I am happy the author followed her curiosity. I remember feeling much the same “pull” when I moved to San Francisco in 2013.
Those of us who really vibe with the place seem to share a desire to get behind the city’s strange magic and discover the past souls and events that make San Francisco what it is - that make it feel this particular way that it does.
To the author and everyone else who has arrived here recently: welcome to San Francisco!
I read Ulysses Grant's memoirs awhile back, and loved his description of being in San Francisco in the 1850s. (Another tidbit I loved is that he imagined an alternate path for his life where he would have settled down in the Bay Area and become a math teacher):
"The immigrant, on arriving, found himself a stranger, in a strange land, far from friends. Time pressed, for the little means that could be realized from the sale of what was left of the outfit would not support a man long at California prices. Many became discouraged. Others would take off their coats and look for a job, no matter what it might be. These succeeded as a rule. There were many young men who had studied professions before they went to California, and who had never done a day's manual labor in their lives, who took in the situation at once and went to work to make a start at anything they could get to do. Some supplied carpenters and masons with material—carrying plank, brick, or mortar, as the case might be; others drove stages, drays, or baggage wagons, until they could do better. More became discouraged early and spent their time looking up people who would 'treat,' or lounging about restaurants and gambling houses where free lunches were furnished daily."
Same. Never lived there- though almost moved in the 1990s- and now feel a pull to learn/feel the history. Did also just finish Grant's memoirs- and would strongly recommend Sherman's if you haven't read those, not only for the SF parts. Some of his letters are incredible and dare I say relevant today.
Disappointing to see him spread the modern Republican myth of pulling oneself up by their bootstraps, as to who succeeds. Everyone deserves a good life, even gamblers.
Terrible, no good, upsetting, false class consciousness-derived take.
The point of the left is to bring prosperity into reach for everyone, not to stroke the hair of able young men in poker dens who refuse to work, and whisper "You're valid."
That's what capital wants the left to degrade into.
I have frequently walked by the "OG Huckleberry House" depicted in the photo near the bottom, and knew its history. It's near the stairwell and garden that connects Broderick St with Buena Vista East. You can actually see, on the northern side of that incline that is a steep ramp with no stairs, that the house goes pretty far back, probably had lots of room for boarders.
I loved my time in SF. For those that remember Detour GPS guided audio tours in 2015 that Andrew Mason founded, the audio tours in SF were next level and so special and showed a side of the history of SF I hadn't seen. Luckily they're preserved on Spotify (although without the GPS guided part) - https://creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/detour-podcast/
I have a great uncle that moved to Haight Ashbury to chase the whole spiritual open your mind idea. He said it was nothing like the media or nostalgia portrayed it. Lots of homeless drugged out kids who were completely lost. No jobs, panhandling for food and money, no direction, just spaced out druggies. Said it was fairly sad and he left within a year. He is an old hippy type as well, it was not what I was expecting to hear. I remember seeing an interview of George Harrison saying something similar.
George Harrison went to the Haight with his then-wife Pattie Boyd, and walked around, eventually finding people recognized him and followed him around. He played guitar in the park. He wrote a large check to fund the Haight Ashbury Free Clinic.
IIRC he said he had expected some kind of alternate hippie-economy based on genuine values and having ownership of the neighborhood, and was disappointed that he didn't see any evidence of that. Just a bunch of idle people.
Very cool. If you're interested in things like this you might wanna checkout CGP Grey's videos on tracking down various stories from books through archives.
I moved to San Francisco to become an open source developer and get my first job doing DevOps at a consultancy in my mid 20s. I'd be open to moving back there to work in Emeryville, I know Pixar is hiring out of that location for starters.
I am happy the author followed her curiosity. I remember feeling much the same “pull” when I moved to San Francisco in 2013.
Those of us who really vibe with the place seem to share a desire to get behind the city’s strange magic and discover the past souls and events that make San Francisco what it is - that make it feel this particular way that it does.
To the author and everyone else who has arrived here recently: welcome to San Francisco!
The pull of San Francisco never goes away!
It is indeed a Side Quest City
San Francisco is the amazing. Can’t beat the vibe and history of that city.
I read Ulysses Grant's memoirs awhile back, and loved his description of being in San Francisco in the 1850s. (Another tidbit I loved is that he imagined an alternate path for his life where he would have settled down in the Bay Area and become a math teacher):
"The immigrant, on arriving, found himself a stranger, in a strange land, far from friends. Time pressed, for the little means that could be realized from the sale of what was left of the outfit would not support a man long at California prices. Many became discouraged. Others would take off their coats and look for a job, no matter what it might be. These succeeded as a rule. There were many young men who had studied professions before they went to California, and who had never done a day's manual labor in their lives, who took in the situation at once and went to work to make a start at anything they could get to do. Some supplied carpenters and masons with material—carrying plank, brick, or mortar, as the case might be; others drove stages, drays, or baggage wagons, until they could do better. More became discouraged early and spent their time looking up people who would 'treat,' or lounging about restaurants and gambling houses where free lunches were furnished daily."
Same. Never lived there- though almost moved in the 1990s- and now feel a pull to learn/feel the history. Did also just finish Grant's memoirs- and would strongly recommend Sherman's if you haven't read those, not only for the SF parts. Some of his letters are incredible and dare I say relevant today.
Disappointing to see him spread the modern Republican myth of pulling oneself up by their bootstraps, as to who succeeds. Everyone deserves a good life, even gamblers.
Terrible, no good, upsetting, false class consciousness-derived take.
The point of the left is to bring prosperity into reach for everyone, not to stroke the hair of able young men in poker dens who refuse to work, and whisper "You're valid."
That's what capital wants the left to degrade into.
A good friend of mine ran away to San Francisco in the mid 80s when he was 15. And his parents flew there and brought him back.
Read a good book from a hippy about her experiences on a commune in Oregon. http://margaretgrundstein.com/index.php/naked-in-the-woods/
I have frequently walked by the "OG Huckleberry House" depicted in the photo near the bottom, and knew its history. It's near the stairwell and garden that connects Broderick St with Buena Vista East. You can actually see, on the northern side of that incline that is a steep ramp with no stairs, that the house goes pretty far back, probably had lots of room for boarders.
I loved my time in SF. For those that remember Detour GPS guided audio tours in 2015 that Andrew Mason founded, the audio tours in SF were next level and so special and showed a side of the history of SF I hadn't seen. Luckily they're preserved on Spotify (although without the GPS guided part) - https://creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/detour-podcast/
I have a great uncle that moved to Haight Ashbury to chase the whole spiritual open your mind idea. He said it was nothing like the media or nostalgia portrayed it. Lots of homeless drugged out kids who were completely lost. No jobs, panhandling for food and money, no direction, just spaced out druggies. Said it was fairly sad and he left within a year. He is an old hippy type as well, it was not what I was expecting to hear. I remember seeing an interview of George Harrison saying something similar.
George Harrison went to the Haight with his then-wife Pattie Boyd, and walked around, eventually finding people recognized him and followed him around. He played guitar in the park. He wrote a large check to fund the Haight Ashbury Free Clinic.
IIRC he said he had expected some kind of alternate hippie-economy based on genuine values and having ownership of the neighborhood, and was disappointed that he didn't see any evidence of that. Just a bunch of idle people.
Yep, pretty much. Found it - https://youtu.be/_I-ThafU1e4?si=dwZfCpNkDtnz2onb
My uncle had the same description. Disappointed that it was just stoned people and not a lot of real substance.
kinda of the idea that I got from reading Phillip K Dick novels...
Very cool. If you're interested in things like this you might wanna checkout CGP Grey's videos on tracking down various stories from books through archives.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEV9qoup2mQ
Bit of a disappointing article. I kept looking for a revelation or insight from the letters but it never came.
I moved to San Francisco to become an open source developer and get my first job doing DevOps at a consultancy in my mid 20s. I'd be open to moving back there to work in Emeryville, I know Pixar is hiring out of that location for starters.