What is so great about living in San Francisco?

Question

Please enlighten me.

Answer 1

It's not, it's overrated. I grew up in the suburbs and it's a great place to visit but not to live. The weather is absolutely horrible, luckily I lived in a valley where it was warm and we actually the sun. Mark Twain once said SF was the coldest summer he has ever experianced. It's foggy and windy all the time, it rarely goes above 72, it rains all the time in winter, and it's cold at night all year long. The ocean is just pointless there b/c it's so cold and you can never swim in it and it's never sunny there, that's why no on lives on the coast in Northern CA. And some of the people there are so pretentious and snobby, they all wish there were european or something. But the Bay Area has cool people overall. But in SF they don't always accept other people's views and values. They have many races and gay people and are tolerant, but they all have the same political views. They don't accept anyone that doesn't think on the far left,they think they are more "aware and informed" than the rest of the country. their just kind of out there with the activism stuff. you'll probably get a lot of respnonses to this question b/c San Franciscan's love to "enlighten" people. Also i'm sure someone will point out how much diversity there is and how everyone is accepting of everyone else, which is fine but they are so smug about it and like to point it out as if it makes them a better person.

And crime is not low there at all. I don't know where that guy gets his facts from but San Diego and San Jose are much safer cities than SF even though they both have a lot more people. SF has had so many murders this year. They average over three times as many murders as San Diego and and four times as San Jose.
http://sanfrancisco.areaconnect.com/crime/compare.htm?c1=San+Francisco&s1=CA&c2=San+Diego&s2=CA

I have a love hate relationship with this city. It has great architecture and buildings, is very urban and dense, is very scenic, and has good public transportation but it's not worth living there for how much it is and the people in the city are so full of themselves. The weather and traffic is horrible, crime is high, it's dirty as hell and tons of homeless, and the people are not as tolerant as they think and they're prententious. Like I said, good place to visit and spend some time but no to live.

Answer 2

For everything positive, there is a negative.

1. Diversity: cultures, lifestyles, people, food
2. The different neighborhoods.
3. Not boring: something to do always
4. Beautiful city of hills and wonderful views -- it's a city to walk around
5. Public buildings and parklands
6. Many restaurants, coffee shops, shopping areas -- take your pick.
7. Excellent public transportation (Muni & Bart) -- Good way to see the city is to buy a pass good for several days or a month.
8. Schools and universities
9. Temperate (cool) weather year around and fog near the coast. A city of micro-climates.

I have worked in San Francisco and lived here on the coast for many years now. I still prefer warmer weather found inland, though. In San Francisco we always need to dress in layers. Even in summer, never know when a jacket will be needed -- especially after the sun goes down. Housing and gasoline is expensive. Places to park the cars are limited and charges for metered street parking and citations (if you goof) are steep (both subsidizes MUNI) Kathy is right. You need to have tolerance to live in SF. (We put up with a lot because we live under relatively crowded conditions). Otherwise, you couldn't stand it.

If you have an adequate income, a rent-controlled apartment or can afford the market rate rent or own your own home, you might feel at home. And if you like to hang out with a particular cultural group of people, here in SF you can probably find it if you look around. This is not a child or family friendly city in my experience. It is more of a city for the singles or adults -- and tourism (hotels, shops, restaurants, etc/) is the heart of SF economy.

Answer 3

Unless you make a very good living San Francisco is not much fun. All the really nice apartments with the nice views of the city and the Golden Gate Bridge will hit you about 3000.00 a month if not more. Downtown is over commercialized and filthy with too many pidgeons and homeless people, who are very aggressive out here. Parking is very expensive and tow trucks wait around the corner to tow your car soon as you leave. The crime is not as bad compared to Oakland which we wont even get into that. On the plus side there are lots of Clubs and Bars if your into that sort of thing and every culture seems to have its own neighborhood. Chinatown, North Beach, Mission District, The Avenues, The Castro and The BayView Hunters Point district. Oh lets not forget Pacific Heights.

Answer 4

Actually, the cultural mix is a great thing about living in the San Francisco Bay Area. All ethnicities live here, and you can learn so much about the people of the entire world, just by talking to the people who live here.

Answer 5

I moved here 30 years ago straight out of highschool, the city welcomed me with open arms, I got an education for very little money and made many open-minded intelligent friends and was able to see fantastic music from every genre and that beautiful freedom still exists today, plus ya can't beat the views!
On the other hand, you have to be tolerant to live here, so if you can't see the beauty of fog on Stowe Lake as enough incentive to put up with Leonard the neighborhood homeless guy you probably will move away. That's O.K. more parking for us.

Answer 6

Temperate weather, wonderful views, interesting neighborhoods, fascinating variety of people, great restaurants and theatre, small footprint (you can get from one side to the other in half an hour), access to beaches and mountains, and most of all, a community that embraces and accepts all kinds of people and all points of view.

We have our negatives, like any city. Housing is expensive, parking is a challenge, there's not a good program to deal with homeless.

Add: Re the crime rate, SF's rate is lower than those of NY, LA (of course), Houston, Phoenix, San Diego, Dallas, San Antonio, Detroit, San Jose or Baltimore.

Answer 7

It's great to live in San Francisco because you can send beautiful cards with the picture of some neighbor's house and make your relatives back home feel that you have made it after all.

Answer 8

It is visually gorgeous. It has a great climate due to the ocean nearby, and it has food across the whole range of all cultures at one of the highest quality levels on the planet.
Driving across the Golden Gate Bridge for 30 years never got tiring. And there are outstanding places to visit with great redwood trees and the wine country has excellent wines to try free of charge.

Answer 9

The homeless man asking for money on the train this morning was pretty great. I just love when the old Chinese women push me out of the way and step on my shoes without saying excuse me. Oh and walking by the Embarcadero and breathing in that fresh sewer water which is the Bay is just so refreshing.

Answer 10

Well I live near pacifica on a big hill, and I have the most beautiful views of the bay, I think its the bay area in general thats great.