Atlanta vs. San Diego (2018)

[NomadicDrifter]

I think Atlanta is very underrated as a city and I always had more fun in Atlanta than San Diego. San Diego has some cool neighborhoods (PB, gaslamp, little italy-hillcrest) but overall it's very suburban, sterile, and boring. It doesn't really feel like a large city, yet it's officially the second largest city in California with the third largest metropolitan area.

But it's hard to ignore natural setting and weather and that San Diego has all over Atlanta.

So in the end I pick San Diego but not for its qualities as a city but more its natural setting.

[Turnerbro]

Originally Posted by NomadicDrifter

I think Atlanta is very underrated as a city and I always had more fun in Atlanta than San Diego. San Diego has some cool neighborhoods (PB, gaslamp, little italy-hillcrest) but overall it's very suburban, sterile, and boring. It doesn't really feel like a large city, yet it's officially the second largest city in California with the third largest metropolitan area.

But it's hard to ignore natural setting and weather and that San Diego has all over Atlanta.

So in the end I pick San Diego but not for its qualities as a city but more its natural setting.

True, but don't underrate Atlanta's natural setting. Personally I prefer green to brown, of course San Diego does have the ocean which puts it over the top.

[newgensandiego]

Originally Posted by SEAandATL

About 10 years ago there was a poll between the two cities and Atlanta got crushed. Let's see how much has changed since then. Here are the categories:

- Weather: San Diego
- Scenery: San Diego (has all terrains and landscapes within short drive)
- Safety: San Diego (no contest)
- Cost of living: Atlanta
- Transportation: San Diego (traffic-wise), Atlanta (non-auto alternatives)
- Architecture: San Diego (Has a large variety, but also a unique spanish colonial revival/california craftsman/mediterranean style). Atlanta is kinda just generic southern.
- Culture: San Diego (better blend of diverse cultures) and better cultural attractions (Balboa Park, zoo, etc.)
- Nightlife: Maybe Atlanta, but San Diego has improved a lot in the past 10 years.
- Food scene: San Diego
- Education: San Diego

I think the general image people have of San Diego is about 20 years out of date. It's actually a lot more vibrant nowadays with an excellent culinary scene.

[elchevere]

Good summary....I went to grad school at Emory and lived in SD for 13 years...SD wins on natural setting (ocean) and climate but Atlanta wins on city/urban—restaurants, nightlife, women, COL, sports town, major transit hub / worlds busiest airport, etc... Lake Lanier, Callaway Gardens and Stone Mountain are cool, River tubing on the Chattahoochee, and some great white water rafting (Chattooga) a few hours away when I lived in ATL. Great aquarium, hosted an Olympics. Emory (top 20 MBA School, Law School and Med School) plus Georgia Tech are no slouches. Bigger corporate headquarter presence in ATL (Coca Cola, CNN, Home Depot, Delta, SuntTrust Banks, UPS, Genuine Parts, etc) and film production as well. Home of the CDC. Ability to hit Tijuana and Ensenada and LA within 20 minutes to 2+ hours driving an asset for SD. Traffic worse in ATL, though SD catching up. Both big convention/business meeting cities with ATL #4, and SD # 5. Atlanta is the 3rd most visited city in the US behind NYC and Chicago.

Outside of Mexican, not sure what cuisines SD is great at. It has improved from 15 years ago but still has a ways to go. Italian and steakhouses are definitely not two of them. Portland, LA, SF, Seattle, and even OC and Long Beach (part of LA) rank higher in my book from a restaurant standpoint on the West Coast (not even including Vegas). One of SD’s top chefs, Richard Blais, got his fame in and moved from Atlanta.

Originally Posted by NomadicDrifter

I think Atlanta is very underrated as a city and I always had more fun in Atlanta than San Diego. San Diego has some cool neighborhoods (PB, gaslamp, little italy-hillcrest) but overall it's very suburban, sterile, and boring. It doesn't really feel like a large city, yet it's officially the second largest city in California with the third largest metropolitan area.

But it's hard to ignore natural setting and weather and that San Diego has all over Atlanta.

So in the end I pick San Diego but not for its qualities as a city but more its natural setting.

[newgensandiego]

Originally Posted by biscuit_head

I grew up in San Diego back in the 80s and 90s and lived in Atlanta for about a decade starting in the mid-2000s. I lived in Los Angeles for awhile a few years back and would visit San Diego quite a bit. San Diego seems to be a lot sleepier and laid-back, and other cities in the region like Las Vegas and Phoenix feel more dynamic and have grown a lot over the past 30 years. Vegas is catching up with SD in some ways plus Phoenix has surpassed it quite a bit.

Wow, you really don't know much about modern San Diego then. I grew up here and stayed around; it's changed a lot. To say that Phoenix is more dynamic is about as ridiculous as it gets.

However, the city punches below its weight economically due to the strong military presence (the biomedical field there is relatively small in comparison)

Dang, a lot of misinformation in one sentence. People throw out this statement every now and then, so it's helpful to correct it because it is seriously out of date. As a reminder, San Diego is the 17th largest Metro in the U.S, holds its own (resposting):

- Most innovative (most patents per capita in the US, 3rd in the world)
- 5th in the world in venture capitalism (ahead of London and Beijing, and comparable to LA)
- 10th largest agriculture producing county in the US.
- One of the fastest growing downtowns in the past 2 decades.
- Only county in Southern California that had real wage and productivity growth from 2009-2015
- Home to the #4 and #5 most visited public parks in the country (NYC is the only place that has 2 in the top 10)
- Site of the busiest border crossing in the world
- 4th largest multinational area in the world
- #1 most visited (and famous) zoo in the world
- Safest big city in America
- One of the most diverse major cities in the US
- Hugely popular travel destination, always ranked near the top (#1 in Money Magazine this year)
- Shortest commute of the 25 largest metros
- Home of the largest desalination plant in the country
- Only major city in the US that has a legally binding sustainability doctrine/plan
- Birthplace of modern oceanography
- Birthplace of California (BAM!)
- Amazing Mexican culture/food, Spanish colonial/revival architecture, etc.
- Weather, topography, scenery, etc.
- Natural space/resource preservation (most of the city/county is not bulldozed and built on)
- Easily top 3 for craft breweries (also home to the only American brewery with a location in Germany)
- Top 5 conference destination
- Best surfing in the continental US (also home to a huge boarding culture)
- Year round recreational opportunities (including an Olympic training center)
- Most prominent theme/water/zoological park destination outside of LA/OC and Orlando.
- Top 3 most coveted relocation destination in multiple polls. Usually only 2nd to NYC.
- Home of the first modern light rail system that today allows San Diego to be the 10th largest rail transit market in the country (metro pop is 17th). Not to mention that San Diego rail service successfully operates at one of the lowest subsidies per passenger ride in the country. (5th)

[T. Damon]

^^^
Can’t rep you again but I’ll just add that San Diego like its other fast growing sunbelt counterparts barely resembles its former self of even just 10 years ago in terms of growth, cultural and economic opportunities and amenities.

I haven’t been to Atlanta in over twenty years, loved my short and very fun visits then and have followed its growth only from media postings and stories as an active urban/city connoisseur. But would love to see how it too has grown past its sometimes sleepy downtown reputation and typical sun belt sprawl growth patterns to the much more culturally dynamic and coherent city with some great urban plans being implemented of today.

[newgensandiego]

Originally Posted by T. Damon

^^^
Can’t rep you again but I’ll just add that San Diego like its other fast growing sunbelt counterparts barely resembles its former self of even just 10 years ago in terms of growth, cultural and economic opportunities and amenities.

Interestingly, I'd say that San Diego and Atlanta are probably two of the only sunbelt cities that have really re-established their urban areas to the point where it's a continuous urban environment.

Austin is getting there, but the remaining sunbelt cities still have pretty 9-5 environments with excessive surface parking.

But would love to see how it too has grown past its sometimes sleepy downtown reputation and typical sun belt sprawl growth patterns to the much more culturally dynamic and coherent city with some great urban plans being implemented of today.

The City of Atlanta has improved in this regard, but the region continues to sprawl and remains one of the most sprawling in the country.