What is the best big city in California?

Where is the best place to live out of these cities......Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Jose, San Diego, Sacramento, or Fesno? besides weather what makes them great is there good jobs, good economy, basically where is the best quality of life?

Public Comments

1. San Diego.....the weather is SOOO nice.
2. Personally I LOVE "America' finest city" sunny San Diego! San Fran is great too.
3. San Diego
4. San Diego because of the weather, but if you can afford it, go for San Francisco!
5. I'd have picked Santa Barbara, but it wasn't on your list. From the cities you've made available, my first choice would be San Diego, but your interests and mine are probably not the same. San Diego really has no faults, unless you have an issue with Mexicans, or when you are around people who prefer to speak in Spanish. In that case, head north. I spent many years in Los Angeles, and while I still love everything it has to offer, it has become too congested for my tastes. I have lived in Ventura, a little beach town halfway between L.A. and Santa Barbara, for a little more than 20 years now. You couldn't pay me to live in Fresno or Sacramento. San Jose could be fun, but I haven't spent enough time there to make a fair decision. I've changed planes 4 times in San Francisco, and have to admit their airport has the best dining options of any airport I've ever spent any time in. Never made it into the city, though. I expect I would really like it.
6. San Francisco is probably Americas masthead city, it is very beautiful and wonderful to live there. But it is very expensive. Across the Bay in Oakland is a little better, but down the peninsula in San Jose there are lots of job ops but little of the SF nightlife. LA area is great but it is spread out over such a vast distance, and if you live there you really need to live within about 5 miles of the beach or the smog becomes a persistant problem. San Diego is like Heaven and is heavily Republican so there is less crime and it is clean and you can be very happy there. Sacramento is political, and agricultural and Fresno more so, and they are not very exciting places unless you are a farmer or politician. Central valley towns are generally redneck cities which is ok unless you are not a redneck-type person. Also they are quite hot in summer.
7. San Diego or San Francisco. SF has the best and most high paying jobs as people in the Bay Area earn more on average than anywhere else in the country. But the cost of homes there is extremely high and higher than SD or LA by a decent margin. SF is a beautiful city with amazing natural scenery and great buildings and architecture. But the weather sucks and the traffic and congestion in the Bay Area is the worst in the nation except for LA. San Diego is great too, the jobs don't pay as much as SF and there are less to choose from b/c it's smaller but I prefer the lifestyle down here compared to the Bay Area right now. I grew up in the Bay Area and came to SD six years ago for college and havent left yet. It's very laid back, not too crowded or congested, cheaper, and you can't beat the weather and beach scene down here. SF is probably better careerwise but SD is a better lifestyle in my opinion.