suggestions on loving san francisco (Oakland, Santa Cruz: high crime, credit, safe neighborhoods)

[OakAve2OakLand]

Originally Posted by SunDevil1212

For every possible hobby, interest, or vice you have, whether it be fairly common or obscure, there's people here that will embrace it with you.

For evidence of this, spend a few days at Dolores or Wash Sq or Golden Gate park. Of the many things I've witnessed at the parks, they include:

-Hundreds of grown men dressed up in ridiculous Lord-of-the-Rings-type costumes, acting out battle scenes
-People skipping around in unison, playing instruments I've never seen before (and I'm a musician!) in funny outfits waiving handkerchiefs around (some sort of traditional Eastern European dance, I presumed...)
-Born-again Christians doing interpretive dance and hand-signals (a la Napoleon Dynamite) to Christian Rock music
-Performance by an all-lesbian drumline (seriously).
-Approximately 100 people that did nothing but hula-hoop for hours.

You're scaring me.

Isn't there to be found somewhere in that extensive SF park system a cute blonde gal with a frisbee and a dog?

(oops!...my boy-next-door Midwestern roots are showing )

[SunDevil1212]

Haha...yes! There's cute girls with dogs everywhere!

I don't want a dog right now just because I don't wanna deal with the responsibility....but I will say, those things are instant ice-breakers. There's guys I see in Wash Sq that I swear have trained their dogs to scope out good looking girls as a means of sparking a conversation.

[gnomatic]

Originally Posted by OakAve2OakLand

You're scaring me.

Isn't there to be found somewhere in that extensive SF park system a cute blonde gal with a frisbee and a dog?

(oops!...my boy-next-door Midwestern roots are showing )

Crissy fields, Marina Green, Fort Mason Green in the Marina. All dressed in the requisite uniform of lululemon yoga gear. Might not all be natural blonds though.

[OakAve2OakLand]

Originally Posted by SunDevil1212

Haha...yes! There's cute girls with dogs everywhere!

Originally Posted by gnomatic

Crissy fields, Marina Green, Fort Mason Green in the Marina. All dressed in the requisite uniform of lululemon yoga gear. Might not all be natural blonds though.

Thank you!!

I almost picked up the phone to cancel the moving truck.

And I do have a range, btw...I just needed to hear something on that end of the spectrum to balance out the full set of freakshows you (SunDevil) described.

I'm almost afraid to ask this, but if the ladies in the Marina district are sporting the latest from Lululemon...what are the guys (straight ones) wearing? (gulps)

[gnomatic]

Originally Posted by OakAve2OakLand

I'm almost afraid to ask this, but if the ladies in the Marina district are sporting the latest from Lululemon...what are the guys (straight ones) wearing? (gulps)

Striped polo shirts (usually some shade of blue) from Fred Perry, collars up. Or shirts from whatever 2nd/3rd tier ivy college they went to. Khaki shorts. Flip Flops.

[SunDevil1212]

OakAve, you don't have to partake in the freak-show to enjoy it watching it. I consider it free entertainment. Sometimes I see stuff like that and wish I had brought a lawn chair and a bag of popcorn.

Gnomatic nailed it with his description of the Marina. I always describe it to my friends back home as "The Scottsdale of San Francisco." (you probably have to be from there to get that joke)

I also find that Russian Hill seems to have a lot of cute, girl-next-door types.

[gnomatic]

Originally Posted by SunDevil1212

Gnomatic nailed it with his description of the Marina. I always describe it to my friends back home as "The Scottsdale of San Francisco." (you probably have to be from there to get that joke)

Or the Murray Hill of San Francisco (for people from NYC).

[OakAve2OakLand]

Originally Posted by gnomatic

Striped polo shirts (usually some shade of blue) from Fred Perry, collars up. Or shirts from whatever 2nd/3rd tier ivy college they went to. Khaki shorts. Flip Flops.

I'm getting it, now...Yuppie Central. I do own a pair of Khaki shorts, so I'm 25% of the way there

Originally Posted by SunDevil1212

Gnomatic nailed it with his description of the Marina. I always describe it to my friends back home as "The Scottsdale of San Francisco." (you probably have to be from there to get that joke)

Oh, no..I get the Scottsdale reference. I had an aunt that lived in Phoenix so I've been out that way many times.

Originally Posted by SunDevil1212

I also find that Russian Hill seems to have a lot of cute, girl-next-door types.

Thanks...good to know. Where I'm from, the description "cute blonde with a frisbee and a dog" doesn't necessarily equate to "yuppie, sorority girl"...but I can see how it could.

From some quick research I did on the Marina, I may be a bit too old (40) for that crowd anyway. Is there a neighborhood with a slightly older version of that demographic? It sounds like Russian Hill may qualify. Maybe lower Pac Heights? What's the difference between Cow Hollow and Marina?

I've pretty much honed in on Oakland anyway as a place to actually live for various reasons, but I'll definitely have to check out the Marina and its environs now and then for the social opportunities...now that I've exposed my dating preference.

OK, I'll quit hijacking the OP's semi-depressing thread now with annoyingly upbeat images of brightly-clad, shiny, happy (yuppie) people.

[gnomatic]

Originally Posted by OakAve2OakLand

I'm getting it, now...Yuppie Central. I do own a pair of Khaki shorts, so I'm 25% of the way there

More like cliche douchebag central that fits into the some people's yuppie stereotypes.

Give the rest of us yuppies a bad rep.

What's the difference between Cow Hollow and Marina?

None ... some people just don't like to admit they live in the Marina because of the negative stereotype.

[mini_cute]

Originally Posted by fedupnomad

i did love SF at first but cities are like people, you have to be in a ltr relationship with them before you really know them. i've fallen out of love.

and as for neighborhoods, maybe i should have been more explicit. obviously, SF has physical neighborhoods. but where is a neighborhood where people know their neighbors, have block parties etc. i'm not saying there aren't any - i really am asking. where? (i do know one)

same with racial interaction - where? seriously, where? and i mean really interact and hang out. i see many colors of people, but they seem to move in clusters (and I've lived in other mega cities - that's true everywhere, but it SEEMS more so here.

Yeah, it is important to form relationships to really feel connected to a city.

I second ubringliten's suggestion about getting a bicycle and coming out for the bike party events. We are fairly new to the city ourselves and made lots of friend's that way. Our friends are very diverse in age, ethnicity, and economic background. In our sub-group we have Chinese-Nicaraguan, Irish (with the accent and all), Mexican, South Korean, etc.

You asked about block parties- the bike party events are like block parties, in a sense, without being confined to a physical block. We come out every month and you see familiar faces all the time, make friends easily, and there is a strong community centered around biking.

One thing I notice about SF is that all the real goodies and gems are actually kind of hidden or inconspicuous and you have to dig for them. It is hard to describe but, SF has this whole "underground" thing about it.