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.
If you had the choice to live in one of the many wealthy areas of Miami or San Diego, which would you choose and why?
For the purposes of this thread we'll compare specific areas in both regions.
Miami:
Fisher Island
Coral Gables
Palm Beach
Miami Beach
Boca Raton
Vs
San Diego:
Rancho Santa Fe
La Jolla
Carmel Valley
Del Mar
Torrey Pines
Compare along the metrics of entertainment (dining, nightlife and shopping and overall liveliness), feeling of wealth and exclusivity, beauty of homes and landscaping, range of activities within close range (1 - 2 hr drive), attractiveness of people.
Feel free to compare along anything else you might want to add as well.
The answer for me would be Miami, with the exception of activities close by. San Diego has greater geographic diversity that give it an edge in that department. For everything else I would prefer the Miami area.
Last edited by kingsdl76; 03-08-2021 at 06:27 AM..
Location: Miami (prev. NY, Atlanta, SF, OC and San Diego)
7,409 posts, read 6,540,013 times
Reputation: 6676
Lived in both—Miami....more exciting and access to more big boy city amenities that I enjoy spending my money on: dining, nightlife, entertainment/nightlife, shopping, adult events.
Miami will win on most of the OP criteria as it should since it is a much larger MSA and San Diego tends to understate its wealth.
Miami has more within its boundaries; San Diego more when you start to get outside its boundaries. Beauty of homes is different—overlooking an acqua bay or ocean with lush, more green foliage vs overlooking the ocean atop a bluff with hills and mountains in the distance.
PS...Palm Beach (not West Palm Beach) is exclusive—along with Jupiter and Manapalan...add Coronado to San Diego.
Last edited by elchevere; 03-08-2021 at 06:03 AM..
Lived in both—Miami....more exciting and access to more big boy city amenities that I enjoy spending my money on: dining, nightlife, entertainment/nightlife, shopping, adult events.
Miami will win on most of the OP criteria as it should since it is a much larger MSA and San Diego tends to understate its wealth.
Miami has more within its boundaries; San Diego more when you start to get outside its boundaries. Beauty of homes is different—overlooking an acqua bay or ocean with lush, more green foliage vs overlooking the ocean atop a bluff.
Completely agree with you. San Diego is beautiful...but there's just something about the Miami metro area that better fits me. I could see people choosing either way though. However, one thing that Miami metro comes out on top for, and by a significant margin, is nightlife. San Diegos nightlife is very tame, and not to mention that last call is 1:30 am and people are literally out the door by 1:50 (this shocked me when I lived there). -- Whereas Miami is a true nightlife destination (pre-Covid of course). Miami metro is also just an overall livelier and exciting place.
As I mentioned in my original post though, San Diego has beautiful and varied geography, something that Florida in general cant contend with...but every other metric I listed Miami is far superior, in my opinion of course.
Location: Miami (prev. NY, Atlanta, SF, OC and San Diego)
7,409 posts, read 6,540,013 times
Reputation: 6676
For other noticeable differences you can add restaurants—Miami has outposts from Thomas Keller (French Laundry fame), Jean-Georges, Daniel Boulud, the late Joel Robuchon, Jose Andres, not to mention more than a dozen outposts from top NYC restaurants, some Michelin rated (with more on the way), DC (Michelin rated Fiola my favorite at the moment), Europe and South America; shopping—I had to drive 75 minutes up to South Coast Plaza in OC for some brands I buy within a 15-30 minute drive here; and even cultural events—Art Basel, SOBEWFF, International Boat Shows, and Cigar Aficionado/Wine Spectator events are more upscale vs Comic-con....seems even more upscale for tourists—I love Rancho Valencia and Grand Del Mar but we’ve got Four Seasons (3), St Regis, Mandarin Oriental, Ritz Carlton (4), Setai and independents such as Acqualina, Faena, etc.
San Diego has a more exclusive sailing culture though SoFla has a more expansive mega power yacht culture.
Both have nice horse racing venues and equestrian communities to go with golf and tennis clubs.
Again, San Diego’s mindset is “we’re not LA” and that is reflected in how they tend to be more casual/laid back and understated (being a military town also keeps it less ostentatious)—though RSF and La Jolla are right up there, if not “flashy” or as flashy.
Less restrictive government / more developer/ business friendly policies allows Miami to build many more mega million dollar condos directly on the ocean and bay. Premier upscale brands such as Porsche, Aston Martin and Baccarat have expanded their product lines by getting into the luxury condo market with buildings bearing their names.
When I lived in downtown San Diego I might see 3-5 exotic cars (Bentley, Ferrari, Rolls, Aston Martin, Lambo) on some days...living in Brickell (part of our downtown) I see 1-2 dozen on a daily business, including Bugatti and Conquest Knight XV.
San Diego has slightly more opportunities for building wealth than Miami, particularly in niche biotech/life sciences (4% of the workforce at last check) and defense contractors whereas Miami has niche financial industry (international banking and growing US hedge fund/investment banking sector) and real estate development. Miami thrives on small business and people who bring their wealth earned elsewhere (retirees, other countries, people relocating from other parts of the US). Both cities have traditional medical and law employment. Neither are corporate HQ meccas like NYC, Chicago, etc.
If you are wealthy and want more and closer proximity to amenities similar to NYC and LA, Miami; if closer to more natural assets (mountains and desert) in a less loud environment sacrificing some of the top urban benefits, San Diego.
With today being the 50th anniversary of "the fight of the century", if these 2 cities took on the personalities of the combatants, Miami would be Muhammad Ali and San Diego would be more like Joe Frazier.
Quote:
Originally Posted by kingsdl76
Completely agree with you. San Diego is beautiful...but there's just something about the Miami metro area that better fits me. I could see people choosing either way though. However, one thing that Miami metro comes out on top for, and by a significant margin, is nightlife. San Diegos nightlife is very tame, and not to mention that last call is 1:30 am and people are literally out the door by 1:50 (this shocked me when I lived there). -- Whereas Miami is a true nightlife destination (pre-Covid of course). Miami metro is also just an overall livelier and exciting place.
As I mentioned in my original post though, San Diego has beautiful and varied geography, something that Florida in general cant contend with...but every other metric I listed Miami is far superior, in my opinion of course.
Last edited by elchevere; 03-08-2021 at 07:50 AM..
If you had the choice to live in one of the many wealthy areas of Miami or San Diego, which would you choose and why?
For the purposes of this thread we'll compare specific areas in both regions.
Miami:
Fisher Island
Coral Gables
Palm Beach
Miami Beach
Boca Raton
Vs
San Diego:
Rancho Santa Fe
La Jolla
Carmel Valley
Del Mar
Torrey Pines
Compare along the metrics of entertainment (dining, nightlife and shopping and overall liveliness), feeling of wealth and exclusivity, beauty of homes and landscaping, range of activities within close range (1 - 2 hr drive), attractiveness of people.
Feel free to compare along anything else you might want to add as well.
The answer for me would be Miami, with the exception of activities close by. San Diego has greater geographic diversity that give it an edge in that department. For everything else I would prefer the Miami area.
I would pick Miami because of no state income tax.
For other noticeable differences you can add restaurants—Miami has outposts from Thomas Keller (French Laundry fame), Jean-Georges, Daniel Boulud, the late Joel Robuchon, Jose Andres, not to mention more than a dozen outposts from top NYC restaurants, some Michelin rated (with more on the way), DC (Michelin rated Fiola my favorite at the moment), Europe and South America; shopping—I had to drive 75 minutes up to South Coast Plaza in OC for some brands I buy within a 15-30 minute drive here; and even cultural events—Art Basel, SOBEWFF, International Boat Shows, and Cigar Aficionado/Wine Spectator events are more upscale vs Comic-con....seems even more upscale for tourists—I love Rancho Valencia and Grand Del Mar but we’ve got Four Seasons (3), St Regis, Mandarin Oriental, Ritz Carlton (4), Setai and independents such as Acqualina, Faena, etc.
San Diego has a more exclusive sailing culture though SoFla has a more expansive mega power yacht culture.
Both have nice horse racing venues and equestrian communities to go with golf and tennis clubs.
Again, San Diego’s mindset is “we’re not LA” and that is reflected in how they tend to be more casual/laid back and understated (being a military town also keeps it less ostentatious)—though RSF and La Jolla are right up there, if not “flashy” or as flashy.
Less restrictive government / more developer/ business friendly policies allows Miami to build many more mega million dollar condos directly on the ocean and bay. Premier upscale brands such as Porsche, Aston Martin and Baccarat have expanded their product lines by getting into the luxury condo market with buildings bearing their names.
When I lived in downtown San Diego I might see 3-5 exotic cars (Bentley, Ferrari, Rolls, Aston Martin, Lambo) on some days...living in Brickell (part of our downtown) I see 1-2 dozen on a daily business, including Bugatti and Conquest Knight XV.
San Diego has slightly more opportunities for building wealth than Miami, particularly in niche biotech/life sciences (4% of the workforce at last check) and defense contractors whereas Miami has niche financial industry (international banking and growing US hedge fund/investment banking sector) and real estate development. Miami thrives on small business and people who bring their wealth earned elsewhere (retirees, other countries, people relocating from other parts of the US). Both cities have traditional medical and law employment. Neither are corporate HQ meccas like NYC, Chicago, etc.
If you are wealthy and want more and closer proximity to amenities similar to NYC and LA, Miami; if closer to more natural assets (mountains and desert) in a less loud environment sacrificing some of the top urban benefits, San Diego.
With today being the 50th anniversary of "the fight of the century", if these 2 cities took on the personalities of the combatants, Miami would be Muhammad Ali and San Diego would be more like Joe Frazier.
It's looks like we're complete opposites on this. I like Miami and enjoy when I have to spend a few nights there on business trips, but it gets old for me after a few days. I much prefer the SD environment. It's a matter of taste.
I'd sum up the major difference is that Miami is extremely concerned with 'conspicuous consumption', whereas SD is a much stronger intellectual environment. Everything in Miami is shiny, the cars, the buildings, the fashion. SD is much more laid back with little focus on name brands. Miami has the flashy nightlife (though one of the few places where I stay up past my bedtime).
Miami has no knowledge industry to speak of and lacks a globally recognized university. Whereas SD is a high tech economy.
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.
