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.
While I don't expect it to rival NYC it IS the 8th largest city (yet "acts"/feels much smaller than that) in the country and can and should have more and better urban amenities. Great cities aren't born or happen by accident. From a natural standpoint, I agree, the weather, beach, nearby mountains and desert are fantastic along with the slower pace (can be good and bad) but from an urban standpoint it definitely stands room for improvement--though, as you point out, many residents there are fine with the status quo or good enough. I think it's a great place if one prefers more of a suburban lifestyle, is in college, from a small town/smaller city and/or retired.
Calling San Diego the 8th largest city is misinformed at best. Why are you using city pop as your measuring stick? Everyone knows that's a misleading comparison metric at this point. How is that any different than someone calling Miami the 44th largest city and comparing it to Omaha as a peer. Or declaring that Raleigh should have the same urban amenities as Miami for that matter? I mean Raleigh is a larger city than Miami afterall. By that definition I'd say Raleigh would be a pretty big miss.
San Diego anchors the 17th largest MSA, it's barely half the size of the 8th largest MSA. When compared to other 3 million metros it's much more on par with it's peers, and I would argue does not really underachieve.
Location: Miami (prev. NY, Atlanta, SF, OC and San Diego)
7,409 posts, read 6,542,189 times
Reputation: 6677
Quote:
Originally Posted by mjlo
Calling San Diego the 8th largest city is misinformed at best. Why are you using city pop as your measuring stick, everyone knows that's a misleading comparison metric at this point. How is that any different than someone calling Miami the 44th largest city and comparing it to Omaha as a peer. Or declaring that Raleigh should have the same urban amenities as Miami for that matter? I mean Raleigh is a larger city than Miami afterall.
San Diego anchors the 17th largest MSA, it's barely half the size of the 8th largest MSA. When compared to other 3 million metros it's much more on par with it's peers, and I would argue does not really underachieve.
Gee, I don’t know-maybe because others—including San Diego itself— call it the 8th largest city?? Maybe I got brainwashed by these others.
Yeah by legally defined borders. That speaks nothing of it's market size, which is the core driver for every cities amenities. You are clearly more than educated enough to know the difference.
Something tells me when you go to San Francisco you don't expect to find less amenities than San Diego. San Diego's legal borders are nearly 7 times larger than SF and is therefore "the bigger city". It is HALF the market size. It's a tired argument. It seems to be only used on here when someone needs a statistic that allows them to cling to a point they don't want to concede. Albeit a disingenuous statistic IMO.
Location: Miami (prev. NY, Atlanta, SF, OC and San Diego)
7,409 posts, read 6,542,189 times
Reputation: 6677
Quote:
Originally Posted by mjlo
Yeah by legally defined borders. That speaks nothing of it's market size, which is the core driver for every cities amenities. You are clearly more than educated enough to know the difference.
Something tells me when you go to San Francisco you don't expect to find less amenities than San Diego. San Diego's legal borders are nearly 7 times larger than SF and is therefore "the bigger city". It's a tired argument. It seems to be only used on here when someone needs a statistic to cling to a point they don't want to concede. Albeit a disingenuous statistic IMO.
San Francisco's CSA is massive. San Diego's is not. That's why. I prefer CSA for comparison purposes. I mean the Pittsburgh MSA is bigger than the Cleveland MSA, but Cleveland feels larger, and that's true because the Cleveland CSA is larger than the Pittsburgh CSA.
Location: Miami (prev. NY, Atlanta, SF, OC and San Diego)
7,409 posts, read 6,542,189 times
Reputation: 6677
Quote:
Originally Posted by mjlo
Why do you think that is?
Simple answer:
SF dining > SD
SFO hub airport for legacy carrier United
SF Union Square superior to SD shopping
Nightlife: SD better for younger; SF classier better for older/professionals
Jobs: Besides tech and biotech SF has more career path opportunities and corporate HQ (finance, consumer packaged goods)
SF better mass transit (BART, ferry systems connecting to other areas, etc)
3 metro pro teams (including 2 downtown)…
Parks: probably a tie
BTW, I have firsthand experience having actually lived in both cities! Again, focusing on urban amenities. What, if any, do you disagree with??
SF dining > SD
SFO hub airport for legacy carrier United
SF Union Square superior to SD shopping
Nightlife: SD better for younger; SF classier better for older/professionals
Jobs: Besides tech and biotech SF has more career path opportunities and corporate HQ (finance, consumer packaged goods)
SF better mass transit (BART, ferry systems connecting to other areas, etc)
3 pro teams (including 2 downtown)…
BTW, I have firsthand experience having actually lived in both cities!
I can't tell if you're gaslighting or missing the point because I'm improperly articulating. Of course San Francisco will have better options in every category than San Diego. It IS the bigger city. It has more than twice the market size that San Diego does because it's bigger. The Bay area is the 4th or 5th largest agglomeration of people in the country. San Diego is the 17th.
San Diego's peers are Tampa, Denver, Charlotte, and Orlando. These are the cities it should be compared to. Not Miami, San Francisco, or any other top 10 metro. Due to this I do not think San Diego is a miss. I think it performs about average in it's peer group.
Location: Miami (prev. NY, Atlanta, SF, OC and San Diego)
7,409 posts, read 6,542,189 times
Reputation: 6677
Quote:
Originally Posted by mjlo
I can't tell if you're gaslighting or missing the point because I'm improperly articulating. Of course San Francisco will have better options in every category than San Diego. It IS the bigger city. It has more than twice the market size that San Diego does because it's bigger. The Bay area is the 4th or 5th largest agglomeration of people in the country. San Diego is the 17th.
San Diego's peers are Tampa, Denver, Charlotte, and Orlando. These are the cities it should be compared to. Not Miami, San Francisco, or any other top 10 metro. Due to this I do not think San Diego is a miss. I think it performs about average in it's peer group.
SF’s metro is demonstrably bigger, yes….but I’ll be content putting up SF city only vs SD entire metro and still take SF city.
I do agree SD does compete more with Tampa, Denver and it is the superior city, metro or CSA for beaches and climate.
No gaslighting here. Just trying to point out what I perceive as shortcomings from an urban amenities perspective which is how I tend to grade cities ….and, yes, I would likely “outgrow” those other peer cities as well from an urban perspective.
I also thought the title and subject of this thread referenced the word cities, not metros or CSA—hence, my focus on urbanity.
Last edited by elchevere; 07-29-2022 at 10:00 AM..
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.
….and, yes, I would likely “outgrow” those other peer cities as well from an urban perspective.
