The San Francisco Versus Los Angeles Debate Rages On

Stop comparing the two cities, but if you must…

Photo by Joseph Ngabo on Unsplash

Michelle Robertson wrote an excellent article for SF Gate that resonated and provoked thought:

I left San Francisco on a fittingly foggy morning — my objects acquired over my 25 years in the Bay Area jammed into a U-Haul — in the summer of 2019.

I was moving to Southern California, Long Beach, to be exact, to get a PhD in English at UC Irvine.

I did likewise in 2006.

I left San Francisco — 21st and Valencia in the Mission District to be exact — to pursue a PhD in urban planning, also at the University of California, Irvine.

However, the similarities between Michelle and I end there:

• I didn’t end up getting my graduate degree. Michelle did. Congratulations!
• I stayed in Southern California and intend to keep it my home base for the duration.

Michelle moved back to San Francisco:

So I moved to Long Beach, with my two cats and my boyfriend. And thus began the adjustment period…

It happened in December 2020. My now-fiance, cats, roommate and I moved back to San Francisco, I loaded down with a new master’s degree and an extra…