>It faces some logistical obstacles to being an artistic hub (like prohibitive housing costs), but SF’s culture is more creative than it gets credit for.
This line of thinking seems really pervasive to me but it always bothers me—New York’s housing costs are worse, but they have a huge arts scene! Housing costs definitely contribute to the vibe of an art scene, and more indie / upstart art scenes won’t thrive as much in closed-access cities. But if people in the Bay Area just spent (or donated) more of their money on arts, it would be a more vibrant scene! That then gets back to your point that in New York the norm was to go to shows, and in SF the norm is so to get outdoors.
Interesting perspective Anna. I’ve been to both cities but that was a long time ago, and for different reasons. NY is definitely a city of stimulation, which can lead to distraction, no doubt. San Francisco offers food for the soul with its natural beauty. For me, that would be an environment I would thrive in, both in work and play. Do you think your perspective is based more on your maturation vs experiences in each city? Maybe you are ready for depth? Curious. Enjoyed reading this article.
I definitely agree that it's hard to sort out how much of this is me just getting older vs the cities. maybe if I went back to NYC at 28 I'd be better at depth instead of breadth! And I agree that you would thrive in San Francisco, you'd love the natural beauty here.
>It faces some logistical obstacles to being an artistic hub (like prohibitive housing costs), but SF’s culture is more creative than it gets credit for.
This line of thinking seems really pervasive to me but it always bothers me—New York’s housing costs are worse, but they have a huge arts scene! Housing costs definitely contribute to the vibe of an art scene, and more indie / upstart art scenes won’t thrive as much in closed-access cities. But if people in the Bay Area just spent (or donated) more of their money on arts, it would be a more vibrant scene! That then gets back to your point that in New York the norm was to go to shows, and in SF the norm is so to get outdoors.
Interesting perspective Anna. I’ve been to both cities but that was a long time ago, and for different reasons. NY is definitely a city of stimulation, which can lead to distraction, no doubt. San Francisco offers food for the soul with its natural beauty. For me, that would be an environment I would thrive in, both in work and play. Do you think your perspective is based more on your maturation vs experiences in each city? Maybe you are ready for depth? Curious. Enjoyed reading this article.
I definitely agree that it's hard to sort out how much of this is me just getting older vs the cities. maybe if I went back to NYC at 28 I'd be better at depth instead of breadth! And I agree that you would thrive in San Francisco, you'd love the natural beauty here.
thank you for reading!