or tarckeemoon, depending
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 7,017
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From: the pesto of cities
Bikes: Davidson Impulse, Merckx Titanium AX, Bruce Gordon Rock & Road, Cross Check custom build, On-One Il Pomino, Shawver Cycles cross, Zion 737, Mercian Vincitore, Brompton S1L, Charge Juicer
Depending on how you define "nightlife" Seattle has a lot going for it. There definitely seems to be a bit more of a live music scene even though it's a smaller city.
Safety-wise, Seattle feels pretty safe to me, but I don't have any statistics to back this up really. Bike commuters are very common here though.
They're both very expensive places to buy a home, but rents here have kind of leveled off. Seattle has a pretty good bus system but SF has BART.
Nature-wise both have a lot to offer.
IMO your deciding factor should be the job market, and you should probably check Monster or Craigslist for both cities to see what kinds of jobs are out there.