I haven’t been to THAT many places in the world (18 countries) but out of every city and country I have visited I still think that San Francisco is one of (if not THE) greatest city to live in. I should preface that statement and say that I’ve been living in San Francisco for around 2-3 years and originally lived in LA. I went to school at UCSC (Santa Cruz) which is around an hour away from San Francisco and I had the opportunity to visit several times. Eventually I fell in love with the city and had to move there. So what makes San Francisco the greatest city in the world? I’m glad you asked, here is my list of top 10 reasons for why SF is so great.
Weather
I absolutely love the weather in San Francisco it hovers around 60 degrees most of the time and might get down to the 50’s in the evenings. It’s never too hot or too cold. I love the fog that covers the city in the evenings and I love the morning sun the pierces through my windows.
Food
San Francisco is known for having some amazing food and I didn’t believe it until I moved here. There is a place to eat on virtually every corner in the city and the food is amazing. You can find anything from Brazilian steakhouses to high quality sushi. It’s all here and everywhwere.
Public transportation
I left my car in LA when I moved to SF, actually I gave my car to my little brother since he needs it now more than I do. I walk pretty everywhere I need to get to but there are also trains, buses, and cabs all over the place. San Francisco is around 7 miles wide so you can pretty much get to anywhere you need to go in the city within a 30 or so minute walk.
Innovation and opportunities
Someone is always working on something interesting and creative in San Francisco. There are young entrepreneurs running their own startups all over the place and the flow of creativity and ideas in the city is just amazing. The opportunities to meet with and work with some of the smartest people in the world is also a huge plus. Where else can you go to an event or meetup and chat with executives that are running some of the leading companies in the world. The opportunities here are endless.
Entertainment and the people
From theater to walking along the water to the Embarcadero building, San Francisco has plenty of entertainment to offer. We have clubs, lounges, bars, jazz clubs, art festivals, music festivals, and anything else you can thing. San Francisco is a very diverse and eclectic city and it shows in its inhabitants. I love the people in San Francisco, they are always friendly, creative, and witty.
In a nutshell I just couldn’t picture living (for an extended period of time or settling down) in any other city except San Francisco. I know there are plenty of other great cities out there though!
i've heard so many good things about san fran, would love to visit there some day!
i've heard so many good things about san fran, would love to visit there some day!
San Francisco is fun to visit. I live in Salinas, about two hours south on the 101. I'm a high-rise fanatic, so I'm excited their building the tallest building on the West Coast (1200 ft.) On top of that their building the $4 billion dollar Transbay Terminal Project, complete with a 1,000 foot long urban park. There also will be numerous high-rises. Though San Jose is bigger in population, San Francisco will always be the more exciting, cosmopolitan “global city.” Because of it's density, skyscrapers, hills, bridges, ocean air, cable cars, pedestrian friendliness, etc. it will always be my favorite of the only two world' class cities on the West Coast. -Joe Joe
Well, San Jose has a lot to offer as well…shopping, airport, culture. It's downtown is 55 miles from Salinas. Because of its height limit, due to its close downtown proximity (about 330 ft.) it will never have the awe-inspiring skyscrapers of its more well-known city to the north. It now has more than a million people and is the 10th biggest city in the United States. Though New Yorkers may consider it a “small town,” it is still in the big leagues as far as population goes.