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Yeah it is, whoever took that pic had one heck of a telephoto lens! You can see the skyline from the dunes easily, but not that good (^). You should climb up to the highest dunes (like that picture-taker did) and get a shot of the skyline at sunset, its one of the coolest things youll ever see.
Lets get real here. San Fran is a play ground for the rich. No different than Manhattan, Coastal LA, etc. Any neighborhoods that had traditional character and enriching culture has since been annihilated(via gentrification/tourism). In fact the only neighborhoods in SF, which have origional inhabitants are slums like the Mission, tenderloin, and south sf (hunters point, bayview, etc).
Residents will tout diversity, if diversity means well to do whites, chinese, and illegals. Not a worldly city like Chicago in the least. San Fransisco hosts visitors from around the world, but they rarely settle with in the city limits unless they have alot of money or live 5+ in a two bedroom.
Outside of Chicago's rough winters, SF's weather is not that much more desirable. SF is about the only place with that latitude in the US where you need to wear a jacket in the summer...all the time.
You'll be hard-pressed to commute in the bay area. Next to the LA metro, the San Fransisco bay area is said to have the countries worst traffic. Public transit is a joke when the muni(pretty much a light rail/bus) is about all you have to work with. Even the Bart is highly in efficiant, running primarily along the freeway. Caltrain and Ace only have one route each(SF to San Jose), (Stockton to San Jose).
Many people will retort that you get what you pay for and that the bay is 'desirable'. Well it must only be to rich people, because the Bay area metro's population is actually shrinking... Loosing many of it's long time residents to the more rural and affordable communites of the Sac/Juaquin valley, if not out of state all together.
The San Fran Bay area is just about the only place in the country where someone making 100,000$ with a wife and a kid is forced to live a Serf-like existance... chalking most of their earnings to taxes; check out California's outragous state income tax rates California State Income Tax Information (broken link). Odd enough, California does not seperate brackets after 44,000 dollars until you get to a million. In they eyes of Californians a teacher making 44k a year should get taxed at the same rate as a CEO MAKING 999,999$. It isnt until you get under 40k that the tax is a little more fair(oddly enough these are the brakets where most of the immigrants from MEXICO ARE)
Most middle class people have four living options in the bay area. Live in a tiny condo in a nice area, live in a fixer upper in a slummy area, or live in a tract home in an rural outerlying suburb...or leave the state all together. This is exactly what most of the middle class in California is doing. Statistics have shown that California leads the nation in NATIVE BORN citizens leaving state. If it was not for the immigrants (50% of illegals from mexico live in CA) California would be loosing its population.
San Jose at the height of the dot com boom, had a population of over 900,000...I wouldn't count on any bay area city topping a million anytime soon.
Don't fall into the hype and phony balony that is the bay area and California for that matter. The California dream died with the 70's and the State will never rise to the level of its past glory(authors have made millions of dollars writing about this fact). California in the near future will be a spanish speaking state. A giant Miami if you will. The gap between rich and poor will continue to grow, and their k-12 public schools will continue to fail. In the early 1960's California was touted as having the best public schools in the nation, now they rank with the likes of Mississippi, Alabama, etc. There will be no dramatic reversal of this trend.
With all these things plaguing California, it is understandable why Californian's (San Fransiscans in particular) are more vocal about the wonderful things about the state. Heck with all those things going on, I would be looking for reasons to convice myself why on earth I was living there. It is no wonder we see adds on tv about california cheese and cows, and the Governator with his army of celebreties telling you to come visit California. They are merley trying to fend off the inevitable collapse of their state. Heck, the bay area can't even sell out sports venues anymore. The A's are leaving oakland and there is constant talk about relocating the 49ers and raiders. Go to a Giants Vs Cubs game in SF..you will always see more cubs hats.
Lets get real here. San Fran is a play ground for the rich. No different than Manhattan, Coastal LA, etc. Any neighborhoods that had traditional character and enriching culture has since been annihilated(via gentrification/tourism). In fact the only neighborhoods in SF, which have origional inhabitants are slums like the Mission, tenderloin, and south sf (hunters point, bayview, etc).
Residents will tout diversity, if diversity means well to do whites, chinese, and illegals. Not a worldly city like Chicago in the least. San Fransisco hosts visitors from around the world, but they rarely settle with in the city limits unless they have alot of money or live 5+ in a two bedroom.
Outside of Chicago's rough winters, SF's weather is not that much more desirable. SF is about the only place with that latitude in the US where you need to wear a jacket in the summer...all the time.
You'll be hard-pressed to commute in the bay area. Next to the LA metro, the San Fransisco bay area is said to have the countries worst traffic. Public transit is a joke when the muni(pretty much a light rail/bus) is about all you have to work with. Even the Bart is highly in efficiant, running primarily along the freeway. Caltrain and Ace only have one route each(SF to San Jose), (Stockton to San Jose).
Many people will retort that you get what you pay for and that the bay is 'desirable'. Well it must only be to rich people, because the Bay area metro's population is actually shrinking... Loosing many of it's long time residents to the more rural and affordable communites of the Sac/Juaquin valley, if not out of state all together.
The San Fran Bay area is just about the only place in the country where someone making 100,000$ with a wife and a kid is forced to live a Serf-like existance... chalking most of their earnings to taxes; check out California's outragous state income tax rates California State Income Tax Information (broken link). Odd enough, California does not seperate brackets after 44,000 dollars until you get to a million. In they eyes of Californians a teacher making 44k a year should get taxed at the same rate as a CEO MAKING 999,999$. It isnt until you get under 40k that the tax is a little more fair(oddly enough these are the brakets where most of the immigrants from MEXICO ARE)
Most middle class people have four living options in the bay area. Live in a tiny condo in a nice area, live in a fixer upper in a slummy area, or live in a tract home in an rural outerlying suburb...or leave the state all together. This is exactly what most of the middle class in California is doing. Statistics have shown that California leads the nation in NATIVE BORN citizens leaving state. If it was not for the immigrants (50% of illegals from mexico live in CA) California would be loosing its population.
San Jose at the height of the dot com boom, had a population of over 900,000...I wouldn't count on any bay area city topping a million anytime soon.
Don't fall into the hype and phony balony that is the bay area and California for that matter. The California dream died with the 70's and the State will never rise to the level of its past glory(authors have made millions of dollars writing about this fact). California in the near future will be a spanish speaking state. A giant Miami if you will. The gap between rich and poor will continue to grow, and their k-12 public schools will continue to fail. In the early 1960's California was touted as having the best public schools in the nation, now they rank with the likes of Mississippi, Alabama, etc. There will be no dramatic reversal of this trend.
With all these things plaguing California, it is understandable why Californian's (San Fransiscans in particular) are more vocal about the wonderful things about the state. Heck with all those things going on, I would be looking for reasons to convice myself why on earth I was living there. It is no wonder we see adds on tv about california cheese and cows, and the Governator with his army of celebreties telling you to come visit California. They are merley trying to fend off the inevitable collapse of their state. Heck, the bay area can't even sell out sports venues anymore. The A's are leaving oakland and there is constant talk about relocating the 49ers and raiders. Go to a Giants Vs Cubs game in SF..you will always see more cubs hats.
Land of fruits and nuts indeed.
This is one of the most honest and real posts about California of today!
I'm not one to jump to SF's defense, but BART actually runs through very urban areas of that city (not "along the freeway"). It is just a single line, but it hits very populous and popular areas. You are perhaps thinking of areas like Hayward where it is more of a commuter line than a subway system.
I'm not one to jump to SF's defense, but BART actually runs through very urban areas of that city (not "along the freeway"). It is just a single line, but it hits very populous and popular areas. You are perhaps thinking of areas like Hayward where it is more of a commuter line than a subway system.
Yea if you excludea few stations, embarcaderro, berkeley, etc yea, but from pittsburg, or dublin, or fremont, or Milbrae?.... come on now. Until the bart gets into areas where there was no room to build it pretty much serves as another artery for 580/880. If Bart were like a real subway you could catch it from say golden gate park to candlestick. But yea SF did make headway with that one line that gets to the financial distirct.
Yea if you excludea few stations, embarcaderro, berkeley, etc yea, but from pittsburg, or dublin, or fremont, or Milbrae?.... come on now. Until the bart gets into areas where there was no room to build it pretty much serves as another artery for 580/880. If Bart were like a real subway you could catch it from say golden gate park to candlestick. But yea SF did make headway with that one line that gets to the financial distirct.
While I wish SF had a rail metro system like Chicago, BART does not just serve as another freeway artery. It runs through perhaps the most populous areas of the city. I take it (or the MUNI Metro) to and from work every day. I don't have a car and get around quite well using MUNI, BART, or foot. There's no better city to walk around and enjoy the beautiful architecture/scenery than San Francisco. And - you can catch the MUNI Metro from Golden Gate Park to Candlestick.
As much as I love Chicago and its urbanity, San Fran is a great place. It's the second most dense major city behind NYC and it has some of the best shopping in the country. You can't beat the scenery. And I agree that California has its issues but it is our greatest state, hands down. I hate when people say that a city is expensive. That's a personal opinion based upon your own individual financial outlook. I personally don't think San Fran or NYC are expensive. People are paying these prices because the demand to live there is high. The reason why Chicago is cheaper is more of a reflection of the Midwest than the city. If Chicago was on either coast, the COL would be much higher.
Yeah, maybe from November until March, but then usually from April until October Chicago is warmer.
But I hate snow and freeze
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