What Are The People Of San Francisco Like? (Oakland, Marina: credit card, high school)

[Tallysmom]

Originally Posted by Milliano

How is the noise? This may sound odd but my biggest concern with considering moving to a poorer urban neighborhood is the potential noise disturbance. Having to hear boom cars while in my home, basically. Or maybe the boom car thing is just still a Midwestern white male fad? God I hope so.

Oh -- no. I have cars go by that are so loud ALL the car alarms go off. Boom cars are NOT a Midwestern thing.

[Milliano]

Thanks for the info.
I wonder if the boom cars vary a bit by city limits. Like in some Eastern places, varying city ordinances and enforcement may make one city less likely to induce a heart attack than an other right next to it

[gizmo980]

Originally Posted by Milliano

Thanks for the info.
I wonder if the boom cars vary a bit by city limits. Like in some Eastern places, varying city ordinances and enforcement may make one city less likely to induce a heart attack than an other right next to it

We have noise ordinances, but the police rarely enforce them... just like they don't enforce traffic laws, considering I've run stop-signs right in front of them. Believe it or not, I had a cop tailgating me recently, because I wasn't going FAST enough for him - sheesh, I'm sorry for trying to obey the speed limit when a cop's behind me!

[gizmo980]

Originally Posted by ChucKie D

Thank you guys, i look at alls response and they're great. I like the education go hand in hand with liberalism, and talks about bad neighborhood, and the millitary recuriters are no longer around there. Correct me if i get this wrong, So what i get about SAn Francisco is that its, libreal, openminded, accpetance, quirky, independent thinkers, people are real, laid back/casual dressing, diverse, trendy at times, and oh a place with of beauty. This is why i don't need to visit, because all what you guys describe, i feel i am, man keeep the comments coming. I hope to be there in a year to join the fun....

Glad you're enjoying the posts, and I think they've been pretty accurate so far! I'd still recommend visiting any place before moving, because it's really the only way to FEEL what it's like... sometimes a place sounds great on paper, and then feels different in person. That being said, I bet you'd be very happy here.

[Dovid-CT]

I lived in Oakland and worked in San Francisco for several years. San Franciscans don't see themselves as enjoying as laid back an existence as Seattle (co-workers enviously imagined being able to take one hour coffee breaks if they worked there), and they don't see themselves as being the same as people in SoCal (Southern California). They see SoCal people as materialistic, willing to throw their money around and in love with their SUVs. There is a great virtue attached to driving a Volvo (especially an old Volvo) over a BMW. This doesn't mean that people in San Francisco and Oakland don't drive BMWs. In some cases, they might own both a Volvo or Prius or Jetta and a BMW, one car representing their civic virtue and the other their self-indulgence. People in Marin (North Bay) are stereotyped as willing to flaunt their wealth by driving a Beamer.

As far as friendliness, there is greater reserve than you might first think. On the surface, people seem friendly but it takes time to get to know them. You can also see how natives deal with strangers. If you are proceeded through the door to a public building by someone you don't know, you will learn not to expect to have them acknowledge you by holding the door open. Similarly, if you expect basic courtesy from fellow shoppers in supermarkets, you will be waiting a very long time. Like many other places, you need to make an effort to get to know people. You can make good friends there, but the effort will be on your side. It is also sometimes said that there are very few native San Franciscans, and that everyone is from somewhere else. This is an exaggeration, and many people have friends that they have known since high school or college. It is understandable that an outsider will not find immediate acceptance.

In a business setting, I found people not as direct or open as elsewhere, and that it was hard to pin someone down to make a decision. What would elsewhere would have been a fairly simple negotiation would take several meetings to reach a conclusion (People there play with the cards close to their vest). There are a lot of people who put in long hours (can you say workaholic?) in the financial sector. Some people put in long hours (60 hour weeks) because they are ambitious; many others because their employers require it. This forces people to focus less on their quality of life and more on the workplace. Although San Francisco is thought of as a very European city, it is not immune from the "rat race" mentality.

It is undoubtedly true that for San Franciscans formal wear means wearing what you bought at Old Navy or the Gap. However, you can walk by restaurants in the Financial District where you will see most of the men in suit and ties. These places are by no means cheap, and a certain amount of their business is charged to corporate credit cards. People who were around in San Francisco in the 50s say that people dressed conservatively, and that it was comparable to what you would have seen in Boston at that time. The street scenes in Hitchcock's Vertigo (released in '58) might give you some sense of how businessmen and old money people might have dressed at the time. Whatever the traditions that may have existed then have long since died out.

[jesse.215]

i live in camden and its a hell hole i see ppl get shot over dumb things..one of ma friend got killed in a drive by..i hear gun shot almost every night..most of da city is abandent with boreded up house and trash..it real dangerous walkin by ur self...this city is harible..i lived in miami new york compton and atl and camdens the worst

[mnmsevii]

people in SF vary. Some are rude, while others are not. But overall, and this rings loud esp outside of SF, SFranciscans are weird folks. And that's weird as in eccentric and bizarre. Some of the weirdest people you can ever meet are in SF!..

[sonarrat]

Originally Posted by Milliano

How is the noise? This may sound odd but my biggest concern with considering moving to a poorer urban neighborhood is the potential noise disturbance. Having to hear boom cars while in my home, basically. Or maybe the boom car thing is just still a Midwestern white male fad? God I hope so.

You get that everywhere. I got it at Dad's secluded place in the South Bay hills, a nice house in eastern Milpitas, an apartment in a good part of westside Redwood City, another apartment in a sleepy part of South San Francisco mostly populated by retirees. $$$ does not equate to good taste.

[krudmonk]

Just know that natives are absolutely nothing like transplants.

[ChucKie D]

It crazy i wrote this last summer now i'm living in the haight, buena vista baby. however for a transplant i have a lot of native SF friends, which should say something. however i understand all this now that i read it.