I wonder if he ever goes out, and is having his 5th or 6th beer, and is like "oh man, I gotta slow down, or work is gonna be HELL tomorrow."

Awesome, beautiful city. 2nd only to NY and that's only because that's home for me.

My wife and I had one of our nicest vacations there and we've done quite a bit of traveling.

Steve

i love NY as well but it is kind of in a league all its own.

That's some Southern Pride, right there...

Man, that sounds awesome Mikey. I have actually never been to SF (or LA) and that is about it as far as major US cities. Always wanted to go, never really gotten it together. I have however, been to Oakland.

Oakland:San Francisco as South Central:Santa Monica... or, as I tend to think of it, Downtown Long Beach:Westside...

Ah...never mind. I'm too busy daydreaming about a SF trip to start any trouble right now...

oakland looked like a dirty industrial town compared to the scenic port of SF.

also went to the old "hippie" part of town south of the gate park, but can't remember the famous cross-streets right now. hung out there, stopped to drink at a couple bars. good time.

Oh, that's why I mentioned it. It seems sad and pathetic tobe all the damn way out in Cali, and make it to OAKLAND, but Not SF...

Oakland is on Gar Travel's "Armpit of America" tour. You get to see scenic Newark, Detroit and Oakland...and if you spring for the big bucks we take you places like Tampa, Houston, and Cincinnatuh.

I was indifferent towards clowns when I was little, but mimes terrified me.

As for the topic of the thread, I've never been to the west coast. I should really get myself over there.

You......are cuurect suh.

I'm only half serious. Just one of those things. I'm sure there are wonderful places all of the world but.......

...you can take the boy out of Athens but you can never take the drug addled, booze soaked, poon on the brain, Athens out of the boy.

just...the location. along with san fran, i don't know if there is any other city that is so like diverse (i mean this mainly in a geographical sense). (Rivers running through the city and surrounding areas everywhere. An hour drive to Mount Hood, 2 to St. Helens, etc etc. The beach is only an hour away too, and the Oregon Coast is the fucking bommmmb. One of the most beautiful places in the the country, no doubt.) We are a blooming city, and ranked the best place in the country for entrepenuers. We're one of the new "hip" cities...for young people. Like a mini east village almost. It's relatively cheap to live here, and in surrounding towns and cities. Though the nightlife basically sucks for someone like me, once I hit 21+ there are all sorts of clubs and bars to cater to my needs, whether I'm some super slick clubber, or an old-timey guy who just wants to sit on a barstool and get drunk. The only thing that bugs me is that it seems like 85 percent of Portland is white. Which makes some of the people a little less interesting, but things are changing.

Idk. I didn't really do it justice. It's nothing outstanding, or even a "wow" city like San Fran, or NY, or even Seattle. But for an overall comfort level, I don't think any city in the USA could blend all sorts of things the way Portland does.

I believe Tacoma was in that mix as well.

Glad you enjoyed the trip Mikey; I've been through San Fran a couple of times but as an adult, only a drive through while heading north--kinda like my experience with NYC....

Now then, what did you BUY me?

Oh yeah, and I like Atlanta, San Diego, and Seattle.......

Yall gon' make us tear up at work, in fronta folks.

No lie - I'm sporting a red polo with the G on it, as we speak, at my cubicle in WI.

I agree with this completely. The rents and the sister live in Portland, and it's such a great town. Very laid back atmosphere, great people. Major drawback: lack of good mexican food. Though I could say the same for sf -- after living in san diego, i'll never be satisfied when it comes to mexican food.

I visited many, many, many cities during last year's FT WORLD TOUR '04 -- most for the very first time -- and while I found them each to have their own special charm (especially the Obnerinians who occupy them), BY FAR the most visually beautiful city I visited in terms of landscape, etc. was Salt Lake City. There was no close second. It's surrounded by enormous snow-capped mountains on the edge of town...not several miles outside of town, but at the city freaking limits! Just absolutely majestic, it was (in my best Yoda voice).

I know SLC and all of Utah take a bad rap because of the whole Mormon thing (personally, I've never met an unlikable Mormon, so perhaps that is also an unfounded stereotype), but it really seems like a wonderful place. And mayhole, typeslowly, and The Dreaded Marco are all aces. I'm sure bitterbuffalo is A-#1, as well, but he wasn't on hand when I rolled through town.

All that being said, I've not yet been to S.F. I should remedy that.

Two words for you Kyle: BOO WESTSIDE!

Jeez....They can't even count out there...

Strike two buddy. One more and I declare war. And to think, I was actually contemplating buying you a beer @ Bloc Party....

I loved San Fran...

Was only thre for about two days. not nearly enough time to really explore....did the Alcratraz tour, which worked in with a whole SF type tour, whic was fun.

Amoeba ruled, and their was a great restaraunt right near by as well.

i definitely wanna go back.

on my 48 state trip, my favorite stops were NYC & yellowstone, but SF was up there. i also like to stay a weekend in estes park a couple times a year -- beautiful place w/rocky mtn natl park

To add to the numerous perks of Portland:

- smart planning/urban growth boundary (no sprawl here, but then again, don't bitch when you get stuck in traffic and there's only 3 lanes-- as we've learned from LA and Atlanta, 8 lanes does not necessarily "help" traffic)
- multi-cultural (although I will agree with Andy on the "whitey" factor here)
- no sales tax
- microbrewery capital of the world
- relatively inexpensive to live here (although renting is much cheaper than owning, and property taxes are high)
- relative proximity to: mountains, coast, vineyards, high desert
- relatively short drive to Seattle and Vancouver, BC

I have not been to SF yet, but am hoping to go within the next couple of years. I hear it's gorgeous.

I can't help it...my civic pride shines through even as I dream of traversing the incredibly tall hills which so heavily permeate San Francisco...

I want to walk from the Tenderloin to Chinatown and back again... have some clam chowder in a bread bowl down at the wharf... deal with a decent public transit system...

and I've never even lived there, nor stayed for more than a few days...

I need a trip out of town, a bicycle, or some kind of new happiness stat. I'm going to go outside and hope that a nice walk will cure these possible-to-misplace-as-need-to-buy-a-dvd-feelings that are actually pangs for something new...

Nothing wrong w/loving SF, it's the reference of Downtown LB to Westside. Grrrrrrr.

This thread inspired me to take a roadtrip to SF soon. Probably not until after Coachella though... but I'm looking to get away from LA for Memorial Day weekend. Hmmm.

NO NO NO! SF Amoeba is best! Selection selection selection. It's all about the used bins. Berkeley one sucks though.

I lived up there for about three years. Certainly do miss it.