Originally posted by Corndog
Looking at a map, it was probably even less. It's crazy though. Like, buildings crammed together as far as the eye can see for hundreds of miles.
Opinions of the first day though, pretty mixed on how I feel about SF. I don't like the whole "everything crammed into tiny areas and everyone rushing to and fro" vibe. I have no idea how anyone survives here. Was almost in three accidents in Lyfts. Couldn't go a block or two without tires squeeling and someone laying on the horn. Cross walk signals are...non existent.
Most "restaurants" seem to be two tables with two bar stools each.
There also seems to be no middle ground. It's either like, hipster yuppies with their lattes, or grimy and homeless. Felt out of place at a work cafe that was all automated and populated by a bunch of 20somethings drinking lattes in business meetings. Leave there, walk two blocks and turn a corner, and I'm fighting through hordes of drunk and belligerent homeless people arguing with themselves.
Though...the winter weather here is fantastic. Was like 68 and sunny today. Of course, the locals were all bundled up in their puffy coats with beanies and gloves. And the architecture of the area is just mind blowing. So many different styles all mashed into an area.Originally posted by F00tballJunkie
yeah, I grew up there. It used to be a very beautiful city. It is a whole different city when you live there. The cross walk signals are nothing, there are many intersections with no stop lights or stop signs. They call them uncontrolled intersections. I got nailed by a mercedes benz in one at 40 miles per hour at 33rd St and Santiago! I had just graduated high school and was going to start a job in Berkeley, the following Monday working for a pharmaceutical company delivering drugs. Totalled my chevy vega! lol. Put me on the skids for about six months! I got a job doing laundry at a convalescent hospital at night. Think I was making $5.85 and hr. (1983) Try finding a place to sleep during the day without the cops harassing me was a challenge. I found two places. One was under the ceramic tile hidden roof piece at a church. There was a little room like area underneath. Very difficult to climb up to. The other was a bike locker in underground parking at some apartments, but that wasn't very safe. Yeah. I was born there and then was later stationed there (Navy) and I loved the city then. Now, everything I see seems to scream at me to never go back again. As for why it's built like that, Corndog, it's an old city that was built in a way that it cannot expand. Unlike NY City, it cannot expand UP because of the threat of earthquakes... so it's medium height buildings packed tightly together and therefore no way to really grow except for 'outwards' expansion. For the longest time, that was it's charm... but now the cost of living is crushing the housing and the businesses. It's rotting slowly from within.
I miss her the way it use to be but that's never going to come back.