[raldi]

The article mentions ways the gold rush was bad.

The article mentions ways the tech boom is like the gold rush.

But the first set of ways does not intersect the second set.

I also found it ironic that the old "Yankee Go Home" sentiment was being expressed by an expat.

[scarmig]

How exactly is Solnit an expat? She grew up in Novato and lives in SF and has since well before the '89 earthquake, at least. I suppose she is if you interpret expat as "moved into SF from outside the city limits of SF," but that's an odd usage.

[raldi]

I stand corrected; I guess it's just the traditional old-fashioned form of xenophobia then. In that case, the irony is that she waxes nostalgic about SF's history as a place that welcomed everyone in the same breath as she's making fun of and rejecting the latest newcomers for being different.