San Fran "losing it's soul" - myth? reality? context? (San Francisco: low income, 2013)

[RMESMH]

Originally Posted by bmw335xi

I’m back in town and SF is nicer than when I moved. It seems to be gentrifying smoothly. I hope it continues.

Visiting from Florida? Or did you move back to SF?

[artillery77]

Originally Posted by SebastianCalhoun

Thanks for all the insightful responses.

Helpful to get an idea of the shifting character of SF from people who've lived or who currently live in the area. Overall I'd say I feel fairly optimistic. Because pretty much all I know of San Francisco is what I hear in the media and from other people, claiming that the tech industry has lain waste to most of the culture/vibe that preceded it. Not that that's in intrinsically bad thing - it's all relative. Depends on what a person wants. In SF as in Seattle, change is just a part of an economic boom. Comes with the territory I suppose.

Hopefully you kept reading.

Now, I'm going to tell you the same thing, two times. The first, will be in San Francisco. The second, will be in Minnesotan.

1. San Francisco has not lost its soul. There is something different to do here every day. It is the best place to live in the world and it's not a very big city, so logically prices are going be high, but where else can you go wine tasting, hit the beach and ski all in the same weekend? San Francisco remains a historical strong-point for equality for all regardless of race, gender, sexual identification. Even today some of the world's game changers are started all the time right here in San Francisco. If you are seeking ever evolving progression, this is the best place on Earth. Our state is environmentally conscious, our education standards are the best and we remain progressively liberal and propelling the country forward.

2. San Francisco has long lured people to its shores with promises of jobs and tolerance and kept the survivors. The "problems" of the city will never be addressed as they won't be acknowledged, and a well trained public will fire fury at any one that openly suggests things could be better. The main strategy is not to fix these problems for all, but to fix them for yourself. That alone is not unique to the area, but opacity of blinders displayed is. Just remember, San Francisco is perfect....you are not. As you learn more about this perfect San Francisco, you can make your own call as to whether or not you can make it here.

But yes, the real soul of San Francisco is still intact. Whether it's selling shovels to miners or $4000 apartments to coders, it's alive and well. 1969 was a fluke. There's no racism here, but it's a mixture of balancing nativ-ism with economic classism. With nice rewards for the dealmakers. But honestly, you're not going to see that day to day.

There is a ton of fun to be had her in San Francisco. No doubts, no hedges. You can go out, meet 20 different people, have a great time on the weekend. Very easy to do. People are warm, but they are going to be more aloof than in the other areas you've been. You're going to rack up acquaintances here and have fewer friends. Now you'll greatly exaggerate everything. You guys are bff, you love everything about one another etc. But it's the ones that it's just quietly known that are worthwhile.

That's what makes San Francisco a hard move in. It will be impossible to see where you stand at first. Nobody will tell you if you're wasting time. You think you've got a great job, but you're going to struggle. Your going to get new struggles at work that a Native is going to be able resolve and you won't understand why. You will pay the highest rent, likely for the worst unit, as you subsidize everyone else. The chill dude that plays guitar and works as a bartender on weekends...either has daddy money or has the Native hookup. You don't get that. That is not the San Francisco outsiders get to come in and get. 1969 was a fluke. A stunt. The tolerance is real. Homosexuals tend to have more disposable income. There are wealthy people of all races. You see....San Francisco is welcoming to all....with a modicum of manners and the willingness and ability to spend some coin.

You come in with smarts, labor or the money. You get....paradise. Don't you agree? We all agree its a wonderful arrangement.

[zitsky]

No racism in San Francisco? I can't breathe, I'm laughing so hard.

[cachibatches]

With some of the conversation about gentrification, I took a look at the demographics, and it is crazy that the city is only 6.1% back, down from a peak of 13.2% in 1970, and a vast majority are centered in the Bayview-Hunter's point area.

"Hispanic" residents seem to be at an all time high, but then again the census has not been taken in almost eight years, so that could be changing.

I was never resident, but grew up in the Penninsula, and now reside in the East Bay. But I did go to the Academy of Art College, and as a kid, SF was always a pretty magical place--going there was like going to the Emerald city.

As an outsider looking in, I can say that it has none of the old vibe. For one thing, there were always homeless, but the city is now a foul, dirty and infested place. It simply isn't right to force your citizens to live in that state, stepping over addicts, needles and human feces in the streets, and being aggresively panhandled every few feet.

Also, an this is harder to put a finger on, but the atmosphere is no longer there. It is just another city. The entire are from Market, Van Ness, Embarcadero, China Town and North Beach used to be like a giant amusement park. That feel is not there anymore. I think the difference is not only that the locals have changed, as so many are discussing, but the provincials no longer find it an interesting, safe and desirable place to be. It is only the new locals and the tourists, the latter of whom are chasing something mythical that is no longer there.

Last thought: those comparing it to New York don't seem to realize how geographically small SF is. New York is so sprawling that the city can always re-invent itself as the centers and peripheries of things change. For example, I was surprised to find out that my cousin moved to Brooklyn, parts of which are now extremely hip. There is no "new" area of SF to foster and house the creative spirits of the city.

Help this all made sense.

[bmw335xi]

Originally Posted by RMESMH

Visiting from Florida? Or did you move back to SF?

Just visiting, I have a family member there along with most of my gf’s family.

[zitsky]

We seem to get the extremes on this forum. Either the city is made of gold, or it's going downhill quickly and the citizens lives are in danger. Isn't the truth somewhere in the middle.

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by zitsky

We seem to get the extremes on this forum. Either the city is made of gold, or it's going downhill quickly and the citizens lives are in danger. Isn't the truth somewhere in the middle.

What? Common sense on C-D?? Never!

[zitsky]

Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth

What? Common sense on C-D?? Never!

Well.... it is Christmas, isn't it???

[NW4me]

I moved to SF in 1989... comparing then and now, it's been a mixed bag:

Muni is certainly better than it was back then... the vehicles are newer and more reliable, and rarely do I see the ugly graffitti -- inside and outside the buses -- that I recall from my early years here.

Most notably, the pall that hung over the town in the early-to-mid 90s has lifted... the AIDS crisis, that is. For those who weren't here then, it's hard to describe the impact of seeing gaunt prematurely-old men hobbling along, some pulling little wheeled oxygen tanks with them, or every week reading multiple obituaries of guys in their 30s or 40s.

On the minus side:

Some of SF's great bookstores are now gone: Marcus Books, Modern Times and A Different Light; still more are on the way out.

The biggest change for the worse, of course, is the exorbitant cost of housing. SF has always had relatively high rents, but nothing like what they are today, e.g. $4,000 a month for a studio. These rents will eventually purge SF of its blue-collar workers, immigrant families, social activists and creative types, or anyone else whose focus in life is anything besides making lots of money. Some will be lucky and win lotteries for low-income housing; the rest will leave. Rent control slows the gentrification, but doesn't stop it. And the would-be new arrivals simply won't be able to live here.

So in the future there'll still be a San Francisco, but it will have lost some of the qualities that made it a special place.

[zitsky]

So, 25 or 50 years ago, everyone could afford to live in the city, and there was a bookstore on every corner?