san francisco vs seattle
Posted by david_saffles on Sep 29, 2010 · Member since Aug 2010 · 45 posts
I currently live in cincinnati oh, and when I get through a little more school I would like to move to another city. One I've never been to.
I'm thinking either san francisco or seattle and leaning toward seattle.
If anyone would like to share there opinions on either city or a completely different city It would be much appreciated.
basically tell me where to move
things to consider: outdoors, food/vegan food, open minded culture, public transportation, cost of living
i heard seattle's really gloomy all the time. but other than that i have no ideaaa
Hi! I live in the East Bay (8 miles from San Fran).
The weather here ranges from 40-60 and it is dry. We're having a warm spell right now, but from what I hear that is pretty irregular. In the city it is almost always overcast. In the East Bay the sun normally comes out around 1-2pm.
Public transportation is pretty amazing here.
There are a ton of vegan places. There is a lot of hiking and whatnot, but you have to travel a bit to get to it. Very open minded culture the closer to the city you are. There is a $6 toll just to get into the city (by car) over the Bay Bridge.
The cost of living is pretty high. I pay more from groceries here than anywhere else I've ever lived (San Diego, Denver, Miami, Austin). Also, housing is pretty pricing depending on what you are looking for and where. There are some areas of the East Bay that I would NEVER live in.
I know nothing about Seattle other than the fact that I have a cousin that moved there (like) 5-8 years ago (or something.... she's been there a while) and she loves it.
I live 2 hours from seattle, and had the pleasure of going on a 24 hour tour of san fran last year. and by the way llg, the weather there was 96 fricken degrees when i was there!!! i probably came on the oddest weather day ever for san fran, completly clear the whole time and nice nice nice. (it would have been nice to know it was hot so i wouldn't have jumped on the plane in a hoodie and jeans... stupid internet weather predictor). with that said....
Seattle, NOT always raining like people say. it can get sorta warm... like 80s+, and kinda chill in the winter. so much to do, lots of foodie places. great schools. both cities have amazing culture, people are wonderful. living in seattle can be sorta spendy.... not sf spendy. but there are a load of great surrounding cities that will knock the price margin down a whole lot. cost of living probably isn't that bad... i know lots that live over there... but haven't myself... (i am leaning more twords portland). snow isn't really common in seattle like it is here on the other side of the mountains. there is a whole lot of outdoor stuffs to do (kayaking-hiking-mountain climbing-floating rivers-ski/snowboard etc) you shouldn't ever get bored. public transportation has been great everytime i went to seattle, and i have spotted two starbucks on the same block.
let me know if there is anything else you would like to know.
I live in Seattle. I ♥ pretty much everything about it, but I can't compare it with living elsewhere, since I have only lived here!
i think you should just nix the 2 and move to miami. the most beautiful place on earth!!
I've never been to San Francisco, but I recently moved up to Seattle and I love it here. I feel like Portland and SF are more hippie than nerdy, whereas Seattle is more nerdy than hippie. Tons of outdoors stuff, but I think a lot of big parks and such close after October because of snow (most of them are around the mountains). Most of the vegan restaurants seem to be in the University District, which is a bit out of the way for me, but there are a whole bunch there. Lots of good Indian places everywhere though.
Very open minded, public transportation is great, cost of living pretty decent.
I have been told by people who aren't from here and moved here that a lot of people here are very passive aggressive. I haven't experienced anything personally, but I could see how that could be true.
Lots of people move here from elsewhere, and they tend to be the friendliest (I think that fares true anywhere though.)
As far the as weather goes, it is overcast and "rainy" a lot, but it's like drizzle. It looks like we have our fair share of sunny days, too.
thanks everyone
I was thinking san fran for a while and then I thought I would miss the seasons too much, it seems to have forgotten them. Seattle seems to have an occasional snow from what I've read. The rain sounds like plus, nothing beats wrapping yourself around a hot cup of coffee on a rainy day.
i think you should just nix the 2 and move to miami. the most beautiful place on earth!!
thats pretty tough logic to argue with haha, but i'll give it a go. Seems like a pretty high strung and hot city
once again thanks so much for everyone's replies. at the moment i'm going with seattle. I have a little time to change my mind, or maybe on my way to class one day i'll just go to seattle instead.
I lived in the SF bay area my whole life up until a year ago and I've been to Seattle. SF is a crazy place, but it's a fantastic city. Seattle's a little more laidback, but it's pretty murky and overcast/cold/rainy a lot of the time. SF's average temp is usually in the 60's year round. Mild winters, mild summers, lots of fog at night but lots and lots of stuff to do. The SF metropolitan area is definitely more diverse than Seattle's, but Seattle is a cool city too. Overall, it's a matter of taste. SF will probably turn your world upside down coming from Cincinnati. Not that it would be a bad thing, just different, something you should take into consideration is what you are looking for out of your new city and base your decision on that.
Oh, and I just want to add that SF is an extremely veg-friendly city. Pretty much everyone is at least veg-conscious, which really helps! There is vegan soul food, vegan mexican, raw cafes, and at least 4 other 100% veg*n restaurants in SF. There's a place that has vegan ice cream and vegan ice cream sundaes, you can get all kinds of crazy shit in the most random places. SF is awesome for that. The food is the thing I miss the most about living there. Nashville just ain't the same in terms of food.
Have you lived in a place that's overcast a lot? I lived in Arcata, California, for a while and people would move there and have to leave because they couldn't take the on-going gloom. I don't know how to simulate that beforehand. The whole temperature range was about 20 degrees (~45 F wintertime overnight low & ~ 65 F summertime daytime high). I'd rather live in San Diego.
No I haven't really lived in a city with that kinda overcast. I've lived in Cleveland, Dallas, Indianapolis, and Cincinnati.
I like rainy overcast weather so that doesn't sound like a problem.
If i don't like it its not a problem i can always just move again in another few years.
I've only visited Seattle once but SF is magical. There is so much to see and do and the geography of the peninsula and bay is amazing. It has great history, culture, arts, architecture,food, people. There is no place like it.
With that said I am indeed biased. I'm not too far away and visit the city frequently.
I'd totally move to Seattle if I could. I've only been on the outskirts of it, but from everything I've heard it's awesome. I mean, of course SF is amazing, but like llg said, it's mad expensive. My bf is from Seattle and said weather wise he'd take the mild weather and drizzle over the torrential rains, humid summers, and frigid winters of Boston any day.
I've only visited San Fran once but have lived in western WA my whole life (not in Seattle, but close to it). Cost of living in Seattle is a bit high, but not near SF. Also if you move to one of the surrounding cities the costs are much lower. There aren't a ton of veg restaurants in the area, but every restaurant I've been to has been willing and eager to accommodate me and make adjustments to menu items. People are also generally tolerant to everyone around here. Weather: It's sunny right now! There are many overcast days in the fall/winter, but we get great summers. If you like outdoor activities you'd be close to many areas for skiing, hiking, kayaking, wildlife watching, camping, backpacking, etc. I have a bias, but I'd say SEATTLE!