I care. Sometimes I consider moving to other places, and these personal experiences of people living in different places are much more helpful than very limited experiences of people never been outside of NY. Even if it is only one data point and the experience is very subjective: I'll read more, someone else will write how happy they are in NY, and I'll decide which opinion is more important to me.
> Nobody is forcing this guy to buy a $17 salad either.
People expect to eat in good cafes, buy quality foods and generally expect standard of life higher than in some third-world countries.
Of course it is possible to eat cheaper, but people want to enjoy their lives, while focusing on their work, not on food budgeting. In particular, just walk in a good looking cafe or a restaurant close to the home without reading their menu prices first.
There are still places in Manhattan, Chicago, Atlanta, etc where you can do it, SF is no different.
Now, if you want to judge a city only on it's higher priced places or whatever, that's on you. Food culture is a whole other thing, and how people want to play into it is their choice. That said, if you're trying to find steak dinners for 30 dollars(all in: tax, tip, and drink) in a major US city, I don't know how to help you.
TL;dr- "17 dollar salads" aren't a problem unless you're trying to write a disparaging blog about a city you moved away from.
The question is what's the median price of a salad. If median is 17, it is relatively expensive, even if it is possible to compile a list of cheaper cafes and restaurants.
Or put it another way: if you have to check for restaurant prices, that city is too expensive for you, even cheaper places exist.
> if you want to judge a city only on it's higher priced places or whatever, that's on you
I'm not saying is bad. If you want to live on Manhattan, prepare to spend a lot on everything, from rent to salad.
I think the author is saying: SF is expensive, and they cannot afford it. And that's good reason to leave. And that's good reason for other people to avoid moving to SF.
> TL;dr- "17 dollar salads" aren't a problem unless you're trying to write a disparaging blog about a city you moved away from.
Well, if for 17 dollars salad you could buy low crime and low poverty, that would be OK. But these things combined are enough reasons to write a blog.
Anyway, not going to defend SF or criticise SF, just triggered by arrogant statement "Nobody is forcing this guy to buy a $17 salad", which is not far from "if you don't have bread, eat cake".
If that's true, and SF prices are moderate, that's good. But that's very different from the original statement "Nobody is forcing this guy to buy a $17 salad either."
> If you’re worried about prices, take the two minutes to check a menu online first.
The point is that some people want to enjoy life, not worry about prices.
Median salad price makes a city cheap or expensive.
I suspect SF is more expensive than average by this metric, but I'm not sure, I didn't dine in SF much.
P.S. I left NYC because I was assaulted in the subway (2018). Also, same year, there was a nodded-off man in nice clothes who probably took a bit too much after work, passed out on 14th St & 3rd Ave. I watched as over a hundred people walked past and sometimes over him. Finally I tried to wake him and, when he didn’t rouse, called an ambulance. Never seen such a cold populace.
And you’d be dead wrong.
https://www.baruch.cuny.edu/nycdata/public_safety/crime-sele...
I don’t know how you could even think that.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/27/nyregion/new-york-city-cr...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Callahan_v._Carey?wprov=sfti1
> I watched as over a hundred people walked past and sometimes over him.
Have you ever walked through a mid-market BART station?
The people in the mid-Market BART stations have the support of other homeless in the community. The most disheveled are generally end-stage drug users. Their methadone clinic (if that's their poison) and many support shelters are within two blocks. If they're passed out and nodded off there it's because they chose to be incapacitated in a (very relatively) safe spot, where they're not exposed to the elements and relatively out of the way of the walking path. They probably know the other homeless, and people in a bad way will be checked on. Missionaries and street outreach folks will sometimes come by with food or clean blankets. Of course, they'll also have to deal with robbers and random assaults. Life on the street is tough.
This guy was obviously not an end-stage drug user. He was dressed nicely, in a crisp white shirt and clean black pants. He was sprawled against a news stand on the corner, his legs squarely in the sidewalk, which as you know is not so wide in midtown Manhattan at 6:15pm. And he was utterly ignored.
I know the numbers, and I too used to argue them, but the apathy and coldness in "safe" New York was undeniable.
I have been in the Bay Area for 35 years and have worked in San Francisco for the past 9 years.
"General Lawlessness" is an accurate if somewhat imprecise term for what San Francisco has become in my experience.
Nobody is forcing this guy to buy a $17 salad either.