How would you define the Bay Area lifestyle? (San Diego, Oakland: homes, live in)

[bigdumbgod]

Originally Posted by rimmerama

Haha, woops, my sister.

Your sister is your wife?

[rimmerama]

Originally Posted by bigdumbgod

Your sister is your wife?

Yep, originally from Alabama.

[khuntrevor]

Bay area....one of the few places where finding a decent, affordable home is as difficult as finding a decent job. Great place to visit....I did notice a dramatic decrease in my visits to MAZ Autoglass after moving to Arizona.

[Trails]

Don't underestimate what people are saying about the workaholic culture. Granted, it does depend what you do. But what I have finally realized is that when an entire metro region generally accepts it as the culture it has effect on quality of life.

Some people just don't get it, that's ok. Nothing wrong with hard work, but for me at least balance is key. In my opinion it is very tilted towards work and no time off.

You'll hear it in little things people say, like how coming home at 8 or 9pm from work is normal. Or how they need to go in and "work for the weekend" due to a deadline (that seems to happen very often). Or how people say with pride that they haven't taken a vacation in two years (as they glance around looking for approval).

So if you are ready to work most of your waking hours and have very little time for much else then yes it's great. If you are retired or don't have to worry about money or work then the lifestyle is pretty great, but that could be said for a lot of places.

I was recently reading something from the Hilo, Hawaii area. I bring this up because you asked about lifestyle and what I read couldn't have had a different take on lifestyle than they Bay Area. Pretty much what it said was that yes people work hard, but as a REGION and COMMUNITY people view it as important to stop and smell the roses. Employers recognize these differences in geographic areas and expectations are different.

[bigdumbgod]

Originally Posted by Trails

Don't underestimate what people are saying about the workaholic culture. Granted, it does depend what you do. But what I have finally realized is that when an entire metro region generally accepts it as the culture it has effect on quality of life.

At which point, you decide for yourself whether you want to be an individual (leader) or sheep (follower).

[ImRandy]

Originally Posted by the city

When I think of the Bay Area lifestyle all this comes to mind:

-Tolerance of different beliefs, ethnicities, and cultures

This one is wayyyyy off.

[the city]

Originally Posted by ImRandy

This one is wayyyyy off.

I don't know there are a bunch of people who like to date the same gender, and there a bunch of different ethnicities, and there are a bunch of different religions up there.

[mysticaltyger]

Originally Posted by the city

When I think of the Bay Area lifestyle all this comes to mind:

-Tolerance of different beliefs, ethnicities, and cultures

Somewhat. But less tolerant of people with conservative points of view. Lots of negative stereotyping of Republicans as greedy and/or religion crazed Bible thumpers, especially in places like SF, Oakland, & Berkeley.

Originally Posted by the city

-Environmentally conscious)

Only if it doesn't require significant personal sacrifice.

Originally Posted by the city

-Dense suburban communities and dense urban communities)

Yes, for the most part, even the suburban areas are denser. The North Bay & far inland East Bay are less dense.

Originally Posted by the city

-Fashion forward (trendy clothing stores))

You can find that here, but it's not a huge thing. But it could be that I just don't personally care about that stuff.

Originally Posted by the city

-Health conscious (organic grocery markets like Whole Foods, TJs, etc...))

Yes, for the most part. Although there are plenty of obese people here, I think it's less that way than other places.

Originally Posted by the city

-More use of public transportation)

Only in San Francisco, Oakland, & Berkeley. The Bay Area is big and for the most part, it's a typical sprawl oriented American metro area.

Originally Posted by the city

-Many walkable and thriving downtowns)

I wouldn't say "many". "Some" is probably a better word. Possibly more walkable downtowns than other metro areas, but not by a big margin.

Originally Posted by the city

-Less shopping centers and smart growth (for the most part )

Somewhat more "smart growth". But again, that's mostly because cities like San Francisco and Oakland were built before the term "smart growth" was even coined. In many respects, the inner bay cities have not wanted growth, which has had the effect of exacerbating the sprawl problem by pushing the growth out to the far inland East Bay and places like Stockton. This "no growth in the name of the environment' mantra has also pushed up home prices and rents for the people who live here.

In short, I think your list is more about how the Bay Area idealizes itself than how it actually is.

[BayAreaHillbilly]

Minuses: Overpriced, over regulated, faux cool (but actually very judgmental and uptight, especially in the dimensions of "political correctness"), infrastructure in suspended animation (ca. 1975), isolated.

Pluses: Natural beauty, climate, as good as it gets in terms of big city stuff for out West places other than LA, reasonable access to the rest of the world from SFO, shrinking but boisterous remnant of the classic 1960 - 1990 high tech boom.

[bigdumbgod]

Pot.