As someone who lives in the Mission, "North Beach is maybe the last neighborhood in San Francisco that has anything resembling a street scene" is a very funny claim- if anything I find north beach to be too old and rich to actually be interesting
Good stuff. I live in North Beach and am a frequent visitor at that park you mention in front of the old church. You are certainly correct about the enormous gap between estates here, and everyone can see it.
On another note about San Francisco, it seems to be on the cusp of a massive recovery from its debilitating Covid malaise. I have a few friends moving here or saying they want badly to move here soon. And yet, all of these friends are bourgeois corporate types. The gap will widen.
This was very beautifully written, I also cannot help but think of Steinbeck whenever I pass through the Salinas Valley and similar areas. You’ve solidified some vague thoughts I’ve had stirring around about why SF feels off, “sick” and “hollow” are the specific adjectives that have resonated with me. I think there are one or two particular exceptions that are worth calling out — Golden Gate Park and Great Highway on a sunny weekend day (though I guess any of the major parks would stand in as an example). SF park culture is pretty incredible, and GG park on a nice Sunday represents the absolute best side of the city in my opinion.
I’ve been transfixed by the beauty of the weather coast for 15 years, as a native of the grungy, urban northeast.
“It is one of the most beautiful cities on earth and one of the most pleasant, and it is in an important sense a lie.”
This was perfect. I have always gotten this feeling from San Francisco—the city is always telling me, “you don’t belong here.” And as much as I admired the beauty of the Bay Area I always felt I would never be able to make a home there. It’s not just about me, it’s that I could never imagine a real community of people like mine coming over and fitting in, even if we showed up we would just be strangers in the landscape. In the end the beauty seems to simply reinforce this exclusion.
There's plenty of people out and about here in Bernal and the Mission.
As someone who lives in the Mission, "North Beach is maybe the last neighborhood in San Francisco that has anything resembling a street scene" is a very funny claim- if anything I find north beach to be too old and rich to actually be interesting
Good stuff. I live in North Beach and am a frequent visitor at that park you mention in front of the old church. You are certainly correct about the enormous gap between estates here, and everyone can see it.
On another note about San Francisco, it seems to be on the cusp of a massive recovery from its debilitating Covid malaise. I have a few friends moving here or saying they want badly to move here soon. And yet, all of these friends are bourgeois corporate types. The gap will widen.
This was very beautifully written, I also cannot help but think of Steinbeck whenever I pass through the Salinas Valley and similar areas. You’ve solidified some vague thoughts I’ve had stirring around about why SF feels off, “sick” and “hollow” are the specific adjectives that have resonated with me. I think there are one or two particular exceptions that are worth calling out — Golden Gate Park and Great Highway on a sunny weekend day (though I guess any of the major parks would stand in as an example). SF park culture is pretty incredible, and GG park on a nice Sunday represents the absolute best side of the city in my opinion.
I’ve been transfixed by the beauty of the weather coast for 15 years, as a native of the grungy, urban northeast.
“It is one of the most beautiful cities on earth and one of the most pleasant, and it is in an important sense a lie.”
This was perfect. I have always gotten this feeling from San Francisco—the city is always telling me, “you don’t belong here.” And as much as I admired the beauty of the Bay Area I always felt I would never be able to make a home there. It’s not just about me, it’s that I could never imagine a real community of people like mine coming over and fitting in, even if we showed up we would just be strangers in the landscape. In the end the beauty seems to simply reinforce this exclusion.