough going on in your life that you don't have time to think about it.

[18Montclair]

Originally Posted by NorthernCalifornia

i think that bay area people do a better job of pretending.

LOL.....good point.

Id say yes, people here are generally more content, if 70% of Bay Area rate California a good place to live, then a similar poll only asking about living in the bay area were conducted, it would probably be over 80% which is astounding.


Either we're really happy or we're really delusional.

[jeevcy]

Maybe the weather, maybe the location, maybe the hills, maybe the open space, maybe the fog

[knightrida]

Hey all, first post here. I was raised in the bay area and recently lived in NY for a while (Manhattan and Queens). What I liked most about NY was the ease and low cost of travelling out there. As long as you live near a train (subway), you can save a TON of money compared to living and commuting in the bay. Even BART can be up to 5x more expensive. It's also extremely nice to be able to walk a few blocks to run almost any kind of errand and get some food.
The Bay has better weather, better scenery and little bit less crowding. Oh, and nicer, newer houses with better yards.

To sum it up, NY is better for singles, fast-pace folks, people w/out pets and w/out cars. The Bay is a much more ideal place to settle down and live that suburbia life.

[JustinPacificaCA]

San Francisco is basically New York Jr... people think LA is like NY... NO WAY... SF is so much like NY in everything and yet it is so different... they really both seem to have alot of the same pluses and minuses... It really all depends... because I found that it really it was a toss up (I lived in both places so I can judge)... I think people in the Bay are alot more accepting of different cultures and new things... as New York... it's always been that way so why change it... I love both places equally... they really are both of the most unique and interesting regions of the country in my personal opinion... I really wouldn't know what to tell someone if I had to pick between the two... but to answer your question... both are unhappy about different things so it really depends... I would say they both generally have the same quality of life... One thing I could say is that people from both cities sure do take pride in themselves and have somewhat of a superiority complex thing going. But hell i will tell you right now... LA... Chicago... Miami.... none of them really compare to NYC the way San Francisco does

[18Montclair]

Downtown can at times seem like a mini-version of Manhattan, and the sophisticated nature of the people is somewhat reminiscient of the similar vibe one gets from NYers-although I think SF has its own distinct vibe, but the neighborhoods and natural setting make SF quite unique among US cities.

I guess that combination

[jaybone666]

The short answer is yes.

Very true, though, many of them are just faking it.