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> Silicon Valley in 2040 will probably look a lot like Detroit does today.

I don't live within 2,000 miles of SF, so I have no dog in this race. However, the fact that SF has the most consistently pleasant microclimate of anywhere in the mainland US (climate change notwithstanding) means that there will always be major demand for living there, unlike in Detroit, whose original draw was as a center for trade on the great lakes and later as an industrial base.




I buy that more people prefer SF weather to Detroit, but how is it the best in the US? As you go South along the coast you pass many places I think most people would prefer (ex: Santa Barbara [1]) and even as far South as LA weather is likely something more people would prefer [2].

(Personally I'm very happy with Boston and like having seasons and occasionally getting snow, but I recognize that this is a minority view)

[1] https://weatherspark.com/compare/y/557~1443/Comparison-of-th...

[2] https://weatherspark.com/compare/y/557~1705/Comparison-of-th...


One thing missing from the data there is the specific microclimate (the Bay Area has a lot of variety here) and peak temperatures/air quality.

Air quality in LA is better than it used to be but it's still quite awful. And peak summer temperatures can be brutal.

That said I've lived in both and would take LA over SF any day of the week but the weather has little to do with it


This also depends a lot where you are in LA, no? Air quality and temperature near the coast (ex: Venice) are a lot better.


Yea that's what I mean - the same is true in the SFBA. SJ/South Bay, Berkeley/Oakland/Richmond, the rest of Alameda county, the peninsula, etc are all quite different just like the San Fernando Valley, Inland Empire, Westside, and Orange County near LA.


> Personally I'm very happy with Boston and like having seasons and occasionally getting snow, but I recognize that this is a minority view

Grandparent commenter here, yeah, this is why I also live in Boston. :P But averaging 70F every day year-round with consistently sunny skies is pretty appealing to those who don't need seasons to anchor their memories. It's the same reason why people will always choose to live in Hawaii, regardless of economics.




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