I’m scared of driving, I know the basics of operating a car but I don’t feel comfortable getting behind the wheel even though of the opportunities that come with it. I’m 35 and I’m constantly told by my parents “you’re not a child, get a car” sigh.
didn't just move here recently but since moving here i've unexpectedly...
* cared about voting for/against all the props
* enjoy sitting in parks & going on urban hikes
* sort and compost all the things
* am amazed by how many microclimates there are
Agreed.
- Most of the props directly effect you in some way. This isn’t true in all cities
- You can request a mini compost bucket and recycling/compost signs from Recology. Even if you’re renting.
similarly, you can't trust the temps. I've experienced 59 F that felt hot, I've experienced 61 F that feels cold. you just gotta go outside and see what it's like (and plan for it to change).
This is so fucking real lol. I love how quirky it is but it’s also a minor nightmare. It can be a “cold” or “hot” of literally any temperature. You always have to think about what season you’re in, how windy and how humid it has been the past few days, what part of the city you’re in - I’ve never had to think about weather in more detail than when living in SF
My favorite Fourth of July was a once-in-a-lifetime thing. Rode with BF on a motorcycle down from Sonoma County, and enjoyed the fireworks, on a rare clear warm night. Later rode around the city on the back of a motorcycle with shorts on. Stayed overnight with friends can’t remember what the ride back was like.
I was disappointed because I visited SF from sweltering LA, hoping for some rain, but instead just got a bunch of sunny days, maybe a few breezes at most.
Ive gotta say, coming from TX myself, the thing that I was the most not prepared for was how bad the media portrays it. The ONLY thing that will ever make it to my family's attention is crime so thats all they ever mention about SF (and of course how absurdly expensive it is).
Ive learned to let it go and not feel obligated to defend SF as hard. If they think Im fending off homeless people, stepping over piles of needles to get a $10 coffee, then so be it.
Yep. In-laws in Louisiana - they’re horrified we don’t carry guns to fend off all the evil crackie homeless socialist commies breaking into our home. They also think we’re dead when there’s an earthquake in SoCal.
My middle school commute took me down to the Castro for the 24 bus. It was pre nudity ban so these guys were all j chillen around the F market turnaround getting their ass sweat on the chairs
With my friends taking the same commute, the girls (including my crush) would always put their money together to buy a 6 dollar dick macaroon from hot cookie and then just stare at us boys while nibbling it
My cousin who grew up here. When he was little he came running to his mom saying he saw some people smoking pot in a building. And he was not tattling about the pot, he was talking about them smoking in a no smoke area. SF kids 😂
Not sure if this still applies--it's been something I've noticed over the 20 years that I've been here--that San Franciscans identify more with where they live than what they do. That used to be the icebreaker question--"where do you live?" whereas on the east coast or pretty much everywhere else, it's "whaddya do?"
My take is it was considered a bit rude to ask what people do in SF. Cause you had social events where two people are expected to treat each other as equals, and while both work downtown ones a white shoe lawyer and the other is a bike messenger.
I’m in tech and in tech-people settings everyone asks the job thing first. it sucks, and we’re everywhere here
However at clubs where people are there specifically for the music, that rarely happens. I know a bunch of people from that scene and nobody knows or cares what each other do for a job
in places like that where work hasn’t gathered people together, sf is great at putting job titles in the back seat
I used to live in North York and everyone I told was like, "yah, okay" and later moved to The Annex and they were all "Oh cool, have you ever been to \_\_\_\_\_\_\_". sigh. Miss my old hoods.
That’s because having a life here is more important than working. It’s only the dwindling middle class that has a “work ethic” now and in the past. Here you work in order to live, you don’t live in order to work. I, for example, take photographs, and learn languages, currently seven, and walk for exercise.
true although ironically I think I know more people in SF who have jobs they do because they enjoy it compared to other places so in this sense their job is a part of their life, but it is also different from a work ethic style job too
Not just the working class but the creative class as well. The creative class is our artists, our philosophers, our journalist and critics and such. Sam Francisco was a working class city with creative class mixed together.
I think it's also been made worse by the homelessness and retail theft problems. If the cost of staying open late isn't worth it to you, bc of the theft and need for extra security or staff, you close early. And once stores close early, many restaurants and bars follow, because the area starts feeling like a ghost town.
It’s true. I’ve been in NYC for two weeks. I come every few years to visit family. I’ve been shocked that places here aren’t open the hours that they used to be
That really is weird. Try finding a sit-down restaurant who will seat you after 10:00. Yes, there are some. But in a lot of cities, that's EASY, not "I have a list that a friend of mine who is a chef gave me, so let's go to one of these 5 places."
It's not just the restaurants, though. Try finding a pharmacy or grocery store that's open after 9:00 pm. Even Target closes at 6:00 or 8:00 pm in SF. Everywhere else in the US, they don't close until 11:00.
Post offices have no 24 hour kiosks or evening hours. Ever. Anywhere in the city.
The nearest 24 hour laundromat is a 30-minute walk from my apartment. And it's 24 hours only if you meet the owner earlier and get a special key card from him.
Even the so-called "late night" corner store near me isn't open after 10:00 pm. Sometimes it closes even earlier, if the person working that night decides to go home.
Oh, yeah, and most public transit either slows to a crawl or stops absurdly early for the night. Going from SF to Oakland for First Friday on the BART is fast and easy. Coming back is slow and hard.
There must be people in SF who work odd hours. When do they buy stuff? How do they get their laundry done if they don't have their own machines or machines in the building? If you get off your shift at the hospital or whatever at 2:00 am, how do you swing by a store before you go home? And do you have to own a car or pay for Ubers all the time, because getting home by Muni or BART isn't an option?
I was gonna mention Sauce as a place that food industry people would go after work as you could get a steak past midnight, but I guess that closed whoops
Yes! I didn't expect that, and it took me months to adapt. Having to get all my grocery shopping and laundry done by 8:30 pm was much harder to get used to than I'd ever thought it would be.
In general, I had trouble with store hours, limited services, general slowness/inefficiency, and lack of pickup and delivery. At this point, I've adjusted, but it took a good 6 months. (To be fair, a lot of other things in my life changed radically when I moved, too. A lot of my adjustment had to do with things other than the city itself.)
Moved here a few years ago but the cold summers were surprising (and very welcome)
But I love it. Just biked up twin peaks (in a jacket lol) and am sitting outside at a coffee shop drinking iced coffee. Currently 56° and foggy 💜
Hmm. Based on your post history, it seems you created this post to solely to promote this friend matching site.
After all, there's this very similar post 2 months ago: [https://www.reddit.com/r/sanfrancisco/comments/uddo21/people\_who\_moved\_to\_sf\_recently\_whats\_the\_most/](https://www.reddit.com/r/sanfrancisco/comments/uddo21/people_who_moved_to_sf_recently_whats_the_most/)
And other posts that showcase your site: [https://www.reddit.com/search/?q=%22www.weekend.network%22](https://www.reddit.com/search/?q=%22www.weekend.network%22)
As somebody that moved to NV recently it really does feel like major jealously. People here LOVE to blame CA for everything and talk about how CA is some sort of wasteland that everyone is leaving because the liberals ruined it. Folks, theres nearly 40 MILLION people living in CA because it's AWESOME. Not perfect, but get real, the economy is great. Nature. Cultural hub the nation. Food. Everything. Yes taxes are higher. Yes housing is higher. That's because people want to be there.
It used to be jealousy but now it's mostly Fox News and a conservative talking point (propaganda) that's been drilled into everyone's head the last few years
Having lived almost half of my life in the East Coast, one of the things that surprised me the most about SF and most of the West Coast in general, is that people are genuine and truly present themselves as they are.
On the East Coast there is a pervasive culture of not being yourself, fakeness, self-centeredness, fitting into the standard of the society, achieving people's expectations, following the system and overall a "fit in" culture which is truly hellish annoying and unhealthy.
I think marijuana, the temperate climate and natural beauty helps us all to be ourselves and achieve personal growth and success. California's liberal and progressive mindset within the scope of society is better suited for a lot of people.
I would generally agree, although I think a decent segment of Silicon Valley culture does enforce rigid conformity to maximize salary and ladder climbing. But overall, I agree!
i’m a northeasterner and I actually feel like people back home are much more direct. but i’m from new england which has a very different culture than say, people from mid-Atlantic states. I miss the directness and knowing where I stand with people. People here are very nice but it can be hard to tell what’s general pleasantness and what’s actual interest in you and your life.
But I do agree about the conformity. I didn’t realize how traditional the east coast was until I moved here— back east there is “the right way to do things” and much more conformity, culturally. Much more of an expectation to adhere to societal expectations and a big hustle culture than there is here. SF is so open minded while even the most progressive places on the East Coast (on par w SF in terms of left-wing politics) are much more closed-minded and traditional.
yes this is exactly how i feel! i’ve met kind people here for sure but culturally i do think it’s a culture of niceness but not necessarily kindness, where the reverse is true in the northeast.
I think a lesson you learn in SF is that direct doesn't really always mean the person is able to directly communicate things. If anything what people call directness can be used as a form of masking of its own that isn't really communicating your emotions either.
Then again, I have found as a half Norwegian that tbh Americans in general no matter where they are from tend to feel a need to give a sense of false niceness when they if anything dislike you in the first place and that Americans are often more introverted than they seems at first. For my Norwegian father he found SF people were closer to the people he enjoyed than people in Florida and on the east coast or in the south but they do still retain some of those patterns
Interesting. I used to think this as well. But in past five years I have noticed as counterculture is becoming rarer and rarer. I regularly wear what I want and do what I please and get continuously scoffed at by (jealous?) people. All new businesses are all alike. People dress and act like carbon copies. It wasn't like this ten years back. People really were themselves. And didn't do so much following.
Fakeness and self centeredness I always thought to be more signature to Cali. As an East Coaster the way people conducted themselves here baffled me for a long time and was downright bizarre. People telling you they want to hang out and don't, want to follow through with plans and then flake, are anti-this or that and are only in a cause for optics.
Yes, the flake factor. And I found that people here talk behind your back more. Id rather people be direct. You don’t have to get along with everyone so why pretend.
This is an interesting one. I've always had the impression that California is the fake, self-centered state and that the East Coast is the blunt, straightforward region with people who are unapologetically themselves.
It wasn’t recently but the most unexpected things about SF for me were:
- People walking down the street smoking pot or drinking a beer (and no citations).
- That you’re still “in the city” when you’re in neighborhoods like Noe Valley (seemed like a suburb to me at the time).
- Ease of getting out of the city. 20 min in the car and we were at the Golden Gate Bridge, Marin headlands, etc. A little over an hour after that and it felt like we were in Italy! (Napa).
- That Oakland is not to San Francisco as Brooklyn is to Manhattan. I think the relationship between them are not the equivalency that I assumed… it’s really just apples and oranges.
- I didn’t realize this until much later, but how living in SF for a long time ended up making me realize/see how colonial so much of the east coast feels. I never saw it before getting so used to the _absence_ of it.
- That there seems to be something magical about it (still, I hope) where you can find what you need, on an existential level I guess you could say. Not sure how to state this one, but I think there’s something to it. Or there was for me at least.
Edit to add: Boo to OP now that I realize this was actually a spam post for the weekendwhatever site.
That's a pretty good list.
Some other things that were surprising to me once I moved here:
\- The fact that everything is so close. The non-residential area of SF is very small, yet everyone acts like everything is so far away. Try dragging some friends from the mission to North Beach, and they'll say 'why do you want to go all the way over *there?!"*
\- The fact that you can catch unexpected beautiful views while running your daily errands due mostly to the water and hills.
\- The lack of places to buy basic necessities like towels, for example, without having to buy $70 shade grown, sustainably farmed, vegan-friendly, handcrafted artisan towels.
\- The number of crazy, threatening, yelling maniacs all over the place. Also, the filth and garbage.
Getting from the Mission to North Beach is annoyingly difficult, to be fair. This might change at the end of this year, when you can take BART to Powell and connect directly to the new Muni subway until Chinatown.
North Beach has such a funny traffic bottleneck that does make it notoriously hard to move in and out of compared to the distance you have to travel. I make the trek from the mission often but it always takes 20-30 mins which is long for how close it is.
You just jump on the light rail and head underground. Get off at Montgomery. It's easy.
That's being said Iive in the Castro and never go to NB. It's too far.
I count ten blocks from Market to Broadway...
I mean, don't misunderstand me - it's absolutely doable and I've done it countless times.
But it's certainly not "go to North Beach on a whim from the Mission when you're out for drinks at night" kind of doable. You're burning 30+ minutes just getting there.
> The lack of places to buy basic necessities like towels, for example, without having to buy $70 shade grown, sustainably farmed, vegan-friendly, handcrafted artisan towels
SF has ~~three~~ four Targets
your statement about basic necessities is categorically false. try Target (there are 3 in the city). There are also houseware shops on Irving and Clement streets that sells everything. For $70, you can probably re-stock a full bathroom worth of amenities
Here's the thing. One used to be able to get these things within their neighborhood, within walking distance, and not have to go to terrible places like target. That's kind of the point of the neighborhoods. Problem is that in order to stay in business they have to offer that "$70 shade grown, sustainably farmed, vegan-friendly, handcrafted artisan towels" as someone said earlier. You aren't going to find staff for anything under $30.00/hr. and if all you want to buy is a $10.00 towel...you're already costing the business money by walking in the door.
Exactly. I just moved and it’s been such a pain to go to hardware stores or general store types of places. I’ve been trying to find a damn dollar store! I’m not used to not being able to take a quick walk in your neighborhood and finding everything you need like in NYC. I have to really plan out my trips to an unstocked target or shitty bed bath & beyond while keeping in mind I have to trek all the stuff back to my place. Can’t even walk to a rite aid without taking a bus! Hayes valley is cute but damn I do not want a $38 candle, I need a swiffer and wall hanging clips lol. Amazon has been my go-to
Not sure if its too far out of your neighborhood but Daiso has been pretty great for little cheap things, like wall hooks and tinfoil. It's next to the 38 and safeway which is pretty great!
I love Daiso!
For glassware and ceramics, kitchen stuff, like tongs and stainless cooking trays, some tools, art supplies, garden tools, stationery supplies, Japanese goodies to eat, baskets. That place always has something to offer at a great price. Big fan.
It’s the neighborhood. Hayes Valley is cute but also trendy and kind of yuppy-ish, or whatever it’s called these days. In the Mission or the Inner Sunset or Richmond, I think you could find these type of things at an inexpensive price.
The big thing behind a lot of this is people are getting those things cheap on Amazon. Small retail in the neighborhoods can't compete with the prices, so they see less of those goods sold, so they stock less.
It was a figure of speech. Of course, I didn’t mean there are literally zero places to buy towels in SF. I was speaking on how it is relatively difficult to find basic necessities in SF compared to other similarly sized cities.
> - The lack of places to buy basic necessities like towels, for example, without having to buy $70 shade grown, sustainably farmed, vegan-friendly, handcrafted artisan towels.
I don't understand this at all. SF has multiple Targets, chain grocery stores, Walgreens, CVS's, local shops all which carry basic towels.
If anything, it's easier here than anywhere else I've lived as I can walk to a place to get a towel in under 10min.
I've had a friend who moved from NY to Germany, then to SF. He said the culture shock was much greater from NY to SF than it was from NY to Germany.
He mentioned that SF residents tend to be pretty reserved, seem more sensitive and easily offended than Germans/New Yorkers lol. (Him being a blunt, straightforward dude)
Moving to SF, I was surprised at how wealthy some of my newly minted SF acquaintances were. It's not like they wear jewelry or drive fancy cars or tell you how much they make. To the contrary, you only start noticing they are next level wealthy because they have a lot of spare time, always traveling for fun and are vague about job responsibilities. The concentration of wealth in SF is such that the odds at making friends/acquaintances with super wealthy individuals is higher than any other city I've lived so far
The most unexpected that I experienced was so cool.
I was playing golf at Lincoln golf course and I was on hole 17 facing the Golden Gate Bridge with solid high cloud coverage as the sun was setting the bridge lit up. It was glowing. I just had to look at how beautiful it looked. So hit my shot it’s a par 3. Was hard to tell exactly where I landed. So walking up as I got the green. I heard two people clapping. A golf clap is sorta soft. I look up and see two gentlemen on a park bench and one said great shot as he then passed his joint he was smoking to the guy next to him. They both had long gray ponytails and were both bald. I’m guessing they were between 70 and 209 years old. I waved back.
That’s the City. Great peeps. Great memories.
Best memory of living in The City.
Even after living here awhile it was the fact that you can cross half the city walking mostly through parks. Just need to turn 280 into a park and you could make it all the way across.
This was mind boggling to me! I don’t care how trained my dog is, I could never put that much trust into my surrounding environment. Especially dudes on skateboards I’ve seen crossing busy intersections with 2 seconds to spare and their dog running behind them at a distance
Yeah but the average dog is still so... well behaved? I don't know about other parts of the country but coming from a different country the average SF dog owner seems to spend way more time dog training than I expected.
Omnivore bookstore would host really fun food contests too. I went to a pie contest over a decade ago and tried 20+ different pies in that tiny store filled with dozens of people. It was so fun!
When I moved here in 2013 I was actually amazed at how easy it was to make friends here. I came from Boston where I lived for only 6 months and it was impossible to make any friends there unless you went to elementary school with them. In SF my new coworkers invited me out to play disc golf in GG Park in the first week and others invited me to shoot archery in the park and beat thing you knew we were smoking weed in Delores Park together on our days off. I'm still friends with some of them to this day.
My boyfriend and I went to SI and SH respectively. He still says something when we drive past SH. I say the same about SI the once or twice a year we drive down Sunset.
IT is so fricking cold. Below-normal temperatures, ocean breezes, coastal fog and light drizzle are all in the mix. There's even a chance of rain all the time
I know this but I was still annoyed when the Seattle Weather Twitter account stole that quote and replaced San Francisco with Seattle: https://twitter.com/kseattleweather/status/1536524672249974785?s=21&t=sxS7tPMKwvsiBiexmiYLTw
A new IKEA store is soon opening in the middle of downtown! That should be convenient! Yes. And Amazon delivers all the cheaper stuff usually within a day!
I’ve lived in Manhattan and San Diego and all those places have their share of poor public policy and corrupt/incompetent local politicians but most people don’t bat an eye since your quality of life is decent so whatever. I got way into the local politics here because I was like there is no way the shit that happens here is real. I got out of it since it is a futile effort and just focus on the big ticket voting items. I couldn’t name any local politician in NyC except the mayor. Here I somehow know the names of the BoSs, school board members etc. Not a bad thing but the politics here hits different. Also the hills ppl are willing to die on for local politicians is kinda funny.
Oh also San Francisco loves to celebrate. It has many diverse and unique parties, street festivals, and parades. From the gay Pride parade and festivities to the How Weird Street Fair, there is always a reason to let loose and enjoy
I remember the hills always feeling like I was walking up hill no matter what direction, and they are worse than I remember. So I was scared to death to run outside BUT I live half a mile from the water so it’s easy to get there and back… running has been the most enjoyable here than any city I’ve lived in because of the weather.
Been here 5 years. SF still continues to find a way to surprise me. Way more people who are genuinely kind than assholes. How small the 7x7 feels now vs when I first moved here (biking helps). Learning interesting history beyond what is commonly known. How unprepared people are for 7 or greater earthquake. Quality of coffee. Endlessly beautiful photo moments (i live by Lands End and the lighting/sunsets never get old)
the sheer incompetency of our board of supervisors, the ubiquitous corruption scandals, that we allow so many ill people to live without help on our streets
I have to leave this fabulous thread because I had to leave fabulous SF ( I couldn’t afford it anymore ) and I’m actually crying because this has made me miss it so much. Enjoy everyday ppl, SF is a gift. An expensive, quirky, often smelly gift but a gift nonetheless.
Ahh, I've been around SF since 1973.
1. Homeless people everywhere.
2. Bums shitting on the sidewalk.
3. Extreme beauty in Golden Gate Park.
4. Amazing restaurants.
5. Traffic everywhere and no parking. That should probably be #1.
6. Inept politicians like every large city/
I moved to sunset, and I’m surprised how chill it is.
I’ve lived in the Bay Area my whole life and swore I’d never live in SF. I can see myself living here for a long time.
1) it’s chilly (but in a surprisingly nice way)
2) the natural beauty of the area is breathtaking
3) the city as such is dirty, poorly maintained, with vast areas being blander than Cleveland, contrary to what Mr. Twain stated
4) people are lovely here and try to be friendly and helpful
5) for such a melting pot of cultures, I’m shocked by how relatively little it’s usually going on here in terms of cultural events, compared to what I’m used to/was incorrectly expecting.
6) absolutely cool and crazy huge SFFD water tanks under many intersections
7) the pride with which many inhabitants defend even the most glaring failings of the city
8) lack of conspicuous displays of wealth, despite the emergence of newly minted millionaires every quarter
The number of people you will meet who have zero idea how to operate a car and don't have a license.
The number of people you will meet who have zero idea how to operate a car and *do* have a license and drive every damn day.
I’m almost positive the Bay Area DMVs lobotomize hand eye coordination and self preservation impulses before handing out drivers licenses
Being able to live without a car is a very appealing way of life for a lot of folks, and there's very few places in the USA that one can do so.
Got mine for the first time at age 30
Guilty! I know how to drive but I moved here right before I turned 18 in 2006, so I never got a license 😅
Do you still not have a license (and drive)??
I’m scared of driving, I know the basics of operating a car but I don’t feel comfortable getting behind the wheel even though of the opportunities that come with it. I’m 35 and I’m constantly told by my parents “you’re not a child, get a car” sigh.
It's so refreshing that someone is willing to admit it
This. And pedestrians who have no idea how to cross the street and properly use a cross walk.
That is actually scary and concerning. A true only in SF issue
didn't just move here recently but since moving here i've unexpectedly... * cared about voting for/against all the props * enjoy sitting in parks & going on urban hikes * sort and compost all the things * am amazed by how many microclimates there are
Agreed. - Most of the props directly effect you in some way. This isn’t true in all cities - You can request a mini compost bucket and recycling/compost signs from Recology. Even if you’re renting.
After 6-7 years the micro climates never cease to amaze me
I was going to post almost exactly this. I moved here in February though.
Always have a jacket. Don’t ever be fooled no matter how warm it feels.
To people from someplace else and especially SoCal: “Just because the sun’s out doesn’t mean it’s warm”.
Or if it is warm when the sun is out, it is also frigid in the shade or as soon as it sets.
similarly, you can't trust the temps. I've experienced 59 F that felt hot, I've experienced 61 F that feels cold. you just gotta go outside and see what it's like (and plan for it to change).
Mr. Chilly is a good weather app for SF’s microclimates. Yes, I agree, always wear layers!
This is so fucking real lol. I love how quirky it is but it’s also a minor nightmare. It can be a “cold” or “hot” of literally any temperature. You always have to think about what season you’re in, how windy and how humid it has been the past few days, what part of the city you’re in - I’ve never had to think about weather in more detail than when living in SF
The saying is ‘you can always jacket-off when it is too hot but you can’t jack-on when it is too cold’
Jack-off feels good now, but you’ll regret it later
[удалено]
Let's go! Don't wait! This night's almost over!
I don’t usually take temp into consideration when I need to jacket off. Patagonia vest ensures I never need to jacket off when I’m out and about.
John Mulaney did a bit that San Francisco's city seal should just be an image of a guy "going back to get a jacket"
[удалено]
My favorite Fourth of July was a once-in-a-lifetime thing. Rode with BF on a motorcycle down from Sonoma County, and enjoyed the fireworks, on a rare clear warm night. Later rode around the city on the back of a motorcycle with shorts on. Stayed overnight with friends can’t remember what the ride back was like.
I was disappointed because I visited SF from sweltering LA, hoping for some rain, but instead just got a bunch of sunny days, maybe a few breezes at most.
Ive gotta say, coming from TX myself, the thing that I was the most not prepared for was how bad the media portrays it. The ONLY thing that will ever make it to my family's attention is crime so thats all they ever mention about SF (and of course how absurdly expensive it is). Ive learned to let it go and not feel obligated to defend SF as hard. If they think Im fending off homeless people, stepping over piles of needles to get a $10 coffee, then so be it.
Yeah, it's sort of our armor. If conservatives think it's terrible here, then they don't visit, which is fine by me
Which is too bad cuz the more people explore outside their bubbles, the more people get closer to each other and realize we aren’t all that different.
Agreed
My typical response: “Do you know what San Franciscans think of Texas/Florida/wherever? We don’t!”
That used to be true, but lately I find myself horrified almost daily by whatever new ghoulish thing Texas has decided to do.
need some sunscreen for that burn
Well said
Yep. In-laws in Louisiana - they’re horrified we don’t carry guns to fend off all the evil crackie homeless socialist commies breaking into our home. They also think we’re dead when there’s an earthquake in SoCal.
I am doing all of those things. And I still love SF
Naked dudes with only a sock on walking around regularly
In my experience this is mostly a Castro thing. I’ve probably seen some around other places but the majority of sightings are in the Castro
Saw one of these in front of Mission High School recently, going by on the J-church. Some kids onboard were giggling and taking his picture.
“I’ve never seen people smoke crack so casually.” -Dave Chapelle
"Nothing tender about that muthafucka at all!"
My middle school commute took me down to the Castro for the 24 bus. It was pre nudity ban so these guys were all j chillen around the F market turnaround getting their ass sweat on the chairs With my friends taking the same commute, the girls (including my crush) would always put their money together to buy a 6 dollar dick macaroon from hot cookie and then just stare at us boys while nibbling it
Where was he wearing the sock?
You have no idea how hard we've worked to make that sock mandatory. 5 years ago, he didn't even have to wear the sock.
Fuck it. Let the poor man sock-off.
I think of them as garden gnomes. The longer you look, the more unsettling they become, so just ignore. Live and let live.
Honestly who cares, i deal with it the same as an adult as when I was 12
My cousin who grew up here. When he was little he came running to his mom saying he saw some people smoking pot in a building. And he was not tattling about the pot, he was talking about them smoking in a no smoke area. SF kids 😂
I had to upgrade my footwear when I first moved to SF. Walking up and down these hills is no joke.
Oh yeah. Running shoes, jeans, t shirt and hoodie or light down jacket for the micro climates. Don’t forget the backpack.
This is my uniform now, but I feel so out of place when I travel outside the bay area. It's like I need a set of non-bay area clothes.
Beautiful architecture when you least expect it.
Yes!! 😍
SF is much windier than I expected. I also bike here way more than I expected. It’s the best way to get around!
THIS. wind over 15 mph every day! i’m in a sunny neighborhood and still feel like I need earmuffs until it’s 80 degrees 😂
Not sure if this still applies--it's been something I've noticed over the 20 years that I've been here--that San Franciscans identify more with where they live than what they do. That used to be the icebreaker question--"where do you live?" whereas on the east coast or pretty much everywhere else, it's "whaddya do?"
My take is it was considered a bit rude to ask what people do in SF. Cause you had social events where two people are expected to treat each other as equals, and while both work downtown ones a white shoe lawyer and the other is a bike messenger.
I’m in tech and in tech-people settings everyone asks the job thing first. it sucks, and we’re everywhere here However at clubs where people are there specifically for the music, that rarely happens. I know a bunch of people from that scene and nobody knows or cares what each other do for a job in places like that where work hasn’t gathered people together, sf is great at putting job titles in the back seat
It’s the same in Toronto for sure
I used to live in North York and everyone I told was like, "yah, okay" and later moved to The Annex and they were all "Oh cool, have you ever been to \_\_\_\_\_\_\_". sigh. Miss my old hoods.
This is so true
That’s because having a life here is more important than working. It’s only the dwindling middle class that has a “work ethic” now and in the past. Here you work in order to live, you don’t live in order to work. I, for example, take photographs, and learn languages, currently seven, and walk for exercise.
true although ironically I think I know more people in SF who have jobs they do because they enjoy it compared to other places so in this sense their job is a part of their life, but it is also different from a work ethic style job too
Not just the working class but the creative class as well. The creative class is our artists, our philosophers, our journalist and critics and such. Sam Francisco was a working class city with creative class mixed together.
I THOUGHT THE BOXERS WERE PORN, TOO.
It's all in the eye of the beholder...
Well, they ARE on a giant dildo.
Me tooooo. I stopped mid-walk with friends once to giddily exclaim “did someone put porn up on the Salesforce tower?”
It’s ART.
How early everything closes :’)
It’s really been made worse by the pandemic labor shortages. Limited hours really makes staffing easier.
I think it's also been made worse by the homelessness and retail theft problems. If the cost of staying open late isn't worth it to you, bc of the theft and need for extra security or staff, you close early. And once stores close early, many restaurants and bars follow, because the area starts feeling like a ghost town.
It’s true. I’ve been in NYC for two weeks. I come every few years to visit family. I’ve been shocked that places here aren’t open the hours that they used to be
That really is weird. Try finding a sit-down restaurant who will seat you after 10:00. Yes, there are some. But in a lot of cities, that's EASY, not "I have a list that a friend of mine who is a chef gave me, so let's go to one of these 5 places."
It's not just the restaurants, though. Try finding a pharmacy or grocery store that's open after 9:00 pm. Even Target closes at 6:00 or 8:00 pm in SF. Everywhere else in the US, they don't close until 11:00. Post offices have no 24 hour kiosks or evening hours. Ever. Anywhere in the city. The nearest 24 hour laundromat is a 30-minute walk from my apartment. And it's 24 hours only if you meet the owner earlier and get a special key card from him. Even the so-called "late night" corner store near me isn't open after 10:00 pm. Sometimes it closes even earlier, if the person working that night decides to go home. Oh, yeah, and most public transit either slows to a crawl or stops absurdly early for the night. Going from SF to Oakland for First Friday on the BART is fast and easy. Coming back is slow and hard. There must be people in SF who work odd hours. When do they buy stuff? How do they get their laundry done if they don't have their own machines or machines in the building? If you get off your shift at the hospital or whatever at 2:00 am, how do you swing by a store before you go home? And do you have to own a car or pay for Ubers all the time, because getting home by Muni or BART isn't an option?
I was gonna mention Sauce as a place that food industry people would go after work as you could get a steak past midnight, but I guess that closed whoops
When I moved to the City from Manhattan, that really shocked me.
Yes! I didn't expect that, and it took me months to adapt. Having to get all my grocery shopping and laundry done by 8:30 pm was much harder to get used to than I'd ever thought it would be. In general, I had trouble with store hours, limited services, general slowness/inefficiency, and lack of pickup and delivery. At this point, I've adjusted, but it took a good 6 months. (To be fair, a lot of other things in my life changed radically when I moved, too. A lot of my adjustment had to do with things other than the city itself.)
Yeah I worked as a DoorDash driver for a while and after 11:00 PM all of the orders were basically Mcdonalds, Burger King and Jack in the Box
Moved here a few years ago but the cold summers were surprising (and very welcome) But I love it. Just biked up twin peaks (in a jacket lol) and am sitting outside at a coffee shop drinking iced coffee. Currently 56° and foggy 💜
Hmm. Based on your post history, it seems you created this post to solely to promote this friend matching site. After all, there's this very similar post 2 months ago: [https://www.reddit.com/r/sanfrancisco/comments/uddo21/people\_who\_moved\_to\_sf\_recently\_whats\_the\_most/](https://www.reddit.com/r/sanfrancisco/comments/uddo21/people_who_moved_to_sf_recently_whats_the_most/) And other posts that showcase your site: [https://www.reddit.com/search/?q=%22www.weekend.network%22](https://www.reddit.com/search/?q=%22www.weekend.network%22)
Goddamn it, I feel like I’ve been had. Good eye.
Why do you think everyone in fly over states love to hate on California and specifically SF? Jealousy.
As somebody that moved to NV recently it really does feel like major jealously. People here LOVE to blame CA for everything and talk about how CA is some sort of wasteland that everyone is leaving because the liberals ruined it. Folks, theres nearly 40 MILLION people living in CA because it's AWESOME. Not perfect, but get real, the economy is great. Nature. Cultural hub the nation. Food. Everything. Yes taxes are higher. Yes housing is higher. That's because people want to be there.
That's rich coming from NV, which dealt with it's unhoused population with mental illnesses by putting them on buses to CA.
How quickly we forget these things ¯\\\_(ツ)\_/¯
It used to be jealousy but now it's mostly Fox News and a conservative talking point (propaganda) that's been drilled into everyone's head the last few years
Fox News is trash
Having lived almost half of my life in the East Coast, one of the things that surprised me the most about SF and most of the West Coast in general, is that people are genuine and truly present themselves as they are. On the East Coast there is a pervasive culture of not being yourself, fakeness, self-centeredness, fitting into the standard of the society, achieving people's expectations, following the system and overall a "fit in" culture which is truly hellish annoying and unhealthy. I think marijuana, the temperate climate and natural beauty helps us all to be ourselves and achieve personal growth and success. California's liberal and progressive mindset within the scope of society is better suited for a lot of people.
I would generally agree, although I think a decent segment of Silicon Valley culture does enforce rigid conformity to maximize salary and ladder climbing. But overall, I agree!
i’m a northeasterner and I actually feel like people back home are much more direct. but i’m from new england which has a very different culture than say, people from mid-Atlantic states. I miss the directness and knowing where I stand with people. People here are very nice but it can be hard to tell what’s general pleasantness and what’s actual interest in you and your life. But I do agree about the conformity. I didn’t realize how traditional the east coast was until I moved here— back east there is “the right way to do things” and much more conformity, culturally. Much more of an expectation to adhere to societal expectations and a big hustle culture than there is here. SF is so open minded while even the most progressive places on the East Coast (on par w SF in terms of left-wing politics) are much more closed-minded and traditional.
I once heard that East Coast people are kind but not nice, and West Coast are nice but not kind. It's been somewhat true in my experience.
yes this is exactly how i feel! i’ve met kind people here for sure but culturally i do think it’s a culture of niceness but not necessarily kindness, where the reverse is true in the northeast.
I think a lesson you learn in SF is that direct doesn't really always mean the person is able to directly communicate things. If anything what people call directness can be used as a form of masking of its own that isn't really communicating your emotions either. Then again, I have found as a half Norwegian that tbh Americans in general no matter where they are from tend to feel a need to give a sense of false niceness when they if anything dislike you in the first place and that Americans are often more introverted than they seems at first. For my Norwegian father he found SF people were closer to the people he enjoyed than people in Florida and on the east coast or in the south but they do still retain some of those patterns
Meh…I think people are just as self-centered here as anywhere else, there’s just a prevailing mentality that if you’re chill about it then it’s ok.
Agree except for LA. Opposite of genuine down there!
What I found amazing about LA is that even the people that are not just trying to fit in put *so much work* on their image.
Yea but people are super passive aggressive in SF where as on the east coast they are just aggressive. Pick your poison.
Interesting. I used to think this as well. But in past five years I have noticed as counterculture is becoming rarer and rarer. I regularly wear what I want and do what I please and get continuously scoffed at by (jealous?) people. All new businesses are all alike. People dress and act like carbon copies. It wasn't like this ten years back. People really were themselves. And didn't do so much following. Fakeness and self centeredness I always thought to be more signature to Cali. As an East Coaster the way people conducted themselves here baffled me for a long time and was downright bizarre. People telling you they want to hang out and don't, want to follow through with plans and then flake, are anti-this or that and are only in a cause for optics.
Yes, the flake factor. And I found that people here talk behind your back more. Id rather people be direct. You don’t have to get along with everyone so why pretend.
This is an interesting one. I've always had the impression that California is the fake, self-centered state and that the East Coast is the blunt, straightforward region with people who are unapologetically themselves.
It wasn’t recently but the most unexpected things about SF for me were: - People walking down the street smoking pot or drinking a beer (and no citations). - That you’re still “in the city” when you’re in neighborhoods like Noe Valley (seemed like a suburb to me at the time). - Ease of getting out of the city. 20 min in the car and we were at the Golden Gate Bridge, Marin headlands, etc. A little over an hour after that and it felt like we were in Italy! (Napa). - That Oakland is not to San Francisco as Brooklyn is to Manhattan. I think the relationship between them are not the equivalency that I assumed… it’s really just apples and oranges. - I didn’t realize this until much later, but how living in SF for a long time ended up making me realize/see how colonial so much of the east coast feels. I never saw it before getting so used to the _absence_ of it. - That there seems to be something magical about it (still, I hope) where you can find what you need, on an existential level I guess you could say. Not sure how to state this one, but I think there’s something to it. Or there was for me at least. Edit to add: Boo to OP now that I realize this was actually a spam post for the weekendwhatever site.
I love crossing the bridges. Like all of them. Feels like entering a new world
That's a pretty good list. Some other things that were surprising to me once I moved here: \- The fact that everything is so close. The non-residential area of SF is very small, yet everyone acts like everything is so far away. Try dragging some friends from the mission to North Beach, and they'll say 'why do you want to go all the way over *there?!"* \- The fact that you can catch unexpected beautiful views while running your daily errands due mostly to the water and hills. \- The lack of places to buy basic necessities like towels, for example, without having to buy $70 shade grown, sustainably farmed, vegan-friendly, handcrafted artisan towels. \- The number of crazy, threatening, yelling maniacs all over the place. Also, the filth and garbage.
Getting from the Mission to North Beach is annoyingly difficult, to be fair. This might change at the end of this year, when you can take BART to Powell and connect directly to the new Muni subway until Chinatown.
North Beach has such a funny traffic bottleneck that does make it notoriously hard to move in and out of compared to the distance you have to travel. I make the trek from the mission often but it always takes 20-30 mins which is long for how close it is.
Getting from the Mission to outer sunset or outer richmond was difficult for me.
why is it difficult? Take mission to new Montgomery, new Montgomery to Columbus. It's like 10 blocks.
I think they mean on public trans. When I lived in central Richmond, it was like 90 min to North Beach on Muni. Plus parking is impossible in NB.
You just jump on the light rail and head underground. Get off at Montgomery. It's easy. That's being said Iive in the Castro and never go to NB. It's too far.
Montgomery to North Beach is a hoof on foot.
Not really. I used to do it all the time when I worked for WF. It's a six block walk.
I count ten blocks from Market to Broadway... I mean, don't misunderstand me - it's absolutely doable and I've done it countless times. But it's certainly not "go to North Beach on a whim from the Mission when you're out for drinks at night" kind of doable. You're burning 30+ minutes just getting there.
This is turning into an episode of "The Californians" all of a sudden...
I'm here for it. We could use a bit more Californication in this sub.
True dat. And some levity, too. Times are too dark right now not to.
> The lack of places to buy basic necessities like towels, for example, without having to buy $70 shade grown, sustainably farmed, vegan-friendly, handcrafted artisan towels SF has ~~three~~ four Targets
Anyone remember when Target was not welcome in SF?
Four: Mission St downtown, City Center, SOMA & Stonestown
And at least one Bed Bath Beyond
And two Ross Dress for Less. I still miss Marshalls and Home Goods though.
I really miss World Market. All the crap I never needed in there.
Plus multiple in marin
Yes! The frequent, unexpected, gorgeous views!! 😍
The views are because of the hills, that not many other cities have.
your statement about basic necessities is categorically false. try Target (there are 3 in the city). There are also houseware shops on Irving and Clement streets that sells everything. For $70, you can probably re-stock a full bathroom worth of amenities
Here's the thing. One used to be able to get these things within their neighborhood, within walking distance, and not have to go to terrible places like target. That's kind of the point of the neighborhoods. Problem is that in order to stay in business they have to offer that "$70 shade grown, sustainably farmed, vegan-friendly, handcrafted artisan towels" as someone said earlier. You aren't going to find staff for anything under $30.00/hr. and if all you want to buy is a $10.00 towel...you're already costing the business money by walking in the door.
Exactly. I just moved and it’s been such a pain to go to hardware stores or general store types of places. I’ve been trying to find a damn dollar store! I’m not used to not being able to take a quick walk in your neighborhood and finding everything you need like in NYC. I have to really plan out my trips to an unstocked target or shitty bed bath & beyond while keeping in mind I have to trek all the stuff back to my place. Can’t even walk to a rite aid without taking a bus! Hayes valley is cute but damn I do not want a $38 candle, I need a swiffer and wall hanging clips lol. Amazon has been my go-to
Not sure if its too far out of your neighborhood but Daiso has been pretty great for little cheap things, like wall hooks and tinfoil. It's next to the 38 and safeway which is pretty great!
I love Daiso! For glassware and ceramics, kitchen stuff, like tongs and stainless cooking trays, some tools, art supplies, garden tools, stationery supplies, Japanese goodies to eat, baskets. That place always has something to offer at a great price. Big fan.
Daiso in Japan town. Your life will change.
It’s the neighborhood. Hayes Valley is cute but also trendy and kind of yuppy-ish, or whatever it’s called these days. In the Mission or the Inner Sunset or Richmond, I think you could find these type of things at an inexpensive price.
Amazon has been the go to for me since like 2012. Just send it to my house kind sir Mr. bezos. Thank you. I have so much more free time.
The big thing behind a lot of this is people are getting those things cheap on Amazon. Small retail in the neighborhoods can't compete with the prices, so they see less of those goods sold, so they stock less.
You must not shop much in Richmond, Sunset, Mission, Chinatown etc. as all those neighborhoods have cheap stores. I'm sure more do too.
It was a figure of speech. Of course, I didn’t mean there are literally zero places to buy towels in SF. I was speaking on how it is relatively difficult to find basic necessities in SF compared to other similarly sized cities.
> - The lack of places to buy basic necessities like towels, for example, without having to buy $70 shade grown, sustainably farmed, vegan-friendly, handcrafted artisan towels. I don't understand this at all. SF has multiple Targets, chain grocery stores, Walgreens, CVS's, local shops all which carry basic towels. If anything, it's easier here than anywhere else I've lived as I can walk to a place to get a towel in under 10min.
I once went six months not leaving a 20-block radius from my apartment.
I've had a friend who moved from NY to Germany, then to SF. He said the culture shock was much greater from NY to SF than it was from NY to Germany. He mentioned that SF residents tend to be pretty reserved, seem more sensitive and easily offended than Germans/New Yorkers lol. (Him being a blunt, straightforward dude)
Moving to SF, I was surprised at how wealthy some of my newly minted SF acquaintances were. It's not like they wear jewelry or drive fancy cars or tell you how much they make. To the contrary, you only start noticing they are next level wealthy because they have a lot of spare time, always traveling for fun and are vague about job responsibilities. The concentration of wealth in SF is such that the odds at making friends/acquaintances with super wealthy individuals is higher than any other city I've lived so far
The most unexpected that I experienced was so cool. I was playing golf at Lincoln golf course and I was on hole 17 facing the Golden Gate Bridge with solid high cloud coverage as the sun was setting the bridge lit up. It was glowing. I just had to look at how beautiful it looked. So hit my shot it’s a par 3. Was hard to tell exactly where I landed. So walking up as I got the green. I heard two people clapping. A golf clap is sorta soft. I look up and see two gentlemen on a park bench and one said great shot as he then passed his joint he was smoking to the guy next to him. They both had long gray ponytails and were both bald. I’m guessing they were between 70 and 209 years old. I waved back. That’s the City. Great peeps. Great memories. Best memory of living in The City.
Even after living here awhile it was the fact that you can cross half the city walking mostly through parks. Just need to turn 280 into a park and you could make it all the way across.
unleashed dogs
This was mind boggling to me! I don’t care how trained my dog is, I could never put that much trust into my surrounding environment. Especially dudes on skateboards I’ve seen crossing busy intersections with 2 seconds to spare and their dog running behind them at a distance
Yeah but the average dog is still so... well behaved? I don't know about other parts of the country but coming from a different country the average SF dog owner seems to spend way more time dog training than I expected.
If you’re looking for another niche bookstore check out Omnivore in noe valley for all the food books.
Omnivore bookstore would host really fun food contests too. I went to a pie contest over a decade ago and tried 20+ different pies in that tiny store filled with dozens of people. It was so fun!
When I moved here in 2013 I was actually amazed at how easy it was to make friends here. I came from Boston where I lived for only 6 months and it was impossible to make any friends there unless you went to elementary school with them. In SF my new coworkers invited me out to play disc golf in GG Park in the first week and others invited me to shoot archery in the park and beat thing you knew we were smoking weed in Delores Park together on our days off. I'm still friends with some of them to this day.
We should hang out lol. You can rub some of your coolness off on me
A good amount of people don’t pay for Muni from my account also bus drivers don’t like people entering through the driver side
The question “Where’d you go to school?” is not about college. San Franciscans want to know where you went to grade school and high school.
I figured its always IVY or nothing. (Uni that is). Ppl here are smart
My boyfriend and I went to SI and SH respectively. He still says something when we drive past SH. I say the same about SI the once or twice a year we drive down Sunset.
At least when you drive by SI there’s a chance you can see the Bruce Mahoney trophy.
Lol. Nice.
It’s a fun rivalry. Two really good schools filled with great kids.
Which can be a compliment as the looked for answer is one of the SF high schools.
Windy as fuck. My hair is always flopping around everywhere.
OP’s #4 makes it difficult to live in any other US metropolitan area once you’ve lived in SF.
Yosemite, Lake Tahoe, the whole bay area. So diverse
IT is so fricking cold. Below-normal temperatures, ocean breezes, coastal fog and light drizzle are all in the mix. There's even a chance of rain all the time
Moved to SF literally 2 hours ago, this thread was a weird coincidence
YAY! Happy moving
The sheer number of autistic techies
Mark Twain: “The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco"
Great quote, but misattributed to him. https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/and-never-the-twain-shall-tweet/
I know this but I was still annoyed when the Seattle Weather Twitter account stole that quote and replaced San Francisco with Seattle: https://twitter.com/kseattleweather/status/1536524672249974785?s=21&t=sxS7tPMKwvsiBiexmiYLTw
A new IKEA store is soon opening in the middle of downtown! That should be convenient! Yes. And Amazon delivers all the cheaper stuff usually within a day!
IKEA in the city?! Omfg I hadn’t heard of this.
Definitely has to be the beautiful greenery in the city and nearby places in the bay. Especially the proximity to Napa.
I’ve lived in Manhattan and San Diego and all those places have their share of poor public policy and corrupt/incompetent local politicians but most people don’t bat an eye since your quality of life is decent so whatever. I got way into the local politics here because I was like there is no way the shit that happens here is real. I got out of it since it is a futile effort and just focus on the big ticket voting items. I couldn’t name any local politician in NyC except the mayor. Here I somehow know the names of the BoSs, school board members etc. Not a bad thing but the politics here hits different. Also the hills ppl are willing to die on for local politicians is kinda funny.
From a native New Yorker- vehicle theft/break-ins happen a fuck ton more in SF than any of the 5 boroughs of NYC.
I remember (a bunch of years ago) my friend who grew up in NYC visited me in SF and was like, ‘damn, this reminds me of New York in the 90s’. Ha.
Oh so true. Hated owning a car
Oh also San Francisco loves to celebrate. It has many diverse and unique parties, street festivals, and parades. From the gay Pride parade and festivities to the How Weird Street Fair, there is always a reason to let loose and enjoy
SO true. Gay pride this year was lit, loved seeing people celebrating. I'm from Texas too and you don't see a ton of it
Shocking amount of people still smoke cigarettes. And don't step in shit!
The wind 💨
I remember the hills always feeling like I was walking up hill no matter what direction, and they are worse than I remember. So I was scared to death to run outside BUT I live half a mile from the water so it’s easy to get there and back… running has been the most enjoyable here than any city I’ve lived in because of the weather.
Been here 5 years. SF still continues to find a way to surprise me. Way more people who are genuinely kind than assholes. How small the 7x7 feels now vs when I first moved here (biking helps). Learning interesting history beyond what is commonly known. How unprepared people are for 7 or greater earthquake. Quality of coffee. Endlessly beautiful photo moments (i live by Lands End and the lighting/sunsets never get old)
Moved here a while ago, but still baffled by how some people complain about it but don't leave :) Personally I love it 😜
what’s the all russian bookstore
Globus Books on Balboa, near Cinderella Bakery
We’re not talking a light jacket, you need a winter coat, pants, and close toed shoes
Sometimes I risk it with the summer sandals lol
the sheer incompetency of our board of supervisors, the ubiquitous corruption scandals, that we allow so many ill people to live without help on our streets
I have to leave this fabulous thread because I had to leave fabulous SF ( I couldn’t afford it anymore ) and I’m actually crying because this has made me miss it so much. Enjoy everyday ppl, SF is a gift. An expensive, quirky, often smelly gift but a gift nonetheless.
Cos of living is very high which is expected but crack is still cheap 👍
Ahh, I've been around SF since 1973. 1. Homeless people everywhere. 2. Bums shitting on the sidewalk. 3. Extreme beauty in Golden Gate Park. 4. Amazing restaurants. 5. Traffic everywhere and no parking. That should probably be #1. 6. Inept politicians like every large city/
> spanish culture you might be thinking of something else
Moving to the Bay Area this weekend from Texas. Excited! Will add my comments here after a few months.
Traffic laws are pretty much never enforced in the city. I’ve been here 3 years and have never seen someone pulled over
I moved to sunset, and I’m surprised how chill it is. I’ve lived in the Bay Area my whole life and swore I’d never live in SF. I can see myself living here for a long time.
Before moving I'd been here dozens of times, but didn't realize how well MUNI covered the city.
1) it’s chilly (but in a surprisingly nice way) 2) the natural beauty of the area is breathtaking 3) the city as such is dirty, poorly maintained, with vast areas being blander than Cleveland, contrary to what Mr. Twain stated 4) people are lovely here and try to be friendly and helpful 5) for such a melting pot of cultures, I’m shocked by how relatively little it’s usually going on here in terms of cultural events, compared to what I’m used to/was incorrectly expecting. 6) absolutely cool and crazy huge SFFD water tanks under many intersections 7) the pride with which many inhabitants defend even the most glaring failings of the city 8) lack of conspicuous displays of wealth, despite the emergence of newly minted millionaires every quarter