San Francisco, First Impressions

Living in San Francisco is a conundrum- On one hand, you’ve got scintillating views of the bay, peaking out over the top of hills, more incredible restaurants than you can count, and wine country or Tahoe only hours away. That’s not to mention bustling Chinatown, never short on offering a sensational experience, or the charming Victorian houses with bay windows- Each with a different face and flair of its own.

But San Francisco has a growing population of young, ambitious, ivy-league techies who are all looking to grip onto the next peg on the totem pole- Most of whom, seem entirely intent on having as little genuine contact with other such strivers while still attempting to be diplomatic. It is an interesting sight to see, and even more interesting to experience. Each person swinging to the sound of a virtual pendulum that feeds on the impending doom of Silicon Valley’s glory. What’s even more ironic, perhaps, is that while everyone appears to value “being different”, they’ve all unknowingly become entirely cliche and similar in their pursuits to be unique.

Furthermore, it seems to me a city fueled by anxiety. An anxiety that few people actually act on with fervor… perhaps creating more anxiety? You realize here that most people who claim to be passionate are merely anxious. If they were truly passionate, they’d be doing what they wanted to do, not saying that they want to do something.

Here exists, however, perhaps the largest saturation of intelligent and successful people in any given city. Although it is my unpopular belief that most of these successful people were simply in the right place at the right time- Leveraging past, smaller successes into larger ones, or riding the coattails of real stars to gain further access; Many of them, even utilizing PR campaigns to create incredibly lucrative ‘personal brands’. The real visionaries exist few and far between.

That said, I do think that this view changes over time depending on the company you keep and the circles you run in.