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Hey everyone! I hope y’all had a great week! As you read this, I am now in the city of Angels where I’ll spend the entire month of October (if you’re in the city and happen to read this…hit me up!). Although I knew it to be the case, it’s still hard to believe truly how large this city is. When I was driving into the city three hours later than anticipated because Highway 1 was closed, it still took me over 30 minutes to get to my destination after entering LA County…and I wasn’t even on the other side of the city.
I would mention sports in my intro, as I have in the past few weeks, but given the current state of the New Orleans Saints, I will gladly refrain from doing this. I’ll also stop talking about LA, as I don’t want to spoil a blog I plan on writing in about 4 to 5 weeks’ time. I want to get into my city review of San Francisco, a city I was led to believe was an absolute war zone before I got there. While I agree that the city (esp. its government) has its fair share of issues (you can read one of the many blogs at Pirate Wires. Fantastic newsletter btw), the city was nothing but incredibly beautiful and fun to be in. Sorry to anyone who wanted to see me smear this city in this blog expecting me to roast it about needles on the street, homeless camps everywhere, etc…you won’t see it because I didn’t see it. Thus, without further ado, let’s get into my review of San Fran (locals hate it when people say this by the way).
Overview
Like I always do, here’s a quick summary of SF (as the locals call it) from Chat GPT:
San Francisco, often dubbed the "City by the Bay", is a vibrant mosaic of historic charm, tech innovation, and cultural richness. Nestled on the northern coast of California, it boasts iconic landmarks like the Golden Gate Bridge, steep rolling hills dotted with colorful Victorian homes, and a bustling waterfront along the Embarcadero. The city's unique microclimates bring about layers of fog that roll in to embrace the skyscrapers, creating a mystical aura that’s quintessentially San Franciscan.
Beyond its scenic allure, San Francisco is also the pulsating heart of the tech-driven Silicon Valley, drawing dreamers and innovators from around the globe. Its neighborhoods, from the hipster vibes of the Mission to the historic streets of Chinatown, are testament to a rich immigrant heritage and a melting pot of traditions. Renowned for its progressive spirit, the city has been at the forefront of many social movements, making it not just a hub of technological progress, but also a beacon of cultural evolution.
Activities: 8/10
Favorite Activity: Alcatraz, Giants Game
Like any major city, San Francisco has all the little activities that one would expect, such as theatres for plays, auditoriums for concerts, and bowling alleys for…bowling. Furthermore, SF also boasts a bunch of sports teams, including the San Francisco 49ers (wow do they look good too btw), the Giants (where I saw back-to-back-to-back home runs live), and most popularly, the Golden State Warriors (heard this is the big team if you’re a tech worker). Speaking of sports teams, it could be due to the fact that their teams have been generally very good over the past decade, but SF had a much larger sports culture than I originally imagined, which I’ll always take as a plus. The most touristy thing that’s offered which is also unique to the city is the Alcatraz Prison tour (I highly recommend doing the audio tour), which was incredibly cool and provided one of the prettiest views of the city.
San Francisco even had a few activities of it that oddly reminded me of New Orleans. Most notable were the street cars (not trolleys…can’t call them that) that are plentiful throughout the city. While it is preferable to have a car to get around town (similar to NOLA), I haven’t properly ridden a street car in years, so it was quite fun. There is also the beautiful Golden Gate Park, which a few locals were flexing that it was bigger than Central Park in NYC, only for me to flex on them saying City Park in NOLA was the biggest park in any metropolitan area of the US (although City Park doesn’t have bison like Golden Gate Park).
Landmarks/Neighborhoods/Areas: 9/10
Most Iconic Landmarks: Golden Gate Bridge, Lombard St., Alcatraz Island
Quite obviously, the most iconic landmark of the city is the Golden Gate Bridge, which…I have to admit, is pretty cool to see (and drive over) in person. It also provides an excellent view of the city itself and the next most iconic landmark in the city, Alcatraz. The famous windy Lombard Street, which fits in with the city’s hilly geography, is also cool to witness but is much more fun to drive down tbh.
SF also has its host of different neighborhoods in the city, such as Chinatown, FiDi (Financial District), TDL (Tenderloin), Pac Heights (Pacific Heights…they love to abbreviate neighborhoods btw), and more. However, unlike other cities I’ve been to like DC & NYC, the main neighborhoods I went to didn’t feel extremely different from place to place, which, although they were still fun, was not as exciting as some of the other cities mentioned.
However, one part of SF that I thought was unique was its “suburbs”…aka…other parts of the bay. There are a bunch of other smaller cities and towns, like San Mateo, Palo Alto, Menlo Park, and more for those looking for some smaller-town vibes, and a more outdoorsy lifestyle away from the city. What is incredibly unique about these suburban areas is that you can live there and still enjoy the ability to have incredible career opportunities in these areas of the bay with tons of tech giants (Google, Apple, etc.) having their main offices there. This aspect of the “Bay Area” makes it unique from almost every other city in the US.
Food: 8.5/10
Favorite Restaurants: Brenda’s French Soul Food
Local Delicacy: Asian (Chinese, Japanese, etc.)
Given its proximity to the Eastern region of the world (even though it’s directly west of SF…it’s all relative I guess), San Francisco has a very large Asian population. Thus, along with their culture, they also brought their incredible food, as San Francisco boasts some of the best Japanese, Chinese, Thai, etc. food in the entire US. Specifically, SF’s Chinatown is one of the largest and most historic in the entire United States and is worth checking out. If you get one type, I would highly recommend the Dim Sum.
My favorite restaurant from SF was Brenda’s Soul Food. The chef of the restaurant is from New Orleans and brought over all the classics like beignets, shrimp & grits, gumbo, and more and unlike many other places in the US that don’t copy New Orleans food well, this place hit the nail on the head. I guess it says a lot about New Orleans (or just my biased self) that my favorite restaurant in another city serves my hometown food, but it is what it is. If you have a sweet tooth, there’s a big Ghiradelli presence in the city with Ghiradelli Square and Ghiradelli hot chocolate served at baseball games (I never knew I needed hot chocolate with a ballpark dog, but it was pretty good).
Nightlife/Social Scene: 8/10
Favorite Venues: San Francisco Athletic Club, Brixton
My favorite area in the city to go out in (mostly due to the proximity of my friend Booker and where I stayed…shoutout to ya boi) was around Russian Hill & Pac Heights areas, which hosted Union St., Polk St., and Broadway (which has a specific affiliation with certain late night venues). These areas had places with tons of different vibes, from more posh (Brixton…liked it more than some friends wanted me to to be honest) to more chill (outside part of Jackson).
My absolute favorite place without a shadow of a doubt though was the San Francisco Athletic Club (it’s a bar…I was confused at first too). Just for context, as someone who doesn’t drink and cares more about sports than your average fan (no shade, just facts), I typically hate bar scenes to watch football games I care about as the combo of drinking and less serious fandom always create a drunk monstrosity that annoys me with terrible, uninformed sports takes that everyone in the bar can hear. However, the Athletic Club had every college football game on (including for my Tulane Green Wave) and was incredibly fun to go. It may even convince me to start going out for games more.
History & Culture: 8/10
For being a West Coast city, which generally means that there’s less history than its East Coast counterparts, SF has quite a unique back story. The city began as a small settlement of 200 people in 1846 but was quickly transformed into one of the largest West Coast settlements due to the California Gold Rush of 1849 (hence why they’re called the 49ers). In just six years, the population of the city grew to 36,000 people (an increase of 180x!!!).
Culturally, the city is known as the tech capital of the world and the center of innovation, with top tech firm HQs south of the city in the bay, VC offices on the famous Sand Hill Road (definitely check out Scott Kupor’s Secrets of Sand Hill Road if you want to learn more about VC), and skyscrapers dedicated to tech and finance firms in the city. The city is also famous for its progressive culture and LGBTQ+ community. However, what I appreciated about SF is that I never felt like these topics were being forced down my throat like some other cities do, but instead, it’s just accepted as a part of life (as it should be treated IMO).
Natural Beauty and Outdoor Spaces: 9/10
In most cities I’ve traveled to, it’s taken me a few dayslly get a good sense of how to rate all of these sections on the blog. However, when I first drove into the city on the Bay Bridge, I knew San Francisco was simply a gorgeous city. That initial thought was quickly verified after seeing a beautiful sunset from the middle of the city as I walked to dinner with some friends.
Going along with this great first impression, the Golden Gate Park (again…which is smaller than City Park) is beautiful and stretches from the Pacific Ocean to the middle of the city. There are also plenty of outdoor activities to partake in, particularly sailing (you need to be good though cause the waves are incredibly choppy) and hiking in some of the nearby hills. Speaking of hills, the city itself is famously hilly, so you can get all the hiking you could ever want simply by perusing the city.
Lastly, I do have to mention the city’s extremely unique climate. The city is surprisingly cool, which I did expect from a city in California in September (shows I’ve never been to California before). Since I don’t want to butcher it, I’m phoning my friend Chat GPT to explain why:
San Francisco's unique cool climate is primarily the result of its position between the Pacific Ocean and the San Francisco Bay. The cold California Current off the Pacific often brings chilly sea breezes and fog, which is funneled directly into the city by the Golden Gate Strait. Meanwhile, the warmer waters of the Bay create contrasting microclimates. This interplay between oceanic and bay influences, combined with the city's varied topography, results in San Francisco's famously unpredictable and cool weather patterns.
The Fog is even so famous in San Francisco, that the residents have given it a name and created a dedicated Instagram account for their beloved Karl the Fog.
Transportation: 8/10
First and foremost, I must note that I got fortunate this month in terms of parking. In all of the major cities I’ve been to, parking has been either a nightmare or very expensive (which is also kind of a nightmare). Thankfully, the place I was staying had an empty garage that I was very fortunate to have access to, which also gave me a cool, local experience of having to pull in or out (stop it you dirty minds) of an extremely narrow and steep garage.
Overall, I thought driving around the city was actually extremely satisfying. Although there are tons of stoplights, they are all incredibly in sync, so you never frustratingly catch five red lights in a row, which…unless you’re Tiesto…you must stop for:
As mentioned earlier, they also have streetcars that are able to take you around the city, as well as a solid train system that can take you all across the bay if you’re someone who lives in Oakland, is a Stanford student looking to go to the city, etc. Lastly, one special perk of being the tech capital of the world is that you get the first taste of many groundbreaking technological developments. One of which is self-driving, autonomous cars from Waymo and Cruise that act as Ubers to take you around the city. I always got worried about crossing the street and one of them was making a right turn, but they’re super cool to see IRL.
People: 7.5/10
Okay, so this was my first experience ever being in California, so although I’d heard some stereotypes of the people (typically that teenagers would be much cooler than me), I had no idea what I would encounter. Overall, people were typically extremely friendly and polite, and really enjoyed everyone I interacted with. While Cali also has a stereotype of having people who are super laid back, and chill, SF had much more of a business feel to the city (probably because I hung out with people who worked as accountants at EY, but that’s besides the point).
I will note that although my overall experience of SF completely juxtaposes everything the media has said about the city, there definitely are some crazy folks in the city that you need to watch out for (and this is not an attack on the homeless population, just in general). I had one instance during a random workday where someone right outside my window screamed at their imaginary friend and threw my place’s trash and recycling bin on the ground (shoutout to the fella who picked it up.
Overall: 8.25/10
In the end, San Francisco, with its iconic bridges, world-famous landmarks, and rich tapestry of cultures, stood out as a city of contrasts and harmonies. From the fog-draped mornings to the vibrant neighborhoods and the eclectic mix of techies, artists, and activists, SF showcases an interplay of tradition and innovation. My journey through its streets was not just about exploring the landmarks, but also about diving into the unique spirit and heartbeat of the city. It's a place where the past mingles with the future, where every corner has a story, and where, even amidst the urban hustle, you can find moments of serenity and beauty. If you've not been yet, put it on your list. San Francisco truly has a piece of magic for everyone. Safe travels!
Thanks for reading! Planning on having a busy first weekend in LA, so hopefully, I’ll have some time to write out my blog for this week on a topic that I have not chosen yet. Stay tuned and stay classy folks.
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