My hometown and state (S.C.). I love going home for several days, being literally surrounded by relatives (I’m related by blood or marriage to most of the town) and have people be so excited to see me because I’m the one that moved away! Eating home-cooked food and having people hang on my every word because they don’t see me often. The area is physically beautiful, too.
And after 3-4 days, I am so very ready to leave. The unrelenting fundamentalism, like a miasma over everything. The provincial attitude of people who’ve never traveled out of their home county. The overt racism and sexism exhibited in casual speech. The alien-ness of the mindset.
I am really happy to be from my hometown, but not living there.
They wouldn’t have been nearly as eager to sue, given how seriously our courts take the First Amendment. Research ‘libel tourism’ some time and see just how broken the British libel laws are.
I concur. Also, I haven’t spent time in New York, but San Francisco’s homeless population must be as pervasive as any city in the US. If I walked through that every day my heart would break.
I think the live rats crawling all over the guy right outside the Union Station BART stop was what sealed the deal for me. I was so utterly terrified. He could have thrown one at anyone for god’s sake. I’d rather have seen a gun.
Just because you can’t think of any response without showing that you’re wrong doesn’t mean that the other person is babbling. What I said made perfect sense. But that’s OK, dear. Very intelligent argument, well done. I love talking to grown ups - especially ones who use their right to free speech so cleverly.
My favorite anecdote about the homeless population in San Francisco:
I was in the city when the first iPhone was released, back in 2007. Interning over the summer. Now, there was no was I could actually buy an iPhone - remember, they cost $600 with contract when first released - but I thought it would be neat to go gawk at the line on release day.
And I was right - the line was very impressive. It stretched for blocks, with people in lawn chairs, the odd tent, people circulating with coffee and water, and so on. Very much a festive air. Except …
Alongside this massive line of people waiting to purchase a $600-with-contract phone, there were large numbers of homeless people. Working the line, begging for spare change. With no particular luck, from what I could see.
I know there’s a middle class in San Francisco - but you’d have been hard-pressed to see it in the blocks surrounding the Apple Store on that day. Just the wealthy (or upper-middle-class) and the desperately poor.
I grew tired of Austin after about three or four months. Sure, it’s funky, there’s a great music scene, and I got a lot of “oohs” and “aahs” when I told people where I live during a high school reunion, but otherwise it didn’t seem like there was much of a “there” there. Since most of Austin developed after WWII, most of the city is very suburban in its feel. The cityscape is often hard on the eyes; Texas cities are infamous for their very lenient sign and billboard regulations., and even progressive Austin has more than its fair share of visual pollution. There’s too many people that are singularly obsessed with whatever scene they are in; indie music, being hipsters, fixed gear cycling, whatever.
The people in Austin are friendly, and it’s a fun place to spend a week, but living there … meh. If you’re in your 20s and into music or a scene of some sort, maybe.
A great place to both visit and live: Denver. Loved it when I was living there, love it when I return for conferences and the like. It’s high on my list of retirement destinations.
First, what’s your response to the libel laws? Cherry-picking what you reply to is so ‘Member of Parliament’ (isn’t that what you lot call Congress-critters?).
Second, I was pressed for time, so I used a shorthand: You’re babbling because you make the massive unexamined assumption that surveilliance cameras (and the surveilliance state in general) have anything to do with the incidence of terrorism. Do a search for ‘security theater’ and no, I’m not going to do it for you this time.
I nominate San Francisco for the homeless person aspect thing, as well. I’ve been in NYC, Washington DC, Detroit, Chicago, and none of the homeless people scared me as much as they did in San Fran. They all just REEKED of supreme crazy and I’ve never seen homeless so aggressive as I did there. We were sitting at a stop light and they were BANGING on our windows demanding change.
San Francisco for sure – actually I don;t find the homeless a problem specifically, it’s just… the whole place is a complete shithole. It’s like I’m the only one who notices how crappy and depressing everything is. Outside of a few select neighborhoods it looks like a favela shantytown. Plus everyone is on about how AWESOME it is (even worse than New Yorkers). I’d take Oakland over SF any day of the week.
And the one thing I can never forgive: upholstery on a subway. God, just standing on it repulses me completely - the people that have pissed and vomited on that carpet … ewwwww. If you can’t hose it down with bleach, it has no place on public transit.
The homeless problem in San Fran is nuts. They are beyond dirty and extremely aggressive. Like they know people are terrified of them and are a totally shameless lot. Seemingly the least number of homeless people in a major with a seemingly mental problem - the majority were just bums or crackheads. Looks like the crazy is getting into the regular residents’ heads, what with the happy meal banning and proposed circumcision banning.
That said, the climate and the (nice) neighborhoods can’t be beat. The public transit and the walkability is pretty great. And the food - no wonder Alice Waters wonders why people can’t just garden in their backyards. It’s the perfect weather for it. I’d like to take another trip there as soon as possible.
Favela
From the BART you can see these hills and hills of crappy ticktack squarebox homes all built one on top of another, uncared for, and obviously falling down… rinkydink exterior wiring and way fewer trees than there should be… this photo doesn’t really communicate how thoroughly unappealing it is.
Really, being a native, I never thought about it that much. You just move around them, the crazy isn’t contagious or anything. Although you do have to sometimes pay a dude to stop standing in the empty parking place so you can put your car there.
