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What I wish I knew before moving to San Francisco

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Re: What I wish I knew before moving to San Francisco

#131

Post by philwelch »

jacoblyles wrote: post #99
philwelch wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Californians pay more in federal taxes than the state receives in federal spending. This is also true of Oregon, but in California it's true to a much higher degree. So the state is essentially subsidizing the rest of the country and doesn't have enough left over for itself.

That sounds like the results of progressive taxation and federal welfare. California income is higher than the national average. Mississippi's is lower. So some federal tax dollars from California end up in Mississippi's medicaid fund. But you can't blame all of California's suck on that. It is not exactly a low-tax state!

Mississippi wouldn't be a low tax state if they were unable to tax Californians.

Re: What I wish I knew before moving to San Francisco

#132

Post by camthesixth »

zippy wrote: post #38

"Meanwhile, here, no matter what you’re doing, those you meet will almost always be in finance or startups." Well, except for the taxi drivers, the restaurant workers, the police, the teachers, the students, the grocers, the bike messengers, the lawyers, the house cleaners, the fire fighters, the ...

That's a bit pedantic. It's pretty clear that the point the author is trying to make is that relative to other cities, a ton of people work in finance or startups so you will encounter a lot more of them. Not that every single person in the city falls into those two categories.

Re: What I wish I knew before moving to San Francisco

#133

Post by bluekite2000 »

sakopov wrote: post #98

In my opinion the high cost of living kills everything else on that list. I'd much rather have a comfortable living, travel the world and be optimistic that i will have no problems buying a nice house for me and my spouse/family if i need to/should i want to. I don't really see this possible based on what i hear from a couple of friends living and working there. Both consumed by their tech jobs, some cool things to d…

The same goes w/ NYC. I have been here for a while now and have met so many young girls following Sex in the City dream, which invariably turned out badly.

Re: What I wish I knew before moving to San Francisco

#134

Post by kjackson2012 »

softbuilder wrote: post #76
run4yourlives wrote: post #72

This seems more of a "West Coast vs. East Coast" article than it is a "San Fran" article. For the most part, the author is highlighting the differences that anybody living on the East Coast will experience in moving to one of the western coastal cities, save perhaps LA, which as everyone already knows is its own little planet. Most of these "hints" hold true for San Diego, San Fran, Portland, Seattle and Vancouver. T…

You lost credibility with me by repeated use of the vulgar "San Fran". It's THE CITY. :)

Yes, no one from the Bay Area refers to San Francisco as "San Fran". Even worse is when people refer to it as "Frisco". It's either SF or "The City".

Re: What I wish I knew before moving to San Francisco

#135

Post by yaks_hairbrush »

dos1 wrote: post #108
driverdan wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you ever been to the northeast? NY and MA have far worse roads.

I'd say Minnesota and the midwest states take it for worst roads, especially in the city areas. The freeze/thaw and snowplows decimate our roads every winter.

No chance! MN and WI are so proactive about road maintenance that we get pretty good roads despite the extra hassles caused by cold weather. I've spent a bit of time in Los Angeles and Hawaii, and those roads are easily in worse condition than the roads of Minnesota and Wisconsin.

Re: What I wish I knew before moving to San Francisco

#136

Post by fennecfoxen »

mendocino wrote: post #25

> I have no idea how anyone who isn’t working in a high tech role that pays an above average salary can live here. I wondered that too. Anyone care to share how to get by with a non-tech salary in the bay area?

1. You live somewhere defective. Now, "defective" is relative and can simply mean "inconvenient" (looong commutes) or it can be an area that's kinda uncool, ugly, subject to crime, constantly overcast, devoid of the interesting stores, subject to drive-by mariachi music attacks, etc.

2. Roommates. You live with someone else.

3. You were grandfathered in, either by owning property or by having a lease which (as a result of city law) essentially grants you immunity to rising rents. Lucky you.

Re: What I wish I knew before moving to San Francisco

#137

Post by jowiar »

lflux wrote: post #100
hudibras wrote: post #24

Meanwhile, NFL Sundays will never be the same as 10am kickoffs is something I don’t think I’ll ever get used to. Born and raised in Seattle. Some of my fondest memories growing up were rolling out of bed at 9:45 and sitting down to watch some football in my underwear with a bowl of cereal in my lap. (In college, sweatpants replaced underwear and screwdrivers replaced the cereal.) Now I live in D.C. and it's weird tha…

Try being a (American) football fan in Europe. Some games start at 2am, watching the Super Bowl usually involves me taking the next day off work as the game usually ends around 4am.

Or a (European) football fan on the west coast... Games starting anywhere between 3am and 8 am?

Actually, 8am is pretty nice. Wake up in the morning, pull a couple shots of espresso, watch calcio, get on with my Sunday.

Re: What I wish I knew before moving to San Francisco

#138

Post by colmvp »

dan_yall wrote: post #116
coloneltcb wrote: post #112

As a San Francisco native, I can say that this is the single best post of its kind that I have ever read. I wouldn't change a thing, except to add the pro tip that you should never, under any circumstances, call it "San Fran".

What about "Frisco"?

Don't do that.
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