Location

When comparing and contrasting the two cities in terms of geography, we must begin with one of the simpler aspects of the five themes of geography; location. Location can be further broken down into 2 essential subsections: absolute location and relative location. A city/place's absolute location is rather straightforward, as it is simply where it is located on a map. This image shows the locations of Los Angeles (southern) and San Francisco (northern). Los Angeles and much of Southern California have very arid and desert qualities to their location whereas San Francisco and the Bay are more known for being wetter and much cooler.
 
A city's relative location is a bit more complex in that it is "a location within the economic system based on its characteristics and location within the world market"(UN Omaha). Now we're not going to look at these cities' standing in the world market, but more in a statewide and perhaps nationwide scope. Los Angeles' average household income is $40,000 whereas San Francisco has an average income of $62,000. The reason behind this rather huge discrepancy is because "Los Angeles' business class, its movers and shakers, were too conservative, too backward looking in their goals and their style to recognize and nurture what would become the new economy" (Storper, paragraph 8). As many of us may know, one of the tech capitals of the world is Silicon Valley, nestled just south of San Francisco. Back in the 1960s and 70s, businessmen in Southern California didn't see much of an immediate future for technology, so they scoffed at the notion of a completely technological reliant society. Many progressives to the North recognized the endless possibilities they had at hand and began requesting development. Companies like Apple, Hewlett-Packard, and Xerox all call Silicon Valley home and are one of the primary contributors to The Bay's booming economy. It's true that Los Angeles used to dominate the economic realm in California, but San Francisco capitalized on the missed opportunity and now boast one of most content populations nationwide.