Is Boston the San Francisco of the East Coast? (San Diego: college, living)

[Gentoo]

Originally Posted by tstieber

True, Boston is older, more real, more down do Earth. SF is definitely a lifestyle city, and I've often compared it to Disneyland -- hey, there's Chinatown, the Italian district, Gay World, Yuppieville, Glamorous Waterfront, Mini-hattan! But I actually like those aspects of SF, so for me, I'd take it over Boston any day... :-) I like being able to experience so many different worlds in one small place. Even the Bay Area itself has wine countries, both rugged coastline and sandy summer beaches, both forested coastal mountains and hot dusty interior valleys,both cities and suburbs, nerds vs. hipsters, country music vs. hip hop, liberal vs. conservative. It's a place of extremes, massive extremes that reflect the intersection of all things Pacific Rim, the north and south, and the east and west. That's what makes SF so exciting. Don't like something about SF? Go around the corner, and it will all be different. That is not Boston.

This post deserves a thread of it's own.

[Gentoo]

Originally Posted by andyadhi01

Are you denying my statement or what? Hey, in this town a $15 burger with extra $2 for cheese and $5 for fries is becoming the norm. Admittedly these are good burgers but at the end of the day its still a burger and has far more unhealthy calories compared to cheap fast food burger. People over here love this $20 burger meal and then sneer at make fun of the poor people eating their $5 meal at McDonalds! Their is nothing wrong with upscale, gourmet places but the obsession people have with these over here is nauseating! So keep making fun of Dunkin donuts and 7-11 and watch the next sushi bistro, wine bar and organic pet food store going up in your neighborhood

Where the hell are you getting a burger for 15 dollars? Sure SF is more expensive than the rest of the bay area but that has a lot to do with it being the metro center so to speak. Manhattan is every bit as expensive if not more. Downtown San Diego is also more expensive than elsewhere around here and the same is true with Seattle.

You're not telling the whole story; people anywhere who eat at more gourmet or upscale places sneer at those who may eat at McDonald's. That's just typical culinary snobbery and certainly isn't unique to SF.

[Gentoo]

Originally Posted by BVitamin

Andy, why so bitter? I think we get the idea that you dislike a lot of aspects of SF, no need to continue with the snarky remarks, we get the idea, yeah?

While SF is not technically a part of PNW, it has more similarities with Portland and Seattle than it does with other CA cities, I tend to just lump them together.

I understand that and agree with you. There are others around who also lump the Bay Area with the PNW because culturally, they are quite similar.

[NorCal Dude]

I dont understand why people in the bay are always trying to compare themselves to other cities.

SF seems to have this major indentity crisis, they just can not accept the fact that they are not on the east coast.

Look at all the nonsense you see on the site, "is sf like chicago" is sf like manhattan, boston, philly.

Its all so silly, when ever I go back east I never here people in chicago going, hey are we like philly, or people in new york going he are we like boston, or people in cleveland like hey are we like pittsburg,

Its so silly accept who you are and deal with. Youre SF, not Manhattan, not boston, you are your own entity of a city.

You people are trying to compare a city where the every day life you see this:

YouTube - Bum Fu aka Street Fighter

vs this:


YouTube - John Forbes Kerry House Boston Beacon Hill Louisburg Square

[andyadhi01]

Originally Posted by Gentoo

That's just typical culinary snobbery and certainly isn't unique to SF.

The problem is that this snobbery is not born out of a well cultivated taste or culture..Its more like crass materialism and the classic hipper-than-thou mentality that is so widespread here!

[Gentoo]

Originally Posted by andyadhi01

The problem is that this snobbery is not born out of a well cultivated taste or culture..Its more like crass materialism and the classic hipper-than-thou mentality that is so widespread here!

That's neither here nor there. The point was, this isn't unique to San Francisco. I had this exact same conversation with some people I know in San Diego. There is some snootiness here that doesn't exist anywhere else. However, this form of culninary snobbery you find so distasteful (and I can't say I blame you for that really), is common in any area where you have a decent amount of upscale restaurants. Hell here in SD, that sort of attitude exist between malls even.

Perhaps it's a west coast thing? This could be yet another way that SF differs from Boston? I don't know, a Bostonian would need to chime in now.

[calisnuffy]

Originally Posted by NorCal Dude

I dont understand why people in the bay are always trying to compare themselves to other cities.

SF seems to have this major indentity crisis, they just can not accept the fact that they are not on the east coast.

Look at all the nonsense you see on the site, "is sf like chicago" is sf like manhattan, boston, philly.

Its all so silly, when ever I go back east I never here people in chicago going, hey are we like philly, or people in new york going he are we like boston, or people in cleveland like hey are we like pittsburg,

Its so silly accept who you are and deal with. Youre SF, not Manhattan, not boston, you are your own entity of a city.

You people are trying to compare a city where the every day life you see this:

YouTube - Bum Fu aka Street Fighter

vs this:


YouTube - John Forbes Kerry House Boston Beacon Hill Louisburg Square

Go back to the midwest, you couldn't hack it in the bay, so stop trying to hate.

[xGrendelx]

Originally Posted by NorCal Dude

You people are trying to compare a city where the every day life you see this:

YouTube - Bum Fu aka Street Fighter

vs this:


YouTube - John Forbes Kerry House Boston Beacon Hill Louisburg Square

I enjoyed this post. It's not everyday you see something so radically skewed and misleading. I guess Boston has not one crazy homeless person, and we all know SF is devoid of expensive mansions in upscale neighborhoods.

In all serious, I do agree that SF does seem to be compared and pitted against many cities quite often. But it's definitely not just an SF thing, and it's not always residents of SF doing the comparing. Also, outside of the contests and polls done on this site, I never hear of people comparing SF to other cities. Not once I have been in a conversation here when someone was asking "Isn't San Francisco a lot like _______?" I think most people understand that while SF may share similar qualities to other cities, it's pretty unique for the most part.

[tstieber]

Originally Posted by Gentoo

I understand that and agree with you. There are others around who also lump the Bay Area with the PNW because culturally, they are quite similar.

Ah, I'd say that's a bit overbroad. You could just as well arbitrarily lump the Bay Area with SoCal just because San Jose has a lot of taco stands, smog, and palm trees... The Bay Area is precisely that blend of flavors that draws from the whole west coast, so it just can't accurately be lumped into another area because of some similarities among some areas. SF definitely is more similar to Portland and Seattle than L.A., but much of the more suburban Bay Area (San Jose, Fremont, San Ramon, Walnut Creek, etc) is much more similar to the rest of CA, and very different to the PNW. We are definitely our own special mix of everything out here. And our topography and climate are neither SoCal desert nor PNW maritime, but distinctly in-between Mediterranean. We are the west coast's melting pot.

I would have to say that growing up in the Bay Area, nobody ever seemed to have any connection to the PNW or ever went to Oregon or beyond. But people seem to go up and down the state all the time. I think more things bind Californians than divide them.

[theh]

Originally Posted by Gentoo

That's neither here nor there. The point was, this isn't unique to San Francisco. I had this exact same conversation with some people I know in San Diego. There is some snootiness here that doesn't exist anywhere else. However, this form of culninary snobbery you find so distasteful (and I can't say I blame you for that really), is common in any area where you have a decent amount of upscale restaurants. Hell here in SD, that sort of attitude exist between malls even.

Perhaps it's a west coast thing? This could be yet another way that SF differs from Boston? I don't know, a Bostonian would need to chime in now.

It's a west coast thing.

***

Also people, no more ragging on Dunkin's! According to the internet, there are more Starbucks in San Francisco than Dunkin's in Boston and nothing good has ever come out of Starbucks and it's overpriced. They both know how to make a bad coffee, but at least Dunkin's knows how to make a decent white hot chocolate and Boston Cream donut! (by the way, don't buy a donut at the end of the day if you're looking for "fresh")

Boston has it's share of bums and panhandlers.

I like both cities. Which one I prefer depends on the season.