I thought like you once. SF was driving me insane.
But then I moved back to NYC from San Francisco and realized that art, music and literature is dying out everywhere in the USA. In New York, there's a lot more stuff like ping-pong clubs and designer boutiques and bike paths... but there certainly aren't as many interesting art, literary or music things happening as there were in the 1990s.
San Francisco was never really an artistic or intellectual center, it's always just been kind of a weird place.
I might be the only person on this forum who moved to SF to go skateboarding, rather than start a tech startup.
If you move to SF hoping it will be a cultural mecca you will be disappointed. But if you go with the flow, you might find something you like.I don't like burning man, either. But there's other stuff to do. I have never been happier than when I was skating or riding my bike around the city, or just goofing off. Why do you think there are so many bums there? Why do you think the beats moved there? It's a great city in which to "bum around." It's kind of bad for almost anything else. I view my time spent there as an extended vacation.
You're probably right that this isn't localized to S.F. I have to imagine a capitol of the publishing world like NYC has more literary heft but even there I've heard that life tends toward the superficial.
S.F. is a great city to just hang out in. Amazing food, great weather, and a generally laid back attitude make it very pleasant in many ways. I think the .com boom did a lot of damage to the city's culture by driving out everybody that couldn't afford to keep up with the rent increases. I spent a summer here in '92 and it seemed a lot more alive.
The weird thing about S.F. is that the weather can vary tremendously from neighborhood to neighborhood. The Mission can be sunny any day of the year. The ironically named Sunset is almost always fogged in. We also seem to get our seasons backwards here. Summer tends to be cold and foggy but Sep-Dec can be beautiful.
It's not exactly San Diego weather here but coming from anywhere that snows it's pretty friendly.
But then I moved back to NYC from San Francisco and realized that art, music and literature is dying out everywhere in the USA. In New York, there's a lot more stuff like ping-pong clubs and designer boutiques and bike paths... but there certainly aren't as many interesting art, literary or music things happening as there were in the 1990s.
San Francisco was never really an artistic or intellectual center, it's always just been kind of a weird place.
I might be the only person on this forum who moved to SF to go skateboarding, rather than start a tech startup.
If you move to SF hoping it will be a cultural mecca you will be disappointed. But if you go with the flow, you might find something you like.I don't like burning man, either. But there's other stuff to do. I have never been happier than when I was skating or riding my bike around the city, or just goofing off. Why do you think there are so many bums there? Why do you think the beats moved there? It's a great city in which to "bum around." It's kind of bad for almost anything else. I view my time spent there as an extended vacation.