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Anyway, I'm single and in my late 20's, and the factors that I care about are the usual suspects. I want to live in a walkable area with good restaurants and bars, good ethnic food, music scene, quality grocery stores, decent public transportation, an area that is vibrant, etc. How would downtown San Jose compare to downtown Seattle? The weather seems way better in SJ and that is a factor to me as well.
Any thoughts would be much appreciated! Thanks...
Compared to Seattle, SJ downtown = less of everything you listed. SJ general area = "meh" bars, "meh" music scene, "double meh" public transit, but similar quality grocery stores & restaurants, I'd say ethnic restaurants are slightly better.
The weather in SJ is indeed better though. It's true that Seattle weather won't seem that bad compared to NYC, but why settle for "not that bad" when you can have "almost the best in the US"? Something else to think about.
I often defend San Jose and like it for a lot of reasons, but with the criteria you gave (besides ethnic eateries, which might go to San Jose) Seattle in a landslide
Seattle's downtown is much, much bigger than San Jose's and encompasses a lot of different areas. Theres just so much more there - Pioneer Square, Westlake, Belltown, International District, Waterfront, etc. Also, San Jose gets very suburban quickly once you leave downtown, while Seattle has some pretty dense inner neighborhoods and some significant pockets of density and walkable areas pretty far from downtown. Its not at San Francisco's level in terms of urbanity but it feels much closer to that than San Jose. Seattle also offers more quality, and a much greater variety and volume of, nightlife and has more interesting clusters of restaurants.
There's a lot more "scenes" to choose from in Seattle and a much more thriving music culture. Seattle has excellent southeast Asian food, like San Jose, but the mexican food is waaaay better in San Jose. San Jose is also a more diverse city.
Anyway, if you want an urban, walkable experience and a more vibrant nightlife, Seattle is hands down the better choice. I feel like in San Jose, outside of downtown you will not find what you're looking for at all. In Seattle, there would be at least a dozen neighborhoods or areas that would fit your criteria. I like areas like Willow Glen and downtown Campbell (I know, technically not in San Jose), but for walkability and nightlife they dont hold a candle to even outer Seattle neighborhoods like Ballard or Fremont. For example, here is a photo of the Ballard neighborhood, which is around 6 miles from downtown Seattle. In San Jose, you wouldnt find anything like this outside of downtown:
Also, remember, Seattle is the premiere city in its state and some would argue the entire Pacific Northwest Region. It is the "big city" for the entire area and it captures that feeling. San Jose is one of several large cities in its metro area, and despite its large population, it probably offers the least big city amenities between SJ, Oakland, and SF.
All that said, how important is weather? Because aside from amazing summers and early falls, Seattle is grey and damp. San Jose is incredible weather year round.
Last edited by ronaldojernkins; 02-11-2011 at 09:03 PM..
Let me put it this way, in Seattle you will be able to afford to frequent the bars, clubs, restaurants and shops. In San Jose you will have a Happy Hour budget and be competing with guys who have stock options in their pocket for dates.
Seattle is a truer urban center than SJ.........Belltown, a neighborhood in downtown Seattle, has lots of clubs, restaurants and apt/condos. Its experienced some major growth in the past ten years with both new mid and hi rises and a growing population. Its an easy walk to downtown where there are lots of offices, dept stores, movies and retail. The only thing downtown is missing is a full service supermarket and that's expected to change in the next few years. In the meantime there are supermarkets very close to the downtown area.
In the meantime, San Jose is trying very hard to develop its downtown with mixed success. At this date it is much the inferior to downtown Seattle. The major plus for SJ is its weather......it gets a lot more sun and much less rain than Seattle in the winter and the temps are warmer. You will have to decide how important weather is to you.
In addition the ethnic food is better in SJ. Seattle does not do well with ethnic....especially Mexican. I recommend that you see both cities before making your move.....if that's possible. GLTY.
Maybe not as good as San Jose overall , but Seattle has some excellent, authentic Southeast Asian restaurants. Some great Ethiopian and Moraccan restaurants as well. In general, though, you have to go to the CD or South Seattle to get the authentic stuff. North of the ship canal not so much.
And, yeah, the Mexican food in the Bay Area in general blows the Puget Sound out of the water.
Let me put it this way, in Seattle you will be able to afford to frequent the bars, clubs, restaurants and shops. In San Jose you will have a Happy Hour budget and be competing with guys who have stock options in their pocket for dates.
I wouldn't go quite that far. Seattle is not dirt cheap and not everybody in SJ is a rick stock option.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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Coming from the bay area and now working in Seattle I am familiar with both, and I would say the only advantage to San Jose is the weather, and that's if you prefer dry and hot. I personally prefer the weather here. The International District in Seattle is one of the best, and there is a lot of walkable downtown but also easy bus and light rail service within the city.
San Jose was built for the car, as was most of CA. Santa Cruz is closer to an hour now with the traffic at all hours. Keep in mind that CA has a 10% state income tax, WA has none.
I have to agree with most of the comments made here. I wanna add that both places are totally DIFFERENT worlds. Like someone suggested you may want to visit both places so you can choose of what will work for you. As most have said Seattle does have a better downtown for what you're looking for, but not as great of weather that San Jose offers. Also it should be noted that San Jose does have alot of nightclubs in downtown that caters to a more diverse crowd including college kids from San Jose State. Again both are VERY different.
I wouldn't go quite that far. Seattle is not dirt cheap and not everybody in SJ is a rick stock option.
I agree, I was being a bit edgy but socially it is a whole lot better to be a guy with change in his pocket.
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