Is San Francisco pretentious? (Oakland, Anaheim: appointed, apartments, condos)

[415_s2k]

Originally Posted by Radio Flyer

My problem with the Bay Area was the bubble mentality. San Francisco is not utopia. It's a great city, but it's not the only place on earth.

It's not utopia, nor is it the only place on Earth, but I think that most people there are quite well aware of this. Lots (most?) come from somewhere else originally, and on the whole, the people I met in SF were better-traveled than people I met nearly anywhere else in the US.

Two things that really irked me...Calling the majority of the U.S "fly-over states" and people saying, "Sure I could buy a mansion in Texas for the price of a one bedroom condo here in S.F., but I'd have to live there!" tee-hee.

'cept it's true.

I've lived all over the US, and I chose SF and LA because there are a lot of things that I enjoy which I can't get in a place like Lubbock. I'm sure that you do understand this (you said in a past post that you missed the ethnic food in SF; things like this matter a lot more to me than a yard).

Also, I can't even tell you how many San Franciscans I met who had no idea where some of the other states are located, and they weren't even embarassed by this. They actually seemed to be proud. tee-hee.

Ummm, no thanks.

I can't recall meeting people in SF who were anything like what you described. I met people who didn't like it "back home," or who said things about not wanting to live in ______, but nothing so stupidly bileful about not knowing or caring. The only places I encountered this attitude on the whole were in more townie/homer parts of NYC, Boston, and then rural Texas.

[Radio Flyer]

I should have added a disclaimer...If you've lived in areas other than the Bay Area and decide that you want to call it home, you have every right to sing it's praises over other cities. I really have no problem with that.

BUT, if you've never lived outside the area and criticizing other cities and states makes you feel superior, like the previous poster said, YOU are the ignorant one.

Also, maybe it's just me...but I've never heard the "flyover states" thing here on the east coast.

[415_s2k]

Originally Posted by SeattleWANative

I live in SF right now, this is probably one of the worst cities I've lived in. It's super super pretentious people will quiz you on what you do for a living and if it doesn't meet their standards they kinda blow you off, I moved from L.A. and I shall be moving back because in L.A. you can get twice as much space to live, be in a semi-nice and safe neighborhood and be around some really cool non-judgmental people who grew up in L.A. and still love it.

If you want to witness it firsthand try going to the Marina District, I think it's a lot like Scottsdale in Arizona.

I love LA, and I love SF. I chose to live in Beverly Hills... no one really ties your hands and forces you to live in one of the most famously "exclusive" zip codes in America...

People here can be wicked pretentious; it's to be expected, it's Beverly Hills. The same goes for the Marina. Why would you go to one of the most expensive places in America, and expect to find down-to-earth people?

Also, I don't know where you stand on your overall opinion of Seattle, but you could also go to an area like Belltown in Seattle, full of yuppies, and come away with a mouthful of pretentiousness, to say nothing of Bellevue... if Belltown is a wannabe Nob Hill, then Bellevue is a wannabe Beverly Hills, and they both fall flat-on-their-face short: all the pretension, no substance. Seattle, on the whole, was probably the most smug, pretentious, self-important place I've lived - and I have lived in LA, NYC, SF, and Boston/Cambridge!

[415_s2k]

Originally Posted by Radio Flyer

I should have added a disclaimer...If you've lived in areas other than the Bay Area and decide that you want to call it home, you have every right to sing it's praises over other cities. I really have no problem with that.

BUT, if you've never lived outside the area and criticizing other cities and states makes you feel superior, like the previous poster said, YOU are the ignorant one.

Fair enough. I think that the same really goes for anywhere, though... like, the people in Texas whom I met who immediately just stated, flat out, that they "didn't care what happens outside of Texas," because it "didn't matter." My uncle married one, poor guy... he's got family in LA, SF, Hawaii, and Boston, and she never, ever wants to go anywhere but the Gulf on vacation :/

I met a lot of people in NYC (and there are a lot on CD) who are born, raised, and have never lived outside of the NYC metro, who state that they "don't have to" because "everything in the world is in NYC." They have the best Mexican and Chinese, because they're the best of everything, and that's that. Homers in Boston will say the same thing. It's sad... but overall, I found drastically fewer people with this attitude in SF than other places I've lived.

Also, maybe it's just me...but I've never heard the "flyover states" thing here on the east coast.

I'd heard it a few times, from the same sort of goons that would have said it in SF: self-important D-bags who are too afraid to upset their world and see new places and things that may open their mind, and so adopt an attitude of "who cares? We're the best."

I always looked at it like this... If you grew up entirely in SF or wherever, then you have likely been wronged by more people from SF than anywhere else in the world. More crummy bosses, evil exes, and lasting traumas as a result of that city and its people than a place you've never even really spent time in... so, you have more of a reason to dislike that place than anywhere else!

[nmnita]

The entire Bay area is pretentious as far as I am concerned, especially the burbs. It is very different from many other places in Ca.

Nita

[analyze_this]

At least you don't have to deal with ignorant rednecks in SF.

[Nineties Flava]

Originally Posted by nmnita

The entire Bay area is pretentious as far as I am concerned, especially the burbs. It is very different from many other places in Ca.

Nita

I think you're confusing pretentiousness with hometown pride. The only parts of the Bay I've found to be outright pretentious are Marin County, Silicon Valley and parts of SF. The rest of the Bay Area IMO is about as down to earth as it gets.

[analyze_this]

SF is awesome...its clearly the best city in USA with amazing natural beauty and weather. NYC may be bigger, but it lacks the natural setting and weather which SF is blessed with.

I have found the people in SF to be the most laid back chill people in the country. Its all the transplants that are snobbish and pretentious, not native SFers.

[bigdumbgod]

Originally Posted by analyze_this

Its all the transplants that are snobbish and pretentious, not native SFers.

^^^This is closer to the truth (but we may clarify that not all transplants are lame).


People come to the Bay Area and SoCal and often behave like obnoxious middle school kids due to some perceived notion of what they should act like, or believe they can get away with behavior that was unacceptable in their hometowns. Since a large percentage of many BA towns are transplants, we tend to get the *******s from everywhere else (the ones that didn't go to NYC).

Thankfully, most learn from the natives how to chill out and enjoy life. Or we throw them into the deep blue sea.

[NorCal Dude]

Originally Posted by analyze_this

SF is awesome...its clearly the best city in USA with amazing natural beauty and weather. NYC may be bigger, but it lacks the natural setting and weather which SF is blessed with.

I have found the people in SF to be the most laid back chill people in the country. Its all the transplants that are snobbish and pretentious, not native SFers.

I love how bay natives always spout this BS. This is part of many reasons that they are stereotyped as pretentious. Even though no one has ever sat down and analyzed any quantifiable data regarding natives and transplants and their behavior, these people would have you believe the bay area natives are flawless and everything is the fault of outsiders. These people can't even acknowledge that their people are flawed people just like everywhere else.

New Yorkers may be pretentious but at least they can acknowledge they spawn some very dis-likable people from time to time.