Perhaps one of the most intriguing aspects of San Francisco is the unusual balance of hip counter-culture and savvy yuppie-dom that permeates almost everything in this city. There are the infamous neighborhoods of Haight-Ashbury as well as the Castro that reminds us of the city’s progressive spirit and history. However, the occasional Gap store (right on the corner of Haight and Ashbury too, mind you) and sidewalk Starbucks provide a jarring contrast to the reality of modern capitalism and commerce.

Downtown San Francisco is also a reflection of this; a few blocks to the east, and you get the business hub-bub that is the Financial District. A few blocks west, and you get the seamy underbelly that is the Tenderloin (Which, by the way, shouldn’t stop you from going there — some of the restaurants here serve amazingly scrumptious food). There’s the brand-spanking new Apple Store downtown, a testament to clean-cut minimalism, and then there are the sprinkling of vintage shops in the city that are anything but minimalistic.

Some might say all that just means this is a city with an identity crisis. I, on the other hand, offer a clarification: this is a city with multiple identities. There’s the Gay Mecca identity, the Crazy Hippie identity, the Silicon Valley/Tech Heaven identity, the Asians are The Majority identity, and probably other pertinent identities that I’ve forgotten about.

This offering of multiple identities and contrasting moods is exactly what I love about this city. I love everything about it — the culture, the politics, the food, the people — yes, even the fog (It’s quite a refreshing change from the hot tropical climate in Malaysia). Sure it has its fair share of problems, but I like it all the same.

Related posts:

1. Anarchists, Cops, and The San Francisco Identity
2. PBS celebrates SF’s Summer of Love tonight, 40 years late
3. Only in San Francisco
4. On Urban Design and Urban Identity
5. Public Hearing - Whole Foods Market / Housing development at 690 Stanyan St.