[The North One]

Originally Posted by BTinSF

Might as well give the figure for Chicago: 12,750 ppsm (a bit more than 2/3 as dense as SF)

Then, of course there are the other ways a city can "rival" another. SF certainly "rivals" anyplace in North America except New York, which is 10 times its size, in terms of high culture (opera, symphony, ballet) and dining (fine and otherwise). It's got in the Bay Area (if not within the city limits), all the professional sports (LA still doesn't have a football team--we still have 2). It's a center and focus of several major industries: tech, biotech, organic and artisanal food production (including fine wines), finance. And the Bay Area rivals the other places mentioned in higher education with 2 top 10 national universities and a number of smaller colleges and universities.

I could go on, but I don't want to divert the thread into a city competition. The point is simply that for a relatively small city in population and geography, SF is very "dense" in what makes urban living desirable for most of us.

I didn't know all those things where involved in what rivals a city.

All I've really thought where density and how tall they're tallest building was.