Before moving to SF, I lived in Lausanne, Switzerland for about a decade, so I end up comparing both quite often.
Like most cities in Switzerland, Lausanne is small. It only just crossed the 150,000 threshold. But it is a relatively cosmopolitan city, with two well-recognized universities, plenty of companies and with more than 42% of the population being non-Swiss.
One huge difference between Lausanne and SF is the density and the lived experience that creates. I lived in the Cité, the medieval downtown neighborhood of five- and six-story buildings, with a density around 10,500 people/km2. The core of Lausanne has a density of almost 8,000 people/km2. I didn't know anyone with a car and everyone had a bus pass.
Compare that to SF's overall density of around 7,200 people/km2, which is skewed higher by neighborhoods like the TL, Chinatown and Rincón Hill. Cars continue to dominate our streets and transit largely remains an afterthought associated with people that are too poor to own a car.
Meanwhile, a medieval city leaves us in the dust. SMH.
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