The San Fran-Brooklyn Love Connection
Did you know there are places to live in the United States aside from Brooklyn? Neither did we, but according to an article in the Style section of yesterday’s Times, there’s a place in California called San Francisco that is something of a sister city to Brooklyn. Or, as the piece puts it, “there is…
Did you know there are places to live in the United States aside from Brooklyn? Neither did we, but according to an article in the Style section of yesterday’s Times, there’s a place in California called San Francisco that is something of a sister city to Brooklyn. Or, as the piece puts it, “there is a young, earnest population that is beating a path between artsy, gentrifying neighborhoods in Brooklyn and their counterparts in the Bay Area, especially East Oakland and the area south of Market Street in San Francisco, or SoMa.” So what do the two places have in common aside from loads of creatives? Local eyesores (Emeryville mud flats and the Gowanus Canal); good breweries (Anchor and Brooklyn); literary do-gooder establishments (Dave Eggers’ 826 Valencia and 826NYC); and a shared ethos: “If there is an aesthetic credo to Brooklyn and the Bay Area, it is Do It Yourself, which connotes more than using an Allen wrench from Ikea. D.I.Y. can mean everything from wearing locally designed T-shirts to attending concerts staged in someone’s warehouse apartment, to riding a bike to work.”
Sisters in Idiosyncrasy [NY Times]
San Francisco photo by Dizzy Atmosphere; Brooklyn photo by rsguskind.
Lets not forget this gem:
http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.wordpress.com/2008/03/23/91-san-francisco/
Poor NY Times;
As it slides into irrelevancy and financial ruin, it keeps trying various ways to revive its once-formidable position in the national and local conversation. The “Style” section and stories like this are pathetic attempts to do so.
Quick question: name a major issue in which the NY Times has played a major role in the past 10 years.
Benson
We tried moving to SF when we were first married (nearly 20 years ago). The only reason we came back was because we didn’t plan it right. We went w/o jobs or an apartment. It was too tough making ends meet. We thought about it again a few years ago when my husband was offered a job out there, but it was like $4mil for one of those fancy schmancy Victorians we wanted. I’d be there in a heartbeat if it was more affordable. I love there!
“See this Blog for what it is, a vehicle for Class and Race covert warfare.”
Awesome! I used to think this blog was boring but clearly it’s some exciting stuff an I just never noticed.
SF is cool but it’s a neighborhood not a city. It doesn’t feel like a large city to me at all. There’s also a certain West Coast thing that will always make SF nothing like NYC or Brooklyn in certain very important traits.
If SF/Oakland is more DIY, that’s great but Brooklyn is not DIY. I wish Brooklyn was more DIY with its renos. It would be so much more creative and imaginative. Renos here are very yuppie and conventional and more concerned with appearing wealthy than stylish or individualistic.
“Also we are tired of overpriced and hideous listings”
Please don’t include yourself in “we”
You don’t even live in the same state as “we” do.
Riding bikes while drinking Gorilla coffee and pulling your stroller and talking on your cell and listening to Vampire Weekend on your ipod. That is Brooklyn. SF is full of freaks who like the fog. Which are you?
“I can not believe that the ip address of this person has STILL not been blocked.
Have you not noticed that commenting has dropped by 50-75% in the past 2 weeks?”
Nope, it’s Brownstoner’s crappy server and blocking of IP address have slowed down the posts. Also we are tired of overpriced and hideous listings. Many people who read this Blog cannot afford the asking prices of Houses, Condo’s and Co-ops. The topic of discussions have been boring and inflammatory (Park Slope Vs The World).
See this Blog for what it is, a vehicle for Class and Race covert warfare. And when not if this thing crashes, Brownstoner can die with the rest of them.
The What
Someday this war is gonna end…
I love San Francisco. I think it’s probably the most beautiful city in America in many ways. It is connected to the water, unlike New York is. On most days, I forget how close the water is to my everyday life here. In San Francisco, it is an intimate part of your life.
Having said that, I have many, many friends who have moved to San Francisco and I can’t think of any who haven’t moved back.
They said it was incredibly difficult to capture that sense of energy that exists here in New York. It is that ONE thing that separates us from the rest of the country. That buzz, that frenetic pace that sometimes we forget about after we’ve lived here for a while. It’s immediatley felt by newcomers though. It is what keeps New York exciting, fresh, new and creative, even when us living here think we’re mired in Starbucks and Duane Reades.
That isn’t necessarily what everyone else sees…