Jason Evanish writes 25 Things I Wish I Knew Before Moving to San Francisco, which is a pretty good guide, especially for migrants coming from the East Coast.
Two items stand out in my mind, though.
PBR is the official beverage of San Francisco
This made me feel hugely culture and generation gapped. “Mission hipster” style has consumed the city.
Costumes are a way of life
This acknowledgement of San Francisco's mighty Weirdness Culture isn't surprising in itself — what's striking is that it's the only mention of the character of Freak Nation present in the piece.
On the one hand, that's a sign of a measure of California Über Alles, as cultural signifiers that I thought of as distinctly San Franciscan in the ’90s like out queer culture and piercings have become commonplace in much of the country. But on the other hand, it's also a sign that San Francisco is less weird than it once was.
Increased cost of living and two rounds of web gold rushes have made San Francisco a more normal place.
I'm starting to sound like those New Yorkers nostalgic for the ’70s ....
5 comments:
You don't even live in San Francisco, you East Bay poseur! :-)
I call bullshit on the PBR comment. The official beverage of SF is Fernet Branca, ginger back. 40% of the manufacturer's US sales are still in San Francisco, and the social media bubble hasn't brought forth another drink that is more idiosyncratically overconsumed here.
2nd place would be "the fourth of whatever your already had three of" - we're still a drinky town.
No love for Anchor Steam? Bah! Get off of my lawn, hipsters!
That was very insightful. I like how he compares his Boston experience with life in San Francisco. I too think we are becoming more normal. But then I also realize he is writing from the same point of view as mine - Caucasian, college educated, middle class, sophisticated and literate. People who live in the Tenderloin, which I should avoid, probably don't avoid taking buses that go into their neighborhood. I was also thinking today that Mountain View is a horrible place to live for young, unwed, childless tech workers when I saw the Google bus go by.
Oh well this is going to be a very handy read for a little while.
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