Bay Area - What's happened to it? (Oakland, Concord: apartment, to rent)

[DeCoverley]

Originally Posted by clongirl

Why? Was that you?

If it was me you would have been carrying my bags.

[joe stixpuck]

Originally Posted by DeCoverley

If it was me you would have been carrying my bags.

Hit the nail on the head with that quote, whether joking or not. Most of the Bay Area is full of that kinda mentality.

Most of the people who've moved there during the past few years have only been able to do so because they're either VERY well off, or their company paid generously to relocate them. Then they gave them inflated salaries, after which most of their egos blow up enormously.

I knew plenty of BA natives who were especially attuned to that aspect of the more recent 'evolution' of the area. Even though some of them made big bucks too, they were usually very grounded people who didn't care for the ultra-yuppie mentality that has become so pervasive.

It's all about the bucks, what kinda new 'extreme sport' can I take lessons for this week, and who has time for family and related values when everything goes anyway. Not everyone who relocates out there is like that, but I saw enough of it during three years out there that it left a black cloud over what should be a fantastic place.

From what friends who've lived there a long time have told me, the Bay Area is becoming a much more narcisistic place in nature, where before it wasn't so filled with self-serving and arrogant people. I guess that's the price of 'evolution' and 'progress' though.

[jman650]

Originally Posted by AnUnidentifiedMale

But isn't everybody in San Francisco gay? I mean - that's what the gay-haters all say.

Of course not! That's only 1/3 of SF. You left out the hippies/druggies and vegan/cyclist/animal rights/activist liberals who make up the other 2/3 of our population.

[jman650]

Originally Posted by DeCoverley

I don't mean to be an a-hole. That was a very sarcastic and pointed comment. I love SF, always have, in all its iterations. I was born here, b/t/w, how about you jman? Where you from?

Of course things are different. They're different all over the country. The greed, money culture, whatever you want to call it that some on here bemoan is that of the recent culture as a whole, the result of the real estate/financial bubble. Its merely crystallized in cities, especially SF, because that's where the opportunity is, where the higher-paying jobs are.

Well it was intended as such in response to your comment negatively describing those of us who don't enjoy the current version of where we grew up. I was born here too, at Kaiser in RWC, and I'm a 5th generation San Franciscan who has lived in almost every city on the Peninsula between SF and San Mateo throughout my entire life. My great-grandfather oversaw the construction of the Palace of Fine Arts (supposedly), and both sides of my family arrived here in SF at different points. So I'm firmly entrenched in this area and feel very strongly that it is my home.

It is true that things are different all over the country, just like they are here. Same goes for the entire Earth in many respects. Times change, and not always for the better. I agree as well that the present culture as a whole is also to blame for the changes we don't care for. But I resent the fact that I cannot realistically expect to own a house in my home area without landing a high six-figure job, which I don't anticipate happening, and even if I do end up able to afford it, I will now be forced to share space with unfriendly, non-personable yuppie douchebags who I don't care to live near in the first place. And at the current rate, the majority of my favorite shops & restaurants will be replaced by uptight chains like Straits and the like. I don't care to live in Santana Row or SF's Marina District, and I don't enjoy the transformation of so much of the Bay Area into such a place.

That's just how I personally feel. Its not that I'm being too sentimental or resistant to change; I love improvements and variety. I just don't like some of the trades we've made. Look at Burlingame Avenue, for example. I went to high school at Burlingame in the early 90's and it was a much different place. Now this was always too lilly-white and uptight a community IMO overall, but its gotten so much moreso in the past 15 years its not even funny. There used to be a bunch of unique businesses there (I can list some if you need me to) that weren't to be found elsewhere and there was a lot more activity up and down the Avenue. Now kids can hardly be found there (at least when comparing it to before) after 5PM, and it looks like Stanford Mall spread out on a street. It was a big deal when the Gap first arrived there way back when; now there's Pottery Barn, Bebe, Apple, etc. I think in some ways it has improved, and its definitely a more well-known destination than it was in the past. But its lost a lot of its character, and the only thing that remains on the first block of the street that existed when I was in high school is Starbucks, which was brand new back then around '92 or '93.

But what you say is true. The Bay offers a lot of the kinds of jobs that attract these kinds of people. And it is still a special place. It just used to be much more special to me, and I'm not happy about some of the change that's taken place. I'm not crying about it, but I am no longer tied here like I once was. It's not as desireable a place to me as it used to be. Hopefully it will once again it will be.

[jman650]

Originally Posted by rah

No, it had to have been the Marina Safeway. That sounds like textbook Marina/Pacific Heights yuppy behavior. The most common problem at the Market Street Safeway would probably be homeless people finding ways to sh*t on the ceiling of the bathroom

Lol

[JMadison]

Originally Posted by jzt83

Greed and money is what happened to it.

An honest question here, not an attack.

Given today's world, how can one not end up being greedy, or at least wanting wealth?

I've worked pretty hard my whole life and never really gotten to the good life. Then I see/hear stories of 20-something Wall Street traders getting 6 and 7(!) figure bonuses.

Hard not to want a piece of that action, isn't it?

On the other hand, if you say, "I don't need it" your choices of places to live seems to be ghetto and more ghetto.

It's almost as if you *have* to become greedy just to get to par.

I don't have the means, but if I did, I swear I'd be a trader for a couple of years and quit forever, LOL! (Granted traders are likely being laid off in droves at the minute, but you get the idea.)

Where's the "nobility" in getting screwed by the system your entire life, to retire old, broken and worn out, with no security?

[jman650]

Originally Posted by JMadison

An honest question here, not an attack.

Given today's world, how can one not end up being greedy, or at least wanting wealth?

I've worked pretty hard my whole life and never really gotten to the good life. Then I see/hear stories of 20-something Wall Street traders getting 6 and 7(!) figure bonuses.

Hard not to want a piece of that action, isn't it?

On the other hand, if you say, "I don't need it" your choices of places to live seems to be ghetto and more ghetto.

It's almost as if you *have* to become greedy just to get to par.

I don't have the means, but if I did, I swear I'd be a trader for a couple of years and quit forever, LOL! (Granted traders are likely being laid off in droves at the minute, but you get the idea.)

Where's the "nobility" in getting screwed by the system your entire life, to retire old, broken and worn out, with no security?

Yeah I think your post highlights what several people are misunderstanding when we're speaking on "greed & money." It's not like one shouldn't be motivated to succeed or acquire wealth. That's not the issue here. The problem is that the types we're speaking negatively on are people who prioritize money before all else and seem to care little about anything else. This kind just thinks about work and how to get ahead and could care less about their neighbor stumbling out of their front door dying from a heart attack. They're very negative to be around, and they're here in force now. It's completely understandable that folks are more focused on money nowadays simply for survival. But some of these people could maybe slow their Jaguars down at a certain stopsign to allow an old lady to cross the street safely. Know what I mean?

I totally respect a self-made, successful individual. But I lose all of that respect when that individual comes across as though they are better than anyone from a blue-collar background. (Which is hilarious when you think about it, b/c those blue-collar people they sneer down their noses at are the ones they call when their being robbed or their house is on fire.) And for some reason many of these Beamer-driving yuppies can't drive for $hit, making them even less tolerable. Successful, friendly, down-to-Earth people are all good though IMO.

[DeCoverley]

I hear you jman. I agree with 99% of what you say, particularly about the proliferation of chains to the detriment of small businesses. That situation drives me up the wall also. They’ve made it tough to start and keep a small business here.

I, too, wish that I could purchase a house or a condo. I don’t consider it my right, however. I’m willing to make a tradeoff because I don’t have to commute to work, which IMHO is a total luxury.

I’m no fan of the yuppie types you describe, either. Let's not forget however, that there are total jerks at every socioeconomic level. It’s just the manifestation of their jerkiness that is different.

Cheers.

[jaindow]

Originally Posted by nmguy

I moved away from the Bay Area a while back and recently had the desire to return.

When I told this to a friend, he said, "Don't come back. This place is in trouble".

What's happened to the Bay Area over the past year?

I wonder if your friend was referring to the Bay Area specifically or the State of California as a whole? While some issues that are catching major headlines today have taken well over a year to get to or have been recurring issues for California, I am sure the constant media attention is souring some people. Some of those things being the State deficit, unemployment funds drying up, real estate bubble/bust, and many issues that others have pointed out already. And now the delay in tax refunds, without interest of course, won't sit well with many people. Of course, looking nationwide, you will see many of the same issues to a greater or lesser extent.

So perhaps it's just what you make of it.

[bayarea-girl]

jaindow, they probably were also referring to Vallejo Bankruptcy that made news too. When I lived out of CA what hit me the most was the unemployment rate, food banks lines, and housing market in addition to Vallejo's collapse.