City Stories Index · United States · 2026 edition
San Diego vs Scottsdale
Not opinions, measured walking data. On what we can measure, they tie 1–1 (1 within the tie margin). Character is a different question: San Diego is the exposition city; Scottsdale is the desert resort town.
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| What we measure | San Diego | Scottsdale | Leads |
|---|---|---|---|
| Places with a storyspots where a route tells you what happened there | 50 | 25 | San Diego |
| How often you pass a storymetres from one story to the next; fewer is better | 260 | 152 | Scottsdale |
| Historical figuresreal people you meet in its stories | 1 | 1 | tie |
| Instagrammabilityscore /100, on the index’s fixed scale | 54 | — | San Diego |
| Group outingsof every 100 plays, how many bring a group of 3+ | 23 | — | San Diego |
| International visitors% of player reviews written in a foreign language | 1 | — | San Diego |
Differences under 5% count as ties. Sample sizes and definitions on the methodology page.
What their stories are about
How many places with a story each city has per theme: San Diego in orange, Scottsdale in blue. All bars share one scale, so lengths are comparable everywhere on the chart.
San DiegoScottsdale
17 places
arts & culture13 places
11 places
parks & leisure2 places
5 places
guilds & trade5 places
3 places
industry & modern era3 places
San Diego scorecard →
The exposition city
Scottsdale scorecard →
The desert resort town