10 reasons San Diego tops LA

San Diego vs. Los Angeles
San Diego Photo by Scott Trento
San Diego Photo by Scott Trento

Though many people outside of SoCal tend to group LA and SD together, those who live down here know that that's like comparing apples and really, really fresh oranges that just happen to be growing from trees in our sweet, non-smog-filled backyard. So we decided -- in honor of City Rivalry Week (it's a thing! It's totally a thing!) -- to further distinguish between the two by dropping these 10 reasons why America's Finest City is quite superior to La-La Land.

beach san diego california

1. Our beaches beat your beaches, beetches! - Venice Beach is great -- if you’re into trying to get your tan on amongst a colony of homeless people and drug addicts (sometimes both) along the boardwalk. In SD, our beach bums are hippies, our drug addicts are called stoners, and our boardwalk has Slomo, who everyone loves.

2. There's traffic, and then there's LA traffic - Thanks to the abundance of automobiles, bad drivers, and lack of reasonable public transportation options, you’re pretty much guaranteed to find yourself imprisoned by the ironically named “freeway” at any time of the day or night. As you idle, taunted by signs displaying speed limits you’ll never actually reach and inhaling exhaust fumes, just think that at least sitting in gridlock traffic for hours gives you time to run lines for your next audition.

3. They've cornered the market on smog - No, that's not the marine layer rolling in. People in LA envy the air quality in China.

mexican food from viva bar and kitchen san diego

4. Running for the border doesn't mean Taco Bell - LA has some perfectly adequate Mexican food, but SD's proximity to the border takes ours to an entirely different level, waffle tacos notwithstanding.

5. The beer is here - Between brewing heavy hitters like Stone, AleSmith, Green Flash, and Ballast Point, and dozens of upstarts like St. Archer, San Diego's beer scene is the envy of most of the country. LA isn't even in the same school, let alone class.

6. Everyone is an actor. Or a wannabe actor, rather. - You all wait tables and valet cars because you think you might make it big someday (you won't). We wait tables and valet cars so there's more time to drink and surf. Self-awareness!

little italy entrance sign san diego neighborhood

7. We aren't a sprawling hellhole - In LA you can drive 50mi in either direction and still be in "LA" (and not be happy about it). San Diego has more tightly knit, defined neighborhoods marked by giant illuminated signs. Doesn't Little Italy look friendly? It IS!

8. Plastics... - Okay, SD might have its share of artificial enhancement, but the aforementioned Hollywood culture means the chances of finding someone with 100% original body parts are about as slim as the local anorexics. FACT: 87% of Angelenos are recyclable.

9. STILL no NFL - No self-respecting major American city should lack an NFL team, let alone lose not one but TWO of them. To Oakland and St. Louis, no less! It's almost as sad as LA's attempts to claim that having USC and UCLA makes up for it.

10. Does LA have one of these? - While LA is busy worrying about which restaurant to be seen in, we're busy devouring this. Enough said.