Named after my favorite Catholic saint, San Francisco has fallen hard from its formerly prestigious status as a jewel of the US west coast to its current status as, well, a shithole. There is no way you could persuade me to visit San Francisco now. Or pretty much any big, Democrat-run city in the US. Here's a video that focuses on rampant drug use:
To be clear, this isn't exclusively a blue-state problem. Plenty of red states have blue cities: look at Texas, where Austin is thoroughly leftie. Look at Oregon, which is thought of as a blue state mainly because of Portland while the rest of Oregon, in its small towns, is red. The blue cancer pops up everywhere.
ReplyDeleteGrowing up in Portland, we always looked at LA as the city that teetered on the brink of the apocalypse with its smog, its riots, its fires, its earthquakes, its crime, its nutty politics, and its traffic.
Now that I live in LA, I think much the same thing about Portland every time I go back to visit. The crime, the homelessness, and the general disorder and dark energy are sad to see in a city that was once one of the nicest, coolest cities in the country.
LA, by contrast, is actually a pretty swell place to live, and I say that as a fairly staunch libertarian who can’t stand the politics of the place. Perhaps this is because LA is, in many ways, a quietly libertarian city. See, for example, this from Tyler Cowen:
https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2018/02/los-angeles-americas-right-wing-city.html
LA is also (counterintuitively perhaps) the best walking city in America. Sure, you don’t want to walk across the city from Venice Beach to Dodger Stadium, but each neighborhood within the city is generally self-contained and very walkable. Plus, the weather’s nice all year and, as one of America’s best food cities (if not the best), you’re generally only a short walk from good food.
Add to this the cultural diversity and dynamism (thanks, immigration!) and I have yet to find a city I like better in the US. Before I lived here, I always said I would never want to live in LA. Once I moved here, I realized how much of my perception of the place was shaped by what I saw on the news or in films. Yeah, the city has its warts like any other place but I generally look forward to coming home from every other part of the country (and I like many other parts of the country).
(Can't speak to San Francisco, as I spend surprisingly little time up there despite it being only six hours away)
Thanks for a different perspective.
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