Is it true that SF is the "best place for single, straight women"? (trendy, company)

[charbo]

I would say that single women in the South Bay have a much better chance than single women closer to San Francisco. I would also say that the Bay Area is a mecca for single Asian women as there are many Caucasian fellows here who find Asian women more attainable.

It is somewhat true that the guys in the city are prone to not wanting to settle down or commit and that they can play the scene to much better advantage. The thing to keep in mind is that many of the people here are far from their families and so a Peter Pan attitude is cultivated as a result. This is a transitional place for guys to be, because it is too expensive for the majority of twentysomethings/thirtysomethings to buy residences. Thus, many single guys wind up in dicey studios or cramped roommate situations and without much in the way of savings. If they do have money saved up, it's probably because they are working hard and long at one of the tech companies in the Valley. All this adds up too is a temporary/experimental/disposable demeanor. They can't settle down readily and their family isn't monitoring their activities or pressuring them effectively from far away, so the attitude of work hard, live hard, and play the field prevails. You see a number of gray crusty guys in bars and clubs and they cavort around with interchangeable gals in their 20s/30s. I think this is somewhat the case in NYC as well, but there are more straight and attractive males there so maybe it's more bearable

And the axiom "the odds are good, but the goods are odd" as stated by a previous poster is so spot on!

[AngusHsu]

SF is a good place for single, straight women to meet single men because a lot of guys from the South Bay also come to SF to party. The odds are in the woman's favor no matter which angle you look at.

[DocGoldstein]

I don't know how a single woman can ignore the Southbay. Yes, a lot of them are programmer/engineer geeks. But I read the average salary for an experienced engineer in Palo Alto is hovering somewhere above 140k. Thats what a general practice doctor makes after 10 years of schooling. These 25-30 year old kids are making that, and have no women to spend it on.

Is this really an equation that needs solving?

[gingerdancer]

Originally Posted by DocGoldstein

I don't know how a single woman can ignore the Southbay. Yes, a lot of them are programmer/engineer geeks. But I read the average salary for an experienced engineer in Palo Alto is hovering somewhere above 140k. Thats what a general practice doctor makes after 10 years of schooling. These 25-30 year old kids are making that, and have no women to spend it on.

Is this really an equation that needs solving?

yeah, i have always heard that....but I've also always heard that the "south bay is boring, family oriented, etc." Even San Jose people complain about, which is odd given it's a major city. It actually got rated one of the safest cities for single women in some poll online. I agree with you that there are more men in SJ and the surrounding communities. The dance community in the bay area is probably one of the best in the nation, slightly better than Seattle and NY (talking about salsa, tango, etc...) so there has to be some life in SJ. Plus, one can much more easily have a car, park etc.

To clarify a bit, the age group I am referring to is 30's-early 40's. I think 20 somethings are still in party/non-committal mode pretty much everywhere - at least on the west coast.

[ohhwanderlust]

My girl friends complain that it's easy to find hookups/casual dating, but it's a lot harder finding a guy who wants to commit.

[BayAreaHillbilly]

This is a somewhat old thread. I have to admit that, back when I was young and single, the shoe was on the other foot. Back then there was a notable majority of women in The City (and that made it great for me). Whereas, the South Bay, in contrast, was already "Man Jose and surrounds" to a great extent.

Now, Man Jose is even more male, and even The City has swung into male majority territory. I think I'd hate it now if I were single (and meanwhile the ladies must be lapping it up).

[cardinal2007]

OP will have a much easier time in SF versus San Jose, the latest census demographic data is not that hard to find:

San Jose: For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 99.8 males.
San Jose, California - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

San Francisco: For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 102.8 males.
San Francisco - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Specific for the age of OP is not available, but if you're looking at overall statistics there are more adult males than adult females in SF, which is not true in SJ.

One thing OP should note is that it is very much the opposite in Oakland:

Oakland: For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.8 males.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oakland...a#Demographics

[TruthTeller1954]

I lived in SF from 1979 to 1985 when I was at the height if my nubile 20s. It was a dating desert for me and I only had two boyfriends which were short term. The feedback I got from straight men was they thought it was Buyers Market for straight men since there we're so many straight men. I moved to Washington DC from SF and it significantly improved my ability to find guys to date. I moved to Sacramento in 2004 and it seems to be better than SF for straight women. I do not know actual statistics regarding gay to straight ratio in any of these cities. The federal census does not take sexual orientation statistics so who comes up with the stats posted in this thread?

Obviously, there is a higher percentage of gays and lesbians in SF, New York City -Fire Island and Key West and West Hollywood but overall, isn't about 10% of the general population homosexual?

[mrazyattic]

Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth

Why bars? If men are so desperate, why aren't they talking to women everywhere, not just in bars? I can assure you, they're not talking to women that much outside of bars.

I read a strange article in San Francisco Magazine a couple of years ago, that said that women have more or less given up on dating, and are hanging out with friends, and spending time at home more. They don't like guys hitting on them in public, according to the article, so they've withdrawn.

I find that hard to believe. I think it's just a media phenomenon. Thoughts?

I've actually read the exact opposite. The article I read, stated that men here are much more shy and docile than men in other places, and a large percentage won't even attempt to talk to a woman.

[NewbiePoster]

Originally Posted by mrazyattic

I've actually read the exact opposite. The article I read, stated that men here are much more shy and docile than men in other places, and a large percentage won't even attempt to talk to a woman.

Both of those things go together. Men get the message that women don't want to get "harassed" in public, so they give up and withdraw. And women withdraw into their circle of friends. I've read articles like that about the SF scene, too. Sounds strange. But that may have changed since the tech boom has extended from SJ solidly into SF.