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As many of you have already seen in the thread I made recently, my SO and I are currently working on making the dream come true. He just arrived in Palo Alto this morning to start his summer job tomorrow. I am nervous but excited. Here's hoping luck will be on our side these coming months.
My own personal experience with SF started about 10 years ago when my family decided to take a vacation to the city. It was our last family vacation, and I hadn't yet gotten to see California, even though I really wanted to know what it was like. The sheer beauty of it alone blew me away. My favorite parts of the week-long trip were the visit to Muir Woods and the day trip we took along the coastal highway. Everything was absolutely stunning. Then the personality of the city stole my heart next. Coming from a good ol' boys kind of place, seeing such a diverse culture was just awesome. I loved the idea of being surrounded by such a different, yet much more desireable kind of enviornment. I've always felt so out of place in Indiana,/midwest and to find a place like SF turned my world upside-down. It made me feel even more like I didn't belong in the midwest after that! I knew I had to get back to SF one day, but didn't know when or how.
Since that vacation, I've come back a couple more times to volunteer at an annual conference and love it more and more with each visit. I love all the action, I love the area, and I love the idea of being where stuff actually happens. As I already said, I have never really felt like I fit in here, being surrounded by polar opposite personalities and interests. Strange as it may sound, on my last visit to SF this year, I remember riding a bus one afternoon and hearing a conversation behind me that was actually *gasp* an educated debate about a current event (can't remember what the topic was). It was not something I was used to hearing in public, let alone on a city bus. If I was riding public transportation here, I'd be more likely to hear people talking about so-and-so having another baby, or how "Obummer" is doing us all in, or about someone's broken down lawnmower, lol. It kind of blew my mind, and made me realize again that I was really living in the wrong area. There are good, educated people here in Indiana too of course, but overall it is a completely different world. My SO and I had a laugh when we came back to IN from our last trip, because we both felt like returning to Indiana was a culture shock! Being in SF felt so natural to us.
Quote:
Originally Posted by 7x7er
"This place is like the perfect mix of urban density and natural beauty."
I couldn't agree more! I've spent time living in both semi-rural/suburban areas and concrete jungles (Tokyo), and SF is just perfect. It always has something for you to do, something new to see, lots of activity, but if you want to escape the noise, you are right by a lot of natural beauty. The midwest has lovely areas too - lots of green fields and forests (...and cornfields...), but I yearn to see the mountains and ocean too. Especially the ocean.
we ended up in CA the first time for a short work stint on the central coast near Pismo for 4 mos in 2010 then headed home to Buffalo, NY. Back to CA after a stay in NM for family later that same year. Lived and worked in the East Bay for jsut about a year. Back to Buffalo for famiy reasons and my acute homesickness. Unfortunately, the pay cut was huge heading home and my husband quickly remembered how much he hated the winters...our move home ended up being a 3 month visit...then back to the East Bay.
What prompted the move to this area was my hubby had 3 navy buds retire out this way...one in East Bay, one in Bakersfield, and one in Pahrump NV. We really like Pahrump but the dryness really bothered hubbys allergies. I have asthma so Bakersfield was out. We had visited the East Bay so that made the choice.
We found the rents double plus what our rents and mortgages were back home, but I make more here. The traffic has been the most stressful part for me, outside of missing family. I drive all day in it for work. I feel suffocated it in. We barely ever enjoy SF from the East Bay just due to the traffic alone.
We are moving to Sac later this year for a job location chagne for me and we are looking forward to it. Its a smaller city, like Buffalo. Still traffic but less amt of highways. And there are closer more rural areas.And we aren't priced out of the housing market there.
I miss the FOOD back home. Best in the country. I'd be lying though if I didnt mention we eat much healthier here and are more active.
I dont know if we will be in CA forever...but at least for the next several years. I think I would always want to visit back East, but I wouldnt be so hard core homesick if I could get our (small) family to move closer. Its hard though as its more expensive. I think if they were here, CA could finally be home.
My mom had worked on Treasure Island before I was born and used to tell me stories about San Francisco. I was enchanted with the name "Treasure Island." San Francisco sounded like such a different place than where I was born in the Midwest. Also when I was a young boy, those Rice-A-Roni commercials had cable cars and that jingle that caught my attention. "Rice-a-Roni. A San Francisco treat!" I thought, what a neat place. Cable cars, hills, water, rice-a-roni. Seems so upbeat and positive.
Fast forward to the mid 80s. I had moved away from home and was living and working on the East coast. It seemed too dreary. Far too stressful. Traffic was horrendous. Lines, lines, lines for every damn thing, even going to an ATM machine. Type-A personalities out the ying-yang. Aggressive office politics. Snow. Cold weather. High humidity. Little leisure time. I couldn't take it anymore. Had the notion to visit SF for the first time just to satisfy my curiosity. Went with my then-girlfriend. Flew out of Laguardia. Noticed a difference as soon as I got to the gate for the SF flight. Strangers talking to one another. People wearing brighter colors: red, yellow, light blue. People heading to SF just appeared more upbeat and happier. Also helped that my girlfriend was the most beautiful woman I knew. Got to SF, and liked it immediately. Felt a special connection to the place as if I had been here before. I still feel this way, and it has been 23 years.
Two years after that first visit, got married, then moved here. Hated silicon valley, working as a software engineer. Too many nerds, farmer johns, hicks, good ol boys, rednecks, and country bumpkins calling themselves professionals. Ended up going back to school, changing careers, and working closer to SF. It has worked out very well for me and my family, better than I anticipated.
I feel that outsourcing has brought people here who dilute the area however. Whole communities are being impersonalized as packs of separatists invade. Thank God the area retains its natural beauty and good weather.
Noticed a difference as soon as I got to the gate for the SF flight. Strangers talking to one another... People heading to SF just appeared more upbeat and happier.... Felt a special connection to the place as if I had been here before.
Ditto. I love the "strangers talking to each other" part. Felt welcoming as a stranger in town
California dreaming... I could wax poetic from here to Sunday, but in the interest of brevity, here's my story...
I moved from the bowels of New York City working as a lawyer, to San Francisco in 1997. I went from concrete, shadows, disgusting subways, and lots of unhappy people (especially back then) to a place with blue skies, mountains minutes away, and a beach within walking distance of our flat in the Marina. I thought I'd just died and literally gone to heaven. No joke. My husband and I that year took advantage of the abundant outdoor life, hiking and biking and skiing in Tahoe every chance we could get. Within 3 years we bought a house and had a daughter. Was the best 6 and a half years of my life up to that point.
Then, in 2003, we got transferred back to NYC. Oh, dark night of the soul.. There it began... My husband and I separated two years later and divorced in 2007 - albeit as smoothly and as amicably as a divorcing couple could -- and I trudged on with life in Manhattan. It was hard at times -- The dark, gray winters, the snow and ice, the people - sometimes not so nice, the sidewalks, even in 'nice' neighborhoods like mine, often filthy with dog poop.. But every day I dreamt of California. Despite our divorce, we always resolved to come back to SF with our daughter, come hell or high water, regardless. We were determined, for so many reasons, but mainly because we needed and craved beauty, and balance.
Fast forward 9 years to the day we left SF, and finally, FINALLY... that day has come. The stars all aligned perfectly over the last 8 months during which time we made some really big decisions about our careers and our daughter regarding schools, and now we're saying goodbye to our good friends and family and moving out here next month. My ex recently leased a flat in the Marina, and I just rented a lovely little house in Sausalito, (Sausalito!!) complete with a deck.. (a Deck!!) and sunlight (SUNLIGHT!!) and a view of Mount Tam.. (a VIEW!! of a mountain!!). Coming from the ground floor of an apartment in Manhattan, I cannot tell you how this makes my soul sing. Nature, and beauty feed my soul. I once again feel alive. And though she'll also miss her friends, our daughter, now 12, is also excited, and that to me, says it all... :-)
Follow your heart. Your heart knows. Forget your 'reasons.' When it comes to choosing a place to live --to truly feel alive and to live -- follow your heart. There's a reason it pulls you there, wherever that may be. May the good force be with you!
Do the rest of you find that you breathe differently in California? I do. When we have to leave, I feel smothered. When we come back, it is like all my cells open up, and every one of them breathe deeply. After returning, it is an every-morning thing -- I simply breathe differently!
California dreaming... I could wax poetic from here to Sunday, but in the interest of brevity, here's my story...
I moved from the bowels of New York City working as a lawyer, to San Francisco in 1997. I went from concrete, shadows, disgusting subways, and lots of unhappy people (especially back then) to a place with blue skies, mountains minutes away, and a beach within walking distance of our flat in the Marina. I thought I'd just died and literally gone to heaven. No joke. My husband and I that year took advantage of the abundant outdoor life, hiking and biking and skiing in Tahoe every chance we could get. Within 3 years we bought a house and had a daughter. Was the best 6 and a half years of my life up to that point.
Then, in 2003, we got transferred back to NYC. Oh, dark night of the soul.. There it began... My husband and I separated two years later and divorced in 2007 - albeit as smoothly and as amicably as a divorcing couple could -- and I trudged on with life in Manhattan. It was hard at times -- The dark, gray winters, the snow and ice, the people - sometimes not so nice, the sidewalks, even in 'nice' neighborhoods like mine, often filthy with dog poop.. But every day I dreamt of California. Despite our divorce, we always resolved to come back to SF with our daughter, come hell or high water, regardless. We were determined, for so many reasons, but mainly because we needed and craved beauty, and balance.
Fast forward 9 years to the day we left SF, and finally, FINALLY... that day has come. The stars all aligned perfectly over the last 8 months during which time we made some really big decisions about our careers and our daughter regarding schools, and now we're saying goodbye to our good friends and family and moving out here next month. My ex recently leased a flat in the Marina, and I just rented a lovely little house in Sausalito, (Sausalito!!) complete with a deck.. (a Deck!!) and sunlight (SUNLIGHT!!) and a view of Mount Tam.. (a VIEW!! of a mountain!!). Coming from the ground floor of an apartment in Manhattan, I cannot tell you how this makes my soul sing. Nature, and beauty feed my soul. I once again feel alive. And though she'll also miss her friends, our daughter, now 12, is also excited, and that to me, says it all... :-)
Follow your heart. Your heart knows. Forget your 'reasons.' When it comes to choosing a place to live --to truly feel alive and to live -- follow your heart. There's a reason it pulls you there, wherever that may be. May the good force be with you!
Great story. Great advice. Terrific first post! Welcome.
A_Lexus' mentioning of strangers talking to one another got me thinking some more. It dawned on me that SF being a melting pot with many newcomers, it's pretty common to be around strangers who are very different from you all the time. What's amazing is that all these different people just seem to converge happily. It's not like that in Indianapolis. Many (if not most) people have their roots around here, they know a lot of people locally, and they're not very interested in welcoming a newcomer, especially one who is different than the predominant family-oriented, sports-loving, conservative personality here (not that those are bad qualities).
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Thank God the area retains its natural beauty and good weather.
