SF: more like LA or Manhattan?

[Those Who Squirm]

Originally Posted by Losfrisco

Here's an inconvenient fact that I'm sure never got brought up in this thread-San Francisco's population density is much closer to the San Fernando Valley portion of Los Angeles (the part that historically gets dismissed as a suburb) than it is to Manhattan. Like, way closer.

I've never been to Manhattan, though I have seen a few other Eastern cities. SF, while generally featuring a less car-centric lifestyle in the city itself and somewhat closer to Manhattan in that respect, the difference in density is huge. I didn't realize how huge until I Googled it just now. SF has ~800K people living in roughly 49 square miles, while Manhattan has ~2M people living within less than 23 square miles.

In terms of residential density, L.A. is obviously far more sparsely populated than either of the other two cities, although that can be deceptive in practical terms. Angelenos aren't evenly spread out over the city's entire 450 square miles, tend to be concentrated in certain neighborhoods and along certain traffic corridors. Then there's the density of traffic, which tends to be greater the farther people have to travel.

[dcb175]

I kinda get both compares, but honestly SF feels more like Brooklyn to me than Manhattan. When I think of SF, I think more of the neighborhoods around the city with row house, some mid-rise and some low-rise, and the neighborhood bars and restaurants that make it famous. I get much more of that in Brooklyn than I do in Manhattan. Brooklyn is much closer on a density scale too, and it doesn't have the canyons of towers that much of Manhattan has (though it does have a pretty big downtown area of it's own).

But no east-west compare is perfect due to the climate/topography/etc. I'd say Brooklyn first, then Boston.

[elchevere]

Originally Posted by 18Montclair

Yup...Hayes Valley, Upper Market, North Beach, etc.and many neighborhoods are all quite vibrant on saturday evenings.

Could add Marina District and SoMa….and not all Manhattan neighborhoods are bustling with vibrant nightlife activity (UES and Battery Park come to mind).

[18Montclair]

Originally Posted by elchevere

Could add Marina District and SoMa….and not all Manhattan neighborhoods are bustling with vibrant nightlife activity (UES and Battery Park come to mind).

Yeah, I was just in the Marina a few fridays ago and the night scene was very active.

I will say that New York has recovered much better than SF post pandemic as far as downtown vibrancy. SF's reliance on tech workers means that all the remote workers get to stay at home and so downtown is still well below what it used to be, however I do notice that things are starting to pick up.

On the other hand, the neighborhoods seem as busy as ever.