SF Is No Fun (San Francisco, Oakland: neighborhoods, movies, gated)

[Oakland Uptown]

Originally Posted by ElectroPlumber

I thought I was the only one who felt that way about SF. When I visit, it seems that everyone is "focused" on something. There just isn't anyone relaxing and doing mindless, fun things like other cities. Even when I see groups of people talking, it's like they were discussing the Tax Code.

I stopped into a Starbucks on California Street and just sat for awhile. The atmosphere was unlike any other one I'd ever been in. Just way too focused.

What do you expect in the Financial District? People are going to work. You'll find that in any large city downtown.

[grapico]

Originally Posted by Oakland Uptown

That's just the Castro street event, but the rest of SF is very lively during Halloween all sorts of clubs and bars open with fun stuff going on. Just walking around market is fun.

That is true, but so are other big cities. What I am saying is, you shouldn't have to wait for a holiday to have a good time.

Anyway I share the same sentiment about it as other posters. It isn't that type of city, but that is what makes it unique and gives it that certain ambience. If you come to SF looking for a NY or Miami night out, you aren't going to find it.

[Oakland Uptown]

Originally Posted by grapico

That is true, but so are other big cities. What I am saying is, you shouldn't have to wait for a holiday to have a good time.

Anyway I share the same sentiment about it as other posters. It isn't that type of city, but that is what makes it unique and gives it that certain ambience. If you come to SF looking for a NY or Miami night out, you aren't going to find it.

Not all cities do it like SF, there is no exotic erotic ball etc. Also you don't have to wait for holidays to have fun. There's always something going on, I really don't understand what people are looking for here. Celebrity party's or something? Those huge Vegas style night clubs with 2000 people and fire? Is that what it is? I go to Miami twice a year to visit family, people say the same thing who live there. The club thing gets old after a while, after that then what? Go to the beach everyday?

[grapico]

Originally Posted by Oakland Uptown

Not all cities do it like SF, there is no exotic erotic ball etc. Also you don't have to wait for holidays to have fun. There's always something going on, I really don't understand what people are looking for here. Celebrity party's or something? Those huge Vegas style night clubs with 2000 people and fire? Is that what it is? I go to Miami twice a year to visit family, people say the same thing who live there. The club thing gets old after a while, after that then what? Go to the beach everyday?

I think its just perspective, you'd have to live in a bigger city to understand I guess. There are a lot of ny and la transplants in sf and I know exactly what they are talking about. I feel the same way about Boston/Seattle and some others, it isn't just SF, it is cultural too, to be sure.

Describing SF, I would say it has a certain mellow ambience, charm, culturally diverse, hip, quirky, and a lot of character.
Energy, excitement, wild, glitz or glamour are not words I would use to describe it.

[Oakland Uptown]

Originally Posted by grapico

I think its just perspective, you'd have to live in a bigger city to understand I guess. There are a lot of ny and la transplants in sf and I know exactly what they are talking about. I feel the same way about Boston/Seattle and some others, it isn't just SF, it is cultural too, to be sure.

Describing SF, I would say it has a certain ambience, charm, culturally diverse, quirky, and a lot of character.
Energy, excitement, wild, glitz or glamour are not words I would use to describe it.

I lived in Harlem for 6 years, I still don't get it. LA is a giant spread out suburban feeling city. LA feels like San Jose but with more diversity, better shopping, resteraunts and celebrities which means more night clubs that cater to that crowd. The Clubs in San Jose feel very similar to LA in how the girls dress,look, music etc.

[andyadhi01]

Originally Posted by grapico

Describing SF, I would say it has a certain mellow ambience, charm, culturally diverse, hip, quirky, and a lot of character.

Other than the Mission district SF is not culturally diverse at all in comparison with other large US cities.

[Gentoo]

Originally Posted by HockeyMac18

Bad compared to what? Have you actually lived in city with bad weather before? I lived in Rochester, NY for many years, where we're covered by feet of snow for (sometimes) 5-6 months of the year. Also, the wind doesn't stop blowing here in the winter (making wind chill routinely near 0 F), and the sun rarely makes an appearance in the months of Nov - April.

Maybe if you're comparing it to Hawaii, I'd understand your "bad weather" comment...and I'm not saying SF's weather is perfect.

But please look at reality. It is not bad, especially if you've lived anywhere with a real winter.

He will constantly talk about SF's weather, it will never end. While what's good and bad in weather is subjective, I think the only other cities in the lower 48 that most people would say is better than SF's are LA and San Diego's (not in my opinion though). Anywhere else is too hot and/or too cold for part of the year.

[mayorhaggar]

A) it's finally nice out today, sun and no clouds and about 65 or so!!!

B) yeah people in SF can care too much about their jobs. It's expensive to live here so a lot of people work long hours and don't have time for anything but work. And people who don't work long hours often have long commutes so they don't have time either. But you find that in any big city. People here are kind of hard to get organized for get togethers though, when I lived in Chicago people seemed more spontaneous but also if you scheduled something it wasn't a big deal, it wasn't like booking a flight 2 weeks in advance like it can be to see a friend in San Francisco.

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by guy1

I'm not the type to give up easily. When I have a goal, I do my best to reach it.

My goal for the longest time, has been to have a GREAT time in SF. A walloping good time. A no holds barred, laugh out loud, riotously good time. Despite my best efforts, despite going to ball games, concerts, meeting up with friends (trying to) make new friends, it's never clicked.

NOT ONCE have I returned from a visit and said: AWESOME.

I'm starting to think it's not possible. Usually, I reflect and say, that SHOULD've been fun, but it wasn't. Why?

It's not the parking issue. I've encountered much worse in other cities. It's not the weather: again, I've encountered much worse. There's something wrong, just off, yet unspoken about the city.

Yes, I have seen SFers smile. I do see them engaging in things which most everyone would consider to be "fun."

For some reason, I can't tap into that vibe. Or, it doesn't really exist there.

There are hundreds of thousands of residents, so they must be there for a reason. There must be some appeal to living in that town.

But I can't "feel" it.

And you can tell that SFers aren't fun simply by reading their posts in defense of their town.

And it's too bad. The food in SF is absolutely top notch. But it's not fun eating it. Truth.

REally, we always enjoy visiting San Fancisco. I would agree, some of the people on this board particularly spend so much time defending everything about San Francisco without realizing no place is perfect, the city has problems, but it is still a great place to spend a few days.

Nita

[Oakland Uptown]

Originally Posted by nmnita

REally, we always enjoy visiting San Fancisco. I would agree, some of the people on this board particularly spend so much time defending everything about San Francisco without realizing no place is perfect, the city has problems, but it is still a great place to spend a few days.

Nita

Maybe they defend it because it's always under attack by people who are not even from here. Not to mention people get attacked for likeing where they live and people like yourself obviously don't very much, yet spend more time on forums of locations you claim to dislike than your own state forum.

It's just ridiculous to assume an area with so many people such as this one is all one way. San Francisco is ONE city in an area with millions of people and a ton of things to do.