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SV transplant here. Grew up in suburban Chicago, now live in SF. Being surrounded by rich people all day is nice -- low crime, good water-cooler conversations w

SV transplant here. Grew up in suburban Chicago, now live in SF. Being surrounded by rich people all day is nice -- low crime, good water-cooler conversations with well-traveled, worldly, people, but there's a dark side: I'm having a harder and harder time relating to my family back in IL as time goes on. In time, I imagine sociologists will study the affects of such insular communities on empathy, happiness, and many other dimensions of the human experience.

GuiA 14y ago
Same here. European, used to an upper middle class lifestyle; went to grad school in a poor USA state, then moved to Menlo Park, CA. Pretty big shock during both transitions. Now living in Oakland while working in SF downtown, so things are a bit more even :)
tellarin 14y ago
Sociologists have already been studying that. This "class separation" has been going on forever in countries with huge income inequalities. There are way too many examples of what this leads too. None of them good. :(
nextstep 14y ago
Where is SF do you live? Everyone I know in the Mission speaks of rampant car break-ins and there are broken car windows all over the place. People literally shit on the streets.
drumdance 14y ago
Boulder, where I live, isn't as rich as San Francisco, but it doesn't have the poor areas either. I love it here, but I have to wonder what it be like to grow up in this bubble. I've gotten very used to mountain views, lots of sunshine and short commutes. The best way to remind me of how good I've got it is to invite friends from out of town to visit.
rdl 14y ago
I live in Oakland and generally spend zero time here except either inside the condo or in a car driving to anywhere else. I went to a local optometrist (who is surprisingly good); as far as I can tell, every patient who walked in was asking about Medi-Cal coverage or other government subsidy for the poor (which wasn't accepted, so they left). I'd far prefer to be around tech startup founders than the alternative, which is not "firefighters and teachers", but the poor and borderline homeless, it seems. (I plan to move to Seattle or San Mateo County later this year; unclear if the benefits of Silicon Valley make up for the bogosity of California anymore.)

GuiA 14y ago

Same here. European, used to an upper middle class lifestyle; went to grad school in a poor USA state, then moved to Menlo Park, CA. Pretty big shock during both transitions. Now living in Oakland while working in SF downtown, so things are a bit more even :)

tellarin 14y ago

Sociologists have already been studying that. This "class separation" has been going on forever in countries with huge income inequalities. There are way too many examples of what this leads too. None of them good. :(

nextstep 14y ago

Where is SF do you live? Everyone I know in the Mission speaks of rampant car break-ins and there are broken car windows all over the place. People literally shit on the streets.

drumdance 14y ago

Boulder, where I live, isn't as rich as San Francisco, but it doesn't have the poor areas either. I love it here, but I have to wonder what it be like to grow up in this bubble. I've gotten very used to mountain views, lots of sunshine and short commutes. The best way to remind me of how good I've got it is to invite friends from out of town to visit.

rdl 14y ago

I live in Oakland and generally spend zero time here except either inside the condo or in a car driving to anywhere else. I went to a local optometrist (who is surprisingly good); as far as I can tell, every patient who walked in was asking about Medi-Cal coverage or other government subsidy for the poor (which wasn't accepted, so they left). I'd far prefer to be around tech startup founders than the alternative, which is not "firefighters and teachers", but the poor and borderline homeless, it seems. (I plan to move to Seattle or San Mateo County later this year; unclear if the benefits of Silicon Valley make up for the bogosity of California anymore.)