tiexp:
the
city
Despite
the city's insane, out-of-control housing costs, san francisco is an awesome
place. Here are some things to know about the city, with links to public
resources and mentions of our favorite stuff. A work in progress.
Why is it so expensive here to live here? Same reason pg&e is charging so much for power: the right hand opened up the market and the left hand fixed the prices. Free-market-communism doesn't work well. Look here for places to start searching for a room, flat or house to call home.
Jobs
San
francisco sports negative employment, so if you can't get a job, you are
either terminally stupid or don't want to work. Of course, even if you
can get a job (or multiple jobs), you may not be able to afford rent.
This situation allows you the freedom to clearly articulate to your boss what you think about a lot of things, but sure makes your employees mouthy.
Nature
Most
american cities are cut up by ugly freeways and sprawl miles in every
direction. San francisco citizens revolted against freeway construction
in the sixties, and the city itself lies on a skinny peninsula, which
neatly contains the city to a swath barely
seven miles wide.
Within city limits are lots of places to get lost in nature: golden gate park, the presidio, the palace of fine arts, stern grove, lake merced, lincoln park and buena vista park are good places to start.
Ten minutes from the city you can find yourself hiking in a wilderness preserve. A bit further north you can see cows and taste local wines. After your tasting, you can retreat back to the city and enjoy the same wine in your favorite restaurant. But they prefer that you buy theirs.
What a difference a block makes! Every corner of the 49 square mile city has a unique character and personality, and even some of the suburbs are interesting. This is no sidewalk.com; our friends gave us inside tours with all the hidden finds and secret haunts of their neighborhood.
What keeps the city interesting are the people who live here. Here is a random cross section of our friends and neighbors.
Restaurants
There
are too may places to count. If you can imagine a type of food, you can
get it here. Hankering for moroccan belly dancing on a wednesday? No problem,
just consult a weekly. Now a warning: many places close by 10 PM.
Nightlife
Need
to shake your groove thing? There are lots of options most nights of the
week. San francisco has been shifting from live music venues and bars
to recorded music and DJ oriented clubs, but there are some standouts
for live bands: the fillmore, great american music hall, paradise lounge,
slims,
bottom
of the hill, bimbos. Support your local rock star.
Everybody has to love lefties. Even if you don't like their politics, you have to admire their goofiness. They mostly leave you alone unless you are rich or smoke, and none of the experiment players are either. Perhaps even Rush Limbaugh could sit back and enjoy the political circus of san francisco. From ultra-femme supervisor amiano who moonlights as a gay standup comic, to the city's sixty-six year old pro-business black democratic mayor who just had an out of wedlock child with his thrity-something year old mistress, the city's politicos never fail to entertain.