Learn the truth about San Francisco, from a Native (Oakland: section 8, transplants)

[SFNATIVE]

San Francisco is one of the most beatiful cities on the west coast if not the world. Called me biased. I am one of few born and bred san franciscans. I grew up in the ingleside neighborhood, not district, and have gone to school downtown all my life, worked in HP, Potrero Hill, produce districts, all that.

The faces of the this city continue to change and the SF of today is hardly the SF of what once was. Although fighting the change is useless the sad thing about the current gentrification is that it will erase completely what was there before it, the memory of the places only engraved in certain peoples minds.

SF is advertised as this very liberal city, tolerant of homosexual lifestyles, weed smoke, "diversity". A progressive place to be. Although we are progressing, I dont know where the hell were going.

People migrate to certain places for various reasons. Sometimes its the belief that there politcal ideology belongs in a certain reason.

People now migrate here if you have money. The people that are moving into this city are primarily white and make amazing money, so you have nancy and greg from conneticut moving into a latino neighborhood in the city. Soon there a tons of nancy and gregs and it drives high rents in, poor people out, and erases the neighborhood that once was, or cuts it down so small that it turns into a dense ghetto of section 8 housing.

The Truth:
This may be one of the most geographically beatiful places on earth
Money runs this City
Most people that move into the City have a very poor knowledge of it and its neighborhoods.
The City is very segregated, dont be fooled for a minute.
The affulence and influence of homosexuals in this city, the castro has never been a poor section, has made them more important to the city than the middle/working class and african americans
The sense of real community in neighborhoods is gone in all white neighborhoods, it is replaced with capitalism and fancy cars and hand bags

Come visit, stay a while, live a couple years, but your always gonna be visiting. Please stop making it impossible to live in my hometown outside next or in the projects and go to Clevland. They need you and they have an Ikea

[SFNATIVE]

To correct myself North Beach stands strong, which is absolutely amazing in itself

[Huckleberry3911948]

i love SF 10 year former resident.
every word of your post true.
i dont burst into tears when gang bangers are pushed out by the rich.
tolerance works very well esp for SF, the critical part of it is there must always remain a conservative stable majority to balance out the crazies & be tolerant of them.
if the crazies get too large and everybody is nuts tolerance becomes a meaningless term.

[trover]

Originally Posted by SFNATIVE

The affulence and influence of homosexuals in this city, the castro has never been a poor section, has made them more important to the city than the middle/working class and african americans
The sense of real community in neighborhoods is gone in all white neighborhoods, it is replaced with capitalism and fancy cars and hand bags

I have a problem with this line of thinking [and forgive me if I misinterpreted you], i.e. that "affluent homosexuals" are somehow worse/ less valuable to a "sense of real community" than "middle/working class african americans." In truth, I think SF really ought to have both, but the idea that (1) gay people are always more affluent and (2) that they are less of a bedrock to the community than African-Americans plays into a lot of stereotypes that just aren't true. One thing I like about the Bay Area is that we don't simply "tolerate" gay people here. They are, by and large, ordinary and valued members of our community, and I wouldn't have it any other way. Great cities don't just include a lot of people who know a lot about the neighborhoods within the city. They also include lots of people who know a thing or two about living in the world outside the city line.

Come visit, stay a while, live a couple years, but your always gonna be visiting. Please stop making it impossible to live in my hometown outside next or in the projects and go to Clevland. They need you and they have an Ikea

I agree, the housing thing is out of control. Consider the flip side, though. Places like Cleavland, or Buffalo, or Detroit are all wonderful cities in their own right. But they're not nearly as welcoming of outsiders as we are. As a result, creative and talented people aren't really interested in locating there. As industry has left those places, nothing's come to replace them. Some of the Greg's and Nancy's you've mentioned come here, start innovative new businesses and make our local economy thrive. Historically, going back to the gold rush, everybody in SF was from someplace else. SF's tendency to welcome outsiders is part of what made it great, and you turn them away at your peril. Great cities don't just include people who know about the neighborhoods within the city. They also have lots of people who have lived in the world outside of it.

To correct myself North Beach stands strong, which is absolutely amazing in itself

Now that's interesting. If there was a section of the city that's been overly colonized by affluent white people, North Beach would be my pick. They've taken what was a thriving bohemian community and turned it into a virtual Potemkin town of wall-to-wall expensive Italian bistros.

[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. San Francisco has a black eye and its the projects that are segregated so far from the city its embarrasing.
Its almost pointless to play society judge, but its what I see and feel.
Not to labor the point or drift to politics but i voted for prop 8 and would strike up conversation with people at bars about the issue. The most common line I heard from people was
"Wow, I never thought Id meet someone so closeminded and intolerant from San Francisco."
Theres something in the coffee here that makes people think a certain way, I dunno.

To close Castro/Eureka Valley/Rainbowflag world, is a very wealthy upscale area, and if there was a poor homosexual neighborhood in vis valley, no one would give a flyn F and the movie MLK would be a lil different

[Jonotastic]

You could ask another native being brought up in Marina and you'd get a whole other description of San Francisco. When people use the race card, I tend to automatically reject whatever they are saying or their point of view. It isn't the rich are pushing out the African Americans, it's the poor not being able to afford to live in the city. San Francisco isn't the only city in the United States which has become more expensive to live in recent times. My cousin is dating a Domican who lives in Pac Heights, making around $250,000 a year. If he would of automatically told himself, oh I'm hispanic, there is no point in me working hard and trying hard in school and applying to numerous internships, working for free because of my race, he would have got nowhere. Also, who do you think pays for their monthly wellfare and building projects? Anyways, the way you wrote the question...the TRUTH about SF, is just misleading. It's like saying, the REAL meaning of life. There is no right or wrong answer and playing on the ignorance of people who never been to SF is just wrong.

[DITC]

Same thing happens in New York. Everyone wants to come have their "Big apple en-why-see" pilgrimage. The problem is these people in random villages in flyover states dont realize they along with 293850235890 other people are doing this. It used to be Manhattan could fit these people, but now they are infesting every corner of the city. The problem with transplants is they usually dont stay long and contribute to the fabric of a neighborhood, and they often uproot less financially capable people who have roots in the city. Its sad but there is nothing you can do about it.

Originally Posted by SFNATIVE

The faces of the this city continue to change and the SF of today is hardly the SF of what once was. Although fighting the change is useless the sad thing about the current gentrification is that it will erase completely what was there before it, the memory of the places only engraved in certain peoples minds.

SF is advertised as this very liberal city, tolerant of homosexual lifestyles, weed smoke, "diversity". A progressive place to be. Although we are progressing, I dont know where the hell were going.

People migrate to certain places for various reasons. Sometimes its the belief that there politcal ideology belongs in a certain reason.

People now migrate here if you have money. The people that are moving into this city are primarily white and make amazing money, so you have nancy and greg from conneticut moving into a latino neighborhood in the city. Soon there a tons of nancy and gregs and it drives high rents in, poor people out, and erases the neighborhood that once was, or cuts it down so small that it turns into a dense ghetto of section 8 housing.

The Truth:
This may be one of the most geographically beatiful places on earth
Money runs this City
Most people that move into the City have a very poor knowledge of it and its neighborhoods.
The City is very segregated, dont be fooled for a minute.
The affulence and influence of homosexuals in this city, the castro has never been a poor section, has made them more important to the city than the middle/working class and african americans
The sense of real community in neighborhoods is gone in all white neighborhoods, it is replaced with capitalism and fancy cars and hand bags

Come visit, stay a while, live a couple years, but your always gonna be visiting. Please stop making it impossible to live in my hometown outside next or in the projects and go to Clevland. They need you and they have an Ikea

[krudmonk]

Originally Posted by SFNATIVE

so you have nancy and greg from conneticut moving into a latino neighborhood in the city. Soon there a tons of nancy and gregs and it drives high rents in, poor people out, and erases the neighborhood that once was, or cuts it down so small that it turns into a dense ghetto of section 8 housing.

Originally Posted by Huckleberry3911948

i dont burst into tears when gang bangers are pushed out by the rich.

Nice connection...

[movingwiththewind]

Originally Posted by DITC

Same thing happens in New York. Everyone wants to come have their "Big apple en-why-see" pilgrimage. The problem is these people in random villages in flyover states dont realize they along with 293850235890 other people are doing this. It used to be Manhattan could fit these people, but now they are infesting every corner of the city. The problem with transplants is they usually dont stay long and contribute to the fabric of a neighborhood, and they often uproot less financially capable people who have roots in the city. Its sad but there is nothing you can do about it.

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.

[clongirl]

Originally Posted by SFNATIVE

San Francisco is one of the most beatiful cities on the west coast if not the world. Called me biased. I am one of few born and bred san franciscans. I grew up in the ingleside neighborhood, not district, and have gone to school downtown all my life, worked in HP, Potrero Hill, produce districts, all that.

The faces of the this city continue to change and the SF of today is hardly the SF of what once was. Although fighting the change is useless the sad thing about the current gentrification is that it will erase completely what was there before it, the memory of the places only engraved in certain peoples minds.

SF is advertised as this very liberal city, tolerant of homosexual lifestyles, weed smoke, "diversity". A progressive place to be. Although we are progressing, I dont know where the hell were going.

People migrate to certain places for various reasons. Sometimes its the belief that there politcal ideology belongs in a certain reason.

People now migrate here if you have money. The people that are moving into this city are primarily white and make amazing money, so you have nancy and greg from conneticut moving into a latino neighborhood in the city. Soon there a tons of nancy and gregs and it drives high rents in, poor people out, and erases the neighborhood that once was, or cuts it down so small that it turns into a dense ghetto of section 8 housing.

The Truth:
This may be one of the most geographically beatiful places on earth
Money runs this City
Most people that move into the City have a very poor knowledge of it and its neighborhoods.
The City is very segregated, dont be fooled for a minute.
The affulence and influence of homosexuals in this city, the castro has never been a poor section, has made them more important to the city than the middle/working class and african americans
The sense of real community in neighborhoods is gone in all white neighborhoods, it is replaced with capitalism and fancy cars and hand bags

Come visit, stay a while, live a couple years, but your always gonna be visiting. Please stop making it impossible to live in my hometown outside next or in the projects and go to Clevland. They need you and they have an Ikea

I also agree with most of your observations. I was just in the City a week ago dining at an old favorite in my old neighborhood and I was a little sad to me that everyone was in in their 20's (not that there's anything wrong with your 20's! ). There was absolutely no cultural diversity, no elderly or other families to be seen (and this was a "family friendly" type place in a "family friendly" neighborhood). I remember it very differently when I was growing up. It used to definitely be more middle class with Pac Heights/Marina being the two exceptions. Noe Valley used to be a working class neighborhood. Hayes Valley used to be one of the bad parts of town.

Although San Francisco has always been a young city, it just seemed to be lacking in any culture other than white, single, money. Very transient feeling and mostly newcomers (I'm assuming).

Funny, now that I live in the East Bay, I've only met ex-San Franciscans and people from Oakland! Now, I just see it as a place to visit when I feel like taking my kids to museums or when I'm craving dim sum. I guess those changes were inevitable and must be accepted now since most of the locals have moved to other parts of the Bay Area.