Which of the 10 largest US cities would you rather live in?

[Torie]

At this stage of my life, and given my situation and temperament and interests, NYC, but Hudson is yet better still!. NYC "vibes" - so much of it - is right here too, not just there, but all within a half square mile - so folks have more time for each other, in part because they keep running into each other. It's more personal in that way,  and really just a joy for me.  Best yet, partner Dan loves it too (took a risk there). 

[H. Ross Peron]

[1] NYC
[2] LA
[3] San Diego
[4] Philadelphia
[5] Chicago
[6] San Jose
[7] San Antonio
[8] Houston
[9] Dallas
[10] Phoenix

[Gass3268]

Los Angeles or Chicago

[dead0man]

Of those, I'd only live in SD, Chi and NYC.  I voted for SD.  You'd have to quadruple my income to make me live in Phoenix, Philly or S.Antonio.  Houston is right out too.  Double my monies and I'd probably be ok with Dallas, but I'd hate it.

[MyRescueKittehRocks]

LA followed by Chicago

[Sbane]

The people who talk sh**t on Los Angeles and then go ahead and rank it ahead of San Diego are absolutely hilarious. It's quite easy to see who hasn't been to San Diego.

Also, can someone explain the appeal of Chicago. It's cold as hell, has some big buildings inside the loop but is mostly a sprawling metropolis much worse than Los Angeles or San Diego (actually most eastern cities are but the east coast people don't like to acknowledge it) and it's famous foods consist of diabetes and heart disease. So what am I missing here? What is there to like?

[Sbane]

1) San Diego
2) San Jose
3) Los Angeles
4) NYC
5) Philly
6) Phoenix
7) Chicago
8 ) Dallas
9) Houston
10) San Antonio

[traininthedistance]

The people who talk sh**t on Los Angeles and then go ahead and rank it ahead of San Diego are absolutely hilarious. It's quite easy to see who hasn't been to San Diego.

Also, can someone explain the appeal of Chicago. It's cold as hell, has some big buildings inside the loop but is mostly a sprawling metropolis much worse than Los Angeles or San Diego (actually most eastern cities are but the east coast people don't like to acknowledge it) and it's famous foods consist of diabetes and heart disease. So what am I missing here? What is there to like?

The question is asking about the cities one would wish to live in, not which cities' suburbs.  Yes, the Chicagoland suburbs sprawl worse than LA, but the urban fabric within the city itself is better and that's what matters here.

Also some of us like "cold as hell".  I would be disoriented and asea without my yearly dose of snow.

[Sbane]

The people who talk sh**t on Los Angeles and then go ahead and rank it ahead of San Diego are absolutely hilarious. It's quite easy to see who hasn't been to San Diego.

Also, can someone explain the appeal of Chicago. It's cold as hell, has some big buildings inside the loop but is mostly a sprawling metropolis much worse than Los Angeles or San Diego (actually most eastern cities are but the east coast people don't like to acknowledge it) and it's famous foods consist of diabetes and heart disease. So what am I missing here? What is there to like?

The question is asking about the cities one would wish to live in, not which cities' suburbs.  Yes, the Chicagoland suburbs sprawl worse than LA, but the urban fabric within the city itself is better and that's what matters here.

Also some of us like "cold as hell".  I would be disoriented and asea without my yearly dose of snow.

I understand you may be talking about other facets of the city, but in terms of density, the core of Los Angeles is almost as dense as San Francisco with about the same population. Of course the city of Los Angeles takes in a lot of suburban areas like the SFV which skews the statistics.

And one thing I have learned over the years is that weather does matter when it comes to living in a particular area. Tennessee is too cold for me so I don't even want to find out what Chicago is like. To each his own, I suppose.

[Fritz]

Of those choices, San Diego.

[politicallefty]

I see that my idea was used here.

San Diego
San Jose
Los Angeles
Phoenix
NYC
Philadelphia
Chicago
Dallas
Houston
San Antonio

I see I'm in almost complete agreement here with Sbane (the only difference being that I ranked Phoenix ahead of NYC and Philly). It was close between the top 2. The Bay Area is one of my favourite places, but the South Bay wouldn't be my preference. So, I voted for the city of my birth, which also happens to have what I would consider to be near perfect weather. After the California cities, I'd go with the only non-Texas warm city. NYC is a fine choice that I can understand, but to me it has a number of flaws. Philly is just sort of there and I don't have a strong opinion either way. I cannot understand the appeal of Chicago among people here. The Texas cities, though they may be fine cities on their own, just have no appeal to me whatsoever. Not only are they part of Texas, but I have no tolerance for the combination of brutal heat combined with humidity.

[Badger]

NYC is close. Awesome city. But tempted to say LA for the far better weather.