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Toronto wins in most measures, but I personally don't care about shopping and entertainment. For those times that I do, I am more than happy to visit LA for a day trip.
San Diego has a pretty high standard of living/QOL (IMHO, probably one of the few U.S. cities more on par with Canada or Australia). I've been to Toronto a few times and most appreciate its diversity. Otherwise, I find it really mediocre for a city of its size.
The weather alone is a reason to not live there. It's a solid 35 degrees colder in winter. Scenery is boring and the road trips & weekend trips limited. I'd probably be flying to the U.S. to keep myself interested. Ontario is just a very unspecial region.
Based on the criteria in the OP, Toronto takes this hands down.
There are just various things to me that are more important than others.
I don't think it's Toronto "hands down"...unless you are weighing them all evenly or using a "winner take all" ranking, which in reality no one does when making a decision between cities. Weather and scenery are hugely in favor of San Diego, whereas the other metrics are a bit more comparable, especially considering the proximity to LA/OC.
Ranking each metric out of 10 (5 being average):
QoL: San Diego-8, Toronto-8 (both very expensive, but offer good QOL knowing there are trade-offs)
Economy: Toronto-8, San Diego-7 (SD more industry specific)
Nightlife: Toronto-7, San Diego-5
Scenery: San Diego-9, Toronto-3
Activities/events: San Diego-8, Toronto-7
Shopping/entertainment venues: Toronto-7, San Diego-5 (although OC/LA proximity is nice since it's better than anything Toronto offers)
Transportation: Toronto-7, San Diego-7 (Toronto has good transit, but a lot of people still drive and Toronto has atrocious traffic. SD has the lowest commute times of the largest U.S. metros)
Overall vibe: San Diego-9, Toronto-8
My tally is 58-San Diego and 55-Toronto, which obviously is my opinion. I'd say it's pretty close, even if you want to give Toronto more advantage in categories like activities or shopping.
The OP didn't ask which city wins more categories. That's obviously Toronto, so there would be no point in this discussion.
Last edited by newgensandiego; 11-10-2020 at 09:44 AM..
I don't think it's Toronto "hands down"...unless you are weighing them all evenly or using a "winner take all" ranking, which in reality no one does when making a decision between cities. Weather and scenery are hugely in favor of San Diego, whereas the other metrics are a bit more comparable, especially considering the proximity to LA/OC.
Ranking each metric out of 10 (5 being average):
QoL: San Diego-8, Toronto-8 (both very expensive, but offer good QOL knowing there are trade-offs)
Economy: Toronto-8, San Diego-7 (SD more industry specific)
Nightlife: Toronto-7, San Diego-5
Scenery: San Diego-9, Toronto-3
Activities/events: San Diego-8, Toronto-7
Shopping/entertainment venues: Toronto-7, San Diego-5 (although OC/LA proximity is nice since it's better than anything Toronto offers)
Transportation: Toronto-7, San Diego-7 (Toronto has good transit, but most people drive and Toronto has atrocious traffic. SD has the lowest commute times of the largest U.S. metros)
Overall vibe: San Diego-9, Toronto-8
My tally is 58-San Diego and 55-Toronto, which obviously is my opinion. I'd say it's pretty close, even if you want to give Toronto more advantage in categories like activities or shopping.
The OP didn't ask which city wins more categories. That's obviously Toronto, so there would be no point in this discussion.
what the hell is overall vibe and who does San Diego with in Activities / events. Toronto has multiple big cultural events and festivals all over the city every week in the spring and summer. sometimes.
here is one of many such festivals, the festival of india
Last edited by Trojan1982; 11-10-2020 at 09:55 AM..
what the hell is overall vibe and who does San Diego with in Activities / events. Toronto has multiple big cultural events and festivals all over the city every week in the spring and summer. sometimes.
here is one of many such festivals, the festival of india
With San Diego, I'd say the overall vibe is "work to live", relaxed, easy-going, slower-paced, outdoorsy/active, etc. I prefer that to Toronto, which has the vibes of a northeast city...in many ways the opposite. San Diego actually has a good balance. It's a leading tech/innovation center, but also a leading recreation/activity center. Really just the best of both.
San Diego's weather and surroundings allow events/activities year-round, plus the proximity to Mexico and LA/OC provides limitless opportunities. I get that Toronto is a hub for events, but San Diego is pretty diverse as well. Also, I guarantee you that celebrating Tet in San Diego's Balboa Park is a lot better than Toronto during February
This is just my opinion. You are welcome to your own. The point of my post was that I don't believe Toronto "wins hands-down".
what the hell is overall vibe and who does San Diego with in Activities / events. Toronto has multiple big cultural events and festivals all over the city every week in the spring and summer. sometimes.
I suspect that San Diego has even more cultural and ethnic festivals that Toronto. It's a very diverse place with many different ethnic groups represented. So you have ethnic, cultural, music, culinary festivals going on all year. And being able to do these outdoors 12 months a year makes it very amenable. Toronto, much like Chicago, has to stuff all it's festivals into July and August.
I suspect that San Diego has even more cultural and ethnic festivals that Toronto. It's a very diverse place with many different ethnic groups represented. So you have ethnic, cultural, music, culinary festivals going on all year. And being able to do these outdoors 12 months a year makes it very amenable. Toronto, much like Chicago, has to stuff all it's festivals into July and August.
Well Toronto is significantly more diverse, so not sure about that.
BUT San Diego's Balboa Park does have the House of Pacific Relations International Cottages, with representative countries hosting events throughout the year. There are ~34 countries and they started another expansion this year to include Mexico, Panama, Colombia, Peru, India, Palestine, and Turkey. There are also countries/groups that don't have a physical house, but still organize events (e.g. Lebanon, Vietnam). They do combined events as well...like International Christmas. Welcome to the House of Pacific Relations International Cottages in Balboa Park
It's an often overlooked piece of Balboa Park, but obviously an important part of the exposition's history and a showcase of San Diego's growing diversity.
Quote:
Originally Posted by sprez33
And being able to do these outdoors 12 months a year makes it very amenable. Toronto, much like Chicago, has to stuff all it's festivals into July and August.
Quite possibly. There are lots of outdoor events like marathons, cycling events, parades, sports competitions, etc.
I suspect that San Diego has even more cultural and ethnic festivals that Toronto. It's a very diverse place with many different ethnic groups represented. So you have ethnic, cultural, music, culinary festivals going on all year. And being able to do these outdoors 12 months a year makes it very amenable. Toronto, much like Chicago, has to stuff all it's festivals into July and August.
I doubt that very much especially when you are talking about diversity, no one on the continent can beat Toronto on diversity. Multiculturalism is the cornerstone of what Toronto is. Toronto doesn't stop having festivals when it gets cold either. here is a far from complete list of some of the annual events that go on throughout the year: https://www.seetorontonow.com/annual-events/
Last edited by Trojan1982; 11-10-2020 at 02:58 PM..
Not so sure about that. Diversity is hard to quantify but just looking at the following:
- Toronto 51% minority
- San Diego 56% minority
Would say that both are very diverse.
I don't think that figure alone really proves anything.
Laredo, Texas is 96% "minority" in the context of the United States, but 95 of the 96 are from a single group. That doesn't make it more diverse than Toronto.
We'd need to know more about the breakdown of San Diego's 56%.
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