Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Not to be a pedant, but Pierce County in it's entirety is apparently a part of Seattle MSA, correct? In which case, Mt. Rainier still falls under that Metropolitan boundary? LOL. In all seriousness, I think I get what you are getting at though. Let's set it at, within a 30 minute drive of City Center/City Hall, Yes? In that case (and I think that may be what you are trying to do here)-Honolulu I do think wins, though it's still somewhat subjective. SF has the most immediate stunning setting I think in this case-but Honolulu's regional draws push it over:
If it was taking further out into account, it might be a different story, as the other two are bolstered much more by that (especially Seattle). But given that you want to compare closer in, it almost has to be Honolulu here, at least IMO.
2-3 large volcanoes are at least visible in the Seattle metro area. Whether or not someone want to consider them actually part of the metro area is subjective. Seattle wins imo. For scenic reasons. If you wanted to include climate I'd go with the bay or Honolulu.
I can't think of a more beautiful metro on the planet.. try it though
Are we talking about natural scenery or the built environment? Unfortunately, only been to SEA and SF.
Built Environment, I think, would be a toss-up between Seattle and San Francisco. Honolulu simply doesn't have anywhere the skyline, the engineering marvels, and iconic buildings as San Francisco (and even Seattle, to a lesser extent) does.
Seattle is cleaner but more bland, while SF is dirtier but has more iconic architecture. Both have spectacular built environments.
If we're talking about natural environments, I'd give it to HNL (I can only guess, never been there). HNL has clear, warm water and lush, tropical flora nearby (most of HNL is actually in a rain shadow and has a semi-arid look, but the suburbs are much rainier.)
Honestly, neither SEA nor SF are exceptionally scenic when it comes to natural scenery. Seems like the main reason why SF is described as a "beautiful city" is because of its skyline, the Golden Gate Bridge, Victorians, interesting neighborhoods like Chinatown, and the Victorians, as well as Golden Gate and Presidio Parks. Absent that built environment the natural scenery of the Bay Area would not be ugly at all, but it wouldn't impress me. Above-average in terms of natural scenery, but hardly anything spectacular.
I think there's almost no question from a built perspective SF wins.
From a natural perspective, I voted Honolulu mainly because I felt it had more to offer in a shortened distance which is what I think the OP wanted to capture. That said, I could see the perspective of any of the three-as people have mentioned, in Seattle you can literally go from rainforest to ski areas within an hour or so (even the more modest mountains and mountain views within that range are very impressive. In San Francisco, I think the impressive thing is the topography the city is built into, whereas Seattle, its more the shape of the city, almost an island in form. San Francsico also does go from semi-arid to some of the lushest grandest trees in the world (redwoods-which are near unique in the world), world-renowned vineyards, a beautiful harbor that I believe is the world's deepest natural harbor, rocky dramatic coastline (moreso in that regard than the other two, and, to be fair, I think you are right, the hills on which the city itself add something. Perhaps even more so in the less familiar areas of SF to me than in the more familiar ones. Frankly, I don't think you can go wrong with any of these, I chose Honolulu, but I could see the argument for any.
I think Honolulu, San Francisco, Seattle and Salt Lake City would be the major cities on the "1 Seed" line within the US.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
