SF Is No Fun (San Diego: transplants, foreclosures, unemployment)

[guy1]

I'm not the type to give up easily. When I have a goal, I do my best to reach it.

My goal for the longest time, has been to have a GREAT time in SF. A walloping good time. A no holds barred, laugh out loud, riotously good time. Despite my best efforts, despite going to ball games, concerts, meeting up with friends (trying to) make new friends, it's never clicked.

NOT ONCE have I returned from a visit and said: AWESOME.

I'm starting to think it's not possible. Usually, I reflect and say, that SHOULD've been fun, but it wasn't. Why?

It's not the parking issue. I've encountered much worse in other cities. It's not the weather: again, I've encountered much worse. There's something wrong, just off, yet unspoken about the city.

Yes, I have seen SFers smile. I do see them engaging in things which most everyone would consider to be "fun."

For some reason, I can't tap into that vibe. Or, it doesn't really exist there.

There are hundreds of thousands of residents, so they must be there for a reason. There must be some appeal to living in that town.

But I can't "feel" it.

And you can tell that SFers aren't fun simply by reading their posts in defense of their town.

And it's too bad. The food in SF is absolutely top notch. But it's not fun eating it. Truth.

[Tiger Beer]

I think its a combination of things.

I actually think SF is just way too expensive for normal people to enjoy.

It also seems like the nightlife goes into 3 categories...either you are a yuppie, gay, or drug scene. If you aren't one of those three things...GOOD LUCK trying to have fun in SF...you just won't find it.

[Gentoo]

Sometimes you just don't click with a certain place. Some people can, just about anywhere they are. This is how I am with San Diego. I've lived here for a long time and have done the SD lifestyle thing many times. I just don't click with this place.

You might want to try San Diego. You may click with it better as a lot of people do. It takes a certain type of person to click in SF. Not even all Bay Area people click with the city.

[Tallysmom]

How long have you been here? How long have you been trying?

The reason I bring this up is because we are in a recession, or barely coming out of one. The worst one since the Great Depression. Things are tight all over. There are cutbacks EVERYWHERE. People are way more stressed -- from unemployment, foreclosures, housing values plummeting, to stock portfolios taking a huge dump..... pretty much no one is getting out of this unscathed.

So if you arrived here not too long ago and expect it to be fun -- that's sort of like showing up to New Orleans two weeks after Katrina and expecting it to be back to normal.

I can't imagine a place that is all hunky dory life is skittles and beer happy happy joy joy right now.

[andyadhi01]

I think the two big reasons are: high cost and bad weather! I also noticed that people are more focused on career (not a bad thing) than having fun. Every activity is scheduled, planned and over-analyzed. So there is a lack of spontaneity and being genuine...Everybody is too busy doing whats cool rather than what they actually enjoy. Also the life style is fast-paced and constantly obsessing about money will wear out anyone. I have never cared so much about money before I moved here.... I think your stress level will go down significantly if you avoid certain phony neighborhoods and their phony lifestyles altogether and just be yourself. The see-and-be-seen lifestyle is pretty sickening once you are past a certain age and it does not make anyone happy!

[Oakland Uptown]

What are you looking for? People walking around happy all the time smiling? SF is a city of well off transplants now. Most of the people you'll find out in clubs etc at night are from other parts of the bay area anyways so not sure how 7 million + different types of people can be any different than anywhere else. Have you gone out Halloween night or to other events that happen around the city? Have you ever thought maybe the problem is you? Maybe you'll like Miami or LA better.

[grapico]

I thought they shut the halloween festivities down b/c people got shot...

[ElectroPlumber]

I thought I was the only one who felt that way about SF. When I visit, it seems that everyone is "focused" on something. There just isn't anyone relaxing and doing mindless, fun things like other cities. Even when I see groups of people talking, it's like they were discussing the Tax Code.

I stopped into a Starbucks on California Street and just sat for awhile. The atmosphere was unlike any other one I'd ever been in. Just way too focused.

[HockeyMac18]

Originally Posted by andyadhi01

and bad weather!

Bad compared to what? Have you actually lived in city with bad weather before? I lived in Rochester, NY for many years, where we're covered by feet of snow for (sometimes) 5-6 months of the year. Also, the wind doesn't stop blowing here in the winter (making wind chill routinely near 0 F), and the sun rarely makes an appearance in the months of Nov - April.

Maybe if you're comparing it to Hawaii, I'd understand your "bad weather" comment...and I'm not saying SF's weather is perfect.

But please look at reality. It is not bad, especially if you've lived anywhere with a real winter.

[Oakland Uptown]

Originally Posted by grapico

I thought they shut the halloween festivities down b/c people got shot...

That's just the Castro street event, but the rest of SF is very lively during Halloween all sorts of clubs and bars open with fun stuff going on. Just walking around market is fun.