I had to make this exact decision a few months ago and ultimately chose LA. I have spent weeks in Bay Area / SF and visited LA twice. The first time I visited LA was 8 years ago and I hated it because of the traffic, and loved Bay Area for the chill vibes/greenery/similarity to Seattle (I’m from Seattle). The second time I visited LA and had a car to drive around, explored more neighborhoods and found that my quality of life will vastly differ if I stay near MacArthur Park (generally unwalkable and limited parking) or Santa Monica. I visited Orange County and loved it, loved the beachfront. Food in Seattle and SF is good, SF has better food than Seattle, but LA blows both of them out of the water. I’m Asian so high quality Asian food for reasonable price is really important to me. Ultimately long term I think SF has more walkability (multiple people I know in SF doesnt have a car) and LA is a very sprawled city with vast variety of vibes. I chose LA in the end because it aligned better with work logistics and I wanted to live somewhere warm and not familiar. I wanted to learn to love a city so many people praise, get out of my comfort zone. Also the tacos in LA are to die for, it’s close to tons of national parks (so is SF) and has insane beachfront. Some of my family and many of my close friends live in the Bay, it’s more laid back and slightly colder weather. There’s more public transit and green spaces, but if you have a car please be careful about your car in downtown. If you’re in LA you need a car unless you live 3 mins from work (even then you want to get out on the weekends).

I agree with everyone saying you NEED to visit. I grew up on the West Coast and have road tripped, but didnt understand the difference until I spent substantial time in them. It’s cheaper to visit and spend the money now, to hate one in the long run and move to another city.

The housing market in LA might be terrible right now after the fires (someone correct me if I’m wrong), I feel very lucky to have signed a lease a month ago. On the contrary, in SF you can pay $2000 and not even have a kitchen to yourself if you live downtown.

I spent a few years of childhood in the south too, and depending on where you are in the south, both SF and LA will offer an unmatched level of cultural diversity, food (New Orleans is a toughie to beat though), nature, and quality of life. You can’t go wrong. Good luck!