Hanoi vs. Ho Chi Minh

All cities are 'mirage' 
Ha Noi has it's own advantages and disadvantages as the capital city of Vietnam.
Ho Chi Minh city also has it's own pride and empty pride as the dense city in population.
It's all depend people who live in each cities. Anyway more people are attracted to live in Ho Chi Minh city because of various reasons.

The weather in the South is just hot, no cold weather, the people in the South are friendlier. More nightlife in Saigon, its also a more modern city. More expats live in Saigon then Ha Noi, so there must be something about the place that interests  us more then Ha Noi.

I lived in Hanoi for 2.5 years, and Saigon now for more than 18 months. First year in Hanoi was quite enjoyable, from then on I just started to hate it more and more every day.

Hanoi
Pros: Not many. But if you like 4 defined seasons then could be considered a pro. Some people like the cold

Cons: Where to start? The people are less friendly, weather is dull (always grey skies even in summer), traffic is worse in the sense of the way they drive (less regard for traffic rules), less entertainment, dining and night life options (midnight police raids are common place), streets are small and in poor state of repair, no decent beaches nearby for weekend trips, administration more complicated (paperwork, drivers license, work permits etc).  Small expat community – everybody knows everybody and you run into the same people all over the place (could be a pro for some people I guess)

Ho Chi Minh

Pros: basically the opposite of the cons of Hanoi. Bigger, more developed, people more friendly, always warm weather (I haven't worn a second layer of clothing in more than 18 moths), more green spaces and parks, better range of travel options and connections for international travel (more flights per day, more locations), plenty of places you can go for weekends nearby: Mui Ne, Mekong Delta, Dalat, Phu Quoc, Cambodia. The food is better (generally  low standard of dining in Hanoi Vietnamese & western restaurants) Largest centre of commerce in Vietnam so many new businesses come here before Hanoi (Shopping malls, McD's, Starbucks etc)

Cons: There is nothing here that I would consider a con when compared to Hanoi. Of course there are the cons of living in a big city (traffic, pollution, overcrowding etc) but you get all that in Hanoi without any of the pros.