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1. Nightlife - San Diego, though neither is particularly great, but I felt like St Petersburg nightlife was generally slower and seemed to cater to a pretty narrow, generally late middle age to senior crowd. That exists in San Diego as well in parts, but seems to be less dominant. Perhaps I was in the wrong parts of St. Petersburg though.
2. Weather - San Diego as I like its more moderate climate especially during the summer and that there are a lot of microclimates where there's an array of climates you can choose from
3. Beaches - St. Petersburg because the warm water is quite nice in the winter whereas I almost always feel the water is too cold except in very peak later summer; beaches as in not going into the water is about tied for me though
4. Restaurants - San Diego by a large margin partially because the cuisines that San Diego does well are my favorites and the produce quality is quite good
5. Cost of living - St. Petersburg
6. Job Market - San Diego overall for better paying and a greater diversity of well-paying jobs
1. Nightlife - St. Petersburg. The region has a great nightlife; it's very underrated. Someone a few posts up said it's just Central Ave. That's completely wrong.
2. Weather - From October to May, St. Pete. The rest of the year, San Diego. So it's close, but St. Pete slightly edges it out.
3. Beaches - St. Pete, and it's not even close.
4. Restaurants - I would say San Diego edges out St. Pete in certain cuisines...but St. Pete is no slouch.
5. Cost of living - St. Petersburg
6. Job Market - Depends on what field of work you're in. I'd probably give this one to San Diego though.
Honestly, for this to even be debatable shows how far St. Petersburg has come over the past 30 years. Now it has a legitimate case for being the better city and is no longer thought of as “god’s waiting room.”
Honestly, for this to even be debatable shows how far St. Petersburg has come over the past 30 years. Now it has a legitimate case for being the better city and is no longer thought of as “god’s waiting room.”
I was downtown St-Pete last night engaged in the nightlife for the first time in ages (I'd been there a few times recently, but not for nightlife) and I was pleasantly SHOCKED at how active it was, and not just along Beach Dr., but all over the place. I spent a lot of time just walking around, and every street was filled with activity.
Granted, it was St Patrick's day and there is some sort of reggae festival going on, but even without that, the streets are lined with bars, lounges, late night restaurants, music... It felt like a less tacky version of Miami.
I was downtown St-Pete last night engaged in the nightlife for the first time in ages (I'd been there a few times recently, but not for nightlife) and I was pleasantly SHOCKED at how active it was, and not just along Beach Dr., but all over the place. I spent a lot of time just walking around, and every street was filled with activity.
Granted, it was St Patrick's day and there is some sort of reggae festival going on, but even without that, the streets are lined with bars, lounges, late night restaurants, music... It felt like a less tacky version of Miami.
I visited St Pete for the first time a couple years ago and while I didn't have time to appreciate the city as much as I would have liked - I came away quite impressed. I also lived in San Diego for around 6 months and wasn't blown away.
In many ways, San Diego felt a lot like Sacramento by the sea lmao. From my experience St Pete/Tampa seems like the more appealing place to live. No doubt though that there's more in quick travel distance from San Diego, be it LA and its many citiess or the mountains or desert or cliffs, but the warm water in St pete is certainly nice.
I was downtown St-Pete last night engaged in the nightlife for the first time in ages (I'd been there a few times recently, but not for nightlife) and I was pleasantly SHOCKED at how active it was, and not just along Beach Dr., but all over the place. I spent a lot of time just walking around, and every street was filled with activity.
Granted, it was St Patrick's day and there is some sort of reggae festival going on, but even without that, the streets are lined with bars, lounges, late night restaurants, music... It felt like a less tacky version of Miami.
Yeah, I’m not sure why people think Beach and Central are the only lively spots. I was going to clubs on 1st and 3rd, and that was when I lived there 15yrs ago. I’m sure there’s a lot more now scattered throughout downtown.
I was downtown St-Pete last night engaged in the nightlife for the first time in ages (I'd been there a few times recently, but not for nightlife) and I was pleasantly SHOCKED at how active it was, and not just along Beach Dr., but all over the place. I spent a lot of time just walking around, and every street was filled with activity.
Granted, it was St Patrick's day and there is some sort of reggae festival going on, but even without that, the streets are lined with bars, lounges, late night restaurants, music... It felt like a less tacky version of Miami.
Agreed! Downtown St. Pete is alive, and sometimes wild. From the world class Pier, to Beach Drive, Central Avenue, 1st Avenue North, 1st Avenue South, 2nd Avenue, 3rd Avenue, and everything in between.
Hi all. I'm new to this forum, and I wanted to comment on this thread because I'm from Largo, Florida, which is just north of St. Petersburg, and I moved to San Diego a little over a year ago. So I think I'm in a pretty good place to compare.
1. NIGHTLIFE: Reallyyyyy close here. There's no area in St. Pete with a nightlife district as large as the Gaslamp, but downtown St. Pete isn't that much smaller. If I were to give the Gaslamp a score of 8 out of 10 for number of venues, then St. Pete is around a 7.
With that being said, things stay open later in St. Pete. Last call is 3 am and places will stay open later than that sometimes. So that kind of evens it out. SD has some other pretty good nightlife districts as well. There's Hillcrest, Pacific Beach, La Jolla, Del Mar, and OB. There may be more, but those are the ones I've experienced over the last year.
St. Petersburg has St. Pete Beach, Treasure Island, Madeira Beach, Clearwater Beach, Dunedin, Ybor City, and Hyde Park.
I'd say they're about even.
2. WEATHER: I'd give this one to St. Pete. The main reason why is that everyone not from Florida has been told that the entire state is a humid swamp outside of a few winter months. There are some areas of Florida that are indeed like that, but St. Pete isn't one of them. The city is surrounded by water on both sides, and it keeps the temperature more moderate throughout the year. Both cities have quite similar weather, but St. Pete is warmer in the winter.
St. Pete slightly edges out SD here.
3. BEACHES: This is a tough one. I guess it comes down to what you like to do at the beach. The first time I saw Torrey Pines, the La Jolla Cove and Cabrillo national monument, I was mesmerized. There's nothing like that anywhere in Florida. For hiking, jogging and just enjoying a spectacular view, SD is a clear winner. BUT...there's something just so relaxing about Florida beaches. The beautiful clear waters, the white sands, the buzzing activity along the coast. If you like to go to the beach to bar hop at fun little Tiki spots, or swim in the water, or just have a bit of fun, then St. Pete is better.
Final verdict: Tie.
4. RESTAURANTS: The Mexican food is far better in SD, but that's to be expected. I'd say SD overall has a more varied culinary scene.
This one goes to San Diego.
5. COST OF LIVING: This goes to St. Petersburg. There's just an overall quality of life issue in southern California that doesn't exist in central Florida. Not only is it more expensive, but it's just a more stressful place to live. Take the traffic for example. Tampa bay and greater SD have almost identical populations, but San Diegos traffic is similar to what you'll find in Miami. The freeways are all 5 - 7 lanes wide and traffic is a serious factor of life here. Tampa bay does have bad traffic, but nothing like San Diego. I just notice an overall negativity here that doesn't exist in St. Pete.
6. JOB MARKET: Depends on the field you're in, but I'd go with SD here. The type of work I do isn't affected by my geographic location, so it's a non-factor for me.
I do love San Diego, and I get all the hype...but I'll probably be moving back to Tampa bay in another year or so. California just isn't for me. Tampa bay is just home, and I needed to move away to fully realize that.
One last observation. I feel that San Diego has maxed out everything it can be. I hear so many people here talk about how it was better 10 - 20 years ago, and I can see what they mean. There's a lot of homelessness and other problems in this city that don't exist in Tampa bay (and I hope they never do).
Whereas Tampa bay has really begun to take off over the last 10 - 15 years, and I feel it has so much more room to grow. I think SD is at a point where it reached its full potential in the past, and now it's experiencing a slight decline. With Tampa bay I feel that the sky is the limit and there's so much more to come!!
So in the end I voted for St. Pete.
Just my 2 cents!!
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