3 ms·

Heck, I grew up in the Bay Area, and I get reverse culture shock when return to visit for more than a few days. So. Much. Traffic. People packed into trains. E

Heck, I grew up in the Bay Area, and I get reverse culture shock when return to visit for more than a few days. So. Much. Traffic. People packed into trains. Everyone so...not exactly rude, but not nearly as friendly as I've grown accustomed (I live near Boulder, Colorado). I feel like my blood pressure is higher the entire time I'm there. Of course the air pressure is higher, so that may have something to do with it, but I think it goes beyond that. On the other hand, I've never been in great shape, and the first day down at sea level and I feel like I could run a marathon...

bkjelden 10y ago
The bay area is unlike any other place I've ever visited or lived in America. Every aspect of life is more crowded.
- closeparen 10y ago
  Manhattan, though objectively denser, is less claustrophobic to me: though the crowd is thick, it walks fast, you can navigate the area quickly (via the subway), and big open space (Central Park) is never that far away.
  - musha68k 10y ago
    New York is awesome (I prefer it over SF, really) unfortunately Trump happened so I'm not planning to move to the US anymore.
colmvp 10y ago
I always hated driving in SF. I can deal with traffic. I can deal with the pedestrians and cyclists. I can deal with the slew of drivers who thought signaling was optional. I can deal with paying for parking. But holy shit the lack of paid off-street parking lots in numerous parts of the city bugged me, alongside the absurdly inexpensive on-street parking. I never understood why the city didn't raise the price of on-street parking spots given the demand. The city which I currently live in has 4x the population of SF yet it's significantly easier to find parking spots in most parts of the city as the parking rates properly reflect the true cost of parking.
- ajmurmann 10y ago
  Oh man, I will never forget the time my wife and I drove to Northbeach, looked about 40 minutes for a parking spot and then drove back home.
- SomeCallMeTim 10y ago
  I grew up in the Bay Area. I've had to look for parking in the City a few times, but eventually learned to avoid it like the plague. I worked in San Francisco for almost six years and never drove to work even once. Public transit is the only sane answer. That's why I mentioned trains. When I'm in the Bay Area, if I'm going to San Francisco, I simply refuse to drive there at all. Hotels have gotten insanely expensive in the City proper as well; when I go to events in San Francisco, if I'm paying for lodging, I'll often get an AirBNB in Oakland near Bart and take that in. Instead of $300/night, I get a nicer place for less than $100/night, and the BART ride is only about 20 minutes.

bkjelden 10y ago

The bay area is unlike any other place I've ever visited or lived in America. Every aspect of life is more crowded.

closeparen 10y ago
Manhattan, though objectively denser, is less claustrophobic to me: though the crowd is thick, it walks fast, you can navigate the area quickly (via the subway), and big open space (Central Park) is never that far away.
- musha68k 10y ago
  New York is awesome (I prefer it over SF, really) unfortunately Trump happened so I'm not planning to move to the US anymore.

colmvp 10y ago

I always hated driving in SF. I can deal with traffic. I can deal with the pedestrians and cyclists. I can deal with the slew of drivers who thought signaling was optional. I can deal with paying for parking. But holy shit the lack of paid off-street parking lots in numerous parts of the city bugged me, alongside the absurdly inexpensive on-street parking. I never understood why the city didn't raise the price of on-street parking spots given the demand. The city which I currently live in has 4x the population of SF yet it's significantly easier to find parking spots in most parts of the city as the parking rates properly reflect the true cost of parking.

ajmurmann 10y ago
Oh man, I will never forget the time my wife and I drove to Northbeach, looked about 40 minutes for a parking spot and then drove back home.
SomeCallMeTim 10y ago
I grew up in the Bay Area. I've had to look for parking in the City a few times, but eventually learned to avoid it like the plague. I worked in San Francisco for almost six years and never drove to work even once. Public transit is the only sane answer. That's why I mentioned trains. When I'm in the Bay Area, if I'm going to San Francisco, I simply refuse to drive there at all. Hotels have gotten insanely expensive in the City proper as well; when I go to events in San Francisco, if I'm paying for lodging, I'll often get an AirBNB in Oakland near Bart and take that in. Instead of $300/night, I get a nicer place for less than $100/night, and the BART ride is only about 20 minutes.