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1. Urban Form/Neighborhoods- San Diego. I like how its more compact size allows for an easier way of getting around, and its downtown is more important to its fabric than LA is, even if the gap has been shrinking.
2. Arts/Culture- Los Angeles.
3. Attractions/Entertainment- Los Angeles, due to the entertainment factor.
4. Safety/Comfort- San Diego
5. Traffic/Transit- San Diego for traffic, Los Angeles for transit
6. Location/Day Trips- Tie. SD has Tijuana and is closer to the desert as well as the charming towns of northern SD county, while Los Angeles is pretty much self-contained where that a lot of the places to visit are daytrips. I'd give a slight edge to SD due to traffic.
7. Parks/Scenery- San Diego due to Balboa Park, being a cleaner city, as well as the oceans having a higher presence.
8. Food/Drink- Los Angeles due to more ethnic options
9. Overall Preference- San Diego (see below)
I voted San Diego since the key question was just a long weekend, and feel that for a proper LA trip, you need 5-7 days at least, and a lot of TV shows don't tape during the weekends, which is one of the coolest things that LA offers to tourists, and many of those are free (although with COVID, audiences or limited or even banned). There's always Tijuana, as sketchy as it maybe, for nightlife, and even what SD proper in this category will suit the average American more than LA. SeaWorld and Legoland are no Disney, Six Flags, or Universal, but they're just as entertaining, and you're better off hitting those LA parks during the week instead of the crowded weekend. There's just so much to see/do in LA that its best to spend more time there than to just head in and out after a couple days.
That said, LA certainly wins in quantity if not in quantity.
A friend of mine dubs San Diego "Des Moines" by the sea!
I don't know why no one refers to San Diego as the San Diego/Tijuana metro area (5-6 million) just like they say San Francisco/Oakland or Dallas/Ft. Worth. Without San Diego's biggest suburb across the Border I would never visit that city.
I prefer interesting cities to pretty cities like San Diego and San Francisco, so that puts me in L.A. with my $7 Tap card where you don't need a car to get around anymore. Can't wait for the Purple line to be finished, running down Wilshire, to UCLA!
Maybe because Tijuana isn't a US city is why and people don't realize the sister city is that large? However, in Texas, El Paso and Juarez seem to be viewed more as one than SD/Tijuana. Go figure?
Location: Miami (prev. NY, Atlanta, SF, OC and San Diego)
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For the life of me, I don’t understand the love for or why some view border town Tijuana as some world class city to visit or proximity to it as a big advantage particularly on CD where, seemingly, 9 out of 10 judge a city based on median income and education attainment.
Don’t get me wrong—when I lived in SD I would go down occasionally (once every 3-4 months) because a friend owns the only remaining Cuban Cigar lounge (only place with authentic Cubans—though I now get them shipped to my front door for less from Europe), hit a restaurant or two afterwards, or the 1-2 times I flew out of their airport when one had to sneak via 3rd country to Cuba.
However, it’s a dirty and dangerous border town that attracts COL challenged expats and/or visitors for cheaper housing, cheap dentists, cheap trinkets, cheap labor (including for medical devices), to get photo ops next to a donkey painted to look like a zebra, and cheap hookers. Sure, it has a growing wine region an hour further south but it’s NOT Napa. Some drive down (don’t forget insurance and leave the nice car at home) to eat cheap lobster (spiny lobster, with no claws not to be confused with Maine or Nova Scotia lobster). It’s NOT some desirable city (certainly not a Mexico City or Puerto Vallarta/Cabo/San Miguel de Allende, etc) with many San Diegans sharing the same opinion based on this current post on their CD forum:
Not sure what the situation is now with Covid but if one still decides to go (if the border is open), better have a SENTRI or Global Entry pass or be prepared to possibly wait on line up to a few hours at Customs getting back into the US.
If one is visiting San Diego there are far more better places to go to than Tijuana.
Quote:
Originally Posted by walker1962
Maybe because Tijuana isn't a US city is why and people don't realize the sister city is that large? However, in Texas, El Paso and Juarez seem to be viewed more as one than SD/Tijuana. Go figure?
Last edited by elchevere; 01-16-2022 at 08:40 AM..
LA is too big and sprawling for a casual visit. It's the whole entire Sunbelt but on steroids. Not like New York at all where you can just start walking and keep yourself entertained.
It's too hard to choose. They are both awesome places to visit. LA obviously has a lot more visitor attractions, but San Diego has such a nice and clean downtown, nice beaches, and nice restaurants. Getting around all of LA and Orange County can be a hassle too, so a more manageable San Diego can be a plus. I like them both for different reasons.
SD is family-friendly, safe and easier to get around and it constantly ranks as one of the top most liked cities to visit. It’s a pleasant, pretty city. That being said, I’m not into family-friendly stuff. I’m into culture. With the exception of NYC, no city in the US compares to the cultural wealth that exists in LA. SD is better for a weekend because you can do everything in that weekend. A weekend in LA, and you’ve barely scratched the surface.
I agree with all of this, and I'm the opposite. I like family-friendly; I'm not interested in much of what passes for "culture," such as current entertainment, theater, fashion, most contemporary art; I like museums but MOCA, for instance, is not my jam. Not interested in Hollywood in the slightest. If my visiting friends and relatives want to go to Hollywood or most other places in LA, I let them borrow a car and wish them a happy day as I wave good-bye from the door.
However, I will gladly drive up to LA to spend a day at the Huntington Library & Gardens, the Natural History Museum, Getty Museum, Getty Villa, or La Brea Tar Pits.
Things I love in San Diego: the zoo, the Safari Park, kayaking in La Jolla, the small Balboa Park museums, Old Town. Legoland when my kids were small. Still haven't been to the Midway as most of it was closed the last time we went down there, but it's on my to-do list.
For beaches--sunbathing, tide pooling, or whale watching--I stay in my home county, Orange, because I think we have the best of show right here. And I enjoy the small OC museums like the Laguna Art Museum and the Bowers Museum, as well as the small attractions like the Sherman Library & Gardens, the Santa Ana Zoo, and Knotts Berry Farm (but Disneyland...not so much any more).
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