san francisco classic or dud

See, now, I can actually pay rent. And park. Fuck Amoeba.

SF: Hopefully classic since I'm living right next door. I haven't run through it thoroughly enough to decide.

the smart way is just go down the block near frederick and you'll see a parking lot that amoeba validates...much easier.

Then I realise I'm at the bottom of the steepest hill in Christendom, my foot slips on the clutch - botched hill start and I roll backwards gently in the the SFPD's parking lot.

So Dud.

Mark my words, though, either Philadelphia or Pittsburgh will be the next great American city to be spoiled by the trendies.

As for Philly, I've noticed the transformation of formerly shabby/working-class sections into trendier-than-thou enclaves (Manyunk and Northern Liberties), just like what happened to Tribeca. And South Street ain't as much fun as it was when I was teenager. Still, I think folks from Newcastle or Birmingham would probably find goodly portions of Philly to be "just like home." Maybe I should take my musings to the now-sadly defunct "gentrification" thread, tho' and not spoil Nathalie's stay in SF with my sourpussisms.

Flemish tourists=Dud

If it's just the gay element one is looking for in a city, I can safely say as an observer that such a one is better off in either Portland or Seattle than SF, for a hit/miss ratio.

Another observation though is that there are a lot more people in SF that pretend to be insane. In Seattle, a lot of people are certifiably insane.

That said, I think SF is a great city... some of the coolest people I know live there, which makes it great to save money when finding a place to stay there. (heh heh). But given current economic trends, and the "Vegetation is our enemy" feel I get in the more affordable areas in the city, I can't advocate living there right now.

Besides, once you actually have to leave the 7 square miles that is SF (to go to work most likely), and maybe parts of Berkeley, you find yourself in suburbia that's not much different than the southern California variety.. except the rent's twice as high.

there were tons of great clubs (chameleon/kennel club/purple onion/i-bar/killowatt) and the weirdest, most absurd music scene imaginable: the whole amarillo/bananafish axis in particular was completely eye-opening to my young head.

those days are long gone, and even despite recent closures of critical venues to the phoenix from the ashes weird-core scene (clit-stop, kimo's etc.) i'm still here, still going to shows and trying to play in and about.

was tempted by nyc about 3 years ago, but the winters might be too frosty for my butt. it's like 75 here today with a calm breeze... it could be buenos aires.

Wha? You must be in the Mission or something...

By JACKIE HALLIFAX
Associated Press

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Gov. Jeb Bush joked during a Florida Cabinet meeting Wednesday that the people of San Francisco may be endangered and, "That's probably good news for the country."

The subject was environmental land and Bush was looking at a map showing locations with a lot of different wildlife.

"It looks like the people of San Francisco are an endangered species, which may not be a bad thing. That's probably good news for the country."

People in the room broke into laughter

"Did I just say that out loud?" the governor asked.

San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown wasn't too worried by the comment, according to spokesman P.J. Johnston.

"When he finally stopped laughing, he said, 'I'm sure this is a tongue-in-cheek comment. I'd feel a little better if the governor would send me one of his alligators; I've got a supervisor that needs companionship,'" Johnston said.

Johnston also said he didn't think residents of San Francisco would be much disturbed by what the governor said.

"By and large San Franciscans have a good sense of humor and will not be dreadfully offended," Johnston said, adding that he wished people in politics would also "lighten up."

But the head of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force didn't see anything funny in the governor's comment and believed it to be anti-gay because of San Francisco's large gay population.

"It's extremely insulting," said Matt Foreman. "But of course I would say that gay people in Florida are far more endangered than gay people in California."

Bush told reporters he was just joking and added another quip: "Don't call Willie Brown."

Bush spokesman Jacob DiPietre later explained the governor's thinking: "The Cabinet was talking about endangered species and everyone knows that Republicans are an endangered species in California."

Bush has been amused by California before. In mid-August, the topic was Gary Coleman, the former child actor who jumped into the California gubernatorial recall race.

"I'm glad that Gary Coleman lives in California," Bush said. "A guy like me that believes in limited government probably would have a tough time against a fellow like that because he probably symbolizes smaller government."

Coleman took the comment in stride.

"I don't know about Jeb Bush," he said. "But if I become governor, I will represent the little guys, the people that big people tend to step on when they want to get somewhere."

Check out Santa Monica near Los Angeles (recent homeless population estimated at 85k).

I was surprised by how little seemed to be going on there. Gygax!, my friends echoed your comments above from a year ago, about clubs closing and stuff. Do you think it's any better now?

What you probably encountered in the mission is the byproduct of a very intense drug user/dealer hot-spot.

There has been a mass exodus of people from SF. First the artists/bohemians/subculture ca. 96-97 (tho i have friends that will argue 91 when their 2 bedroom on mission/20th rent was raised from $125 to $150/mo.), and then again after the dotcom/tech bubble burst a couple years ago.

although there is still a healthy nightlife/culture, much of it has moved into low-exposure underground venues. certain areas that were goldmine real-estate for nightlife (broadway between kearny and columbus) now sit boarded up or if open, can be painfully empty (i'm thinking of that huge new bright blue japanese place in particular, someone needs to go by and tell them it's not 1997 anymore).

and dean is right, downtown LA at night has (not only great art installations) circa 5th/6th a very heavy homeless population... los angeles' infamous "skid row" (the origin of the phrase if i believe right).

He is in fact like a terrible sci-fi film's version of the Perfect Politician. He is the bad man taking control of Gotham while being secretly controlled by alien insects. He is the Mayor from Buffy.

Actually he's probably not as evil as his detractors would like us to believe, he's rather naive politically (his speech when he came in first in the election was so transparent, with it's hoard of multi-cultural faces behind him, and him pointing and saying, "look at this diversity!" yeesh!), and I could imagine a LOT worse (I don't think he'd be much of a change from Willie), but still, Gonzalez/Newsom is no contest in my mind. But there are more yuppies around here than you'd think and the populace still likes pretty people, and wants to hear someone say they'll clean up the buses and the streets even if they have no feasable plan to do so.

I live in Berkeley though where we have our own dippy mayor so I don't even really get to talk.

Although as gygax says I don't "claim Berkeley", perhaps I shouldn't post on SF threads any more.

(+ it's 2 blocks from where i sit right now)

(+ i also recommend THE MAIN, across the street)

xp hahaha!

cuz they're cheap! yeah, they are (especially compared to fuckin' NYC delis!!)

anyway, you don't need a menu. all you need is: SMOKED MEAT SANDWICH & BLACK CHERRY COLA

I second The Main. as above, as a practical matter, but Schwartz's has more of the "flavor" in terms of the experience.

It also has longer lines. I went to Schwartz's once (it was amazing), but I ate at the Main twice (or maybe three times actually.) Ben's didn't rate at all although it had a nice decor.

classic: http://hd-sf.com/timelapse.html

http://hd-sf.com/gallery.html

Why do people from San Francsico think their city is on par with, say, New York City, London, and Tokyo? The place is tiny and would barely constitute a neighborhood in a borough of any actual, major city. Is it some kind-of weird West Coast thing?

i'm disappointed you don't already "know", this uncertainty is disconcerting.

challops

Why would we try to convince you? You might move here, if we did, after all.

what he said. please to not blight our enchanting back country hamlet with your presence.

wtf at "bigger is better"?

employing that logic then hey, you've got Phoenix, Jakarta, Dhaka...

...Jacksonville, Florida...

because surenos get killed on your stoop and even nob hill and the marina yuppie havens get shootouts. shit, the sunset even

SF is definitely not up to stanton standards this is true. Prob best to just stay away, burts.

I hear that Columbus, OH is the largest city in the USA so you might try going there b-dogg.

The Worst-Run Big City in the U.S.

y'know, I hate cops too but this is stupid

my favorite part was how the cops made all the Union Square stores lock up once the protesters were moving in that direction.

dude was out on a warrant, has residue on him, was seen firing the gun (gun was recovered), I mean seriously... this is not like a random beating at a traffic stop or shooting a naked unarmed guy

Rigorous inquiries should be made any time the cops draw, not to mention leathally use, their guns, but to be a priori prejudiced against the cops is little better than being a priori prejudiced for them; let the legal system work it out. If you disagree with that finding/verdict, that's a better time to protest.

cops + forensics now indicating dude shot himself wtf

this is some weird shit

yeah... something's fishy there... gun was never recovered. SFPD claiming there is vast difference between .380 caliber and a .38 caliber (is there? I am ignorant).

SFPD uses .40 caliber

More than any other thing, all I keep thinking is this fool died for not paying $2.00. Great way to go on the lam, dude.

http://www.lrb.co.uk/v35/n03/rebecca-solnit/diary

y'all should come out and see ilxor zero of the signified play on a bill with henry kaiser at the luggage store on oct. 17!

http://y2kloopfest.com/experimental-side-of-the-y2k13-live-looping-festival/

and if you feel like trekking out to santa cruz, he'll be playing the loopfest headliners concert there on the 19th.

http://y2kloopfest.com/

reposted it here San Francisco and what to do in it since that thread is the more commonly used one