SEARCH BLOG: CALIFORNIA It's been a nice visit to San Francisco... especially from Michigan in February. But our son's family is now nicely settled into their new home and it is time to get back to our place in the snow.
My son and I had a nice talk last night about the city and how it was an anomaly among most U.S. cities. San Francisco has a moderate climate for the entire year which makes it eminently livable. It is also extremely expensive which makes it difficult for everyone except those with very good incomes or the homeless to stick around for long.
[Google Maps]
San Francisco is tightly bounded by water so expansion is basically north to Marin county, east across the bay to Oakland, or south into San Bruno or San Jose. It is the opposite of a Dallas or Atlanta that spread out into countless suburbs. Its tight geography and nearby high grade corporations make San Francisco's high expenses and high taxes somewhat workable... but a lot wasteful. Still, I'd most certainly take living within San Francisco over living within Detroit... no contest there. But given Detroit alternatives to San Francisco's alternatives, I'd probably go with Detroit's... affordable communities, great recreation opportunities, outstanding universities. It's just the dump called Detroit that spoils the environment.
We'll see how I feel at midnight tonight when we arrive to snow and 15 degrees.
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[Google Maps]