New Yorkers: Look to San Fran for Inspiration
That’s what urbanist Joel Kotkin, author of The City: A Global History, suggests in the NY Observer. We might want to look, or look up to, San Francisco for its survivalist instincts and a model of “what we could evolve into.” Here’s more: You have to remember there’s a huge group of people in San…
That’s what urbanist Joel Kotkin, author of The City: A Global History, suggests in the NY Observer. We might want to look, or look up to, San Francisco for its survivalist instincts and a model of “what we could evolve into.” Here’s more:
You have to remember there’s a huge group of people in San Francisco who bought their homes when they were affordable. Then there’s a population [that’s] there for the San Francisco experience. Think of the country—there’s this country and then there’s these giant theme parks; and one is New York and one is San Francisco. … You go there; it’s a phase of your life. You live there for five years, 10 years. But then most people either don’t do well enough to stay, or get tired of it at some point and leave.
Hm. Is that what will happen?
i was born north of oakland and used to go to chinatown as a little kid. The BART kinda sucks and most of the population of the Bay Area live outside of SF. Its a weird place to live.
ENY is right. SF is like NYC in the eighties when it comes to homeless. All over Union Square and the whole downtown/business district. We could now open it up for a political discussion on that matter…..
I know one thing…I’ve never seen more homeless people ANYWHERE than in San Francisco, and I’m a Brooklyn native. A bunch literally converged on me and a friend in a parking lot once. They are just all over downtown. That said, it’s a beautiful city and one of my PR colleagues has just made the move there from Manhattan.
But living “in” a car is probaly easier in SF!!! Actually living with a car in SF is far less costly than in Manhattan…perhaps equivalent to Brooklyn. Insurance rates are lower.
There are also fewer jobs in San Francisco proper. Commuting via mass transit from SF to Silicon Valley is problematic, to say the least, and living with a car in SF isn’t a very good option either.
SF is pretty small, and is only about 2 or 3 times larger than Manhattan. We can compare SF to Manhattan, but not the entirety of New York City.
New Yorker eventually wind up in Vermont. San Franciscans wind up in Oregon.
I’ve spent a lot of time over the past 25 years in San francisco. It’s got a very “small town” vibe to it compared to NYC. That doesn’t necessarily make it worse, just a lot different. The two cities share a common problem when it comes to real estate bomms & busts…NYC is largely dependent upon the financial industry and SF largely on the technology firms. Different pots, same fires.
Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard; live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft.
Are you kidding me?
What about all the people who grew up in San Francisco and couldn’t afford to stay after college? I would have loved to make my life in the city I was raised in but I couldn’t figure out how to afford it and since my siblings had already moved back in with my parents there wasn’t a lot of room for me to do likewise.