[mayank]

I lived there this summer and fell in love with SF, aside from the whole Silicon Valley thing. It's definitely for a certain type of person: you'll find incredible diversity and openness in the people. A couple of small things I noticed that really pleased me: (1) interracial couples are incredibly common, more so than any other city I've visited or lived in anywhere in the world, (2) people are genuinely open and friendly; the GLBT friendliness is just a specific effect of this, (3) you have incredible high-end dining near the Embarcadero, and incredible low-end dining in the Mission, (4) no matter what your "scene" is, it's quite likely that you'll find like-minded people, (5) if you want nature, drive 20 minutes or less; if you want tech, drive an hour; if you want city, drive 5 minutes anywhere; if you don't have a car, use Zipcar, (6) the city is incredibly small, which makes it a lot of fun. And some things I absolutely hate: (1) parking sucks, (2) the cops on the MUNI/BART are a bunch of assholes, (3) cabs are sometimes difficult to get.

People complain about the fog, but there's really never any fog in the south bay area/Silicon Valley.

[lanstein]

As far as what you hate, I can only agree with (3). Parking is great in a lot of neighborhoods, and not bad at all in others if you look around a bit. I've never found the cops to be anything other than polite, especially on Muni - how did you come to have so many interactions with them?

[tptacek]

What's the incredible high-end dining you're referring near the Embarcadero?

[ardit33]

http://www.yelp.com/biz/kokkari-estiatorio-san-francisco-2

Fucking delicious, an I am albanian, so I know that kind of food really well. It is not that expensive either.

And there are plenty of similar restaurants around there.

The one thing you just can't complain about in the bay area is food and restaurants.

Perhaps the city has changed alot since you lived here, but since I lived there between 2006-2009 I can tell that the "food is not good enough" complains are just plain ubased whining.

I challenge you find a place in the USA where the produce is better, or fresher than it is here.

[spoondan]

I'd say Coi, Quince, and Kokkari. There's also One Market, Boulevard, and Perbacco. Really no shortage of fine dining in the area, many of which could easily be "incredible" according to an individual's taste.

[defen]

It's no French Laundry, but Slanted Door in the Ferry Building is delicious, if overpriced, and has some of the best cocktails/bartenders in the city.