I've been in San Fran for a month now...

[Delano]

And I LOVE it. It's a bit cool, but so beautiful, and so many things to do - and you can actually WALK places. I can barely afford to live here - I really hope I can make enough eventually that we can afford to stay.

PS, in spite of its reputation as a giant gay ghetto, I haven't found it to be all that gay, except for the Castro. Where I live, the Richmond, it's mostly Chinese and Russian folks. Not that I have a problem with gays, I was just afraid I might have to cover my kids' eyes when a float full of near-naked leather-clad men went by in some parade.

This town is great. Rather than being just one thing, like the stereotype, it is all things. So many kinds of people, almost all of a tolerant bent. I wish fervently that the rest of the country would become more like this...

[Dookus]

1. Yup

I moved to SF in '84 and adored it. Now I live down in Santa Cruz, but I will always love SF.

And regarding gays... we tend not to build floats full of near-naked leather-clad men year-round. More of a June thing.

[A HERETIC I AM]

3. "More of a June thing."

Less fog - more visibility?

lol.....I am in the bay area on a regular basis and it is very nice there (except for traffic, but LA has it too)

I live in Palmdale and i am a Car Haul truck driver. My traffic lane is SoCal to the Bay.

Perhaps we could get together for a brewski?

[Dookus]

4. heheh

June is when Gay Pride occurs. That's the only time I've ever seen a float with near-naked leather-clad men.

And if you're ever in Santa Cruz, drop me a PM!

[A HERETIC I AM]

5. Will Do!

I carry Mitubishi's, Honda's and Nissan's mostly and occasionally deliver in Santa Cruz. Neat Town. I envy you living there.

[Semi_subversive]

2. It's a truly beautiful city

and we don't get there nearly as often as we'd like to. So many great places to eat, too.

6. Ah the Richmond!

Spent an awesome Christmas Eve there once, a group of about 10 friends and I spent the day at the beach directly west of GG Park, then walked up the hill past the old Sutro bath house ruins till we found a little pub. What a place! Authentic Christmas music on the sound system, a huge oversized easy chair next to a blazing fire, and big, happy Irish Setter that acted like it owned the place. We drank Hot Buttered Rum and talked to the dog all night, then walked down the street to an old Orthodox Christian temple (Greek -Russian?) where we watched them light about 1000 candles for the midnight mass, chanting in a language I did not recognize.

It was like something out of a movie, or a dream.

I love SF.

[NuttyFluffers]

7. love it here, glad you enjoy it too

funny to hear how there is so much negative stereotypes about us to the rest of the nation. but we've gotten used to it and play up to it because it entertains ;)

some of the best ways to enjoy the area is to pick a culture or sub culture and then scout out where they are in the bay area and have a weekend savoring it. oodles of fun.

it's a lot more fun when the economy is upwardly mobile though. so if you wanna see it really take off you might want to vote out bush :)

[Zinfandel]

8. It's amazing the misconceptions people have of SF...It's changed so much

since I was growing up, but I love it and it's were I was born and raised (I was even baptized at Mission Dolores)...very liberal, tolerant, strong union town...you'll love the hot "Indian Summers" (in late Sept. early Oct.) lots of great music, restaurants and a very easy town to get around in.

You'll like this article in todays Chronicle...

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2004/04/12/BAGBH61UNB54.DTL&type=printable

[LDS Jock]

9. I'm jealous

I would love to live there. If only it weren't so damn expensive.

[NuttyFluffers]

10. well, we do have the gospel of San Francisco...

where we promote peace and tolerance. we could probably muster a few 'missionaries' to go 'evangelize' our 'good news' to wherever you live. we'll build 'missions' and establish 'monasteries' and 'convents' and convert your region to the 'righteous path.' the only thing is we can't bring our natural beauty and comfy weather. but we have a few naturalists who'd love to help restore your environment.

but then we are rather laid back and so over it, and just about everything else. we'd probably have trouble just getting the energy to mobilize colonists... hmm, oh well, guess you'd have to visit and bring the gospel home :)

ps: and if you are from florida please rub it in jeb bush's face that you like SF's management better ;)

[Sequoia]

11. ..and Golden Gate Park

is so beautiful. I always feel uplifted when I go there. The Golden Gate Bridge is like giant arms welcoming you into the city.