What is the origin of SF’s reputation for (and reality of) very left leaning politics? (San Diego: construction)

[st3inwaygrand]

Most of the big American cities like New York and Boston and Chicago and DC and LA are politically and socially liberal/center left (I mean this in the global context wherein far left would refer to communism) but it’s San Francisco in particular that’s associated with American left wing politics, to the point where if you asked the average guy on the street in almost any town or city in the country for 3 things that they associate with SF it would be lefty politics, gays and hippies.

I know how SF got it’s reputation as a very gay place, in the 40s, 50s and 60s the navy would drop off discharged men, including those who were getting the boot for being caught on their knees or what have you, here in San Francisco, and since many of those guys who were discharged for gay acts didn’t really have families elsewhere to return to so they stayed here. What I wonder is if there is a similar explanation for SF’s political reputation and the fact that politics that are considered radical even in the most left leaning “progressive” cities like Boston are normal in SF.


I want to be super clear that this is not a thread to argue about politics on, idc whether you love or hate the politics ofSan Francisco and the Bay Area, this is basically a history question. Thanks!

[TheseGoTo11]

As seaport cities, NY, Boston, and SF were exposed to much more diversity than interior cities, and developed advanced economies that attracted people from all over the country. The Beat poets of the 50s that played a big role in the development of SF counterculture actually got started in NYC.

There's a second piece, which is West Coast acceptance of new ideas. The East Coast has always had stronger ties to tradition. By the time the Gold Rush started the commercialization of the West Coast, the East Coast was already well into industrialization. New ideas that went against convention did much better here, and that tradition continues. This was true in both society and business.

Also, re: vs. LA. LA only overtook SF as a port city after containerization. Up until 1960, SF was a busier port. LA did not have a port economy like SF or NY, it had an agricultural economy supported by much more flat land, then an oil and entertainment economy. To this day, LA has far fewer startups, is far less educated compared to SF, even though it's much bigger. San Diego, being a Navy town, had less port traffic than Seattle and Portland, and also never developed a counterculture like those cities. Part of the reason the Navy went to Norfolk VA and San Diego was that neither city established itself as a strong port relative to peers on its coasts.

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by st3inwaygrand

Most of the big American cities like New York and Boston and Chicago and DC and LA are politically and socially liberal/center left (I mean this in the global context wherein far left would refer to communism) but it’s San Francisco in particular that’s associated with American left wing politics, to the point where if you asked the average guy on the street in almost any town or city in the country for 3 things that they associate with SF it would be lefty politics, gays and hippies.

I know how SF got it’s reputation as a very gay place, in the 40s, 50s and 60s the navy would drop off discharged men, including those who were getting the boot for being caught on their knees or what have you, here in San Francisco, and since many of those guys who were discharged for gay acts didn’t really have families elsewhere to return to so they stayed here. What I wonder is if there is a similar explanation for SF’s political reputation and the fact that politics that are considered radical even in the most left leaning “progressive” cities like Boston are normal in SF.


I want to be super clear that this is not a thread to argue about politics on, idc whether you love or hate the politics ofSan Francisco and the Bay Area, this is basically a history question. Thanks!

Well, the average guy on the street you describe is at least 50 years behind the times. SF hasn't been about hippies since IDK, sometime around the 80's maybe. SF is now about techies. SF. AFAIK, got its reputation as a gay place when Harvey Milk got a seat on the Board of Supervisors. He introduced a bill to ban discrimination against gays in housing, and it passed. That was back in the 70's, He served in his position for 11 months, then was assassinated. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvey_Milk

SF had a long stint of Republican mayors, from 1912 tp 1964. Since then, it's been Dems. Probably the catalyst for the shift was largely due to the liberalizing influence of the events of the 60's. This certainly was true across the Bay in Berkeley.

[CorporateCowboy]

Originally Posted by st3inwaygrand

What is the origin of SF’s reputation for (and reality of) very left leaning politics?

Originally Posted by st3inwaygrand

I want to be super clear that this is not a thread to argue about politics on, idc whether you love or hate the politics ofSan Francisco and the Bay Area, this is basically a history question. Thanks!

Depending upon your level of curiosity/awareness, you may be interested in reading, 'The Public City: The Political Construction of Urban Life in San Francisco'.

[Valley Boy]

There was a saying in Victorian Era London, to the effect of, "Anyone who has disappeared can be found in San Francisco". It's always been a bit more progressive than back east.

[sacreole]

My hunch is that San Francisco has generally been a magnet for the avant-garde and eccentric for much of its history. I believe the City’s current socio-political bent can be traced back to the Beat Movement of the 50s combined with the 60s counterculture movements of the hippies, Summer of Love, and Haight Ashbury, the sexual and gay liberation (Harvey Milk) movements of the 70s and the more radical movements embodied by the Black Panthers, Peoples Temple (Jim Jones), SLA and the Weather Underground.

https://www.theamericanconservative....ecret-history/