Learn the truth about San Francisco, from a Native (San Jose: crime, school)

[DITC]

West of the Mississippi River, San Francisco is probably the most interesting city to live in. Its like any other interesting city - a bunch of uninteresting people with nothing to offer come as transients to soak up the culture and tell people they lived in SF, yet they dont contribute anything back to the city. It is a cultural vacuum. This is why all cities in America and even the world are converging together and becoming the same exact place.

Originally Posted by movingwiththewind

I think the real problem is that there are just a few interesting cities to live in US. Naturally, those couple of places get very desirable and, therefore, very expensive and crowded. For example, I spent a lot of time in Germany/Europe. Now, comparing to US, Germany is a small country. Still, I can easily count more interesting cities to live in Germany than in US . In addition, when Europeans come for a visit, only a couple of American cities are on their list. They are not so much interested in urban America. They are more into natural beauty (national parks, countryside) this country offers. San Fransisco is so attractive partly because there are so many dull cities/towns in US that it makes SF a real gem. In my opinion, very few American cities are built to live and so many more just to do business! Sorry, if I got off-topic.

[DeCoverley]

Originally Posted by NorthernCalifornia

man, many young people (under 35) who live in SF, NYC and other big US cities are greatly supported by their parents. this has driven up rents and lowered salaries.

This is the case with some young people in SF and NYC, yes. Its also the case in every other city and town in the U.S. I seriously doubt this phenomenon really drives rents and salaries...

[sonarrat]

Originally Posted by DITC

West of the Mississippi River, San Francisco is probably the most interesting city to live in. Its like any other interesting city - a bunch of uninteresting people with nothing to offer come as transients to soak up the culture and tell people they lived in SF, yet they dont contribute anything back to the city. It is a cultural vacuum. This is why all cities in America and even the world are converging together and becoming the same exact place.

So true. So many people just view living in SF as an extended vacation, and once they inevitably run out of money, they go back to work wherever they were before. My question is, why pretend? I got a taste of it when my apartment had a fire. I stayed in an inlaw apartment in the Sunset on a temporary basis. Quite to the contrary of what I usually hear, the sense I had was that I was too far away from everything. None of the stores I liked to go to were represented in SF, it took too long to get anywhere, and the people I saw walking around weren't the type I would have liked to talk to. I was orders of magnitude more comfortable in "sleepy" South San Francisco, and even more so now living in San Jose.

[jzt83]

The one huge downside is the lack of immigrants from countries other than China, Taiwain and Central America.

The lack of a decent independent 24 hr coffee house, let alone a decent one open at limited hours is another downside.

But yeah, the people here seem very plain, boring, and vanilla. It feels like what I'd imagine the Midwest to be like.

[gizmo980]

Originally Posted by SFNATIVE

Great feedback, San Francisco has lots of gay parade activities that I think get a lot of support from local government. Folosom street fair is the only one that jumps to my mind, but from my memory i remember alot of lets say vibrant parades and festivals. We dont have anything honoring the hard work that a huge percentage of african descended americans did in the Harbors, nothing celebrating the black panther party, jazz music, and it goes on.

A few facts you might want to know first - Folsom St. fair isn't a "gay event" (it's billed as a "fetish/leather fair," and we all know straight people have fetishes too ), and they do have events honoring other cultures. Don't they actually have a jazz festival on Fillmore every year? It's even called the jazz district, according to the flags they have on the light poles. And I live in the Bayview/HP area, where they do have many cultural events regularly... they just don't get the press coverage of anything gay-related.

Now to address your original post, most of what you said is true... but it's also true about nearly every city in the U.S. I guess this is just how society progresses, whether or not we like it. I've been in the Bay Area since 1983, and it has changed a lot - the SF vibe is still here, though, and some of the changes have been positive ones. But seriously, can you think of ANY big city that's the same as it was 30 years ago?

[Stacy From Cali]

Originally Posted by jzt83

The one huge downside is the lack of immigrants from countries other than China, Taiwain and Central America.

The lack of a decent independent 24 hr coffee house, let alone a decent one open at limited hours is another downside.

But yeah, the people here seem very plain, boring, and vanilla. It feels like what I'd imagine the Midwest to be like.

Dude, no. Just, no. As the opinion of someone who has lived in San Francisco and is now in Nebraska, there. is. no. similarity.

Now send me some good dim sum before I starve!

[ALX8725]

LOL, what the threadstarter failed to recognize is the HUGE population of Asians/Asian-Americans that is clearly visible in ANY part of the city.

[SFNATIVE]

Originally Posted by ALX8725

LOL, what the threadstarter failed to recognize is the HUGE population of Asians/Asian-Americans that is clearly visible in ANY part of the city.

Oh thats right I havent noticed them taking over every nonwhite neighborhood in the city. My bad, good call.

[SFNATIVE]

Originally Posted by gizmo980

A few facts you might want to know first - Folsom St. fair isn't a "gay event" (it's billed as a "fetish/leather fair," and we all know straight people have fetishes too ), and they do have events honoring other cultures. Don't they actually have a jazz festival on Fillmore every year? It's even called the jazz district, according to the flags they have on the light poles. And I live in the Bayview/HP area, where they do have many cultural events regularly... they just don't get the press coverage of anything gay-related.

Now to address your original post, most of what you said is true... but it's also true about nearly every city in the U.S. I guess this is just how society progresses, whether or not we like it. I've been in the Bay Area since 1983, and it has changed a lot - the SF vibe is still here, though, and some of the changes have been positive ones. But seriously, can you think of ANY big city that's the same as it was 30 years ago?

If the folsom street fair aint a gay event, then chow mein is irish food.

But I cant argue with most of what u said. Gays are not a minority group to me, there like a club or union, there bonded together as gays by their action. They are a very influential and prominant group in SF.

[rah]

Originally Posted by SFNATIVE

We dont have anything honoring the hard work that a huge percentage of african descended americans did in the Harbors, nothing celebrating the black panther party, jazz music, and it goes on.

Don't forget about the Juneteenth Festival...