4 ms·

The Exile of the Bohemians

30 points by yirgacheffe 12y ago

dredmorbius 12y ago
Page fails to render without JS. Flagged.
- uxhacker 12y ago
  Or on my ipad
  - deleted 12y ago
    [deleted]
- greenyoda 12y ago
  The HN guidelines say: "If you think a story is spam or off-topic, flag it by clicking on its 'flag' link." They don't say that it's acceptable to flag an article that doesn't render the way you prefer it to. I also dislike articles that don't display without JavaScript, but the vast majority of people either have JavaScript enabled or are willing to temporarily disable their JavaScript blocker to view a page they want to read.
- sehr 12y ago
  If you flag something, please don't also comment that you did. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
  - dredmorbius 12y ago
    Point. Though feedback to the submitter regarding site issues seems useful. One element I've long thought would be useful for user-curated content sites is the ability to distinguish between editorial comment (that is, concerning the suitability of articles) and discussion. I've seen few if any sites making that distinction.
deleted 12y ago
[deleted]
jkot 12y ago
Bohemia is actual country in Europe, but I understand the mistake, it is fairly small. It only has 7 millions citizens and 2000 years of history.
- DominikD 12y ago
  It's part of Czech Republic.
- cafard 12y ago
  Quite, but part of that history included the Bohemian Quarter around the University of Paris.
gyardley 12y ago
Of all the people to hand-wring about, the bohemians are the last we should worry about. They will relocate, but they will be fine - and they'll bring whatever benefits they bring to areas that need them a lot more than cash-flush cities like San Francisco or Manhattan. Not that I agree with the authors that bohemians are what make a city desirable to wealthy yuppies (like, if we're being honest, myself.) I suspect we both like the same things about higher-density cities while mutually disliking each other.
- mrrrgn 12y ago
  On the other hand, I moved to the Bay Area in 2013 to work for a big famous tech company and I was utterly disappointed. Earning a high income was no fun because I was trapped in a city full of type-a, over-achievers, who only wanted to talk about work. The people who I most enjoyed hanging out with were financially struggling and on their way out. Cheaper places allow for more diversity, which creates a healthy and vibrant culture. The Bay Area feels sick to me; like something from a William Gibson novel. I left after a year and will _never_ live there again if I can help it.
  - spiritplumber 12y ago
    Yeah, I'm looking into moving to Austin. Even work-wise, conversations have gone from "What are you building? Nifty, how does it work? Thanks for the link to the schematics" to "What are you building? Nifty, who's funding your project? Ah, nobody? I'm sorry".
    - ido 12y ago
      Funny I hear the same things from friends who left Austin to Pittsburgh :) I wonder where the Pittsburghers move to when Pittsburgh's too expensive/no longer cool?
spiritplumber 12y ago
Area is colonized by poor people who by necessity develop a subculture that is adept at surviving in that area with little means. Hipsters follow poor people, add to the subculture, making it a bit quirkier and interesting. Rich people follow hipsters, kick everyone else out by raising rent too much. This has happened before and it will happen again. What's the next step?
Animats 12y ago
Just as I'm reading these comments, I get a text from a bohemian friend about the SF How Weird Festival, which is happening today in SOMA, on 2nd St. She, however, had to move out of SF several years ago. and is now in Oakland. SF's art and music culture has a long history, but hasn't been very good since, maybe, the 1960s. It's too non-judgmental. In NY, they tell you if you suck. In LA, they don't call you back if you suck. In SF, nobody says anything and you can suck forever. The SF scene is a hotbed of mediocrity. I know people from SF who made it, but they left SF to do so. There are still artists doing cool stuff in the SF bay area, but they're more spread out now. Big projects are at NIMBY in Oakland or the Richmond shipyard. There are still art studio complexes in the Dogpatch area of SF, in old industrial buildings. Most of them are cranking out art good enough to sell, but not great art. It's a job, not a scene.
amateurpolymath 12y ago
"There is no room to expand without replacing something that’s already there. Since few of the Victorian residences that give the city its character are taller than three stories, housing is perpetually in short supply." The problem isn't yuppies, it's zoning. San Francisco residents and municipal government are more interested in preserving old buildings than increasing housing supply, then complain that prices are going up? Well yeah, Supply < Demand. In Miami, we had a similar problem: the booming financial industry brought in yuppies that threatened to displace the Cuban immigrants that give the city character. So the city simply turned the area around the financial firms (Brickell) into a bunch of fancy high-rises. I'm sure there were plenty of cool old buildings in Brickell. But the municipal government compromised and Miami is better for it. [1] http://marketurbanism.com/2015/04/20/travel-update-a-tale-of-two-latino-areas-in-miami-and-san-francisco/ http://marketurbanism.com/2015/04/20/travel-update-a-tale-of...
davidgerard 12y ago
Hey dude, don’t make it bad Take a sad suburb, and make it better Remember to let it into your heart We need your art to make it better Hey dude, don’t be afraid Move into this low-status neighbourhood The minute you walk around looking hip Then you begin to make it better And every time we raise the rent, hey dude, relent You carry investments on your shoulders Enthusiastically organize events And decorate retail strips with posters Hey dudes, don’t let us down We allowed you to rent our suburb The minute you open up a cafe You start to drive our house prices upwards We let it out so you move in, hey dudes, begin Exhibit your work in this old warehouse Don’t forget to spread the vibe among your tribe Then we can convert it to a sharehouse Hey dude, don’t you delay Get creative in this old neighbourhood The minute the area’s looking hip We’ll throw you out, and rent it to bankers http://spill-label.org/nw/lyrics/heydude.html http://spill-label.org/nw/lyrics/heydude.html https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ev5abK63DGE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ev5abK63DGE

30 points by yirgacheffe 12y ago

dredmorbius 12y ago

Page fails to render without JS. Flagged.

uxhacker 12y ago
Or on my ipad
- deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]
greenyoda 12y ago
The HN guidelines say: "If you think a story is spam or off-topic, flag it by clicking on its 'flag' link." They don't say that it's acceptable to flag an article that doesn't render the way you prefer it to. I also dislike articles that don't display without JavaScript, but the vast majority of people either have JavaScript enabled or are willing to temporarily disable their JavaScript blocker to view a page they want to read.
sehr 12y ago
If you flag something, please don't also comment that you did. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
- dredmorbius 12y ago
  Point. Though feedback to the submitter regarding site issues seems useful. One element I've long thought would be useful for user-curated content sites is the ability to distinguish between editorial comment (that is, concerning the suitability of articles) and discussion. I've seen few if any sites making that distinction.

deleted 12y ago

[deleted]

jkot 12y ago

Bohemia is actual country in Europe, but I understand the mistake, it is fairly small. It only has 7 millions citizens and 2000 years of history.

DominikD 12y ago
It's part of Czech Republic.
cafard 12y ago
Quite, but part of that history included the Bohemian Quarter around the University of Paris.

gyardley 12y ago

Of all the people to hand-wring about, the bohemians are the last we should worry about. They will relocate, but they will be fine - and they'll bring whatever benefits they bring to areas that need them a lot more than cash-flush cities like San Francisco or Manhattan. Not that I agree with the authors that bohemians are what make a city desirable to wealthy yuppies (like, if we're being honest, myself.) I suspect we both like the same things about higher-density cities while mutually disliking each other.

mrrrgn 12y ago
On the other hand, I moved to the Bay Area in 2013 to work for a big famous tech company and I was utterly disappointed. Earning a high income was no fun because I was trapped in a city full of type-a, over-achievers, who only wanted to talk about work. The people who I most enjoyed hanging out with were financially struggling and on their way out. Cheaper places allow for more diversity, which creates a healthy and vibrant culture. The Bay Area feels sick to me; like something from a William Gibson novel. I left after a year and will _never_ live there again if I can help it.
- spiritplumber 12y ago
  Yeah, I'm looking into moving to Austin. Even work-wise, conversations have gone from "What are you building? Nifty, how does it work? Thanks for the link to the schematics" to "What are you building? Nifty, who's funding your project? Ah, nobody? I'm sorry".
  - ido 12y ago
    Funny I hear the same things from friends who left Austin to Pittsburgh :) I wonder where the Pittsburghers move to when Pittsburgh's too expensive/no longer cool?

spiritplumber 12y ago

Area is colonized by poor people who by necessity develop a subculture that is adept at surviving in that area with little means. Hipsters follow poor people, add to the subculture, making it a bit quirkier and interesting. Rich people follow hipsters, kick everyone else out by raising rent too much. This has happened before and it will happen again. What's the next step?

Animats 12y ago

Just as I'm reading these comments, I get a text from a bohemian friend about the SF How Weird Festival, which is happening today in SOMA, on 2nd St. She, however, had to move out of SF several years ago. and is now in Oakland. SF's art and music culture has a long history, but hasn't been very good since, maybe, the 1960s. It's too non-judgmental. In NY, they tell you if you suck. In LA, they don't call you back if you suck. In SF, nobody says anything and you can suck forever. The SF scene is a hotbed of mediocrity. I know people from SF who made it, but they left SF to do so. There are still artists doing cool stuff in the SF bay area, but they're more spread out now. Big projects are at NIMBY in Oakland or the Richmond shipyard. There are still art studio complexes in the Dogpatch area of SF, in old industrial buildings. Most of them are cranking out art good enough to sell, but not great art. It's a job, not a scene.

amateurpolymath 12y ago

"There is no room to expand without replacing something that’s already there. Since few of the Victorian residences that give the city its character are taller than three stories, housing is perpetually in short supply." The problem isn't yuppies, it's zoning. San Francisco residents and municipal government are more interested in preserving old buildings than increasing housing supply, then complain that prices are going up? Well yeah, Supply < Demand. In Miami, we had a similar problem: the booming financial industry brought in yuppies that threatened to displace the Cuban immigrants that give the city character. So the city simply turned the area around the financial firms (Brickell) into a bunch of fancy high-rises. I'm sure there were plenty of cool old buildings in Brickell. But the municipal government compromised and Miami is better for it. [1] http://marketurbanism.com/2015/04/20/travel-update-a-tale-of-two-latino-areas-in-miami-and-san-francisco/ http://marketurbanism.com/2015/04/20/travel-update-a-tale-of...

davidgerard 12y ago

Hey dude, don’t make it bad Take a sad suburb, and make it better Remember to let it into your heart We need your art to make it better Hey dude, don’t be afraid Move into this low-status neighbourhood The minute you walk around looking hip Then you begin to make it better And every time we raise the rent, hey dude, relent You carry investments on your shoulders Enthusiastically organize events And decorate retail strips with posters Hey dudes, don’t let us down We allowed you to rent our suburb The minute you open up a cafe You start to drive our house prices upwards We let it out so you move in, hey dudes, begin Exhibit your work in this old warehouse Don’t forget to spread the vibe among your tribe Then we can convert it to a sharehouse Hey dude, don’t you delay Get creative in this old neighbourhood The minute the area’s looking hip We’ll throw you out, and rent it to bankers http://spill-label.org/nw/lyrics/heydude.html http://spill-label.org/nw/lyrics/heydude.html https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ev5abK63DGE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ev5abK63DGE