I just spent the weekend in SF visiting siblings (I used to live in Marin and SF too.) I had a superb ride all over town on Saturday morning. I got back here and just decided to browse a little on Monster.com -- and lo and behold I found a great potential job in my line of work. I polished up the resume last night and finished my cover letter at work today - then I found out that a friend has done business with the company before and I hooked up with someone inside to deliver my info to the recruiter! Wish me luck: I am in LA right now, and the weather, the life, and the riding in SF are all calling to me.

Anyway, I have visited Seattle before and I think I would be almost as likely to consider that equal to SF if I did not have a history and family connections in SF and LA. Seattle is beautiful and it definitely has better kayaking that SF - I know less about the biking there.

As a contrast I do like the "city" feel of SF - it feels qualitatively different to me than I remember Seattle - a little older feeling and slightly richer history. It seems like it may also have more to offer in its culture and its cultural diversity in the city and the East Bay. The SF landscape and the architecture have a lot of character. The Golden Gate bridge is beautiful, and across it are the Marin headlands which offer abundant green and open spaces.

Oh, how will I choose a neighborhood though?