Why do some people say that SF is provincial? (Oakland: renting, house)

[sav858]

Originally Posted by gone down south

People aren't using the word 'provincial' in the sense of being a small town with little to offer, but in terms of how locals often have a highly exaggerated sense of just how unique and wonderful the area is.

SF tends to attract a lot of young people who haven't necessarily experienced a lot of the world - either driven tech/finance/legal types who come here straight after graduating, or counterculture types who don't quite fit in wherever they come from. The Bay Area is really a self-contained island of near perfection for either of those two groups, so they tend to forget that, say, you can get good food somewhere else.

Originally Posted by Bunjee

It's true the Bay Area tends to have exaggerated local pride. That's not a bad thing. It exists everywhere. But there is a bigger tendency to vocalize pride without real awareness. Yes, actually City X you're talking about does have great ___. No, City Y is indeed pretty well reknowned for ___. It's preening fueled blissfully by half-knowledge, the soul of provincialism, and it comes off as naive. However, the youthful enthusiasm is the Bay Area's draw; it can just be a huge drawback too.

^This.

Sometimes it can be hard for some in the Bay Area to give other places the credit they deserve. Gotta be the first and best at everything here!

[Gentoo]

Originally Posted by Radical347

Ok, then we'll leave out Vancouver. But the Salt Lake City metro, which you mentioned in the previous post, is smaller than the rest on the list except ABQ, so which ones do you consider "major" metros? (And if we take out ABQ, then Phoenix & Denver become more isolated too.)

Ok then the nearest major metro to the east is farther than i thought, it's Denver. Phoenix is closer to San Diego and Vegas so no.

[u225615]

Some people consider SF provencial because its not a 24 hour city like NYC or Las Vegas. Most shops and restaurants close at 9 pm. Yes, there are exceptions but not many. Otherwise the city delivers more than enough of whatever tourists/ transplants are looking for making it a perennial favorite destination compared to cities many times larger (SF has a population of less than a million).

[mayorhaggar]

Originally Posted by u225615

Some people consider SF provencial because its not a 24 hour city like NYC or Las Vegas. Most shops and restaurants close at 9 pm. Yes, there are exceptions but not many. Otherwise the city delivers more than enough of whatever tourists/ transplants are looking for making it a perennial favorite destination compared to cities many times larger (SF has a population of less than a million).

This is true but I never really minded this because SF is already such a noisy city that being a 24 hour city would make it way more unbearable. But it means that SF feels really creepy and empty after about 10pm, so you don't want to go out...and because people don't want to go out, it gets emptier and thus feels creepy and unsafe...ever walk home on Mission Street around 18th at midnight? CREEPY.

[matt345]

Originally Posted by mayorhaggar

This is true but I never really minded this because SF is already such a noisy city that being a 24 hour city would make it way more unbearable. But it means that SF feels really creepy and empty after about 10pm, so you don't want to go out...and because people don't want to go out, it gets emptier and thus feels creepy and unsafe...ever walk home on Mission Street around 18th at midnight? CREEPY.

Anywhere in SF after 10pm feels quite desolate except for a few select area - mostly Union Square, North Beach, the Castro, Polk street, the Marina, and Valencia Street. I live in Downtown Oakland and that feels REALLY empty at night, especially once you get away from the Telegraph/19th area.

[dalparadise]

Originally Posted by matt345

Anywhere in SF after 10pm feels quite desolate except for a few select area - mostly Union Square, North Beach, the Castro, Polk street, the Marina, and Valencia Street. I live in Downtown Oakland and that feels REALLY empty at night, especially once you get away from the Telegraph/19th area.

So, in other words, the area all around the Financial District in every direction is lively at night, but the FiDi itself feels empty. Thanks for clearing that up.

[matt345]

Originally Posted by dalparadise

So, in other words, the area all around the Financial District in every direction is lively at night, but the FiDi itself feels empty. Thanks for clearing that up.

I can't tell if this is sarcasm or not, but anyway perhaps I shouldn't have said "anywhere in SF feels empty after 10pm", but rather, a good portion of the city does. Pacific Heights, the Richmond, the Sunset, Noe Valley, all big portions of the city aren't exactly known as 24-hour districts. Still, SF has A LOT more nightlife going on than anywhere else in the Bay Area.

[mayorhaggar]

FiDi shuts down by 5:30pm after everyone rushes to BART to mod edit get out of the city.

[bentobox34]

Originally Posted by gone down south

People aren't using the word 'provincial' in the sense of being a small town with little to offer, but in terms of how locals often have a highly exaggerated sense of just how unique and wonderful the area is.

SF tends to attract a lot of young people who haven't necessarily experienced a lot of the world - either driven tech/finance/legal types who come here straight after graduating, or counterculture types who don't quite fit in wherever they come from. The Bay Area is really a self-contained island of near perfection for either of those two groups, so they tend to forget that, say, you can get good food somewhere else.

The exact same mentality exists in Manhattan, as illustrated in an infamous 1976 New Yorker cover.

In that sense it is pretty much the opposite of the usual meaning of "provincial" as "a backwater." It's more like, "a place so fulfilling in and of itself it is easy to forget that there's a whole world out there." I'm sure you could find people who are "provincial" in the same way in, e.g. Paris, Tokyo, Rio de Janeiro, or any other vibrant cosmopolitan city.

[bigdumbgod]

Originally Posted by bentobox34

In that sense it is pretty much the opposite of the usual meaning of "provincial" as "a backwater." It's more like, "a place so fulfilling in and of itself it is easy to forget that there's a whole world out there." I'm sure you could find people who are "provincial" in the same way in, e.g. Paris, Tokyo, Rio de Janeiro, or any other vibrant cosmopolitan city.

Or, a place called Los Angeles.
Many residents have no inclination to go anywhere else, since it is believed everything one could encounter is already there. Not true, of course, but the sentiment is a generations-old one that saturates the populace. SF folks are a bit more open to travel and consideration of other worldviews.