Bay Area - What's happened to it? (Sacramento, Oakland: crime rates, job market)

[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?

[Jonotastic]

It was fine for me...did he give any specifics? Some people don't understand that cities/countries/people develop, grow, progress, and change with time.

[hsw]

It's all relative

SF's PacHts and SiliconValley are fine; remain a couple of world's most enjoyable places to live/work...rest of SF region is a dump w/great weather (like it's always been)

Biggest recent change is LA's Westside has supplanted SF in many surprising ways...like better grub

But all major urban regions are facing increasing street crime, worse road pavement, etc w/a deep recession....City of SF's socialist absurdities only make its QOL fall more dramatically vs more capitalist LA/BH (or Chicago), esp in era of decreased tax revenues

[jman650]

Originally Posted by hsw

It's all relative

SF's PacHts and SiliconValley are fine; remain a couple of world's most enjoyable places to live/work...rest of SF region is a dump w/great weather (like it's always been)

Biggest recent change is LA's Westside has supplanted SF in many surprising ways...like better grub

But all major urban regions are facing increasing street crime, worse road pavement, etc w/a deep recession....City of SF's socialist absurdities only make its QOL fall more dramatically vs more capitalist LA/BH (or Chicago), esp in era of decreased tax revenues

Wow hsw, how profound and unexpected of you to say. Thanks for keeping us on our toes by always having so much new to say and not repeating the same thing over and over and over again. Much appreciated!

Btw, its kind of hard to tell, but do you somewhat favor Palo Alto, Pacific Heights & LA's Westside a bit and feel that the rest of CA is a toxic dump? Just curious because you have not made that clear in all of your previous balanced/non-biased posts.

(note: EXTREME sarcasm)

[jman650]

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?

It all depends on your perspective. How long ago did you leave, and where in the Bay did you live before?

Overall, I think this place has changed a lot, and I'm not happy with many of the changes, but I am very happy with some of them. I wouldn't say this place is in trouble. The crime rates have increased since the unusually low period of roughly '97-'02, but if you lived here before that and read the paper or watched the news at all it wouldn't phase you. People have been making a big deal out of it in recent years, but I think that's mostly b/c of the internet and heavier news coverage making more people aware of it. Its nowhere near what it was in the early '90s or late '80s.

Aside from that, the Bay is overrun with yuppies who have really affected the general attitude of folks around here. People aren't as friendly as they used to be, and many small businesses have had to close due to the cost of living being raised to ridiculous proportions. But aside from these issues, its still a wonderful place to live (if you can find some way to possibly afford it) and it still has more to offer than most of the rest of the US. I still love it and am hoping this transition continues so that it can be further altered into a place where people of all backgrounds can live comfortably again, and not the playground for the wealthy that it has become.

If you have the option, you should come visit for a week or two and see what you think. If you're from Danville, Hillsborough or Mill Valley I'd doubt that you'd be put off by the changes. And certain places like San Mateo and Fremont have improved IMHO in the past 10 years. See what you think.

[DjRey]

Originally Posted by hsw

It's all relative

SF's PacHts and SiliconValley are fine; remain a couple of world's most enjoyable places to live/work...rest of SF region is a dump w/great weather (like it's always been)

Biggest recent change is LA's Westside has supplanted SF in many surprising ways...like better grub

But all major urban regions are facing increasing street crime, worse road pavement, etc w/a deep recession....City of SF's socialist absurdities only make its QOL fall more dramatically vs more capitalist LA/BH (or Chicago), esp in era of decreased tax revenues

This is really hilarious...

[bayarea-girl]

The bay has changed. Housing prices are dropping like crazy, but are still overpriced! Crime is going up. Businesses are closing. No more flipping is happening. The job market in the bay is still good especially when you compare it to the rest of the states. Visit but I wouldn't move anywhere right now unless you have a job.

[footballer0607]

The biggest change that I've seen is the dispersal of certain segments of Oakland and SF's population out to the suburbs or up to the Stockton/Sacramento, due to, among other things, rapid gentrification.

[clongirl]

Originally Posted by hsw

It's all relative

SF's PacHts and SiliconValley are fine; remain a couple of world's most enjoyable places to live/work...rest of SF region is a dump w/great weather (like it's always been)

Biggest recent change is LA's Westside has supplanted SF in many surprising ways...like better grub

But all major urban regions are facing increasing street crime, worse road pavement, etc w/a deep recession....City of SF's socialist absurdities only make its QOL fall more dramatically vs more capitalist LA/BH (or Chicago), esp in era of decreased tax revenues

Yes, it's changed from middle class family sort of place (with a few exceptions) to a bunch of socially retarded newcomers with Asperger's syndrome that focus on words like "capitalist" , "hedge fund", "financiers", and "Darwinian selection".

[jzt83]

It's full of type-A ******* workaholic corporate drones who are greedy, selfish, and intent on imposing their ideals onto you. The overall sociopathy level is higher than average and many people couldn't care if you were dead in the middle of the street.