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Old 09-30-2021, 06:16 AM
 
24 posts, read 22,044 times
Reputation: 37

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Looking to move to a California city from Canada in the near future.

I’d love to hear your input on comparing these three cities.
- weather
- crime
- culture
- stereotypes
- traffic
- politics
- sports
- lifestyle
- quality of life
- people

Anything really.
Thanks
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Old 09-30-2021, 06:51 AM
 
Location: Miami (prev. NY, Atlanta, SF, OC and San Diego)
7,379 posts, read 6,455,888 times
Reputation: 6610
San Diego would be the “easiest” / most laid back / least stressful of the 3 to live in though it does not offer as many and/or caliber of urban amenities that the other 2 do—prefers a smaller town mentality and is more provincial. Low crime rate. SD for more peace and tranquility though more sleepier and easier to outgrow if you are used to big city lifestyle that LA and SF offer.

Being from NY originally, I adapted easiest to the mentality of, and had more in common with, more people in the SF Bay Area. Santa Monica/westside would be a close runner up.

SoCal has better year round weather (does rain more and get consistently chillier during the winter in SF but there are many microclimates within the MSA where temperatures do vary particularly the more inland and/or further you get away from the City). The 2 SoCal cities are more for beach people; SF is more green for a longer portion of the year and has great access to mountains—as does SoCal— (including great/better skiing on natural snow within 4 hours vs 90 minutes, often manmade snow, in SoCal) and Napa/Sonoma. The 2 SoCal cities offer proximity to the desert as well.

All 3 have bad traffic, though San Diego is better than the other two.

All 3 have homeless issues, though it really depends where / what area you live—can be avoided / reduced the further you get from urban centers.

SF and LA have a much greater professional sports presence than 1 pro league/team San Diego.

Depends on your job and career path—LA and SF offer more opportunities in more fields (outside of a couple of niche industries, such as life sciences and defense contractors) than San Diego.

Cherry picking areas I personally have and/or would prefer to live in all 3 areas: SF (Southern Marin—suburban but only 10-15 minutes outside of SF though, like the entire area yet more so, prohibitively expensive); LA (Santa Monica/Westside); San Diego (beach community—more of a collection of beach towns than great urban mecca).

Though I lived there the shortest time I did develop roots and felt sad to move away from the SF Bay Area; less so for the 2 SoCal metros. That was me and based on my personal preferences; YMMV.

Last edited by elchevere; 09-30-2021 at 07:45 AM..
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Old 09-30-2021, 11:42 AM
 
Location: Santa Barbara
36 posts, read 27,890 times
Reputation: 51
1. I like San Francisco because it's most beautiful/dramatic naturally beautiful city in America but is bustling an urban like like smaller, less intense NYC. So much history and was the only major city out west for decades.

2. Los Angeles because it is the most "popular kid in school" city in the world because of the presence of the industries that be. It's also so vast that I think only Tokyo can be compared in development area. Amazing weather but doesn't feel fast paced or centralized enough for me nor is it as beautiful as other CA cities so it gets 2nd place for me.

3. San Diego is 3rd for me but that doesn't mean it's any lesser than the other 2. SD offers stuff that a specific population would love more than anywhere in the world but it's not for everybody. It's not as urban as the other 2 and a little sleepy at times but it isn't too suburban or boring either. It possibly has the best weather in the world and amazing beaches and food. Easily a top 5-8 city in America as far as I'm concerned
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Old 09-30-2021, 11:55 AM
 
8,794 posts, read 6,732,507 times
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San Francisco because despite its faults it operates like a traditional big city and has a ton of cool stuff. You can do everything within walking distance, which is my #1 consideration.

LA has good aspects related to being massive, and it's working on acting like a traditional big city.

San Diego has significant pluses. Its downtown is pretty good, and you can live very well within a mile radius.
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Old 09-30-2021, 12:09 PM
 
Location: Santa Barbara
36 posts, read 27,890 times
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On a side note I would like to add that if there was a fourth place city that it should be Santa Barbara as opposed to Sacramento or Fresno due to the beauty, coastal access, and entertainment options that you can't find in the Central Valley.
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Old 09-30-2021, 02:33 PM
 
158 posts, read 165,965 times
Reputation: 353
Are you absolutely positive you want to make that move? Prop 47 allowed criminals in California to steal up to $950 basically without consequence, it is not enforced. Property crime overall is not being enforced. Research more into the District Attorneys in Los Angeles, George Gascon and San Francisco, Chesa Boudin are two radical leftists DA's that have allowed crime to run absolutely rampant. It's all joke and fun to be woke until YOU or ONE OF YOUR FAMILY MEMBERS is victimized, whether it be robbed, assaulted, God forbid raped or murdered by some crook who should've been in jail. You need to know these things going in.

With that being said San Diego there is still some semblance of law and order. For the same reason if you want Los Angeles, live in Orange County not LA county.

Just do the research and know what your getting into. I think most of us would agree California is one of the most beautiful places in the world but Governor Reagan is long since gone, don't get caught up chasing what it used to be. Just be aware of what it is now, what direction it's going in but other than that good luck!
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Old 10-06-2021, 09:41 PM
 
Location: La Jolla
4,191 posts, read 3,239,772 times
Reputation: 4107
Quote:
Originally Posted by MC133 View Post
Looking to move to a California city from Canada in the near future.

I’d love to hear your input on comparing these three cities.
- weather
- crime
- culture
- stereotypes
- traffic
- politics
- sports
- lifestyle
- quality of life
- people

Anything really.
Thanks
Just so happens I've been in all three of these cities within the last four days.


San Diego has less traffic, which is offset by more robust mass transit in the other two cities. That said, San Diego's mass transit is almost always overlooked despite being one of more comprehensive systems in the nation.

As far as things to do and see, you could combine San Diego with San Francisco and it still wouldn't come remotely close to Los Angeles.

San Diego is the most diverse politically, while Los Angeles is far and away the most culturally diverse. Los Angeles very easily for sports, very easily for food.


IMO, the selling point for San Francisco is its unique climate (compared to the semi-deserts of Southern California), it feels more like traditional, "normal" weather to me.


Its hard to imagine a scenario in which QOL in San Francisco could be better than SD or LA, but that said, don't overlook the smaller cities between Ventura and Santa Cruz, all of which offer a more authentic coastal CA experience.
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Old 10-07-2021, 12:29 AM
 
Location: Santa Barbara
36 posts, read 27,890 times
Reputation: 51
Quote:
Originally Posted by Losfrisco View Post
Just so happens I've been in all three of these cities within the last four days.


San Diego has less traffic, which is offset by more robust mass transit in the other two cities. That said, San Diego's mass transit is almost always overlooked despite being one of more comprehensive systems in the nation.

As far as things to do and see, you could combine San Diego with San Francisco and it still wouldn't come remotely close to Los Angeles.

San Diego is the most diverse politically, while Los Angeles is far and away the most culturally diverse. Los Angeles very easily for sports, very easily for food.


IMO, the selling point for San Francisco is its unique climate (compared to the semi-deserts of Southern California), it feels more like traditional, "normal" weather to me.


Its hard to imagine a scenario in which QOL in San Francisco could be better than SD or LA, but that said, don't overlook the smaller cities between Ventura and Santa Cruz, all of which offer a more authentic coastal CA experience.
I strongly disagree with probably all of that. Reason why is I'm from New York and I really dislike the suburban sprawl that SoCal is made of even though I love the weather and amenities. There's a specific population of people that might prefer that type of pace. And not to put down LA but it lacks alot of character and I don't feel a sense of "there" there. I don't never feel like I'm all the way in the heart of the city when visiting. Love the amusement parks and food and am impressed with the vastness of the metropolitan area
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Old 10-07-2021, 08:47 AM
 
Location: Howard County, Maryland
16,383 posts, read 10,410,901 times
Reputation: 36197
If you're looking for perpetual springtime, San Diego is the place for you! The average high temperature during the course of the year is between the mid-60s F (upper teens C) to the mid to upper 70s F (mid-20s C). It's almost never hot, and almost never cold.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Diego#Climate

Los Angeles isn't much worse, though it gets a little bit chillier in the winter and a little bit warmer in the summer.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Angeles#Climate

If you prefer a milder climate, never all that warm but never really chilly either, San Francisco is your best bet. I like to say that the temperature is always 55 F (about 13 C) and foggy all year round. This isn't quite true, but it's not too far off the mark. Personally, I find summer in San Francisco to be absolutely delightful.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Francisco#Climate
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Old 10-07-2021, 08:58 AM
 
Location: Howard County, Maryland
16,383 posts, read 10,410,901 times
Reputation: 36197
The built environment of San Francisco is very urban and densely populated. It would be a great walking city, except for the steep hills that dot the city. Los Angeles is essentially the personification of suburban sprawl. San Diego hovers somewhere in-between those two.

San Francisco is famous for its deep-seated political and social liberalism. No matter how far to the left you consider yourself to be, San Francisco is almost certainly farther to the left. Los Angeles isn't much less liberal, though it's not quite as in-your-face about it as San Francisco is, at least not by reputation. San Diego has traditionally been considered as somewhat conservative -- by California standards, and I can't stress this enough -- but this probably isn't as true now as it used to be.

As a place to visit, I strongly prefer San Francisco over these other two. But I know that, for me, the relentless liberalism and the tightly packed-in urbanization (not to mention more recent ills, like homelessness and defecation in the streets and increasing crime) would wear thin quite quickly. Los Angeles, it just doesn't appeal to me. For a place to live, San Diego would be my first choice of this bunch, and it's not even close. It just feels more "normal" to me than the other two. Not too sprawling, not too built-up, not too politically extreme, not too overrun with homelessness.
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