SF changed for the worse? or at all? (San Diego, San Francisco: condo, crime rate)

[JuanitoPasteles44]

my family and I moved out of San Francisco 8 years ago, and we have recently moved back I have noticed somethings in the city that I think have changed at least somewhat. This thread is not meant to be racist or evoke anykind of negative feelings I am just bluntly trying to confirm my observations by asking others.

Do you think that there are to many white yuppies in San Francisco?
When I was a kid (when we moved) I guess I wasnt a racist jerk yet and I didnt notice things like that but going back to my old neighborhood many of the old Chinese families I knew have been replaced with white yuppies. I feel very sad but then again the neighborhood (North Beach) has been for a long time a yuppie haven, now I dont hate white yuppies but damn theres so many of them and they bring all these ****ty upscale buisnesses wherever they go (internet cafes,"Italian dining", stupid shops that sell usless trendy crap etc.) I dont know I guess its unhealthy to around with this chip on my shoulder but I cant help but feel like theyre just crapping all over my childhood memories. I like people with character who are TRUELY individualistic and not just self absorbed shallow consumers who pretend to care about world issues to look intellectual. I guess I dont just dislike yuppies but all this stupid "hip" scene in San Francisco. Every thinks there in Europe or some ****, this is really annoying, especially all those dumb tourists and suburban people who swarm over the Westfield (god i hate the mall) anyway not to rant and refocuse most of these people are white, cant the whites at least stop this stupid trendy, hip, European, intellectual BS, and just live here as a nice place a not treat it like some cool "scene" anyway I doubt anything I say or do will change anything, but I hope someone knows what Im talkin about. Sorry if I offended any white people this rant was not meant for you it was meant for people who act in the specific ways i mentioned. Getting back to my original question has SF changed for the worse? how much has it changed in the last decade? have i recently been aware of it? or has it always been this way? (since the late 80's)

[DjRey]

SF has fallen off the game.It used to be a cool a** city.Nighlife is hit or miss,depending on the spot and what night.

[tande1n5]

I was born in SF and grew up in the city during the late 80's, and I have seen a bit of a change as well, from what you're talking about, in addition to the ghost-towning of the financial district (comparatively). I remember meeting my dad on occasion during his lunch hour as a kid, and we'd take a walk around the Embarcadero Center and it would be bustling with folks, and now it seems like half of the places are vacant.

[RandalR]

Downtown is more deserted than it used to be - especially on weekends - because not as many people live nearby. Certainly a wealthier class of people has moved to San Francisco in large numbers and they don't follow the shopping/dining/walking around habits of those who lived here a decade ago. On the other hand, San Francisco owes its relatively low violent crime rate to the fact that most would-be criminals have now been priced completely out of the market. So it's a wash.

[moxiezbug]

I hate the pretentious trendy places too. I was at this trendy rooftop bar in San Diego, and noticed how most people were playing a role :cool, hip, fun. It seemed kinda empty somehow. I love dinner parties with my friends much better.

[Bluesmama]

Funny, I kept reading/hearing that North Beach was getting "taken over" by Asians. And my first thought was, "well, that's the fault of the Italians for letting it happen, not the Asians."

But that's also easier said than done in a city whose cost of living is into the stratosphere. If white yuppies are taking over Chinatown then it's more than a sign that its Asians cannot afford it so easily anymore. Also, there is a huge population of aging/elders in that community, and that also changes things, and perhaps many of the younger generation did the same thing you did ~ leave home for awhile. Many, I'm sure, never returned.

Character/profiles in cities changes for different reasons. I keep hearing that New Orleans is going through this process now since Katrina. I'll know more when I go there next year.

In poorer areas it's gentrification, which Hunter's Point has been fighting. It lowers the crime and increases property value; however, sometimes it changes the character and drives out the poor. In these situations it's easy to see how crime ls bite itself in the butt.

I live in Portland, Oregon, and there's been a big effort to expand the old historical section in the city that was once "Chinatown". A gate prettier than SF's was placed, and there are a few restaurants and maybe just one "store", and that's it. A big condo was developed there with the Chinese in mind to occupy, but that didn't happen. It's a failure because anywhere in downtown Porltand is expensive as hell and the Chinese aren't interested in living beyond their means. Instead, they gradually formed their own Chinatown in the SE, too far into the outskirts for tourists.

I hate to see it happen, too.

[ZhugeLiang]

No offense, but years of SF culture led it to what it is today, and it became a magnet for like-minded people throughout the country as is the case with the rest of CA. SF is fine, I just don't get the snobby attitude of this thread, I lived there for sometime and thought it was great and felt fortunate that I got to see it. Other than traffic being a pain and BART not being that much of a cheaper alternative, SF rocks.

[JuanitoPasteles44]

yeah i guess after the 60's this was inevitable, SF becoming known as a cool hip rebellious city, but the problem I think is that the image attracts all these people who want to live here for the sake of leaving thier regular "average joe" homes, as a result of all these hip trendy people flooding the city all the working class immigrants, minorities, and even white middle class have to leave, they are the people in my opinion have lived here forever and made the city a great place. Today when I go into certain neighborhoods I feel like Im in the Disneyland for yuppies, I feel like the homes and the buildings and the very nature of this great community is little by little being destroyed, demolished and replaced. Many of these people dont come to make thier lives here and have families they just come to experience the hip scene and go home, and as a result theyve driven out all the people that lived here all thier lives for the sake living in an image.

But they have money and most of them are white so thier allowed to do whatever they want.

[moxiezbug]

Originally Posted by JuanitoPasteles44

yeah i guess after the 60's this was inevitable, SF becoming known as a cool hip rebellious city, but the problem I think is that the image attracts all these people who want to live here for the sake of leaving thier regular "average joe" homes, as a result of all these hip trendy people flooding the city all the working class immigrants, minorities, and even white middle class have to leave, they are the people in my opinion have lived here forever and made the city a great place. Today when I go into certain neighborhoods I feel like Im in the Disneyland for yuppies, I feel like the homes and the buildings and the very nature of this great community is little by little being destroyed, demolished and replaced. Many of these people dont come to make thier lives here and have families they just come to experience the hip scene and go home, and as a result theyve driven out all the people that lived here all thier lives for the sake living in an image.

But they have money and most of them are white so thier allowed to do whatever they want.

LOL @ "Disneyland for yuppies"

I think the people that go back home are the ones who can't afford SF. The ones who can mostly stay there because it's the "place to be". That's just my rationale, though, and I could be wrong.

[tennis368fan]

I guess this, more or less, has to do with people moving back into the city because of high fuel prices. Instead of moving out into the suburbs, they move to the city and drive up the need for urban housing, coupled with population growth.

If you think this is a major change, imagine what people in developing, industrializing countries think of the much more rapid change in their regions compared to San Francisco, for example, the razing of their neighborhoods for wealthier ones. At least in San Francisco, the neighborhoods themselves are still there. That's better than having them disappear altogether.