[101km]

The first time I went to work here a few months ago I got out of the Lyft around 9am and two meters away a homeless man was injecting something into his veins. My office is in the Mission.

Some parts of San Francisco are very dirty and the homeless issue is not exaggerated. Everybody knows about the Tenderloin at night.

With that being said, I drove across the US two years ago and if you keep your eyes open you realize it is all over - Portland and Seattle are no better, just less talked about.

My rent is $1300, I live with one roommate on Russian Hill. I'm flexible and lucky so this is not representative. A girl I know who works at Google lives in inner Richmond (arguably a less desirable area) by herself and pays nearly triple for some reason.

It is hard to find a proper gym for less than a Benjamin and food is above average for an American city but hilariously expensive. Good way to gauge is pick some fast food chain and compare, Dennys is x2 here than the rest of the country.

All in all this place isn't the shiny happy city you'd imagine from watching Full House or or the counter culture epicenter of hippie times gone by. It doesn't suck, I'd definitely visit for a week or two if you have never been, and there's a lot of history here but in the end it is no longer a very remarkable place to live.

[ransom1538]

"My rent is $1300, I live with one roommate on Russian Hill."

Sorry this pricing is not realistic for other viewers here. A two bedroom in Russian hill for $2600 is probably a passed down rent controlled unit (A decade?). A typical 2 bedroom (without problems / not nice / no parking / 800sqft) is about $4500.

If you are outside of SF and look at prices, remember many people are on rent control. And your best bet is finding someone who is.

https://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc/apa/d/san-francisco-larkin-...

https://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc/apa/d/san-francisco-edwardi...

https://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc/apa/d/san-francisco-russian...

(Former resident)

[kuhhk]

So you are saying OP got lucky to rent a rent controlled apartment, rather than the exorbitantly higher normal prices? Am I missing something? I think it just goes to prove the OP’s point further

[ransom1538]

Yeah I have no argument. Just pointing out for viewers outside of SF -- that the price $1300 is difficult to find.

[Teknoman117]

I ended up getting a tech job in south Orange County (working at a satellite office of a SV company) because I couldn't bring myself to pay Bay Area rent.

I can't even imagining owning a house _here_, let alone in the bay. Buying a house is generally something adults in America aspire to doing, but in California it's basically a mark of wealth. The amount of cash you have to stuff away for a down payment of sufficient size to not be fleeced by the banks is astronomical.

I'm really considering transferring to Austin at some point.

[carlivar]

The weather will always help prop up SoCal real estate (relatively).

[polotics]

That's right: up in flames!

[carlivar]

Shrug. Most regions have natural disasters. Floods and hurricanes seem just as bad if not more. Tornadoes are no cup of tea either. And most Orange County metros probably have less fire risk due to the geography of that area.

[rsync]

"... and food is above average for an American city ..."

The food in San Francisco and Marin is the best food in the world, by a fair margin.

In 2018, food, food venues, eating environments and every other aspect of dining, the world over, is being invented and reshaped in San Francisco.

Go anywhere else in the world, at any price point, from the first class lounge at Hong Kong airport to the mall food court in Granada, Spain, and everyone is inspired by, or directly copying, what is being done here.

EDIT: my parent spoke not of a particular restaurant, but the food of the city, generally. That is what I am talking about - not who has the best BBQ joint in your favorite BBQ genre, but which city has the best food (as opposed to "above average for an American city").

I stand by the assertion that food(ie) culture, worldwide, is being driven by SF.

[JPKab]

That's a very bold statement, and frankly demonstrates the insular, self congratulatory circle jerk of the Bay Area. Amazing food, of course, but I've been to an open air Tejano restaurant in a garden outside of San Antonio that beat anything in the Bay, roaming chickens and all.

The proprietors could give a shit about SF. And oh yeah, your BBQ sucks. Sure, I can get decent brisket, but for triple the price and half the portion.

[subway]

Rudy's was hands down the number one thing I missed in moving from SA to SF. Eventually I found solace at Everett and Jones in Berkeley, but even that'll never come close to Texas BBQ.

[tomhoward]

This is unnecessarily inflammatory. Several cities around the world are having an impact. I've spent plenty of time in SF (some of it with my partner who has been a semi-professional food reviewer for 10+ years) and yes, it's great. But Melbourne and Sydney in Australia – which are similarly cosmopolitan to SF – would have to count as rivals and also have a strong influence internationally, as do cities in Asia and Europe. There's no need to argue that one particular city is leading the world "by a fair margin". It's a subjective claim that is impossible to prove and thus only leads to futile arguments.

[rsync]

I didn't mean to be inflammatory.

I am not a CA native and I don't live in SF (although I do live in Marin). I do, however, travel all over the United States and the world and I see that there has been a global, emergent food culture (perhaps a monoculture ?) and it seems clear to me that San Francisco is the root stock - from the ambience and the lighting to the food sourcing and the coffee list.

I'm sure it's a repeat of "American Food" before it and "French Cuisine" before that. It won't last forever.

[etxm]

I can’t tell if your sarcasm is on fleek or if you’re plain batty.

[Fins]

That would be news many people (e.g. El Bulli graduates in Spain) who are really innovating in food.

Sure, Bay Area (although not so much SF itself) has some good, even great, if vastly overpriced, food, but "best, by a fair margin" is a gross exaggeration.

[oculusthrift]

are you joking? tokyo is inspired by marin county? i can name better food cities in the same state (LA) let alone country or world

[quantummkv]

> I stand by the assertion that food(ie) culture, worldwide, is being driven by SF.

Lay off the kool-aid kid, it's bad for you mental health. Who told you that the global foodie culture is driven from SF? Not here in India for sure. And I really doubt it is affecting anywhere else in Asia.

[spacegod]

Uhhh where in Marin? I grew up here.

The average Marin resident doesn't eat at these places.

These are the places for the finance CEOs, high profile landlords, and the tech commuters. There's no post hippie commune or even yuppies here anymore. Just greedy fucks eating overpriced food on undersized plates.

[stephenitis]

sorry but seems like romanticized marketing dribble.

[golfer]

(citation needed)

[wavefunction]

There is so much traditional cuisine out there as to make this post truly ridiculous.

[friedman23]

>With that being said, I drove across the US two years ago and if you keep your eyes open you realize it is all over - Portland and Seattle are no better, just less talked about.

It's not that it's not talked about, it's that other cities manage to not have it right in the middle of the city.

[countzeroasl]

Seattle is every bit as bad as California. Interestingly enough, when California started getting bad, Washington was where they moved. Now? Hellloooo TEXAS!

[geoka9]

I can vouch for Portland - smack in the middle.

[anothergoogler]

If you're commuting in a Lyft/Uber, you're part of the problem. That aside, for better or worse, most of us city-dwellers are numbed to shocking! displays of hard drug use.