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Originally Posted by 202_Cyclist
Nice photos.
One interesting discussion would be why San Diego is so much more urban than Orange County, even though these two counties have nearly the same population, have similar demographics, and both, until recently, were conservative.
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Orange County is more suburban than San Diego because it is functionally a suburban extension of Los Angeles. San Diego started out as its own metropolitan region with its focal point in Downtown San Diego. That being said, the City of San Diego as a whole is fairly suburban. Most of the city north of Mission Valley wouldn't look out of place in Orange County. And that's also true of San Diego's suburbs, though a large part of San Diego suburbia is less wealthy than Orange County. Most of these pictures were taken in Downtown neighborhoods, as well as Mission Beach and La Jolla. These were all areas that got laid out no later than the early 20th century and still reflect the urban qualities of that era.
San Diego definitely does a better job on rail transit than Orange County though. The San Diego Trolley system has continued to grow, with the most recent extension opening from Old Town to the UCSD area late last year. Orange County has avoided building light rail. Most of its voter approved transit sales tax goes to widening freeways. A street car in Santa Ana is under construction, but that's it. That's not much for a county with more than 3 million residents. Orange County is fairly wealthy, suburban and conservative, so rail transit has never been a priority there.