SF has been home for the last . I can both appreciate its beauty and fog and distinctiveness, and at the same time lament its problems1234.
Baker Beach, December 2013.
A few favourites/recos for visitors5:
- Hikes/walks/runs: Lands End Trail, Twin Peaks, Angel Island, Presidio-Ecology Trail Loop™
- Points of interest: Golden Gate Bridge, Chinatown, Chrissy Field, Ferry Building6, City Lights book store
- Activities: ride the Hyde Street cablecar; bicycle over the bridge to Sausalito and ferry back, stroll up Fillmore Street, motor7 down the truly-windiest street (Vermont; not Lombard!)
- Restaurants: Frascati (🍝), Plow (🥞), Pancho Villa (🌯), Pizzetta 211 (🍕).
- Local Cuisine: sourdough, cioppino, Rice-A-Roni
- Coffeehouses: Farley’s, Sightglass, Sextant Coffee Roasters, Ritual Roasters.
- Restaurant coffee: Park Tavern (as recently as 2015!).
- Bars: The Social Study, Third Rail, Southern Pacific Brewing, Standard Deviant.
- Live Music Venues: Bottom of the Hill, The Chapel, The Fillmore, Cafe Du Nord, The Independent, The Greek Theater (Berkeley)
-
Gibson, Michael, “San Francisco’s Slow-Motion Suicide”, National Review, Apr. 8, 2019. ↩
-
Arroyo, Noah, “65% of San Franciscans say life in the city is worse now than when they moved here”, San Francisco Chronicle, Sep. 13, 2022. ↩
-
Moritz, Michael, “Even Democrats Like Me Are Fed Up With San Francisco”, New York Times, Feb. 26, 2023 ↩
-
Heller, Nathan, “What Happened to San Francisco, Really?”, The New Yorker, Oct. 16, 2023 ↩
-
At our life/family stage, I definitely don’t know what’s cool (or even still operating). ↩
-
A little touristy but you’ll survive. ↩
-
Change “motor” to “bigwheel” if it’s Easter. ↩