Is this a stupid question ? (San Diego, San Francisco: apartment, city hall, crimes)
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Why does everbody living in San Francisco think it is a great place to live?
The temperature there is moderate in that it's never too cold in the winter or too hot in the summer. There are many attractions, interesting sections of the city to visit and an abundant nightlife. All different types of ethnic cuisine can be found there. It has all the charm and excitement expected of a large city.
The downside (in case you want to know) is if you can't afford to live in a nice part of the city you will not be very comfortable living there. San Francisco is a very expensive city to live in whether you're renting or buying.
I would love to live there but it is totally out of my price range.
SF is a great city, depending on what you are looking for. The climate is great, as are the sights and access to the ocean and bay. SF has the Giants and the 49ers if sports is your thing.
As with any city, SF has an ugly side to it. Thanks to the mild climate, thousands of homeless people call it home year round. It's a real problem despite attempts to clean up the SF image. Gangs are a reality there, especially the Hunters Point/Bayview district.
There is good and bad in SF, you just have to find a balance.
I love San Francisco because of its weather - it's never too cold or too hot. Some people like that, some don't - I happen to like it. I love it because you never run out of things to do, people are so friendly and open-minded. It's very culturally diverse with people coming together from different backgrounds and actually getting along for the most part instead of how it is in Southern Cali. I love the architecture (the Victorians for the most part) and the old world charm. Shopping is great in San Francisco too as you can find almost anything you are looking for. From the high priced mainstream, to the eclectic independently owned stores its just a great experience. I love that it is very liberal because that makes it an open and friendly environment to ALL people who are there, not just the select cookie-cutter few.
There are plenty of downsides of San Francisco that people have brought up like small housing, expensive, old piping in a lot of buildings, homelessness and the drivers drive as crazy as they do in So Cal. I think the upsides FAR outweight the downsides.
A lot of people would not say San Francisco is a great anything. I won't go into the general decline of all American cities, but the last two decades have not been good to frisco. At the risk of sounding like an old codger, things ain't the way they used to be. The city's transformation into little Manhatten, instigated by that dreadful mayor Willie Brown, has seen the housing costs soar out of sight. Any liberal and creative types, which the city was known for, have fled because they can no afford to live there anymore. This happened some years ago. The current admonistration has thought up a perfectly Orwellian way to rid the place of poor folk... his eerily named Care Not Cash program has dismantled the inefficient but humane General Assistance program and is now offering money to the homeless to get out of Dodge. This is the only money he's offered, as he cut their cash grants from a little over $400 a month to $60! and now instead of a little hotel room in the Tenderloin they get a shelter bed. Maybe. If the shelters aren't full. And the shelter life there is not that different or much safer than a jail.
The city's myth of being a multicultural city, which it is on the surface, is laughable. The town is totally stratified, w/ the blacks in the Fillmore or Hunter's Point, the latinos in the Mission, the asians in the Sunset and Richmond, the yuppies (white) in the Marino, the gays in the Castro, etc. Politically, the scene is terrible. Each interest group is against all the others, creating an atmosphere of anger and distrust. All their energies go into political infighting. The now conservative power structure doesn't need anyone but the developers anymore. Crime and police corruption are at an all time high. Homeless groups have rated the city as one of the meanest to the poor in the country. Everything there says....if you don't have big bucks, stay out. Muni has become a nightmare. It isn't safe, it isn't on time, and the buses are packed beyond capacity. There are signs in the buses that say you are being filmed and your conversations may be recorded! Signs in Bart warn of fines of many hundred dollars for eating a candy bar anywhere in the station or cars, and forget about taking a picture. You will be hassled and probably arrested, as many professional photographers have found out. I am amazed at how the city has gone from one of the most liberal places in the U.S. to being a police state.
I left a long time ago and will never live there again. San Francisco is a place to VISIT, not LIVE in, and even visiting has become more dangerous and just plain aggravating. But as most of the people there now are are from somewhere else, and belong to privileged and monied culture of frightening human values, they will deny all this. Awareness, or truth for that matter, is not their thing. The myth will endure, but you have to put on some really big blinders to swallow it.
I can't agree more with you regarding SF. It truly is very unique. You see this very clearly once you have traveled to or lived in other cities around the country.
The issues are many, but which major city does not have these issues? The most difficult one of course is the affordability since it is an extremely expensive place to live in. It's OK if you're just renting. But if you try to buy, don't even think about if unless you have at least $1 MM for a small mediocre house. It's that expensive because everyone wants to live there. They may complain, may snipe, may diss, may say whatever but really, it'd almost take a non-feeling robotic person to say that SF isn't unique, beautiful and charismatic city. That song, "I left my heart in SF" by Bennett isn't just lyrics. It's real. No matter where you might move to or move on to in your life, the time you've spent there will always remain in your heart. I don't know of any other city that has inspired the imagination of poets, singers, writers, actors and artists than SF. Why do you think there are so many songs and movies about SF? If you don't understand this, just stand at the Embarcadero area and take a sweep of the view of the beautiful bay, watch how the light sparkles across the water. Go to the Marine Headlands and look at the beautiful Pacific Ocean and how it hugs SF. Take a boat ride that goes under the GG Bridge. Man, that's an amazing sight!
The rest of the Bay Area does not compare with SF the City itself. The rest of the Bay Area lacks the cultural allure, sparkle and uniqueness that is SF. In fact, there are many cities in the Bay Area that look like just about every other suburb in the US. The dwellers of most of these cities are mundane and lack the color, flamboyance and flair of many of the residents of SF. SF attracts these types from all over the country. SF isn't for everyone, that I'll agree. Even within the Bay Area, I'd often hear people say that they would not go to SF because it's too scary or too much for them.
In the end, I'll say that SF isn't just a City. It's an experience. If you're just looking to live in a city and just want hustle and bustle, you have tons to pick from. The experience you get in SF are all the positives and negatives of life. For all the wonderful elements, there are the bad ones that come with it. Because it is so expensive to live there you are exposed to capitalism at its most rawest points. You get to see what money can buy and give you very quickly. It's not a town you want to be poor in, that's for sure.
There are many who do come by and diss SF as being a microcosm that does not exist anywhere in the US. That is true. I can't think of any other city like SF. Manhattan has a lot to offer but it isn't SF and vice versa. SF isn't a city for you if you come and aren't willing to accept different lifestyles, viewpoints and re-examine what your ideas are about civil and human rights. I'm not saying that the residents of SF are a class above everyone and know it all. There are horrendous people along with some fantastic people there. But I think if you came with a very judgmental viewpoint against others, you'd have a tough time surviving or even enjoying SF.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jlrobe
It is in my opinion the best city in the United States.
...SF makes so many cities in the US seem boring, uneducated, uneventful, not-unique, etc.
Last edited by speedoflight; 11-03-2006 at 12:15 PM..
I lived in San Francisco in the '70s and also in Mill Valley and just loved it; since then I've visited numerous times and the place has definitely gone downhill but it remains a gem, if tarnished. The PC wackos don't help and the housing prices don't either, and to some extent SF rests upon its considerable laurels...
I agree that SF has changed a lot over the years and unfortunately, not for the better in many ways. Much has to do with housing prices. It has always been expensive to buy a place in SF, now it costs more than a fortune to do so. However, SF still remains the gem of the Bay Area. No other city in the entire Bay Area comes closed to what SF has. Despite all the issues, SF is still a world class city that is much better than most American cities. It still has a charm and uniqueness that makes it an amazing place to visit and to live in. In terms of degradation...you should see the rest of the Bay Area. It's become worse year by year.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Oaklander
I lived in San Francisco in the '70s and also in Mill Valley and just loved it; since then I've visited numerous times and the place has definitely gone downhill but it remains a gem, if tarnished. The PC wackos don't help and the housing prices don't either, and to some extent SF rests upon its considerable laurels...
San Francisco is a great place, and is indeed beautiful. I wouldn't live anywhere else.
That said, there is certainly a class problem. The gap between rich and poor is ever growing, and as has been mentioned crime is at a 10 year high, and rising. It seems most blacks in the city live in crumbling housing developments. Many don't, but it is literally no exagerration to say the majority live in high crime areas, and in bad conditions.
Contrary to popular beleif, SF has a higher crime rate than LA. The murder rate is slightly higher than LA's. Most people do not at all realize that.
According to a study that ranks city Homicide rates based on the city's demographics, wealth, etc, San Francisco came out on top. As it is, San Francisco has the 24th highest murder rate for large cities in the US. According to the study's adjusted rankings, SF has been #1 for homicides, for 3 years in a row (since the study began).
The City is great! I was born and raised in Oakland, but The City was my home away from home. There are complaints about traffic, but if you are foolish enough to drive in SF (or the Bay Area for that matter), you deserve what you get. With the lightrail, busses, BART and Taxis (that are cheap by big city standards), you can't go wrong. Even just to walk and breathe in the culture, there's nothing like it. If you are afraid of or hate crime, the homeless or drugs then live in the suburbs or a rural area. The forementioned are part of any Metro area. Growing up in the Fruitvale district of Oakland, I saw crime and drugs. Outside of Bayview and Hunters Point, SF is safe by big city standards. And of course it's going to cost a little more for everything. Like one poster said above, if you want good stuff, you have to pay! Otherwise, shop in a "box" store. I LOVE SF!
Before you make comparisons of SF and LA crime statistics, you need to look at certain population statistics about these 2 cities.
LA is 498.8 sq miles with about 4 million people. Density: 8,198/sq mi.
SF is 47 sq miles with about 740,000 people. Density: 15,837/sq mi.
Whenever you look at crime statistics that are reported, never read the stats without looking at the size of the city, population and density. Despite its fame, SF is considered a small city due its population size. LA is a very large city. It would be more apt to compare LA's crime stats with a city of similar size, population and density. Crime is on the rise and without a doubt SF has a lot of crime for a small sized city. You should compare SF with a city of similar population size such as Austin, TX. Austin has about 683,000 people. However, it is a far less dense city for the city is large (258.4 sq miles.). You will also see that Austin leads over SF in certain types of crimes such as burglary, forcible rape, larceny theft.
Let's compare LA with NYC's crime stats. For crimes reported in 2004 per 100,000 people, click on the image file I've attached (it's at the very bottom of this post). You can also see the comparison between Austin and SF.
Quote:
Originally Posted by rah
Contrary to popular beleif, SF has a higher crime rate than LA. The murder rate is slightly higher than LA's. Most people do not at all realize that. According to a study that ranks city Homicide rates based on the city's demographics, wealth, etc, San Francisco came out on top. As it is, San Francisco has the 24th highest murder rate for large cities in the US. According to the study's adjusted rankings, SF has been #1 for homicides, for 3 years in a row (since the study began).
Last edited by speedoflight; 11-14-2006 at 11:27 AM..
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