I Was Wrong About San Francisco
A memory comes to mind. Working in San Ramon. I would board an earlty morning train, travel for about thirty minutes. Then, take the Bishop Ranch shuttle for the same duration. It was a fascinating time. I was enjoying my employment and experiencing the magic of The Bay. Much of my time was spent in Berkeley. A bustling diverse campus, with fresh minds intermingling with sage wisdom leftover from the hippies.
The making of new friends, adventures down Shattuck, and walking everywhere (mostly), which was so terrestrial and earthy in its own way. At the Berkeley Bowl co-op you could get a week’s worth of groceries for $40. On weekends, I would go to The White Horse and watch a dazzling drag show. Some of the most talented performers lip synching the latest hits or classic mashups of Mommie Dearest.
When I first arrived there in prior years, I remember the land welcoming me, like a soft breeze over rays of golden light.
And I could sense the arcane currents flowing through the ley lines of the area. It was strong, unbridled wild magic.
I can’t say for sure when it all changed or what exactly caused the shift. Truth be told it’s a convergence of many factors. There was a time when friends of mine, students at Berkeley, had to find new housing. Their old buildings were sold in all cash offers to foreign buyers.
A shift in new boutique yoga studios and a luxury gym opened. My friendly neighbor, Betty, an older black woman who lived in the area for decades was displaced when her relatives sold their family home (which was later turned into an AirBnB). Her daughter headlined in the Beach Blanket Babylon show, which sadly is no longer in operation.
We had returned to SF once during the first pandemic to find The Mission turned into an apocalyptic wasteland of tents, needles, robberies, and desperation. It wasn’t always like this.
Maybe it was always a harder city to live in. You had to hustle, network, and work hard. That was the case in my experience. Work hard. Play hard. But it changed so rapidly during the pandemic. And the juice was no longer worth the squeeze. At least not for me.
And now, I see these stories on Reddit of 90% increases in foreclosures. There’s surveillance videos of criminals killing food delivery drivers in Oakland for their vehicles, robbing people for their cell phones, and more unhoused individuals dying of overdoses on the streets.
Maybe I just experienced it with rose-tinted glasses. It’s not all bad. Maybe it’s a city for the wealthy, for now?
Mostly, it makes me sad for a bygone era. My hope is that in time, a reinvention returns and balances the dark with light. A city that is always evolving. I pray for a resurgence of prosperity, peace, and wild magic.
Thank you for being hopeful with me. And thank you for reading,
— Robert
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