I setup internet for clients as part of my job and personally I use COX/cable internet.
COX in Southern California gives you anywhere from 5-15mbits down and 1-2mbits up. They are also pretty flexible with the pricing which means you can call in every few months and get their new package deals and save a few bucks.
Other Cable providers such as Time Warner have caught some flak due to speed/bandwidth throttling. In turn that means that certain things (eg. P2P etc.) will go slower and they also will have quotas for bandwidth so if you download more than 20gb per month you'll get an overage charge like $2.00/gb you go over.
AT&T and any other DSL usually hits 6mbits max from what I have seen. I just checked their site now and they offer Elite DSL for $35. If you're looking to save money then this would be the way to go but DSL has always been slower than Cable. Plus on some connections you have to hassle with PPPoE authentication which sucks for the most part. Your speed will also be affected by how far you are from their phone servers/boxes (the giant green boxes you see on the side of the street).
FIOS is relatively new but the hype and specs got me excited about it. A few of the client's I've seen with FIOS have been capped at 10mbits which is pretty bad compared to cable internet. I have also seen some people who've had issues with their FIOS service. Since it's still relatively new, I can't say much about it.
I would do a little research on the company you go with cause they always have a catch. Personally I'd stick with cable internet.
What Alcibiates said about sharing a cable line with people in your area is true but from the 7 years I've used cable internet I've never seen a drop in internet speed during peak hours. DSL and FIOS are dedicated lines and Cable would be the only one where you share bandwidth neighbors
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