Most of us in San Diego could live anywhere we want to live, but we choose to live here and visit elsewhere for many, many reasons.
I don’t see any reason to argue about which city is more or less “impressive,” as long as people are spending their lives in the place, or places they REALLY WANT to be.
Love San Diego–live there–Love NYC–live there–Love Boston–live there–Love Florida–live there, and on and on. It’s really pretty simple.