Timing is everything

Life has a way of giving me what I want. But not when I want it. I wanted to move to San Francisco when I was 25, but decided to stick with a job I had in the Central Valley. When I was 40, got a job in San Francisco, and had a partner who lived there, I was not looking forward to moving up the Peninsula. She had a tiny rent-controlled apartment with a view of the bay. I found a studio overlooking an alley in the Tenderloin for the same amount of rent she was paying. I had a lot of reasons to hate San Francisco.

As a friend who moved to New York City for a few years said,"It's tough getting a toe-hold in this city. But once you've got that toe-hold, there's a stubborn sense of pride for having survived, and you can't let go." A guy mentioned in Uh oh! Someone said something bad about San Francisco probably didn't read my blog post before he moved to the city.

Kearny Street - The Chinamen Must Go!

I recall a mural about race riots in San Francisco. The mural is in the old post office - Rincon Center near Mission and Embarcadero. My memory of the explanatory mural sign is that the riot was related to building the transcontinental railroad. The tycoons building the railroad had decided Irish workers were getting uppity, so they were hiring more compliant Chinese workers at a lower wage. This did not sit well with the displaced Irish workers.

Searching the internet for this historical artifact, I find the San Francisco riot of 1877. But the Golden Spike, or Last Spike of the transcontinental railroad was driven by Leland Stanford in 1869. Apparently there was more than one riot in that bawdy gold-rush town. The 1877 riot is notable because a guy inspired by it got a street named after him. Denis Kearny, in the wake of the riots became politically active under the slogan "The Chinamen Must Go!"

Surprisingly, Richard Nixon also popped up in this search. According to Republican Hubert Scudder of Sebastopol, the mural artist had foisted upon the American taxpayer propaganda designed to slander the state's pioneers and convert patrons at San Francisco's main post office to communism. Of course, there was political hay to be made, and in 1949 the aspiring Richard Nixon weighed in: As to whether anything can be done about the removal of Communist art in your Federal Building [Rincon Annex] . . . at such time as we may have a change in administration and a majority in Congress, I believe a committee should make a thorough investigation of this type of art in government buildings with the view to obtaining the removal of all that is found to be inconsistent with American ideals and principles.

Fortunately, there was a trial. Richard Nixon was eventually removed from political life and the murals still exist. But along this path in history, The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 prevented immigration of Chinese.

Summary - life in San Francisco

As I write this, I've been out of San Francisco a full year. When I first moved to San Francisco, I pretty much hated it. Now, having lived there for TWELVE YEARS and moved on, I actually miss the place. What made the biggest difference in my attitude? Money. It's one of the most expensive places to live in the United States. If you're on a certain track, that also means the pay could be good. If you're not on that track, you'll always be scraping the bottom, and there are plenty of ways you can fall through the cracks. Of course, if you've got friends, you'll be scraping the bottom together, and that's what makes great memories.

For anyone considering moving to San Francisco, there are three main things to know about up front:

• transportation / parking
• rent / roommates
• rent control / landlords

Transportation / parking

When I lived in San Francisco, there were three cars for every parking space. This means there are always two cars circling the block waiting for the third car to leave, so they can vie for that space. Unless you've got several hundred dollars extra per month, or feel like driving around looking for parking is a good use of your time, my recommendation is to ditch your car. Get a scooter or motorcycle or bicycle or just take the bus, train, and walk for awhile; until you strike it rich. You can rent cars by the hour or get stuff delivered. There are a few secret spots where parking is easier. They probably won't be where you live. Even if you've got money, many apartment buildings have a WAITING LIST for parking in the building. Maybe if you buy property, you can pay extra and get parking with it. Don't worry - even though MUNI often sucks, San Francisco is a great place to walk. Bicycling can be hit or miss, depending on where you live and are trying to go. Chances are there's a big hill between you and where you're going, and it's just as easy to walk as take a bike. However, there are also some fantastic places to cycle with amazing views, and the cyclists have a lot of clout in City Hall.

Rent / Roommates

The cheapest apartments will always be $X. There will always be a thousand people looking for an apartment for ($X-$200). For those not familiar with mathematical notion, a thousand people are trying to find an apartment for $200 LESS than whatever the cheapest apartment is. It's a boom and bust town - in the boom, there will be few apartments available, in the bust, there will be more apartments available. BUT in either case, the apartments that are available are not usually the best ones in town, because someone is holding on to those apartments if they possibly can. Unless you have a well-paying job, you're probably going to need roommates in order to afford the rent. If you don't have much stuff, maybe that's not so bad. If you've got much stuff, maybe you shouldn't move it out of storage (or your parents house?) until you actually live with these people for awhile. Chances are there are going to be issues between people about getting the rent paid every month - actually, I never had roommates in San Francisco (though I almost had to leave town due to an extended period of unemployment). But lots and lots of people have roommates in San Francisco, and they all have their issues or complaints, so you can probably find new ones. There are meetups online for people looking for roommates. It might be better to meet them through other avenues than desperation. More than once I've found a place to live through people at work. Ask!

Rent Control / Landlords

It's important to know about how rent control affects your relationship with your landlord. In most places, if you paid your rent on time and were a good tenant, your landlord would like you. However, rent control means the longer you stay in an apartment (after one year), the more money the landlord is losing. If your building is over a certain age (most older buildings), they're only allowed to raise your rent a certain amount. After your first year, the landlord could probably rent your apartment for at least a couple hundred dollars per month more than you're paying. Some landlords have paid off their mortgages and don't care - they'd rather have good tenants. MOST landlords didn't buy their building as a charity, and no matter how great you are as a tenant, they'd just as soon see you go and make at least $200 more per month on the next person - because when tenants leave, they can raise the rent to whatever the market rate is. I've heard it said that "moving" is a hobby of San Franciscans. Part of the problem - if you see a building that's always got a "for rent" sign out front, chances are it's either a really crappy building (it might look nice, but how thin are those walls?), OR it's a really crappy landlord who will not take care of issues or horrendous neighbors. There are a lot of people who sneak around the rent control rules - successive roommates who move in and out, but are still paying the old rate. Landlords are pretty onto these attempts. I don't know how people stay in crappy apartments forever, fighting the landlord who in so many subtle ways (it's illegal to push you out) tries to get you to move along. Unless you've found a really great apartment or really great roommates, chances are you're going to be moving again in a year or two. Especially if you can afford some place nicer. Oh - why did I hate San Francisco when I first moved there? I was paying $1100 for a studio apartment in a neighborhood with lots of traffic, noise, and drug-addict panhandlers (and vomit, blood, and feces on the sidewalks). My girlfriend, on the other hand, lived in one of the nicest neighborhoods and her apartment had a view of the Golden Gate Bridge. She was only paying $1000, because she had been there 12 years with rent control.

MissionMission

Having lived in San Francisco, I visit the MissionMission blog for a taste of that side of the city. There's something about their quirky humor and the people's comments that I find amusing, even if it's something so simple as... an oddly full glass of wine (which you rarely encounter in a restaurant). Full glass of wine posted on MissionMission

How it works - rent control

Yep,  that's what happened to the building I lived in downtown.

17th and Mission  they're heeere!

Ban naked men in the Castro??

Legislation = sad. who cares? I appreciate the "skid mark law" but beyond that, seriously. Many San Franciscans would gladly trade all the mentally ill people and crackheads staggering around the streets for naked people. Weiner proposal

Retrospective

As of May 3, 2012, I am no longer living in San Francisco. At this point, I will review old feeds from other sources to potentially fill out more historical detail in the blog, in an effort to make it useful. For a follow-up blog see: Hoosier in Australia!