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Back in SF for the first time in 2 years


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2017 Oct 11, 7:54pm   31,674 views  152 comments

by joshuatrio   ➕follow (4)   💰tip   ignore  

I've been back in the Bay Area this past week, for the first time in 2 years since moving to Atlanta. Was wondering how I'd feel about the area since leaving and if I'd miss it or not (since sooooooo many people told me I'd miss the hell out of CA).

Here are my thoughts in order of my trip so far.

1) Nice weather
2) Too expensive (I paid - errr my company paid - $7.95 for a bottle of water the other day)
3) White men are pussies out here
4) The homeless population has gotten worse
5) I don't miss the druggies
6) I watched a guy shit on the sidewalk yesterday
7) This morning a dude was walking around with no pants
8) There are a ton of dike like women
9) Peet's coffee's bathroom's are only for gender neutral people, not gender specific people - so it seems
10) I prefer living in my paid off house in Atlanta, rather than a shack, that's $2-3k/month
11) The hipsters at work talk about guns like they are evil
12) I like my gun.
13) Hot weather in the south isn't that bad, especially when your neighborhood has a pool
14) I can swim outside and take my shirt off in the south, because it actually gets hot enough
15) I had a good sandwich the other day at an irish pub
16) These tech companies want employees to think they have a "hip" place to work, but in actuality, it's a bunch of developers crammed on a small table - slave labor.
17) I love telecommuting and keeping my west coast salary
18) The tv/news out here, holy shit, talk about living in a bubble. Thank God you guys have the internet
19) CA has to be the most family unfriendly state

Would I move back? Probably not. It really seems that it's regressing (despite being "progressive") into a shit hole.

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1   just_passing_through   2017 Oct 11, 8:10pm  

Moved away from the bay area 5.5 years ago. Haven't been back in 3 but feel much the same way as you do - except I'm in San Diego so there are still many of the things you mention here.

SD give CA a longer shelf life...
2   FortWayne   2017 Oct 11, 8:13pm  

It's impossible for many Californians to understand how fucked they are in this "liberal" society.

LA is starting to turn into the bay area, with crazy liberal policies and stupidity generally taking over. Too many liberals, and too few conservatives to balance the crazy out.
3   WookieMan   2017 Oct 11, 8:25pm  

FortWayne says

LA is starting to turn into the bay area, with crazy liberal policies and stupidity generally taking over. Too many liberals, and too few conservatives to balance the crazy out.

Why don't you just move? Seems like it worked out well for these two guys. While I enjoy my visits to California, if it's so bad to live there, just get out. I'm in Illinois, which has massive issues, but there's not a logical spot for me to move that would be a net positive. Might be the same for you, but you can't keep complaining about it. It's not solving anything.
4   Strategist   2017 Oct 11, 8:41pm  

joshuatrio says
2) Too expensive (I paid - errr my company paid - $7.95 for a bottle of water the other day)

Must be a high end resort. It's not representative of California.

joshuatrio says

16) These tech companies want employees to think they have a "hip" place to work, but in actuality, it's a bunch of developers crammed on a small table - slave labor.

The highest paid slaves on the planet. Wish I was a slave.
5   joshuatrio   2017 Oct 11, 8:55pm  

Strategist says
Must be a high end resort. It's not representative of California.


I don't disagree, I lived in the CA for the last decade. Not a resort - the Hilton.

Strategist says
The highest paid slaves on the planet. Wish I was a slave.


I get to do the same job from home.
6   joshuatrio   2017 Oct 11, 8:58pm  

FortWayne says

It's impossible for many Californians to understand how fucked they are in this "liberal" society.

LA is starting to turn into the bay area, with crazy liberal policies and stupidity generally taking over. Too many liberals, and too few conservatives to balance the crazy out.


Well said. It's amazing the difference a couple years makes in terms of how quickly it's decaying. What I don't understand is why everyone walks around with their heads in the sand, like everything's ok - when it's clear it's not.

Some of the guys at work are still talking about living with mommy and daddy. These are people with masters degrees and in their 30's. Unbelievable.
7   Patrick   2017 Oct 11, 9:20pm  

I agree with most of those points @joshuatrio

Just can't cope with really hot weather though.

Where is that Irish pub with the good food?

TV and news out here is definitely completely one sided.
8   joshuatrio   2017 Oct 11, 9:38pm  

Patrick says
Where is that Irish pub with the good food?


Foley's. It was a new york steak on a roll piled with onion rings. Amazing.

I'm gonna go back tomorrow and enjoy another one.
9   Patrick   2017 Oct 11, 9:46pm  

By Union Square? I like them too.
10   FuckTheMainstreamMedia   2017 Oct 11, 10:37pm  

joshuatrio says
t. It really seems that it's regressing (despite being "progressive") into a shit hole.


I really love Las Vegas. I'm mid 40's and have been over 200 times. So I'm not at all just a tourist and have been in most of the main residential areas along with some of the undesireable ones.

Home ownership in LA or OC county will probably again come into a window of affordability for me over the next four years, mostly due to a fairly hefty work promotion. But do I really want to sign a mortgage for $600-$700K when California's looney toons politics just keeps getting worse? Or do I want to outright purchase a $200-250K home in a state with no income tax?

Here's the problem....so many assholes have moved from California to Nevada that Nevada is starting to do some of the same stupid stuff. When I first started going to Las Vegas in the early 90's, Nevada was by far the most libertarian state in the country, bourne out of so much land as well as a tolerance for illegal acts that don't have a victim. Basically...you leave me alone and I'll leave you alone. But now with the shithead Democrats gaining more power there is talk of a state income tax and talk of making a full time legislature(Right now Nevada's legislature meets three months a year every other year....a unbelievable good idea).

Not sure why people want to flee California....and then turn where ever they move to into just as bad as California.
11   HEY YOU   2017 Oct 11, 11:20pm  

People live in their own socio-economic bubble.
12   anonymous   2017 Oct 12, 5:20am  

Ft Wayne - if it's such a liberal shittole, why do you stay?

I scrolled through your recent comments and about 70% of them are bashing on CA and its politics and especially "the gays". If it triggers you so badly why don't you leave? Life is too short to be constantly triggered like this.
13   zzyzzx   2017 Oct 12, 7:57am  

joshuatrio says
6) I watched a guy shit on the sidewalk yesterday

Ripped off from another thread:


#fuckcalifornia
14   Ceffer   2017 Oct 12, 9:29am  

It looks like the homeless population in Santa Cruz has doubled or tripled in the last few years, and it was already bad. Can't hardly walk down a sidewalk without a barking looney raving or taking a nap. The downtown Post Office has become a homeless encampment, and nobody does anything about it.

I was on a bicycle and a shirtless freak on a (probably stolen) bike in front of me on Pacific Avenue was screaming "Anybody got any drugs? I need drugs, anybody got any?" at all the people on the sidewalks and outdoor restaurants.
15   Goran_K   2017 Oct 12, 9:37am  

joshuatrio says
Would I move back? Probably not. It really seems that it's regressing (despite being "progressive") into a shit hole.


San Diego and Los Angeles have had Hep B outbreaks because of the homeless camps within the cities.
16   socal2   2017 Oct 12, 10:01am  

just_passing_through says
Moved away from the bay area 5.5 years ago. Haven't been back in 3 but feel much the same way as you do - except I'm in San Diego so there are still many of the things you mention here.

SD give CA a longer shelf life...


Yep - there are still some pockets of sanity here and there. Short of the recent Hepatitis outbreak - San Diego is truly "America's Finest City".
17   RWSGFY   2017 Oct 12, 11:00am  

anonymous says
Ft Wayne - if it's such a liberal shittole, why do you stay?

I scrolled through your recent comments and about 70% of them are bashing on CA and its politics and especially "the gays". If it triggers you so badly why don't you leave? Life is too short to be constantly triggered like this.


Probably waiting for his shack to hit 3M mark.
18   anonymous   2017 Oct 12, 11:03am  

Davaite tovarishi uberaites na yug - tab v alabame takiye nizkiye nalogi, vasha babushka kotoraya ne odnova dnya ne rabotala v america i poluchayet posobiye budet vstrechena ka osvoboditelnitsa!
19   RWSGFY   2017 Oct 12, 11:11am  

anonymous says
Davaite tovarishi uberaites na yug - tab v alabame takiye nizkiye nalogi, vasha babushka kotoraya ne odnova dnya ne rabotala v america i poluchayet posobiye budet vstrechena ka osvoboditelnitsa!


Wow, @Patrick, you're moving up in this world: they've assigned a second Russian operative to your forum. This one, unfortunately, can't write in English and is unable to switch on Cyrillic keyboard on his device....So it's more like 1.5 Russian operatives. Nonetheless, still a progress.
20   MAGA   2017 Oct 12, 11:22am  

It's been just over four years since I left the SFBA and went back home. I don't regret not staying. The company I was working with offered me a FTE position. Thanks but no thanks.
21   NDrLoR   2017 Oct 12, 3:02pm  

joshuatrio says
3) White men are pussies out here
Lots of grey ponytails?
22   FortWayne   2017 Oct 12, 4:09pm  

No, just too busy fighting off druggies and homeless. One literally peed on my parking spot last week, had to chase the asshole away. They steal mail frequently, leave needles and syringes on the sidewalk making it dangerous for children.

It's a real bad problem, highest fucking taxes and worst hobo problems in the nation. Liberals really fucking our state up. Their results over years are shit. Poverty, homelessness. But they are walking all proud of themselves just because they got a transgender bathroom in some coffee joint. Fucking assholes.

My shack is about 350k on a good day. Otherwise low 200s. If buyers realize homeless problem it'll be fire sale pricing. Who would want to raise a family in a place like this? Even I'm tempted to vote with my feet and move out.

KimJongUn says
anonymous says
Ft Wayne - if it's such a liberal shittole, why do you stay?

I scrolled through your recent comments and about 70% of them are bashing on CA and its politics and especially "the gays". If it triggers you so badly why don't you leave? Life is too short to be constantly triggered like this.


Probably waiting for his shack to hit 3M mark.
23   Strategist   2017 Oct 12, 4:16pm  

FortWayne says
No, just too busy fighting off druggies and homeless. One literally peed on my parking spot last week, had to chase the asshole away. They steal mail frequently, leave needles and syringes on the sidewalk making it dangerous for children.


What are all the neighbors doing about this problem? No way it can be tolerated.
There must be some way to make life miserable for these bums so that they leave.
24   FortWayne   2017 Oct 12, 4:24pm  

Can't do anything legally. Went to police, they are all in "worse" neighborhoods so no time for us. Simething about cops on the dots system they got. Went to councilman, he couldn't do anything either... he was aware though.

If I take it into my hands, I'll be in jail. If you got ideas, I'm all ears.


Strategist says
FortWayne says
No, just too busy fighting off druggies and homeless. One literally peed on my parking spot last week, had to chase the asshole away. They steal mail frequently, leave needles and syringes on the sidewalk making it dangerous for children.


What are all the neighbors doing about this problem? No way it can be tolerated.
There must be some way to make life miserable for these bums so that they leave.
25   Strategist   2017 Oct 12, 5:36pm  

FortWayne says
Can't do anything legally. Went to police, they are all in "worse" neighborhoods so no time for us. Simething about cops on the dots system they got. Went to councilman, he couldn't do anything either... he was aware though.

If I take it into my hands, I'll be in jail. If you got ideas, I'm all ears.


1. What if the neighbors came together and simply paid him to leave?
2. Google this: how to get homeless to leave
26   anonymous   2017 Oct 13, 7:37am  

joshuatrio says
Would I move back? Probably not. It really seems that it's regressing (despite being "progressive") into a shit hole.


I agree completely!
27   Patrick   2017 Oct 13, 7:46am  

KimJongUn says
anonymous says
Davaite tovarishi uberaites na yug - tab v alabame takiye nizkiye nalogi, vasha babushka kotoraya ne odnova dnya ne rabotala v america i poluchayet posobiye budet vstrechena ka osvoboditelnitsa!


Wow, Patrick, you're moving up in this world: they've assigned a second Russian operative to your forum. This one, unfortunately, can't write in English and is unable to switch on Cyrillic keyboard on his device....So it's more like 1.5 Russian operatives. Nonetheless, still a progress.


Hmmm, Google translate cannot deal with it. Anyone know enough Russian to translate? No doubt just spam.

I can recognize the words comrade, grandmother, work, but that's about it.
28   zzyzzx   2017 Oct 13, 7:49am  

FortWayne says
Can't do anything legally. Went to police, they are all in "worse" neighborhoods so no time for us. Went to councilman, he couldn't do anything either.


You just described a lot of Baltimore City.
29   WookieMan   2017 Oct 13, 8:18am  

zzyzzx says


You just described a lot of Baltimore City.

Not knowledgeable about your region much. But why do you call it Baltimore City? The city website says City of Baltimore. But then the ULR is www.BaltimoreCity.gov Is this just a local thing?
30   RWSGFY   2017 Oct 13, 10:55am  

Patrick says
KimJongUn says
anonymous says
Davaite tovarishi uberaites na yug - tab v alabame takiye nizkiye nalogi, vasha babushka kotoraya ne odnova dnya ne rabotala v america i poluchayet posobiye budet vstrechena ka osvoboditelnitsa!


Wow, Patrick, you're moving up in this world: they've assigned a second Russian operative to your forum. This one, unfortunately, can't write in English and is unable to switch on Cyrillic keyboard on his device....So it's more like 1.5 Russian operatives. Nonetheless, still a progress.


Hmmm, Google translate cannot deal with it. Anyone know enough Russian to translate? No doubt just spam.

I can recognize the words comrade, grandmother, work, but that's about it.


Convert from Latin to Cyrillic alphabet (there are plenty of online services for that) and then try google translate.
31   Ceffer   2017 Oct 13, 10:57am  

The homeless aren't that mysterious. They pursue their animal comforts like anybody else, which in their case is free access to drugs, alcohol and nicotine, along with the unfettered freedom to wander around and parasitize the public.

In places like Sant Cruz, the co-dependence aka self defeating liberal bullshit is what keeps the homeless population growing. Sanctuary status means that illegals assure a steady flow of drugs. Persisting encampments mean that homeless can engage in bum politics, letting each other know soft spots in the community for property crime as well as the ways and means to perpetuate their lifestyles. Homeless "services" mean they get many of the raw materials for their encampments as well as intermittent sheltering, feedbagging and syringes for drug use which wind up scattered all over the community. Dealers can organize the homeless into loose, disposable burglary, vandalism and property crimes units. The Santa Cruz police are notorious for very short "catch and release" times when they are caught, and punitive actions by the courts are minimal to non existent.

If bums were in forced hold for 72 hours in piss, shit and puke cells that could be hosed out, they would go through withdrawal, which is painful, and they would then avoid incarceration instead of laughing at it. When they are recycled in a matter of hours, they just go back out and do what they were doing before.

If the encampments were aggressively cleaned out as soon as they developed, and their stuff removed, they would no longer be comfortable and would not be able to engage in bum politics as their flows of information and ratlines would be cut. Social services that basically allow them to persist in their lifestyles are not "helping" them, they are damaging the community at large and encouraging and abetting antisocial behavior. Since a lot of the behavior takes place in parks around schools, children are exposed to drug use lifestyles and can see people who appear to getting by using drugs/alcohol and not working or doing anything that is generally organized or condoned behavior.

One of the main things is to keep them moving along without the ability to aggregate or perch. If you could eliminate or restrict their access to booze, nicotine and drugs, they would leave spontaneously and go wherever they could to obtain those things. In Santa Cruz, the local liberal politics and services allows the opposite: it encourages aggregation, and free access to molest the public, beg, and obtain all the intoxicants and addictive substances that they want.

I know a guy who moved to Emeryville and he said part of the "ambiance" is to be assaulted and spare changed in public. He said he had to put on his flak jacket every time he went to a banking machine. He bought a couple of "free meal" gift passes to local fast food places. When spare changed, he offered the meal ticket. He says he still has the original ticket, because they scorned the "free" meal. The homeless know where to get a free meal and clothes, sleeping bags, etc. What they WANT is cash for drugs, alcohol and cigarettes.
32   joshuatrio   2017 Oct 13, 9:14pm  

Just got back to Atlanta. My thoughts:

1) Holy shit the roads are in great shape
2) Holy shit it's clean

Never did I think I would call Atlanta clean, but SF sets the bar really low.

This morning I was in the gym (in SF) and goddamn, some of the dike freaks that pretend to work out are flat out disgusting. Musta been one of those gender fluid bitches.

Looking back, leaving CA was the best decision i made. I miss some of the terrain, but the trade off isn't worth it.

And now back to enjoying my big ass, mortgage free house. Think I'm gonna go cook a steak and clean my gun... Because I can.
33   NDrLoR   2017 Oct 13, 9:40pm  

Ceffer says
they would leave spontaneously and go wherever they could to obtain those things
Portland or Seattle?
34   curious2   2017 Oct 14, 12:06am  

Patrick says
Anyone know enough Russian to translate?


It looks more like Bulgarian, but doesn't make much sense:

"Give it cargoes freshness southwards tab in Alabama are such low taxes, your grandmother who did not work in America for one day and gets benefits will be met by a liberator!"

Now how much would you pay?
35   BayArea   2017 Oct 14, 5:38am  

Ceffer, well put above

I remember years ago when I was younger and more naive (early 20s), I was walking down market street when I passed a panhandling bum sitting in front of a Taco Bell on Market Street in SF.

He said to me that he was starving and needs money to buy food. I stepped into the Taco Bell and bought him a few tacos. I walk outside and hand him the bag as I walk off and wish him a good day. As I take a few steps away, I feel something hit me in my back. I turn around to find out that he threw the bag of food at me as he started to scream obscenities.

That’s when I realized that it’s not food they want lol.
36   DryMap   2018 Jan 19, 11:42am  

Patrick says
KimJongUn says
anonymous says
Davaite tovarishi uberaites na yug - tab v alabame takiye nizkiye nalogi, vasha babushka kotoraya ne odnova dnya ne rabotala v america i poluchayet posobiye budet vstrechena ka osvoboditelnitsa!


Wow, Patrick, you're moving up in this world: they've assigned a second Russian operative to your forum. This one, unfortunately, can't write in English and is unable to switch on Cyrillic keyboard on his device....So it's more like 1.5 Russian operatives. Nonetheless, still a progress.


Hmmm, Google translate cannot deal with it. Anyone know enough Russian to translate? No doubt just spam.


C'mon comrades move to the south - there in Alabama the taxes are so low, your grandma who has not worked a single day in America and receives [posobye - I'm not 100% sure what this means; my guess is social assistance/income] will be greeted like a liberator.
37   joshuatrio   2018 Jan 19, 11:48am  

DryMap says
C'mon comrades move to the south - there in Alabama the taxes are so low, your grandma who has not worked a single day in America and receives [posobye - I'm not 100% sure what this means; my guess is social assistance/income] will be greeted like a liberator.


I had a few friends leave metro Atlanta for areas in Alabama, like Huntsville and Birmingham. They have a great quality of life, can afford to travel, own their houses outright and have little to no stress. Not a bad way to live if I might say.

While you'll see a few rednecks (ok, a lot) around rural Alabama, the suburban areas aren't all that bad. It's the stereotyping that has kept those areas so cheap. One thing you won't see, are homeless taking dumps on the street, and gender neutral signs being shoved in your face.

You'll have oppressive heat in the summer time, but there are plenty of pools and water parks to compensate. When I lived in Monterey, I wore a hoodie 95% of the year because it was cold most of the time. Only a few days a year where it actually warmed over 70/80.
38   anonymous   2018 Jan 19, 1:13pm  

Everyone does what they want but I would never pay cash in Atlanta. Atlanta’s average annual appreciation rate is 2.2%. When a house is paid with cash, it’s the same as putting $200K-$400K in the bank for 2.2% interest. Outside of checking and saving accounts this is the least profitable way to use the money. That’s just the same rate of inflation.

I am from CA so I might be a bit biased, but is Atlanta really better than SF? 50% is blacks. One don’t need to be a racist to hear about crime statistics and race. Violence crime rate is 11.77/1000 vs 7.85/1000 for SF. It looks like moving from SF to Atlanta is like trading one set of problems for another. Me i’d take getting annoyed by street poopers than getting stabbed or shot or having my home invaded in the middle of the night. On that note, I would be careful with gun friendly states. Double edged sword. Most likely they are friendly because people tend to need guns there more, as stastistically confirmed in this case.
39   FortWayne   2018 Jan 19, 1:30pm  

anon_f8264 says
Everyone does what they want but I would never pay cash in Atlanta. Atlanta’s average annual appreciation rate is 2.2%. When a house is paid with cash, it’s the same as putting $200K-$400K in the bank for 2.2% interest. Outside of checking and saving accounts this is the least profitable way to use the money. That’s just the same rate of inflation.

I am from CA so I might be a bit biased, but is Atlanta really better than SF? 50% is blacks. One don’t need to be a racist to hear about crime statistics and race. Violence crime rate is 11.77/1000 vs 7.85/1000 for SF. It looks like moving from SF to Atlanta is like trading one set of problems for another. Me i’d take getting annoyed by street poopers than getting stabbed or shot or having my home invaded in the middle of the night. On that note, I would be careful with gun friendly states. Double edged sword. Most likely they are friendly because people tend to need guns there more, as stastistically confirmed in this case.


I don't know Atlanta. But in many other states you just want to move into white neighborhoods, and avoid black neighborhoods. It's not like CA, most of the country lives in a very segregated way. Would be interesting to find out about Atlanta.
40   anonymous   2018 Jan 19, 2:12pm  

Fair point on white neightborhoods but still 11.77/1000 is an alarming rate (which might be the reason why houses are cheap in the first place). For comparison purposes, Las Vegas is only 9/1000.

Another thing I would caution. Being in a white neighborhood certainly helps but consider that many financially related crimes such as stealing, robbing, car jacking, home invasion are black on white crimes. They’ll come find you.

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