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I couldn't agree with you more. I moved to the Bay Area a few years ago from Vancouver which certainly has its share of extremely wealthy residents and expensiv

I couldn't agree with you more. I moved to the Bay Area a few years ago from Vancouver which certainly has its share of extremely wealthy residents and expensive housing problems. I was blown away by the level of social inequality in SF exactly as you describe. In Vancouver, you at least see the rich people partying near you. Perhaps at the next restaurant over on the beach which is much nicer than the one you're at, but the rich don't segregate themselves from the population at large in the same way.

rsync 8y ago
"I couldn't agree with you more. I moved to the Bay Area a few years ago from Vancouver which certainly has its share of extremely wealthy residents and expensive housing problems. I was blown away by the level of social inequality in SF exactly as you describe. In Vancouver, you at least see the rich people partying near you. Perhaps at the next restaurant over on the beach which is much nicer than the one you're at, but the rich don't segregate themselves from the population at large in the same way." I think there is an additional, confounding element in the transient nature of the population in San Francisco. Many, many people (rich, successful, young, etc.) are just here for a few years and have no intention of making long term investments in the community or becoming true stakeholders (by, for instance, raising their family here). This makes it difficult to engage in any way, much less in messy, difficult social problems that are somewhat unique to San Francisco.
- eli_gottlieb 8y ago
  >Many, many people (rich, successful, young, etc.) are just here for a few years and have no intention of making long term investments in the community or becoming true stakeholders (by, for instance, raising their family here). And many of the long-term residents like it that way.
- JumpCrisscross 8y ago
  > the transient nature of the population in San Francisco If transience is defined as the fraction of the population who moved in or out in 2015, San Francisco is a relatively non-transient city [1]. The five most transient cities in America by this metric are Provo, Ann Arbor, Gainesville, Boulder and Tempe. Transience does not appear, at first glance, to positively correlate with inequality. [1] https://smartasset.com/mortgage/the-most-transient-cities-in-america https://smartasset.com/mortgage/the-most-transient-cities-in...
  - dredmorbius 8y ago
    Provo (BYU), Anne Arbor (University of Michigan), Gainesville (University of Florida), Boulder (University of Colorado), and Tempe (Arizona State University) are each homes to mega-college campuses and student populations. Whole 'nother story.
antisthenes 8y ago
The US is a very classist society at its core. I am an immigrant as well and the contrast is very stark. That's not to say that other countries aren't following in the same direction - for more classist segregation and isolation.

rsync 8y ago

"I couldn't agree with you more. I moved to the Bay Area a few years ago from Vancouver which certainly has its share of extremely wealthy residents and expensive housing problems. I was blown away by the level of social inequality in SF exactly as you describe. In Vancouver, you at least see the rich people partying near you. Perhaps at the next restaurant over on the beach which is much nicer than the one you're at, but the rich don't segregate themselves from the population at large in the same way." I think there is an additional, confounding element in the transient nature of the population in San Francisco. Many, many people (rich, successful, young, etc.) are just here for a few years and have no intention of making long term investments in the community or becoming true stakeholders (by, for instance, raising their family here). This makes it difficult to engage in any way, much less in messy, difficult social problems that are somewhat unique to San Francisco.

eli_gottlieb 8y ago
>Many, many people (rich, successful, young, etc.) are just here for a few years and have no intention of making long term investments in the community or becoming true stakeholders (by, for instance, raising their family here). And many of the long-term residents like it that way.
JumpCrisscross 8y ago
> the transient nature of the population in San Francisco If transience is defined as the fraction of the population who moved in or out in 2015, San Francisco is a relatively non-transient city [1]. The five most transient cities in America by this metric are Provo, Ann Arbor, Gainesville, Boulder and Tempe. Transience does not appear, at first glance, to positively correlate with inequality. [1] https://smartasset.com/mortgage/the-most-transient-cities-in-america https://smartasset.com/mortgage/the-most-transient-cities-in...
- dredmorbius 8y ago
  Provo (BYU), Anne Arbor (University of Michigan), Gainesville (University of Florida), Boulder (University of Colorado), and Tempe (Arizona State University) are each homes to mega-college campuses and student populations. Whole 'nother story.

antisthenes 8y ago

The US is a very classist society at its core. I am an immigrant as well and the contrast is very stark. That's not to say that other countries aren't following in the same direction - for more classist segregation and isolation.