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Move to SF and hate it?

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Re: Move to SF and hate it?

#131

Post by joshu »

tptacek wrote: post #28
runjake wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Tom, This is golden. Thanks for taking the time!

Thanks. In fairness, I can make a list of things I liked about San Francisco too: * Beach bonfires on weeknights. * The drive to Monterey. Also, the drive to Half Moon Bay for Halloween pumpkins in a very nice car. There is no better city in the US to own a nice car in. * Dim sum. * Freshwater aquarium supplies. * I used to really like Zeitgeist, although I hear it's gone downhill. The last time I was in town, SF see…

I haven't had Dim Sum in the bay area that even approaches the best in NYC. Where are you going?

Re: Move to SF and hate it?

#132

Post by tptacek »

joshu wrote: post #131
tptacek wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks. In fairness, I can make a list of things I liked about San Francisco too: * Beach bonfires on weeknights. * The drive to Monterey. Also, the drive to Half Moon Bay for Halloween pumpkins in a very nice car. There is no better city in the US to own a nice car in. * Dim sum. * Freshwater aquarium supplies. * I used to really like Zeitgeist, although I hear it's gone downhill. The last time I was in town, SF see…

I haven't had Dim Sum in the bay area that even approaches the best in NYC. Where are you going?

It was all Yank Sing and Ton Kiang when I was there... but I'm Chicago, not NYC. NYC dim sum may very well smite the rest of the country.

Re: Move to SF and hate it?

#133

Post by smallegan »

lotusleaf1987 wrote: post #128
smallegan wrote: post #82

Anyone have any input on LA? I see lots of people comparing New York, Chicago, etc.. I visited LA last year and I've been to SF a few times...although I have never lived in LA it certainly seemed like a place I would prefer to live over SF.

LA is just too big. You drive allllll the time, everything takes at least 30 minutes and most likely it'll take an hour. LA is dirty and filled with so many people trying to "make it" in Hollywood. There's a lot to like such as music, museums, beaches, but there's more to dislike.

Interesting, do you live in LA or have you previously?

Re: Move to SF and hate it?

#134

Post by tptacek »

evgen wrote: post #100
tptacek wrote: post #14

Spent several years in San Francisco. Hated it. Moved back to the midwest (Ann Arbor, then back home to Chicago). What don't I like about SFBay? With the caveat that it's been almost 10 years since I lived there, let me make you a list: * It's expensive. What that means is, you have fewer options on where to live, and the options aren't as nice. * Apart from tacos, the casual food options are much worse. Concrete exa…

The original question was about the bay area and not necessarily SF itself. You have identified several downsides to living in SF, but few of them apply to the bay area as a whole. In fact, one can walk down the list to see that most of them are very specific to living in SF. * [...] fine dining in San Francisco is, if you properly exclude Yountville from your definition of "San Francisco", simply not as good as NYC…

I'll admit that I don't pay attention to opera and that you may have me there, but the Chicago Symphony Orchestra trounces SFS in every ranking I can find (CSO tops the Philharmonic in some credible reviews, so this isn't a fair fight).

You also can't say "SF tends to fall down when it comes to plays" and then in the same sentence say "comedy is the only performing art that Chicago does better in"; Chicago has a vibrant theater scene, and while it isn't NYC, nothing is.

So, where does that leave us?

Opera: SF > Chicago

Theater: Chicago > SF

Comedy: Chicago > SF

Symphony: Chicago > SF

Look, I get that we're trolling each other here, though. San Francisco is a bad place to see new comedy, but it clearly has credible opera and symphony. It's not a ding on San Francisco that "you can't hear good classical music".

Re: Move to SF and hate it?

#135

Post by SkyMarshal »

rmk wrote: post #88
kbob wrote: post #26

Arrived in 1992. Left in 2001. Lived in a Sunnyvale apartment two years and a San Jose house (NW of Campbell) for seven years. I moved there for my career, which did very well. I largely hated the valley as a place to live, simply because it's too crowded. I have a low tolerance for traffic. I couldn't stand to drive to the supermarket, let alone go to work every day. So I spent all my time either at work or at home,…

I recently visited the college town where I studied with my wife, and I am considering moving there, because the bay area has become practically unaffordable. I know that the weather is really something to die for, but the financial situation of the state is dire -- that makes for a very bad long-term outlook. Portland appears to be a very nice place, strikes the right balance between sprawl and compactness. If only…

What college town is that? I'm considering moving to SF next year and tidbits like that could be quite valuable.

Re: Move to SF and hate it?

#137

Post by msisk6 »

cageface wrote: post #121
rikthevik wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How do you rate Seattle and Vancouver?

I think he was being facetious.

Perhaps.

Actually, the entire NW sucks. Rains all the time. Heck, it's even raining on me right now in the desert of Central Oregon where it's never suppose to rain.

But seriously, after living in the Bay Area for 10+ years -- I ain't movin' back after living in the Pacific NW.

Re: Move to SF and hate it?

#138

Post by lotusleaf1987 »

smallegan wrote: post #133
lotusleaf1987 wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

LA is just too big. You drive allllll the time, everything takes at least 30 minutes and most likely it'll take an hour. LA is dirty and filled with so many people trying to "make it" in Hollywood. There's a lot to like such as music, museums, beaches, but there's more to dislike.

Interesting, do you live in LA or have you previously?

Lived near enough and have friends there. It's nice for what it is, but I wouldn't live there. It's a better place to visit.

Re: Move to SF and hate it?

#139

Post by seltzered »

tptacek wrote: post #21
cageface wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem with S.F. is that it's too much of a compromise. It's not big enough compete with New York or small enough to be as livable as Portland.

I've spent semi-serious time in Portland and have to say that it really seems to live up to the hype. I really like Portland.

Just have to ask: did you spend it in portland, or in a nearby suburb? I spent a week there just to see if I liked the city, couldn't get over the lack of diversity (felt like a lone brownie in strawberry-shortcake city), high income taxes, and seeming lack of a tech scene (unless you're in the burbs). It's a beautifully laid out area though.

Re: Move to SF and hate it?

#140

Post by seltzered »

I'm in austin, and I'm used to having fairly cheap living and no income taxes. I'm considering SF/bay area for hopefully better opportunities, more outdoors stuff (surf and snowboarding), and less driving.

Here's what I noticed spending the last week working in SF, staying in outer richmond.:

* Transit - Compared to Austin, any transit system that is used by more than just students or poor people is good. My one complaint is that I still can't figure out if the bus system lets you buy a week or month pass (tried going to the "clipper card" website too).

* Outdoors - see comments below, but I'm basically happy with the variety. Austin is great for outdoors, but I feel like I reach a hard wall where I need to own a motorboat or be willing to drive a ways to do things beyond running around townlake/greenbelt. I also like how certain pockets of golden gate park seemed to hide you from the city (used to be the same in Austin, not so much now that we have more of a skyline). I liked walking to land's end in the evening - you can escape in the greenbelt/twin falls in Austin, but only when there's water flowing.

* Cost of living - I'd like to hear from more HNer's about this. I'm still afraid of the cost of living out in SF, along with the economic situation. I did feel like many of the small grocery stores were fairly expensive (I'm assuming safeway is cheaper though).

other notes:

* Everything is beautiful, and everyone else wants to see it too - Crowds can be pretty long during labor day when driving out to the beach. We managed to avoid it, but still realized I'd have to get used to living with lots of people

* Hope you like hoodies - I came to SF after dealing with 100+ degree heat in Austin earlier this month, then was wearing a sweater/hoodie almost every day. I don't think this will bother me much.

* The mexican food sucks - Only tried Gordo's and Baja Fresh (which I used to love), but the food just isn't as greasy, spicy, or cheap as in austin. Maybe there's a gem like torchy's tacos out there?

* possible solution - try to drive less in austin. I'm considering staying in town, but move back to hyde park (north of ut) or barton springs (south of downtown). Downtown Austin is fairly recently built, and thus many of the nearby restaurants and establishments are new, but upper-class (read: expensive)

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