Sad in Seattle...San Francisco or San Diego?? (Oakland, Santa Ana: sales, how much)

[ilovesoup]

Well, we moved from Portland to Seattle and decided that we cannot handle the Pacific Northwest weather anymore!

We are choosing to live in San Francisco area, or San Diego. Work is mobile so we are looking for a laid back walk to everything lifestyle while being close to the amenities of a large city. Weather is also a priority and we have young kids so good schools and community is important as well.

Any suggestions? I have visited San Diego and like it but hear much criticism about the "culture" there.

Again, we are looking for a laid back location kinda like a small town feel just a short drive (30 min's in no traffic from the city center)

Your replies are so much appreciated! Even advice as to where not to move to

[sav858]

San Diego is more beach/surf culture, which of course many fail to recognize as "culture". SF has more "traditional" high culture in terms of museums, theater, etc... SD has that as well but its not on the same level as San Francisco.

Portland and Seattle culturally are more like SF than SD imo, so if you want that just with better weather then go with SF.

[LVinWA]

How much better IS the weather in SF compared to Seattle, though? Are there any statistics on the amount of sunny days per year?

I too am in Seattle and am contemplating between SF and SD.

[clongirl]

If you are looking for warm, sunny weather, then San Francisco and other towns all along the Northern Coast are going to be very similar to Seattle weather...damp, chilly and heavy fog..not so much rain though. The farther you move inland..eastward, then the weather is more predictably warm and fog free.

[LVinWA]

Looks like it's coming down to culture vs. weather. A tough decision, believe it or not.

[Ultrarunner]

I really enjoy WA but I have several friends that are looking to relocate due to the heavy tax burden... some are older retired or near retired with nice homes they built or bought years ago.

The problem is individual property taxes can and do go up... like one family near Olympia saw a 30% increase in one year

At least CA has some protection due to Prop 13.

WA doesn't have a sales tax and this is a benefit if you're earning lots of money... doesn't help all that much when your retired and living modestly.

SF proper has consistent climate more so than other areas around the Bay.

Many like the South Bay because it's warmer or even out toward Discovery Bay is you like the summer heat, water and boating.

[BayAreaHillbilly]

San Diego - about 10 in of rain per year, mas o menos (depending on microclimate, etc)
San Francisco - about 20 in of rain per year, mas or menos ( " )
San Diego - coastal stratus (but thinner and less drizzly than in Nor Cal coastal areas), any time of the year (it never really goes away)
San Francisco - coastal stratus mostly in the summer (although, in a lesser version of the SoCal pattern, can occur for short periods in other seasons)
San Diego - gentle sea breeze, when it happens
San Francisco - howling sea breeze, many summer afternoons (and colder air in the breeze, vs San Diego)
San Diego - Santa Anas are a way of life, in fall, at times in winter, and in the spring
San Francisco - Santa Anas (oops, wait, bad form, need to use another non SoCal name to avoid being pelted by rocks, LOL!) occur rarely in the fall and more rarely in the winter
San Diego - No frost
San Francisco - Almost no frost (some areas near the beach are truly frost free)
San Diego - culture is more in the typical "Sun Belt new town" vein, it's there, but not snobbed out, and not obsessed upon
San Francisco - we wanna be just like NYC culture vultures - LOL!
San Diego - in terms of family life, in most middle of the road, bourgeois suburban and semi urban hoods, it has a "middle American" feel to it - if we were not DINKs, we'd be all over that
San Francisco - not only are an increasing number of the suburban and semi urban hoods not quite bourgeois, but the feel of many of them is sort of a cross between "we now live on Long Island / in Rockland / Westchester now but miss The City" and the third world. Definitely not so much the "middle American" vibe.

If forced to recommend, given your aversion to Northern European type weather, and, your mention of schools / kids, I'd say SD. Pick one of the more "high brow" suburbs there and you'll be fine.

[artemis78]

Don't forget about the East Bay! Berkeley, Oakland, Alameda, Albany, San Leandro---they all have sunnier/warmer weather than many parts of the coast, are fog-free, and are also easy commutes into SF while still being very walkable cities in their own rights. Some of the older bungalow neighborhoods have a very similar feel to areas of the same age in Portland and Seattle (not surprisingly---some of the same builders, even). I have friends who compare Oakland's culture to Portland's, though don't know how accurate that is since I've never lived in the PNW (and I assume they mean the nicer family-oriented Oakland neighborhoods they live in, for the most part).

Good luck!

[TheShoeboxDiaries541]

This seems fairly obvious, really. San Francisco, especially parts out by the bay and along the peninsula, is horribly foggy, grey and cold. There are parts of Daly City that rarely see the sun outside of Indian Summer. San Diego, on the other hand, is one big beach party nearly everyday of the year. No brainer...

[sav858]

Originally Posted by BayAreaHillbilly

San Diego - coastal stratus (but thinner and less drizzly than in Nor Cal coastal areas), any time of the year (it never really goes away)
San Francisco - coastal stratus mostly in the summer (although, in a lesser version of the SoCal pattern, can occur for short periods in other seasons)

Fall and Winter San Diego doesn't really experiance too much marine layer, they're actually the sunniest seasons. Spring can have a lot of marine layer though, especially May and June (aka "May Gray/June Gloom")
You're right though its not as dense or drizzly as the marine layer (aka Fog) in NorCal. And it doesn't get windy and cold when it rolls in either.

San Francisco - Santa Anas (oops, wait, bad form, need to use another non SoCal name to avoid being pelted by rocks, LOL!) occur rarely in the fall and more rarely in the winter

"Diablo Winds" or usually the news just refers to it as an "off shore flow". But it is fairly common during fall in the Bay Area, which is why San Francisco's warmest, clearest months are September and October.

Everything else in your post I mostly agree with and was a good comparison.