Neils take on The Bridges Golf Course is if anything too chill. That place suuuuuuuuuucks.
One thing unmentioned is WHY Levi’s Stadium is so dumb. It was designed for Candlestick Point. Then the city of Santa Clara said you can build it here but we need plans tomorrow. Like, almost literally. So the team just took the same plans and approved them for a completely different, much hotter and sunnier spot. Such a shame.
If you haven’t read Barbarian Days (as mentioned on the pod), the San Francisco portion was published in the New Yorker. Part 1 is below.
My favorite Silicon Valley book:
I’m curious as to what other local SF/Bay Area Refugees think about the city in general.
I’ve been for long weekends leading into/out of work trips (not in tech industry but a tech adjacent line of work), and I’m conflicted about the entire region and SF in general.
On one hand, seems like there’s a lot of cool areas. Loved Sausalito, Alcatraz was amazing, Napa was great, Stanford campus is beautiful etc. but I’m sure I just did all the tourist things and doubt I truly saw the day to day way of life.
On the other hand, I saw what looked like really rough spots with tons of homelessness and drugs, a reasonable/affordable lifestyle seems unattainable for the majority of residents, and from an outsiders perspective I’d have a really tough time justifying a move to the area.
My personal view is that while yes, there is a lot of homeless folks and open drug use, it’s no different than any other city, except in the way the city is dealing with it - which for better or worse puts it out in the open. The bigger problem is why there are so many homeless folks and why there aren’t good ways to help addicts, which is not a problem unique to San Francisco in any way.
The more unique problem is that it’s absolutely disgustingly expensive to live here. The amount I paid for my modest ranch home north of the city could buy, quite literally, a 7,000 square foot home on a choice golf course for half the price in many other metropolitan areas. I say this not to brag, but to complain, miserably. I love living here but we pay too much to do so.
I love living in the Bay Area. But don’t like SF as much as the other cities I lived in - NYC and Boston. Primarily because I love walking in cities and observing people, and SF is too hilly to do that. There are of course issues that you mentioned, but those don’t make me not like SF.
The Bay Area as a whole is awesome in terms of different climates, nature trails and golf. Beats NYC hands down - in NYC on Friday evening I could spend 45 minutes trying to get out of Manhattan and still be stuck on a bridge or in a tunnel. Bay Area I’m either at half moon bay or close to Napa 
I wish there was more housing being built here so things were not so insanely expensive. It would be great to have more folks be able to enjoy this great part of the country.
I visit the bay area once a year to see friends, I love it. It’s insanely expensive but I don’t think there is better weather anywhere.
Our friends have moved out of the city to Walnut Creek and Pleasant Hill, both of which seem like great places to live and aren’t really that far from the city.
SFO is perfectly OK. Not great or terrible in any fashion.
Oakland airport is a crowded dumpster with terrible and overpriced food options.
Bay Bridge is fine but the Golden Gate is 1,000 times better (duh).
I only lived in SF for a year when I was 23 so I’m not sure how much weight my opinion carries. When I moved there I absolutely loved it but I ended up hating it: I was making more money than I should’ve been and consequently spending most of it by going out 6 nights a week. That lifestyle was very draining on me and it tainted my view of the city in hindsight, but I think it was more a product of working in tech and the lifestyle it allowed me to live than SF itself.
I haven’t been back in 7 years but there’s so much more to do up there, and in the Bay area more broadly.
@MerchCzar there is now a fourth bore, so no more traffic switches for rush hour. The new bore is really cool - wider, better lighting and hopefully better engineering!
ugh boys we have a bar that serves craft beer here in my Kroger now, MEA CULPA time they’ve really stepped their game up hardcore.
Appreciate the response for the Bay Area locals. Hopefully nothing but good things ahead for the region. If I could pick up my house in Fort Worth and drop it on the side of a hill in Sausalito, I would in a heartbeat.
The Niners could have been the focus of the entire pod with how up and down that franchise has been this century. No Tomsula or even Chip Kelly talk is a really tough omission.
KD is soft. Steph is soft. Klay is whatever. Draymond is great. Of course, all super talented but they were the least fun dynasty ever.
SFO is pretty solid, big fan of airports near water. SJC is basic but easy. Never done Oakland but Neil sent down a wormhole on Moffett so now I’m all in on it.
Bay Bridge is pretty underrated but Golden Gate deserves all the spotlight. Those views from Marin are absurdly good and going fishing out in the ocean, avoiding gigantic cargo ships then looking back towards the Bridge is all-time.
Also didn’t feel like much food talk when it’s one of the best in the country. Can always have fantastic meals, for all cuisines, in all price ranges, no matter what part you are in.
Overall, it’s a really great area that probably gets unfairly shit on because of the cost, companies, and politics that make national headlines. It is so much more than that when you can move around and enjoy all it has to offer.
I was disappointed that a Montana vs. Brady debate did not materialize. As a Niner fan since 1981 I am all in on that conversation and ready to go brass knuckles. Also, Bowmann > Willis, but both were absolute studs. They steered clear of Kaepernick discussion, missed opportunity.
It’s a great place, and having spent a little time in Oakland I dig the aspect of the Bay Area that’s less glitzy as much as I enjoy the 1% parts of San Fran.
You don’t want to be on that side of history, my gui. Your argument will boil down to “Montana never lost a Super Bowl,” which is another way of saying it’s better to lose in the first round than win the conference championship. Bad look.
no nfl team has acquired more defensive talent in the past 15-20 years than the 49ers, also the outsider warriors takes are irrelevant & extremely skewed they’re all fucking adored here & the curry’s are probably the 1st family of the bay area
As someone who moved to the Bay Area in 1981 and started watching the 49ers that season, I’m a diehard 49ers fan and of course adore Joe Montana. I’m quite okay with saying that Brady is the G.O.A.T. as long as everyone understands that Montana is clearly #2. The team also has the best WR of all time in Jerry Rice - there is NO room for debate - and one of the best coaches of all time in Bill Walsh. Add in guys like Ronnie Lott, Steve Young, Patrick Willis (Bowman was NOT better though he was great), and many others and it’s an embarrassment of riches. Yes, we’ve lost the last two Super Bowls we’ve played in, but five rings and seven Super Bowl appearances isn’t too bad for this fan.
That’s a fair perspective, and I have much respect for the Brady/Belichick dynasty and their accomplishments. My perspective is that Montana played in an era of great franchises in his conference, which is a big difference in terms of SBs reached: Redskins, Giants, Bears and that gauntlet was more difficult to run than that faced by the Patriots. Yes, he was surrounded by other great players and also played for a great coach, but he did win two SBs before Rice was Rice.
Pass defense. Hits on the QB. Medical knowledge. = can’t really compare the 2 so much imo.
Thought Bowman was better in pass coverage and created more turnovers. Curious why you feel that Willis was definitively the better player.