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> The weather isn't nice I disagree. No hurricanes, no floods, no need to remove snow, no need for AC most of the time, no mosquito season... Just some fog and

> The weather isn't nice I disagree. No hurricanes, no floods, no need to remove snow, no need for AC most of the time, no mosquito season... Just some fog and some wind, that's all. No big problem. > the air is poison Yes, but this problem has only affected the city like this for the last 2 years or so (to this extent). > Threats of water scarcity Only for agriculture. > electricity scarcity now Only in the last 2 couple of years, and it has not affected all of San Francisco. Many districts in SF did not have a power outage this year. > terrible social problems That I can agree with entirely, especially homelessness and gentrification. > expensive everything There are many companies that are ready to take your money and make your life convenient. But if you ignore them, things can be affordable. Also, many people moving out of the city all the time = a lot of free stuff on Craigslist. Need furniture? Get your free dining set (tables, chairs) from some wealthy random dude that doesn't have time to sell stuff. > inability to really do anything with anyone Meetup is a great place to do things and it is very active in SF. It's a good place to start. > I’ve spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to live here over the last several years Personal preferences and expectations have a lot to do with how much you spend. I've known people that live with roommaters and save most of their salary.

jeffbee 6y ago
>> the air is poison > Yes, but this problem has only affected the city like this for the last 2 years or so (to this extent). As someone pointed out with an infographic on Twitter recently, before the Clean Air Act really began to take effect, the air quality was always like this in California summers, fires or not. https://twitter.com/Nowooski/status/1304875667452882946 https://twitter.com/Nowooski/status/1304875667452882946
rmk 6y ago
Not everyone can live with roommates --- folks with growing families for instance. I think the concerns about the poisonous air and electricity scarcity are way overblown. The air is bad because the whole region is on fire, and that's not happened for a long, long time (sure, there are pockets of fire-ravaged regions at any point in the late summer, but it's not this widespread). The really problematic issues are the wacko water usage (growing almonds? really?), the callous disregard of state politicians for folks who do not own homes (and are increasingly facing homelessness or crushing commutes), and the deep fiscal troubles the state finds itself in (because of a seeming inability to control spending and normalize property taxation). Schools (including UCs) are not functioning well for the majority of Californians (they have failed to provide a free/cheap education to state residents, which is the mandate of any state university, and Community Colleges are massively underfunded). CA weather is not the best by a long shot, but most of the rest of the US has terrible weather (way worse than CA at any rate).
colechristensen 6y ago
>Yes, but this problem has only affected the city like this for the last 2 years or so (to this extent). I believe 3 of the last 4 years had the "largest fire season ever in California". >Only for agriculture. Not only for agriculture. I remember public service announcements everywhere about conserving water. I remember restaurants not giving me a glass of water unless I asked for it, I remember the constant pressure. >Only in the last 2 couple of years, and it has not affected all of San Francisco. Many districts in SF did not have a power outage this year. It doesn't really matter whether or not the power actually went off. I was bombarded with messaging about the moral imperative of conserving electricity and had to prepare for it going out anyway. Because they managed to scrape by does not mean they're reliable. >There are many companies that are ready to take your money and make your life convenient. But if you ignore them, things can be affordable. Yes, I could live more cheaply here, that's not the point. The point is things that I want are significantly more expensive here than anywhere. There's a lunch I like to get at a fast casual restaurant nearby that costs me $35 for just an entree and a side. Sure, I can and usually do make my own lunch, but I could get a lunch I enjoyed just as much in the last city I lived in for $17 easily. >Personal preferences and expectations have a lot to do with how much you spend. I've known people that live with roommates and save most of their salary. I maintained the quality of life, or tried, it's actually marginally worse here, and the cost is at least double. Yes, I could live with people, but I didn't have to in my last city and I don't have to here, I could indeed make many aspects of my life worse in order to make it cheaper to be here... but that's my point, everything here is worse. And you know what? I like snow, I like cold, I like variety. I much preferred walking around Minneapolis at night on the few rare -40 degree evenings than I did walking to the store with an AQI of 200 in Mountain View. Enjoying the cold is a state of mind, salons around here even sell it as a therapy for god knows what kind of woo woo.

jeffbee 6y ago

>> the air is poison > Yes, but this problem has only affected the city like this for the last 2 years or so (to this extent). As someone pointed out with an infographic on Twitter recently, before the Clean Air Act really began to take effect, the air quality was always like this in California summers, fires or not. https://twitter.com/Nowooski/status/1304875667452882946 https://twitter.com/Nowooski/status/1304875667452882946

rmk 6y ago

Not everyone can live with roommates --- folks with growing families for instance. I think the concerns about the poisonous air and electricity scarcity are way overblown. The air is bad because the whole region is on fire, and that's not happened for a long, long time (sure, there are pockets of fire-ravaged regions at any point in the late summer, but it's not this widespread). The really problematic issues are the wacko water usage (growing almonds? really?), the callous disregard of state politicians for folks who do not own homes (and are increasingly facing homelessness or crushing commutes), and the deep fiscal troubles the state finds itself in (because of a seeming inability to control spending and normalize property taxation). Schools (including UCs) are not functioning well for the majority of Californians (they have failed to provide a free/cheap education to state residents, which is the mandate of any state university, and Community Colleges are massively underfunded). CA weather is not the best by a long shot, but most of the rest of the US has terrible weather (way worse than CA at any rate).

colechristensen 6y ago

>Yes, but this problem has only affected the city like this for the last 2 years or so (to this extent). I believe 3 of the last 4 years had the "largest fire season ever in California". >Only for agriculture. Not only for agriculture. I remember public service announcements everywhere about conserving water. I remember restaurants not giving me a glass of water unless I asked for it, I remember the constant pressure. >Only in the last 2 couple of years, and it has not affected all of San Francisco. Many districts in SF did not have a power outage this year. It doesn't really matter whether or not the power actually went off. I was bombarded with messaging about the moral imperative of conserving electricity and had to prepare for it going out anyway. Because they managed to scrape by does not mean they're reliable. >There are many companies that are ready to take your money and make your life convenient. But if you ignore them, things can be affordable. Yes, I could live more cheaply here, that's not the point. The point is things that I want are significantly more expensive here than anywhere. There's a lunch I like to get at a fast casual restaurant nearby that costs me $35 for just an entree and a side. Sure, I can and usually do make my own lunch, but I could get a lunch I enjoyed just as much in the last city I lived in for $17 easily. >Personal preferences and expectations have a lot to do with how much you spend. I've known people that live with roommates and save most of their salary. I maintained the quality of life, or tried, it's actually marginally worse here, and the cost is at least double. Yes, I could live with people, but I didn't have to in my last city and I don't have to here, I could indeed make many aspects of my life worse in order to make it cheaper to be here... but that's my point, everything here is worse. And you know what? I like snow, I like cold, I like variety. I much preferred walking around Minneapolis at night on the few rare -40 degree evenings than I did walking to the store with an AQI of 200 in Mountain View. Enjoying the cold is a state of mind, salons around here even sell it as a therapy for god knows what kind of woo woo.