what is san francisco like compared to san diego?

Question

i am thinking about moving there and i am a 21 year old male student living in san diego. I love to skateboard and play music and go to school.

Answer 1

SF is a lot denser, more urban, and more expensive. It's a more international, cosmopolitan type city. More into arts, culture, fine wine, fine dining, and stuff of that sort. More similar to New York or other world class cities like London or Rome. It's a much older city with more history and culture.

But those characteristics also attract a lot of snobby, prententious, psuedo-intellectual types. SF is such a beautiful, classy city but some of the people there are just absolutely full of themselves. San Diego is more laid back and down to earth and not concerned with all that high society crap as much in my opinion. SF is also a VERY liberal city; SD is considered a conservative city but is more moderate and is not nearly as conservative as SF is liberal. Many people in SF are overly concerned with politics and activism and there's always seems to be some protest or demonstration going on. But some people love that scene, so if that's your thing then go for it.

As others have said the climate is a warmer in SD. SF can be pretty foggy and cold much of the year, even in summer. It also rains a lot more in SF and it's pretty much always cold at night there. People dress differently there b/c you need to wear layers and warmer clothes.

I think SD has a younger vibe to it and is more of a party town. Although SF does have better weed, but it doesn't party as much and doesn't have events like PB Block Party, Over the Line, and celebrations like 4th of July in PB.

Both cities are diverse, but SF seems more diverse b/c it's smaller, very compact, and different race and classes are closer to one another. SD is kind of seperated more by class and race,like the difference between areas south of the 8 freeway and areas north of it.

Sf just has that more hippy-ish type young crowd and the high brow older crowd, which can be bad or good depending on your personality. Any city is only as good as what you make of it, so if you find the right type of people to hang out with then you might end up loving SF. I grew up in the Bay Area and it has some chill, down to earth people but the people in SF are different from the rest of the Bay Area. The city just attracts it's own type of people and it may be what you are looking for or may not. If you don't like the scene in SD then you might like SF. Personally I stayed in SD after graduating college b/c I didn't want to move back home to the suburbs and I didn't want to live in SF either, and I like it here. I love going to SF when I'm back home but would never live there. It's definately more expensive than SD but it would also be a unique experiance; you'll get the city living that can't be found in SD.

Answer 2

I moved here a year ago from Florida, so I can give you an un-biased REAL answer.

Transportation: San Francisco is a very condensed city. You can get around on public transportation or by taxis (usally never more than $10.00 each way). I have hated public transportion, but the system they have here is actually pretty nice.

Beaches: San Francisco has some beautiful beaches in and around the city, but the water temperature makes swimming almost impossible, unless you are a die hard surfer with a wet suit.

Nightlife: I'm 19, but I've been told that San Francisco has a much better nightlife.

Restaurants: You can find basically any type of restaurant here.

Shopping: Big city atmosphere, kind of like NYC or Chicago.

Weather: High 60's/Low 70's in the summer, Mid 50's/Mid 40's in the winter.

Umm....if there's anything else you wanna know just ask.

I love it here!

Oh and about the person who was talking about the gays...I saw more where I lived in Florida than here.

Answer 3

S.F. and S.D. are both great cities, but they're definitely different from each other. San Francisco has more of a high-density urban "New York" sort of feel to it, while San Diego is more laid-back and outdoorsy.

This is reflected in their climates and daily routines. At sunset, San Diegans are still finishing up their last game of volleyball or catching the last waves of the day. Meanwhile, San Franciscans are already inside their ultra lounges and bars.

Using a skateboard to get around San Francisco is difficult because of the many hills and pedestrians. However, if you like to skateboard recreationally, the Embarcadero promenade is a great place for that.

San Francisco's live music, theatre, comedy, and nightclubbing scene is great. However, almost all the diversions require a great deal of money. It's a very expensive place.

The top schools in Northern California are Stanford (40 minutes from Downtown by Caltrain) and Berkeley (20 minutes from Downtown by BART)...both are easily accessible from San Francisco.

Inside the city proper, there is a medical/law school (UCSF) and two other universities: SFSU and USF.

Answer 4

Both are lovely but basically San Diego is southern California and is more beachy and what people typically think of as California, warm Mediterranean climate. San Francisco is Northern California and is more like a typical city - has more established cultural centers and is a colder rainy climate. San Diego might be cheaper for someone just starting out such as yourself. This is a very superficial review, you should do some in depth research - factoring in what kind of job you want etc..

Answer 5

There are probably some places to skateboard but it is much cooler temp wise.
Also much more adult - theatre , arts , etc . . .
And probably twice the living cost . . . as the starting price on an older 1 bedroom unit will be about $1500. Everyone wants to live here so demand keeps prices up.
Culture wise , northern and southern california are two different states. You may want to visit before you make the commitment to move.

Answer 6

It is totally different. San Francisco is a nice place to visit but I would not like to live there!
The weather is always cold and foggy. Lots of traffic and lots of hills. Harder to get around; can't just walk because of the hills. (You might like the hills if you skateboard)
San Francisco is just a more difficult place to live.
I would stay in San Diego and count my blessings!

Answer 7

S.F. is a beautiful city...that's where I skate. Its difficult to compare the 2 cities because they have different qualities ! I've been to 48 different states...I'm 41...just to let you know I am giving you a non bias answer .

Answer 8

SD has better weather and beaches, but SF has better restaurants, more indie/foreign theaters, more cultural events and things like that. Depends on what you like. I like SD, but I love SF.

Answer 9

well if you can handle being around tons of gays then it has a lot in common with san diego when it comes to nightlife and things to do!

Answer 10

rainier, colder, foggier, MUCH more prone to a catastrophic earthquake