sosgemini said:

MIGUELGOMEZ said:

let me know when

I'll add my own little monologue here, because I seem to be in a deep prolonged internalized process of reassessing my whereabouts and my entire future.

I live in SF and I keep thinking I should leave. But in the end, it doesn't seem like a good idea because there's so much to offer here.

Complaints:

1---I live in a roommate situation, where I've been for 8 years. But in order to get my own place, I have to seriously vamp up my income and change my lifestyle. Which means no more on-the-fringe part-time working artist lifestyle, but buckling down into the 9-5 crap or something.

(But if you have a job out here, sure go ahead and move! Just don't have your living standards too high, because expensive apartments are also rather small, though you'll do much better in Berkeley in terms of space and having a YARD!!! And TREES!!! -which are practically absent in SF) However if you're planning on someday buying a house, I would seriously reconsider moving here.

2---Jobs in the arts are WAY oversaturated. There's an extremely high number of graduate school graduates vying for $10/hour non-profit jobs.

3---Drivers here are evil. Traffic can be hellish.

4---No weather. But that's just me. I like thunderstorms, heat, and snow.

5---I agree with superspaceboy, transiency. My friends are constantly moving away and I have to keep making new ones, which is a pain. It's probably not as downhome friendly as a place like Cleveland. I'm also from the Mid-West and I really miss the unpretentious, regular folks quality which is a completely different game than what's going on here. The grass is always greener, but you might miss Ohio.


NOW THE POSITIVES (which are pretty juicy):

1. If you're liberal, it's a political luxury. Nothing like it nowhere.

2. A culture that supports health, vegetarianism, alternative healing methods, organic food, meditation, solar power. Lots of spiritual routes if you're into that kind of thing. An awesome place to discover your path. Noncomformity is OK! Non-traditional lifestyles, OK!

3. California is BEAUTIFUL. You've got Yosemite within a few hours, a volcano, an ancient redwood forest, deserts, a bristlecone pine forest, ancient sequoias, ocean cliffs, beaches, incredible world-class natural environments all within a day's drive. Now top that in Cleveland. Even just a couple hours or less from Bay Area, you can take spectacular hikes at places like Point Reyes while surrounded by herds of elk.

4. More film festivals than anywhere in the world. Incredible offerings for movie buffs like me.

5. Zillions of unique opportunities no matter what your interest/hobby is. Where else in the world could you find a Punk Rock Orchestra?

CalhounSq said:

That's where I grew up.....but, I live in Oaktown now, so I guess I can see how SJ does kinda suck the salty nuts...

ReturnOfDOOK said:

CalhounSq said:

dam San Jose gets no love

LadyFunkSoldier said:

hey, it's better than Stockton! but that doesn't say much, does it?

del
[Edited 7/5/05 0:37am]

Snap said:

hey...thats my hometown..

I have a love/hate relationship with San Jose. I've been here for over 30 years and I'm comfortable. It's just that a lot of San Jose is stuck in the 80's. If I hear one of my friends say "I'm going to a club to listen to old school" one more time. I'm going to freak out.

San Jose does have its beautiful areas. I consider it to be a retirement city.

M

some prices for living(the top ones are houses, and the last two are condos):

Chg. from Median Chg. from
County No. sold Feb. 04 price Feb. 04
Alameda 934 -5.0% $542,000 20.4%
Contra Costa 941 3.3% $490,000 21.3%
San Francisco 246 6.0% $701,000 14.0%
San Mateo 423 0.7% $711,000 16.0%
Santa Clara 1,232 -3.4% $632,000 20.4%
Santa Cruz 170 -2.9% $720,000 30.9%
Bay Area total 4,905 -0.4% $569,000 19.5%
Santa Clara Cty. condos 455 -1.3% $411,000 19.1%
Bay Area condos 1,457 -7.0% $427,000 18.9%

Pros:

*Great weather (no extremes).
*Great views/scenery.
*Lots to do.
*Very diverse (in most areas).
*Great if you like sports, 6 major Professional sports teams (Baseball - SF Giants & Oakland A's; Football - SF 49ers & Oakland Raiders; Basketball - GS Warriors; Hockey - San Jose Sharks; plus pro soccer, arena football.)
*Great food.
*Only 3 1/2 hours away from the snow in the winter (Lake Tahoe/Sierra).




Cons:

*Expensive
*Bad traffic (especially during commute times).
*No parking in SF.
*Homeless problems in some areas (especially SF).
*Gangs in some areas.

Sowhat said:

I would also add GREAT FOOD! The Bay Area dining options are world class.

MIGUELGOMEZ said:

I was driving around Los Gatos yesterday. Seemed really nice.

MIGUELGOMEZ said:

You think so? The whole Silicon Valley area seems really yuppie-ish to me. A bunch of Stanford grads, and the like, trying to make a buck in the tech sector.

heartbeatocean said:

Yeah, Los Gatos is very expensive and beautiful.


M

MIGUELGOMEZ said:

I was actually scoping out a mountaintop apartment that's for rent near there. Kind of a fantasy, but maybe someday.

I'm also in the East Bay, and I'm able to afford it because - surprise! - I live with my parents. I was born and raised here, left for 4 years to live in Santa Cruz & London, and am now back in the bay. I love it for the diversity, for the ease of transportation (compared to other cities), for the general acceptance, the food. However the traffic can be awful and people generally cannot drive. I don't think I'm the best person to ask, since I don't own my home or even rent, but I will complain that the job market - even out here - is really fucking competitive. Otherwise I can't complain! LOVE it here!

gemini13 said:

Not bad at all...shoot, I pay $1130/mo for a 2BD/2BA apartment out in Vacaville!! (and similar units in a new complex are almost $200 more!)

CandaceS said:

P.S. One plus about the SF Bay area is the good-sized and relatively active Prince fan base there!

heartbeatocean said:

I've lived in Cleveland my whole life, and lemme tell ya, the people in Cleveland are NOT "downhome friendly" by any means.

psychodelicide said:

Sorry to propagate a midwest stereotype.

heartbeatocean said:

No problem, just wanted to set the record straight. I'm sure there are some Midwestern cities that are nice to live in, but Cleveland is not one of them.

psychodelicide said:

I had a friend from Akron, Ohio and my god, she wouldn't stop talking about the place. She left it to live in San Francisco but she certainly identified herself as being Ohioan. She even made a film project about it.

For real? I live about 45 minutes north of Akron. Sounds like your friend really liked Ohio alot, if she made a film project about it.

psychodelicide said:

I think she had a love/hate relationship with it. She wasn't moving back there, but also didn't seem to be able to get it out of her system.

heartbeatocean said:

Guess some folks just have that sentimental side to them about where they were born/raised.