in terms of real estate, san diego is a completely different animal than san diego. detroit has a historical tendency to appreciate less than inflation. san diego has a historical tendency to appreciate more than inflation.
in terms of economic activity, san diego beats detroit hands down, with a much more diversified economy of defense, tech, biotech, tourism, and even some agriculture. detroit only has the auto industry and maybe some tourism.
also, in terms of tech, while we are losing our edge, we are still ahead of china and india. detroit lost its auto industry edge to japan a long time ago.
