NY/San Fran Comparison 1
So, after about 1 full day of being here, I must say that I notice some extreme similarities to NYC, and also some things that are incredibly different. So here they are:
Similarities:
- It seems that San Francisco has a desire to be the home of every food. I mean, I know about the sourdough, but I saw restaurants devoted to San Francisco soups, rice, chili, and coffee today. That is almost like how NY claims to be the birthplace or have the best of every single food ever.
- We both have a Union Square, and both are packed full of chain stores and Starbucks, with little to no originality anymore.
- SF, like NY, has this incredible chameleon tendency where one neighborhood looks absolutely nothing like another. It is a great quality, and makes you feel like there is always more to see.
- Traffic. That is all.
- People- Tourist areas are PACKED with obvious tourists, wearing bright-colored clothing and taking pics of everything under the sun. They may or may not be wearing fanny packs as well.
Differences:
- While both cities have abnormally expensive cabs, SF cab fare takes the cake. It is insanely expensive!
- On that note, unlike NYC, the cab drivers here are incredibly friendly, and the cabs themselves don’t seem to stink like a feet/ass/garbage/B.O. medley.
- Restaurants here seem to either be incredibly expensive or incredibly cheap, with no real middle ground. I am positive this is a function of staying near Union Square, but I calls em as I sees em.
- Stellar Scenery: No matter where you go here, it is pretty. Granted, NYC has beautiful scenery, but it is not nearly as plentiful and abundant as it is here. Everywhere you look is incredible.
- Every other block has a wine bar here!
- Most places in San Francisco do not stink, which is a nice change of pace.
- No offense meant, but your city xmas trees suck! Granted, I come from the land of the Rockefeller Center tree, but I saw two trees here (Union Square and Pier 39) and both of them were total jokes. Am I missing something?
More tomorrow. Now, work then bed. Tired as all hell!
Does NYC call itself “The City”?
Also, out of curiosity, what percentage of NYC is populated by natives v. transplants? NYC is obviously THE city of the northern, eastern seaboard and attracts people from the entire region and the country and the world. But at the same time, NYC has the reputation of having entire neighborhoods where the same families have lived for generations. How much of this is true, and if so, how much is it changing?
I wonder this because SF likes to think of itself of having distinct neighborhoods as well, with some of that distinctness coming from the people who have lived there for generations. And while this may be true to some extent, SF, I think (I dont’ know the actual numbers), is largely first generation San Franciscans. Of course, SF has always been a port city where people from all over the country and world pass through, so this is nothing new nor bad. Actually, it is bad in one respect: at Giants games. I get so irked at the vast number of fans of the visiting team. Especially them angelenos.
And yah, NYC cabbies are miserable. The Chronicle used to run a column by an SF cabbie; the Night Cabbie. Great column. I miss it. If you wanna read about SF from a unique perspective, read his stuff here:
http://www.sfgate.com/columnists/cabbie/archive/
I wonder what that guy is up to these days.
I agree the Union Square tree is puny I’d like to see a huge tree as high as the surrounding buildings planted there. Christmas really isn’t too big in SF you will notice, at least not compared to NY, we cherish it, but it’s just not a huge deal probably because the Christmas weather feels just like the July weather or any other month for that matter. Can’t say I would change this as I was in NY last new year’s and the weather made it miserable!
PS for a real treat go to the St. Francis Hotel located on Powell St. @ Geary and ride the glass elevator to the 31st floor. It’s best if you have a video camera, but a regular photo camera will do the trick as well.
Tyler- yes that is one of my favorite things to do! I totally get vertigo. Free & fun, magic combo.
Personally, I hear SF being similarly compared to Boston a helluva lot more than I do NYC.
Boston? I’ve never heard that. I rarely hear it compared to any American city, they don’t call SF the Paris of the west for nothing!
After our visitor from D.C., who’d've thunk that it would be the N.Y.C. visitor who was the one who came to the city with an open mind, fairly astute observations of general (as opposed to personal), and the knowledge that one doesn’t attempt to make aggressively authoritative-sounding generalizations from very limited experiences.
Hope you’re enjoying the city. If you’re still around and are looking for a nice place for cocktails, check out Cortez.
RE: SF being compared to Paris.
I don’t know if this story is actually true or not, but back in the late 1890’s or the early 1900’s, the French Minister of Whatever Department (I think it was the Cultural Minister), came to visit SF. When asked what he thought about the “Paris of the West”, he replied, “Ah, the touching arrogance of cities born just yesterday.”
I thought that was pretty damn funny, in that snooty French sort of way.
Re: “Does NYC call itself “The City”?”
Only San Francisco calls itself “The City” (with a capital C), meaning San Francisco in its entirety.
In New York (my now-faraway hometown), the term used is “the city” (always with a small c) and, confusingly for newcomers, is used two mean TWO DIFFERENT THINGS depending on the context. (This is similar to New York’s having two separate downtown areas in Manhattan and New Yorkers choosing to use three different names–midtown, and downtown/a.k.a. lower Manhattan–to refer to them, but I digress).
Outside of New York City, saying you have to go into “the city” means your destination is anywhere inside the five boroughs.
Inside New York City, saying you have to go into “the city” means you’re going into Manhattan. Everyone in NYC uses this shorthand for Manhattan, even though NYC residents know full well they’re already technically in the city.
Finally, God help any visitor who gets on the subway somewhere in the five boroughs and asks “does this train go into New York City?” ‘Cause that’s just wrong ;-)
giants- true, SF is a baby compared to all the cities I jumped around in Europe, which is funny because when I left from here I thought that SF had old, sometimes decrepit buildings everywhere and when I got back, everything from the materials in the buildings to the glass to the roads felt so damn shiny and new. SF is very unique to other cities anyway, which makes it such a great world class place
I’ve never heard the Paris comparison either - but it doesn’t surprise me since SF has always been desparate to elevate its position in the world. The constant LA-bashing alone illustrates “the City’s” need to establish itself as the US’s other city (aside from NYC), the NYC’s western counterpart - which, of course, it isn’t.
I’m not saying SF isn’t a wonderful place, but it’s not NYC, or NYC of the west, or Paris of the US, or anything other than itself. Too bad it seldom seems to be happy just being.
bittterrrrrr!
Residents do frequently seem to be, yes - I’m glad you agree.
@Tyler: I have lived in NYC virtually my whole life, except for 4 years of college in Boston, and I feel SF is much more like NYC. Boston is a city of drunken college meatheads.
@Mike: Yes, you are right, but in general, people do refer to Manhattan as the city… I have friends from both Hartford and Philly (both around 120 miles from NY) and they both refer to Manhattan as “the city.” On the east coast, that is a term apparently reserved for NY. It would be kind of pathetic to refer to any other eastern city as that, since they are all so close together and nothing compares to NY here.
@Christiana: Yes, SF is not NYC, but as an NYer, that is what I like about it. It would be hard to leave NYC and I love the city and am continually in awe of its beauty and heart, but SF is something unique, something also beautiful and awe-inspiring. OK, this is too cheesy to continue, but you get my drift.
Finally, Paris sucks. I’ve been there and I think it is overrated. Additionally, the unearned sense of accomplishment and arrogance that seems to permeate the French way of life is staggeringly ridiculous, and I am continually amazed that they are looked on as a world power with such shitty attitudes, unbridled hatred, and archaic beliefs.
Hey Noah, thanks for visiting and visit-blogging. I love hearing about SF through the eyes of people visiting EVEN WAYAN (haha) because people just see different things. I could walk down the same block every day, and a neighbor will show me something different that she sees. So thanks- I did notice on a recent trip to Baltimore, paradise of the East, that the water was practically being pushed down on me in the shower, the pressure was so high. Intense(ly nice). Of course, when it’s summer and humid, that is kind of redundant.