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I believe it when natives tell me that SF used to be a much better place. That there used to be down-to-earth, hippie, progressive folks, families with children, and regular working and middle class folks. That the grit, grime, and crime of the city was relegated to only certain neighborhoods.
Apparently, transplants and outsiders came in and ruined the place. The city is no longer real but rather the families and middle class folks have left. In its place are entitled and soulless yuppies who have made the city into their playground and they don't really care to contribute to the community.
I wish I could have been here to see and experience the SF of old. You see, I am one of those transplant yuppies that have come in and I guess ruined the place. I have only seen remnants of what was before and can only imagine from what I've heard about how wonderful things used to be.
But I am wondering how much of these changes are not just a phenomenon of SF but rather an across the board societal change in America. You hear it all the time about how the middle class in America is disappearing, how the 50s was the best time in America, how NYC also lost its soul to trust fund kids and yuppies (Madonna has been quoted as saying that NYC is no longer the same city), how even Portland, OR has changed.
People say that the suburbs outside of SF are better than the city but they too have changed for the worse. Home prices and rents on the peninsula are moving farther and farther out of reach of regular people. Even blacks are being priced out of Oakland.
I think SF sucks these days because America sucks these days. Public education is on the decline in America, infrastructure is falling apart, the middle class is disappearing, jobs are disappearing, crazy people stalk our streets because the funding for institutions that used to house them was cut and never restored (that was the work of Reagan), drug addiction abounds as a side effect of other societal problems, obesity is on the rise like never before, and now we have to worry about terrorism and random shootings. SF is just a mirror reflecting what is happening in America at large.
So yes, SF sucks now, and yes, it is probably due to the transplants. But that is because America as a whole sucks these days and the quality of people suck now too.
A lot of areas in SF have been cleaned up and redeveloped too. You take the good with the bad I suppose but I wouldn't say it's "worse" overall at all. Sure it may be more yuppie or whatever but it's also less of a dump in many parts too.
Mini cute, yes every place has changed. Natives in an area generally don't like it and prefer things how they were. I witnessed San Diego's change and I personally think it was for the better. As far as the rest of the west coast, it seems to be working like this; Portland today is where Seattle was 25 years ago. Seattle is where San Francisco was 25 years ago (certainly seems that way to me). Not sure where SF has gone and what it's supposed to resemble. I was just talking to my mother a little while ago about how the Bay Area as a whole has changed.
A lot of areas in SF have been cleaned up and redeveloped too.
Someone made this point on another thread here. The Embarcadero is a beautiful, stimulating place, instead of a run-down neglected part of town. SoMa has really come up in the world, and continues to improve. There are still families on the West side of town and in the Mission. (If there were no families left in SF, there would be no need for schools, right?)
I don't know about "soulless yuppies". I do know of lots of Russian, Chinese and Japanese families in the City. I guess it all depends on who you hang out with? There's a lot more to SF than meets the eye. And Portland has changed for the better, imo. It used to be conservative, and a bit run down. Downtown is now vibrant, public transport has improved vastly, and judging by how many people on this forum want to move there, it has its own cachet, and is especially popular with young people. It's transformed from a somewhat dingey, grey, NW town to an attractive, "cool" place to live.
Last edited by Ruth4Truth; 07-02-2013 at 06:44 PM..
Please don't misinterpret what people (me included are saying). It's changed for sure, but I think it has more to do with "bubble nature" of San Francisco. It kinda started in the mid 90's...
After my husband and I had our first kid, we had just about enough saved for a down payment on a house. I was able to be a new "stay at home mom". My husband was doing pretty well for the time. We'd started showing up at open houses with definite plans to purchase somewhere near where my friends/relatives all live.
Suddenly, the whole dot.com thing happened. Rents skyrocketed like never before, housing prices quadrupled in a few years. People that grew up here...and the regular transplants that didn't grow up here, but intended on staying were sorta "forced" out so to speak.
Suddenly there was a massive influx of "dinks"(double income, no kids). We were suddenly unable to keep up with the increase in housing prices. My husband and I had our hearts set on a house that was around 320k--it ended up selling for nearly 800k!!...so many people moving in...potential renters bribing landlords, paying for new carpeting etc. It sucked!!
The only people that I know that I've known that remained are the lucky few families that were a tad older than me and my husband and managed to buy prior to the rapid increase in prices. The other few friends were incredibly lucky and made really good money either selling their growing companies, or singles that managed to stick around over rent control.
Unfortunately it's happening all over again right now..I am astounded at the rents. I'm astounded at the house prices. I don't blame you specifically per se. It's more about a collection of well to do, generally tech people that priced us natives all out. I wrote a similar post many years ago here. The City has lost its soul and has become more of a Disneyland for "dinks" and singles (not saying it's you or any transplants specifically...more of a collective change in the dynamic). I don't feel at ease or even welcome in my own town anymore...these types in genral love it the way it is- not how it used to be (which really isn't their FAULT either, I guess). Of course then, you get all the rich families moving to places like Noe Valley---that's a hoot. It used to be quite working class...maybe middle class--quite a few black families.
I can't comment on the rest of America thing...this is my home, and it's always been my home. I don't and can't compare it to anywhere else. I suppose if I moved to NYC then I wouldn't really "get" how that City used to be either. Let's just say the demographics are to blame, not the transplants. Most of my roommates back when I was in my early twenties were actually all from the Bay Area--Walnut Creek/Concord...even Marin. I rarely met anyone from out of state!
I think a lot of Bay Area natives would move to SF when they were younger before but now many seem to not want to pay what it costs to live there although some still do among people I know but they're the more yuppy type. So I agree it's more about demographics overall than just "transplants". Locals would want to move there simply because its a fun city to live in and not because it's so "sophisticated, educated, socially aware, liberal", or whatever other stereotype that draws many outsiders today.
I believe it when natives tell me that SF used to be a much better place. That there used to be down-to-earth, hippie, progressive folks, families with children, and regular working and middle class folks. That the grit, grime, and crime of the city was relegated to only certain neighborhoods.
Apparently, transplants and outsiders came in and ruined the place. The city is no longer real but rather the families and middle class folks have left. In its place are entitled and soulless yuppies who have made the city into their playground and they don't really care to contribute to the community.
I wish I could have been here to see and experience the SF of old. You see, I am one of those transplant yuppies that have come in and I guess ruined the place. I have only seen remnants of what was before and can only imagine from what I've heard about how wonderful things used to be.
But I am wondering how much of these changes are not just a phenomenon of SF but rather an across the board societal change in America. You hear it all the time about how the middle class in America is disappearing, how the 50s was the best time in America, how NYC also lost its soul to trust fund kids and yuppies (Madonna has been quoted as saying that NYC is no longer the same city), how even Portland, OR has changed.
People say that the suburbs outside of SF are better than the city but they too have changed for the worse. Home prices and rents on the peninsula are moving farther and farther out of reach of regular people. Even blacks are being priced out of Oakland.
I think SF sucks these days because America sucks these days. Public education is on the decline in America, infrastructure is falling apart, the middle class is disappearing, jobs are disappearing, crazy people stalk our streets because the funding for institutions that used to house them was cut and never restored (that was the work of Reagan), drug addiction abounds as a side effect of other societal problems, obesity is on the rise like never before, and now we have to worry about terrorism and random shootings. SF is just a mirror reflecting what is happening in America at large.
So yes, SF sucks now, and yes, it is probably due to the transplants. But that is because America as a whole sucks these days and the quality of people suck now too.
-POST OF THE YEAR-
Anyone who argues with these words is either dumb, deaf and blind, or absolutely a part of the problem.
SF unequivocally sucks these days. As does L.A. as does NYC. I have love for all three but the woman tells it like it is in this post people! Open your eyes. She herself even admits to being one of those that came and removed the genuine vibe and character. This is not a naysayer here.
Cities in America nowadays are sheltered little alcoves for people of privlege and primness. Its embarrassingly obvious and getting only worse. The middle class has gone missing and those people are the very heart and soul through which a city gleans it's intangibles.
Urban life is drastically changing and for the much worse. It's gone uber-vanilla and pretty soon Its gonna be care bears in Chinatown.
Mini, you are a goddess. <3
-a former SF resident.
Last edited by the12ronin; 07-02-2013 at 07:22 PM..
I agree with most if not all of what you say, minicute.
A lot of it has become true of the Silicon Valley as well, though to a lesser degree as middle class people can raise their families in the SV but typically only at such great compromise that they opt out. There are seemingly always threads with this theme in the San Jose forum.
The middle class living in SF and the SV who decide to start families are likely going to have to move to the flyover states if they want to be able to buy a house in a good neighborhood with good schools or, even better, to both buy that very house and private-school their children.
Texas has been a refuge for Californians wanting to do just that but I foresee TX's big cities becoming more like those of CA in the aforementioned negative ways. Why? Because TX has become saturated with low income people who have large numbers of kids who are doing poorly in school; TX's big cities are following Los Angeles. Add to that the conversion of TX first to a politically "purple" state and then to a "blue" state and then TX will be mostly indistinguishable from CA.
If TX's big cities do indeed suffer that fate, I'm not sure where the middle class will go start families.
I guess the migratory patterns within the USA will be fairly erratic in the future compared with East Coast/Midwest-to-CA migration in the past and the CA-to-TX migration of the present.
I kind of can identify with what your throwing down up there. Being from New York, I watched my city loose its soul. After it got cleaned up and crime went down I was initially happy with the change. But with that it lost a big part of its personality. Rents went up and many who made the city so great were forced to move, and rich kids living off daddies money moved in so they could "slum it". It was like they were buying admission to disneyland. However this is a very specific type of person I am referring too, and I realize this was just small part of the overall change.Theres nothing wrong with people moving into a new city though. I think your being a bit too harsh on good, hard-working people and making too many negative generalizations about "outsiders" and "transplants". Thats a big part of what this country is all about, get real. Actually I find your comments kind of offensive, personally.
Location: Baghdad by the Bay (San Francisco, California)
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Believe me, coming from Houston, SF is bursting with diversity of character. People here still love to live and take in the City at every opportunity. In Houston, it's about the acquisition of things. People there are very prideful, but they don't actually love their city. They are quick to boast, but slow to acknowledge the culture or unique sense of place they could have by investing personally in the city. They are drawn by jobs and cheap houses.
SF is a place of dreams--of striking it rich, of capturing history, of discovering or inventing something, of living among stimulating cultures, people and minds, of a life more interesting. It isn't particularly inspiring to dream of paying less for for a big house in a place that doesn't stir your soul. You simply need to go to Stockton for that, anyway.
I'm sure things have changed here. But something uniquely San Francisco still exists. I can see it in older residents at my office. Younger ones who've been here for a long time have it too. It's genuine love for this place. It's an emotional attachment. It's the feeling that this is where they belong...and always has been. It's infectious. It's not dead in my circle of co-workers and friends.
It's not dead with me, and I have only been here a little under two years.
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